2020++ - smiling and waving and looking so fine

mark55man

Thanks @alt80!  Good luck with your journey and your diary - you are not too far off where I started, except for the cars!.

Weighed in this morning -3lbs for the week which is on plan and consistent with my start of year results - like debt decreasing by 1% regularly is probably better for the constitution than boom and bust.  as a reminder my weight loss targets are mainly absolute targets (eg 100kg, 200lbs) rather than specific amounts lost, but I doubt I'll be able to avoid mentioning them as I go past them

alt80

Thanks and good luck with the weight loss as well as the debt clearing. 100kg is a lot of weight how far are you away?

mark55man

just 7kg away now until I am at 100Kg (21kg since start of year).  I think I will make that by December.  My real target is under 200lbs (14st 4) .  after that we'll see I haven't been 13st anything since Uni which was long ago. 

mark55man

Meals for the last few days of Week 2

* Day 5 - Brunch: Blueberry Pancakes and Yogurt - Supper: Chicken with lemon and herbs & Kale & Pak Choi

* Day 6 - Breakfast: Scrambled Egg & Smoked Salmon- Lunch: Broccoli Soup - Supper: Pork Steaks with Apple & creme fraiche

* Day 7 - Breakfast: Bacon and Egg  - Lunch: Protein Shake - Strawberry w/coconut milk - Supper: Sausages & Cauliflower Mash

At office lunches are mainly shakes or cold collation

mark55man

Week 3 - Day 2 is today

* Day 1 - Breakfast: Protein Shake - Lunch:Serrano Ham & Pear - Supper: Beef Rendang 

* Day 2 - Breakfast: Beef Rendang (!!) - Lunch: Scrambled Egg and Smoked Salmon - Supper: Curried Mince Peas and Spinach

Little bit spendy this week haircuts for the ladies and horror of horrors some fuel for the car but should be able to get though the next couple of weeks without bothering the O/D.

alt80

mark55man said:

just 7kg away now until I am at 100Kg (21kg since start of year).  I think I will make that by December.  My real target is under 200lbs (14st 4) .  after that we'll see I haven't been 13st anything since Uni which was long ago. 

That’s amazing progress mate. Did you start weight and debts together? 

mark55man

I've been on the scenic route with debts - largely as I have 4 kids 3 at or through Uni and a 4th who is poorly - mainly since the financial crash in 2007 as I had set myself up on a growth schedule (promotions - wage inflation and so had holidays and didnt worry about the money) then when it all went tits up - I wasn't unemployed - its just I had zero slack to catch up and my vanity was to not let my kids go short as they did the difficult teenage years so I did not take the direct route.  But then as kids became independent and left Uni it got better and I got stricter.  And so now, this is my year to clear it - ironically the pandemic has brought my debt free date into this year if I can just keep the gas on.

In parallel with my financial goals, my weight has been up and down over the years largely inversely proportion to how busy I am and how much time I spent looking after myself.  Equally the pandemic has helped, by putting the fear of god into me for being tubby, but also increased working from home has enabled me and my wife to do weight loss more meaningfully together. However as you get older future planning your health is also important, and like pensions the earlier you start the better.  The key difficulties are all related to weight, so OH and I are determined to get to our targets as soon as possible so no scenic route for Lbs, and no scenic route for £££ 

mark55man

Just read through my diary, which was nice.  Things do seem to be getting ticked off, whilst much seems to be the same.  Just had a sneaky weigh in (well I was in my pants in the kitchen and I accidentally stepped on the scales), so I am now back to my low point of the year ie started at 121kg, reached 106kg, came off the diet went back up to 110kg and now 105.6kg.  So anything from now on it is pure gravy (not literally!).

I have fallen away from some of the more formal reporting and specific numbers - if you recall my previous diary was working the numbers 2019 style  (Not quite sure if I have the courage to read that).  I try to be a bit more formal around payday and then drift into chit chat and recipes during the month.   Perhaps one measure of improvement is that in May/June I was trying to get through the month on £1200 after fixed expenses, but due to savings and getting OD under control its not closer to £1500 - its that virtuous circle again. 

mark55man

So will be trying to do some walking tomorrow, its strange I have been home 5 days a week, most of the lockdown (excepting 2 or 3 months) but yet have been much less active than before.  I'm not a hermit, but when at home I tend to stay in and that lifestyle is looking increasingly tempting - I may have to work hard to fight that.  However with second waves and winter coming I may have left it a bit late this year.  I'm not getting inside a gym for love nor money (your views may vary) until its a lot safer

I did have a skim through last years diary and quite enjoyed the third quarter when I was reporting in daily - now my 12 months monster workload have finished there is no reason why I shouldn't start trying to post more frequently again.  I noticed I do tend to blow hot and cold with posting but this year has been more constant, but not as frequent.  I did two things that seemed to work - one was save/make (in terms of money), and dump/recycle (in terms of clutter) - I'll try that again to see if I can't kick push myself to some more activities.  

I am however sometimes completely unashamed to report no progress again and again - and it feels a bit indulgentand I need to sort myself out.  So now weight and money seem to be going well this year I need to start building up priorities for next year - the following targets (from the OP in this thread) seem most fitting

Health - but exercise not weight - mainly walking to start with but no step counts as my fitbit strap broke and I lost the fitbit months ago.  However will aim for the following from my Post #1

* Steps / Keep fit - at least 3 times a week over 10000 and always over 5000

* Restart an outdoor hobby

Cleaner Personal Environment  - find a way to tackle the mountain of work that 6 adults in lockdown have generated !!  I've been good in the garden this year but less so in some of the don't go areas - will aim for the following from my Post #1

* greener personal environment - car / garden / house

Getting Ready to (afford to) Retire - find a way to improve & simplify my life.  I've been letting some simple improvements slip (lazy tax) as I focus on the above, but this general objective will become important next year when hopefully some of the other goals are ticked off - will aim for the following from my Post #1 as a suitable general bucket
* less procrastination - eat more frogs more often

Right lets see how to build on this - as we career towards Christmas

mark55man

EDIT - Also - I will make an effort to read more - magazines and books.  And not blogs or FB.

But before I stop here is a blog that I really liked https://theescapeartist.me/2015/03/02/the-aggregation-of-marginal-gains/ - I like the site as a whole, but this one is important as to why its making and retaining small gains whether increasing savings or decreasing spends