DAY 78 OF MY 5 STONE CHALLENGE – COMPLETE!!

Today’s been a normal day for me.  Back on the porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch and dinner is an unknown surprise at the moment as I have a Governor’s meeting which is expected to end very late this evening, so may try and grab some fruit to take with me to keep me going!  I have to confess though, I feel exhausted.  The jetlag from Mexico is the worst I’ve ever had and I have a cold too, so generally feeling sorry for myself…and when I feel sorry for myself, I crave comfort foods.

I think I’ve mentioned on my blog before, prior to the start of this challenge, I had a very unhealthy relationship with Hellman's mayonnaise.  I couldn’t get enough of it and would try and work it into my daily intake of calories any which way I could.  It was most definitely my Achilles heel, which is why I made the decision to cut it out of my diet altogether rather than attempt to ration my intake and end up getting overruled by the need to quench by greed.

Now that I’m feeling more secure in my diet and exercise regime, my mind wondered whether there was any way to introduce a mayonnaise substitute which was healthier.  I have to confess, I was stunned when I looked properly at the contents of a jar of ‘Real Mayonnaise’ - 100 calories per 14g tablespoon and 11g’s of that is fat! There is clearly a massive difference in the ‘Light Mayonnaise’ which is 40 calories per 15g tablespoon of which 4g’s are fat, but the taste and texture is very different and I’m not a big fan.

Over the next few weeks, I’m planning to trial a whole range of alternatives, from avocado (like a guacamole), greek yogurt, sun-dried tomatoes, hummus, pesto, Nayonaise and aioli.  If any of you have any other suggestions though, I’m willing to give anything a shot.  I really can’t stand dry food and if I can find a sauce which works for me, I’ll be a very happy man!

WHY DID I ACCEPT THIS NEVER-ENDING CHALLENGE?

As the weeks continue into my 5 Stone Challenge I have to admit, the commitment to the diet waivers, the results are harder to achieve and my desire for anything at all which is laced with lard increases! So why on earth am I doing this challenge?  It’s simple – because of The Dream Factory.  It’s one of the most worthy charities I have ever had the pleasure of working with.

You can never truly understand the overwhelming burden which is placed on a family of a terminally ill child - be it financial, psychological or physical.  The way in which everything that seems so perfect and normal can be completely turned on its head to make the things which you thought were important pale into insignificance.  To have a helping hand in a person's hour of need which allows them to make the most of time they have left with their child is surely one of the greatest gifts we can give?

But the harsh reality is, charity work is extremely expensive.  The requests for help that flood into The Dream Factory’s office every day far outstrip the funding available to help.  So there are families out there who are left without that helping hand and that is all I am trying to help with.  It’s simple, the more money we can raise, the more children’s dreams can come true. 

It’s so simple to donate too.  You can do it online via my JustGiving website, you can send a text MURF50 then the amount you want to sponsor (anything from £1) and send it to 70070 or you can call the charity directly on 020 8501 1234.

So far, with gift aid, we have raised £3,197.50, but with your help, we can and must do better.  Whatever you can afford to give will be gratefully received.  Thank-you.

WEEK 11 OF THE 5 STONE CHALLENGE – COMPLETE!!

So, today is week 11 of my 5 Stone Challenge and whilst I’ve been beyond lax at updating my blog over the past few weeks, the diet has continued, even if it has been a particularly bumpy road!

As those of you who follow me on Twitter may be aware, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks in Mexico celebrating my best friend’s stag / bachelor party.  I have the honour of being his Best Man, so have spent the past year pulling this event together…and what an event it was!  For anyone who has not experienced Cancun during Spring Break before, I can’t recommend it highly enough.  I made a pact with myself when I first took-up this challenge which was that I would completely forget the diet for the 2 weeks of the stag, but that would be the only time I would let myself off the leash between now and the end of the challenge.

As it turns out though, I made the effort to swim every day, to dance hard all night every night, to only drink gin and slimline tonic and to eat as well as I could.  Generally speaking (minus a few 5am pizzas), I stuck to those rules.  Breakfasts were simple and healthy, lunches were often BBQs (so freshly grilled seafood, meat and vegetables) and the evening meal’s allocation of calories were consumed via copious amounts of alcohol.  Not a diet I would advocate, but I was making the best of a bad situation!

I returned home over the weekend and have dreaded stepping back on the scales, but ‘carpe diem’ as they say, I hopped up today and prepared for the worst.  I can’t begin to tell you how elated I was to find out I had lost weight on the stag.  In fact, I had to weigh again just to be absolutely sure.

When I started the challenge, I weighed 26 stone.  Today I weighed in at 23 stone, which is a whopping 3 stone or 42lb loss (or for my European friends, 165.3kg to 146.4kg = 18.9kg).  Thinking back to those bricks I referred to in my earlier post, that means I have now lost 8.5 bricks of fat from my body.  BMI was 44.4 and it’s now 38.9.  My body fat was 37.7% and is now 34.7%.

I genuinely do believe in divine intervention and someone somewhere has clearly given me a helping hand which has given me exactly the focus I needed to get back on the bandwagon and lose the final 2 stone of this challenge….here’s to the future!