The "Weight of the Beast" Challenge

[Blitz]

I've been itching to do a challenge for ages and have decided that I would like to see if I could achieve my original weight when I achieved goal.
My aim was to lose 87kg (starting weight 153.7kg), so my goal was 66.7kg. When I hit goal I actually weighed in at 66.6kg - 0.1gram less than goal.
When I told a friend that my weight was 66.6kg he wittingly said "Oh - the "weight of the beast"...referencing Revelation's Number of the Beast.

66.6kg is also a significant number/weight for Josie (Divalicious). When she hits her goal weight of 60kg she would have lost exactly 66.6kg since starting this journey. She is only 3.5kg from goal and hopefully this challenge will help her along. The mighty Diva loves a challenge so I've thrown down the gauntlet to her!

So fittingly this challenge for Josie and myself is to be called the "Weight of the Beast" Challenge.

Josie is extremely busy with her new job and travel time, usual demands of family and the relentless grind of exercise that the pointy end of the journey needs so she will only be posting when she is able to.

As for myself however will try to post daily my weigh ins and give a guided tour of how I attempt to lose that weight.
My experiment is to try to lose the weight in less days than I did originally.
I firmly believe that I'm more knowledgeable now and should be able to shift that weight with less effort through smarter planning and using the experience and skills that I've developed over time.
Let's see if the walk matches the talk!

Later today I'll post my morning weigh in...let the challenge begin!
(btw...the smart money is on the Mighty Diva - when she gets going - watch out! )

Kim

[Divalicious]

Unleash the beast!!!

Hey Kim,

I don't doubt for a moment that you will get back to 66.6kg, I have every confidence in the world that you'll make it, and relatively quickly once you hit the ground (or pavement/treadmill in bad weather) running!!

I will try and post daily, as it is I'm doing this in between sipping by usual morning coffee and getting ready to head off to work.

But let's begin......

My weight today is (surprise surprise) 63.5kg

[Blitz]

Day 1 (24/4/15): 69.7kg
During my weight loss journey it took me 51 days to go from that weight to reaching goal (66.6kg).
So my overall goal on this challenge is to get there in under 51 days.

Not a good start to the challenge.
As anyone who loses weight knows, keeping a steady routine is the best way to advance forward.
Actually it isn't the routine that is important but the predictability that it brings.
Variables from left field take thinking on your feet, skill and experience to cope with successfully.
Unfortunately a few of those left field variables were thrown my way as I start this challenge.

I like to eat at set times with dinner about 5pm to 5:30pm but on Thursday I had to work from 3:30pm to 7pm.
Not wanting a late meal I decided to eat a sandwich and a few snacks at 3pm before going to work.
After the job I have a few more snacks and leave it at that. Not ideal but it was what it was.

The job was at an ice cream parlour where they were giving away free ice creams (no problem resisting that though).
However, last time I did a job for this company my thighs ached from the bending down whilst performing for that length of time.
My legs are very muscled but it seems that at this gig I find some muscles that I miss in my usual exercises.
Sure enough this morning legs are aching again (not as bad as last time). So I rest them by sleeping in a bit longer than normal.

My usual routine in the morning is to get up, exercise for 90 minutes, do my weigh in and then have breakfast.
I noticed a text message on the phone from my sister saying that she is nearly at the coffee shop...
That is when I remembered that I was supposed to pick up my Mum and meet her there (she has travelled 3 hours to meet us).
I have half an hour to get there!...and no time for exercise!!!
Get dressed, pick up my Mum and have a coffee with them. Finishing up at noon.
Get home and do my exercise (but only managing an hour's worth...thighs were still hurting).
So that is my first weigh in number. It was one gram better than the day before but four grams worse than the day before that but generally that it a pretty average number for me so it is a good starting number for the challenge.
Had a late breakfast/lunch. Dinner at normal time. Kept the snacks to the minimum.
That night I put in 90 minutes on the exercise bike and will do more in the morning.
It should give me a lower number for day 2.

Kim

[Blitz]

Day 2 (25/4/15): 69kg

Did the 30 minutes in the morning (making up the short fall of the previous day).

Ate reasonable today - again keeping the snacking under control.

Had a bit of incidental exercise today.
A good magic friend died recently (I had the honour to do the breaking of the wand ceremony at his funeral service) and his widow asked me to come around and take his magic gear and sell it off to the magic community. He had been very sick for some time and a few years back had sold off most of his magic himself. What I hadn't realised that in a very short space of time he had re-bought most of the items again. It took me and my daughter a few hours to pack up his stuff and fill my sizeable car to the brim!

Did 90 minutes on the exercise bike again tonight as tomorrow is church and time in the morning is tight.
But I will try to sneak in another 30 minutes in the morning...every bit helps when you are trying to lose weight.
It's what the professional athletes call "the 1percenters".
You've probably heard of the expression: "giving it 101%"...well that was born from this idea.
What the couch requires from you during training is the 100% that you give.
What you do above and beyond that is the 1%...and they reckon that is the difference between good athletes and champion athletes.

Onwards and upwar...er...downwards!

Kim

[Divalicious]

Day 2 (25/4/15): 69kg

Well done Kim, that's 700g less to lose....you're off to a great start!!!

Sorry to hear about your magician friend, it's always heartbreaking losing people we know, love and respect. I'm sure he would have been looking down chuffed at seeing you "break the wand" for him.

What the couch requires from you during training is the 100% that you give.

Onwards and upwar...er...downwards!

Hmm......I assume you mean "coach" because if you give the couch 100% attention, the weight can only go in one direction, and that is a definite upwards!!!

[Divalicious]

Day 1: 63.5kg
Day 2: 64.0kg
Day 3: 63.8kg

Well as you can see, I moved upward a little though not because of snacking, I have been on the straight and narrow for weeks now even keeping that down to a bare minimum. My biggest problem is that my gym workouts have not been as long and/or as frequent as they once were!!!

But I did manage to get to the gym yesterday to do a full 2 hours (1.5 of cardio and 0.5 weight training), and I plan to do the same today. One of the PTs at the gym said not to stress too much about the slight gain, it's probably muscle gain which should come off and take a kilo or so with it when it leaves (here's hoping)

Bit disappointed as today (Sunday) is my official weigh in day, and I'm actually up 300g from last Sunday's 63.5kg!!! Though annoying to see the higher number, one of my favourite bodycon skirts (very figure hugging) looks much better today than it has in weeks!!! Go figure.......

Anyway, I'll try and post again soon.

Keep up the good work Kim, you're gonna Blitz this again (no doubt)!!!

[Blitz]

Hmm......I assume you mean "coach" because if you give the couch 100% attention, the weight can only go in one direction, and that is a definite upwards!!!

It was Benjamin Franklin who said "Give me 26 lead soldiers and I will conquer the world."
Guess one of my soldiers went AWOL on me!
Darn touch typing - get the vowels wrong and it goes haywire...and spell check let me down too - if I had gotten more letters wrong then it would have picked it up!

A 0.7kg start was an okay start but it is to be expected. It caught the body unaware!
The next weigh in was a mean 0.1kg...again to be expected...the body catching up with the number from the previous day and it saying "slow down big boy!"

Kim

[Blitz]

Day 1: 63.5kg
Day 2: 64.0kg
Day 3: 63.8kg

Well as you can see, I moved upward a little though not because of snacking, I have been on the straight and narrow for weeks now even keeping that down to a bare minimum. My biggest problem is that my gym workouts have not been as long and/or as frequent as they once were!!!

But I did manage to get to the gym yesterday to do a full 2 hours (1.5 of cardio and 0.5 weight training), and I plan to do the same today. One of the PTs at the gym said not to stress too much about the slight gain, it's probably muscle gain which should come off and take a kilo or so with it when it leaves (here's hoping)

Bit disappointed as today (Sunday) is my official weigh in day, and I'm actually up 300g from last Sunday's 63.5kg!!! Though annoying to see the higher number, one of my favourite bodycon skirts (very figure hugging) looks much better today than it has in weeks!!! Go figure.......

Josie...you shouldn't be surprised about your body making more muscle after a full 2 hours especially when you haven't done been working out as much. I fully expect your PTs prediction to come to pass...indeed I would bet serious money on it (don't get too excited over that - serious money to me is two to three dollars ).

I feel your disappointment...on the weekly weigh in days I always hoped (and worked hard the day before) for a good number. It can get to you if you don't pull it off. You just gotta keep a long view over it and keep plugging away at it.

The bodycon skirt is a good indication of what is happening to you. This is the part of the journey where a lot of toning is happening. Your body is muscling up and getting super fit. This is all good as during your journey you've lost not just fat but muscle as well (how else could you have heft those extra 60 kilos around?). Getting it back now will arm you with the muscle power required for the final push!

Kim

[Blitz]

Day 3 (26/4/15): 68.9kg

A miserly 0.1kg loss but that is to be expected. At least I'm in the 68's now. 2.3 kilos to go!

When I got up this morning I did the extra 30 minutes on the exercise bike again. Probably do it again in the morrow.
Good breakfast.
Very light lunch...had to rush home from church to get to a birthday party at a Bollywood themed restaurant.
Had to heft my magic box, PA speaker, rabbit and backdrop from one end of the shopping/cinema complex car park to the other end...all good - more incidental exercise.
Had my usual biggish Sunday dinner at the local markets - be interesting if I gain or lose at the next weigh in because of it.
My Monday morning weigh ins usually register a gain...but lets see what happens.
Snacks have been moderate during the day.
Did 90 minutes on the exercise bike tonight...we are going to an antiques fair tomorrow and my wife wants to hit the place early.

Kim

[Blitz]

Day 4 (27/4/15): 68.7kg

A 0.2kg loss but expected more from my 30 minutes in the morning.
Didn't go at it as hard as I usually do...the body is starting to complain.
Probably losing 1kilo since starting may have been too rapid for it...it isn't use to that kind of stress these days!

Good Breakfast.
Good lunch...forward planning here - had lunch at the vintage and antiques fair...bought our own food thus avoiding eating rubbish.
Dinner was too light...as a result had too many snacks after it.
Too many snacks today...will curb it tomorrow.

Did 90 minutes on the exercise bike again tonight but like this morning was sluggish so probably didn't do as well as I should have at burning calories.
Could have a weight gain backlash tomorrow because of snacks and poor exercise...will do extra exercise tomorrow to try and stop the body rebellion!

Kim

Kim

[Blitz]

Day 5 (28/4/15): 68.3kg

A 0.4kg loss but I did work hard for it.
My 30 minutes exercise was tough but I knew that it wouldn't be enough to beat yesterday's weigh in so I did another 30 minutes.
I was late getting started on the exercise bike because my body was so sluggish that I decided to give it a bit of a rest before getting it into gear.
So I got my daughter ready for school and rested on the couch (note not coach this time Josie ) for a while and a half.
Usually Mondays and Tuesdays are like the weekend for me anyway since I tend to do most of my work on weekends.
So they are my natural days to ease off - and my body did need it.

Good breakfast.
Good lunch.
Good dinner (made my healthy salad and had some sausages with it).
Snacks were reasonable...could have been better though.

Did my usual 90 minutes on the exercise bike at night. Was at full strength for it.
Will do more exercise in the morning as the body is rebelling and trying to get back the lost weight.

Weight loss is like a dance in many ways.
Two steps forward and then one step back.
I'm trying to hold out as long as I can before that one step back happens.
What I need to do is mix up my exercise.
Will try to fit in something different tomorrow like a run or a bike ride.
By mixing it up I'll use different muscle groups and it will keep the body guessing.

Kim

[Divalicious]

You're doing great Kim!!!

As I said, I know you'll "blitz" this challenge, there's no doubt in my mind about that!!!

Okay I'm still crawling along, managed to lose the 300g gained but still flat lining at (you guessed it) 63.5kg. Grrrrrr.....

Day 1: 63.5kg
Day 2: 64.0kg
Day 3: 63.8kg
Day 4: 63.7kg
Day 5: 63.5kg
Day 6: 63.5kg

[Blitz]

.
As I said, I know you'll "blitz" this challenge, there's no doubt in my mind about that!!!

Okay I'm still crawling along, managed to lose the 300g gained but still flat lining at (you guessed it) 63.5kg. Grrrrrr.....

Day 1: 63.5kg
Day 2: 64.0kg
Day 3: 63.8kg
Day 4: 63.7kg
Day 5: 63.5kg
Day 6: 63.5kg

I'm at the easy end of my challenge so far.
This is well travelled ground but it is now getting tougher and the next half will be when the real challenge begins for me.

The pros for me are that I'm coming to this challenge fresh whereas you are doing it after losing more than 60 kilos and still running the marathon. Also I've got a real good handle on how my body works and reacts so I know how it push it with the minimal effort for maximum results.
The cons are that I have to break out of maintenance mind set and think in terms of weight loss mind set.
The other major con for me is the urgency of weight loss goal is the same as yourself.
I have to combat in my mind that I've already reached goal and it doesn't really matter if I do it again or not.
For you it is a make or break proposition...that drive can make all the difference in this challenge.
This is way I still believe the smart money is on you.

Looking at your numbers so far it remind me of what mine were like when I was at the pointy end.
It was the bouncing around at this stage that convinced me that my natural sitting weight at maintenance should be around 2 to 3 kilos higher than my goal weight. This might be something for you to consider as well. I originally didn't factor in the weight of loose skin when I set my goal weight which was understandable as I didn't see that truck coming at all!

I succeed in finally reaching goal by just knuckling down and pushing through in one big last ditched effort of stubborn determination.
I'm hoping that the challenge will provide you with that same push so that you don't waste as much time as I did at the pointy end.
The quicker you reach goal - the better for you...it really is a heck of a lot easier in maintenance land than pointy end land.

I'm excited in watching you do battle...and have every expectation of your success!
The view from the ringside seat is fascinating.
Go for it Josie!

[Blitz]

Day 6 (29/4/15): 67.9kg

Did 60 minutes on the exercise bike this morning.
Good breakfast.
Good lunch.
Good dinner.
Good snacking.

Rode my bike to church in the evening for prayer and an elders meeting in an attempt to mix my exercise up a bit.
Took me 15 minutes in moderate traffic to get there and 20 minutes in light traffic to get back home (mostly uphill on the way back).
I ended up crashing out on the couch and didn't do my usual 90 minutes on the exercise bike.
Will now have to get up early in the morning and do it (and then some).

There is every chance that I'll post a gain tomorrow.
You can't push the boat out as much as I have without the tide bringing it in a little.
But I will do what I can to maintain the momentum...it won't be without a fight that's for sure.

My strategy in weight loss is a simple one. It isn't about focus on reaching goal weight.
My concern is trying my best each day to make the next weigh in number better than the day before.
If I do post a gain then my motivation is to make up the ground as quickly as possible by redoubling my effort and then some.
When you approach it like this - by doing battle each day then the war on your weight will be won (reaching goal) before you know it.

Kim

[Divalicious]

Day 6 (29/4/15): 67.9kg

Awesome going Kim!!! Not even at the full week mark yet and you've managed a 1.9kg loss already (I'm soooooooooooooooo proud of, and pleased for you)

I'm reasonably please with myself too...

Day 6: 63.2kg (yayyyyy.....broken through the dread 63.5kg) mind you, only just with a loss of 300g but it's fine....I'll keep battling on and hopefully break through into the 62's by Friday (or the first week of this beastly challenge)

Thanks for the kind words Kim, but I don't believe I'll be any match for your herculean effort in this first week (or the rest of my pointy end journey for that matter) but that's okay, as long as I get there in the end, I'll be happy!!!