I have lost my first stone!
Ok, so I stood on the scales about 3 different times on various parts of the bathroom floor as the floor is uneven and I was trying to get an accurate reading, and maybe I stopped checking the levelness of the floor after I got a scale reading that confirmed I had lost my first stone…but if the only person I’m fooling is myself surely that is ok?
Hmmm.
The trouble is, I am keeping a bit quiet about it. Yes, I am posting about it on a public blog under my own name, and I have demanded that The Boy makes me another certificate marking my achievement, but I haven’t told any friends or work colleagues yet.
This is because since summer 2016 I have gone up and down and round and round the scales between about an 18 pound difference.
From 16 Stone to 14 Stone 10 Lbs.
That may be the first time I have publicly declared my weight, so please don’t judge me.
I started this weight loss adventure at 15 Stone 12.75 Lbs.
On Saturday, my official weigh in day, my weight was 14 Stone 11.25 Lbs.
I have lost over a stone in about 5 weeks.
More impressive than that (to me) is that I am training to learn how to run again, and the training plan I am following asks me to train/run 4 times a week.
Since starting that training plan I have not missed a single session.
I have to fit it around my life, and sometimes it has been tough, sometimes I do my ‘run’ on the treadmill at the gym rather than the streets, but I have done every single one.
But I am still keeping quiet about my weight loss, apart from with The Boy and all you guys reading, because it won’t be until I have lost that magic 19th lb (and weigh 14 Stone 9 Lbs) that I will feel the ‘curse’ is broken.
I am so glad I have lost this stone, because I cheated and booked a hair cut for Thursday, and didn’t want to cancel if I hadn’t lost the weight. My hair cut is my reward for losing a stone. But it is sort of being frugal because I am going to a beauty training college, and I haven’t had my hair cut in over 2 years so I think it is a necessity more than anything else. My split ends have split ends (sorry for being gross).
Now, onto the running.
I wanted to run the half marathon that takes place in my home town each October, but I couldn’t afford the entry fee.
The Boy rang me on Thursday after I had been to the gym (go me!).
‘Hi Flo, do you still want to run the half marathon?’
‘Yes, but I can’t afford it’
‘Well, this is your lucky day’
The Boy then proceeded to tell me that he had gone to sign up for a free place through his employer at an open event. He works for one of the Universities in our town. It was there he found out they had many free spaces going, and they were available for:
Staff
Students
Alumni
and…
Members of the public.
All I have to do is raise a set amount of sponsorship, which is the rather achievable £200.
The Boy and I are obviously being very mature about it and have decided to have a competition between us to see who raises the most money.
The bonus point is we could choose between 2 of their charities, and whilst both were worthy, we opted for the Mental Health charity because of my experiences.
So that is another frugal bonus, and a rather good ‘womble’ because I also got a free T Shirt and water bottle.
I am now Walk/Running 5K, and today was my Personal Best of the year at 41 Minutes 40 Seconds.
In more frugal news I bought a sports watch on Amazon using my vouchers which cost me just £5.99 after discounts.
The thing is, what I think is working for me, the reason why it is all going well, is because I am just doing it.
By which I mean, normally I overthink things to death, or I have an all or nothing approach and believe if I am not running 5k all the way on day one then I am a massive failure and waste of space. Normally I push myself to unrealistic targets and pick up an injury and then stupidly carry on until I really hurt myself and have to take 3 weeks off by which point the sofa has become rather comfy and pizza is very tasty.
I am being so sensible, and I am not doing anything with any fanfare or fuss. It’s not a case of before where I was like ‘I HAVE BEEN TO THE GYM, LOOK AT ME, I AM GREAT, I SHALL HAVE A BEER AS A REWARD’.
Instead I am just going to the gym, because….crucially…I want to.
I can see myself in the mirror, and although I still have a large belly and haven’t seemed to have dropped a dress size, there is definition to my stomach. They aren’t abs, they are my ‘fl-abs’. And I am very proud of them.
I am still drinking alcohol (in moderation), I am still eating treat meals (in moderation), but I am being healthy most of the time.
In regards to my running training, I have already repeated one week because I didn’t feel ready to progress, and I am going to do the same with this week’s training. Before I would have felt like I was being weak, now I know it is the reason why I am getting stronger.
I wish I knew what the secret was, because then I could market the hell out of it and pay off my debt very quickly, but I think it can be summed up with a famous sports brand’s slogan.
JUST DO IT.
