Minimize Me: 10 Diets to Lose 25 Lbs in 50 Days (11 page)

I do feel like I’ve complained a lot throughout
this book and for that I make no apologies. This was never going to be one of
those books which claims that weight-loss is easy and that you just have to
‘find the inner you’ and ‘seize the moment’ and all that kind of motivational
bullshit. It’s an honest account of a serial dieter who struggles as much as
anyone else when it comes to food. One thing that a lot of diets don’t account
for is the emotional side of dieting, and I believe that this is where people
need the most help. Diets are all about controlling portions and calories, but
where most people need help is in controlling the cravings.

There’s a lot of scepticism around
hypnotism, but I personally think that if you combine it with a positive
attitude and a strong will to succeed, that sort of thing can actually do
wonders. I’ve never tried hypnotism myself, but I have devised a technique
whereby I can train my brain to think a different way. This technique helped me
to give up smoking and drinking at a time when both were threatening to significantly
shorten my life. I was a 30-a-day smoker and used to drink around 70 - 100
units of alcohol a week, and I gave up both without the use of patches, gum or
expensive psychotherapy. The amazing thing about it was that it was easy and I
didn’t have one single craving. It’s over ten years since I gave up smoking and
nearly five years since I gave up drinking, and to this day I have not thought
about having one single cigarette or one single sip of alcohol.

Firstly, when giving up anything, you’ve
got to want to do it. There is no point in going into something thinking
"Well, it would be nice to stop smoking, but I don’t know how I’d
cope". You need to be able to get yourself into the mindset in which you
believe that you can do it. From then on it’s incredibly simple – all you need
to do is recognise the signs. Every time you feel the craving coming on, that
feeling of hopelessness and emptiness, turn it into a positive. Instead of
feeling sad and dejected that you can’t have what you want, feel happy that you
haven’t had it, that you haven’t succumbed and that you are on the road to
better health. Each craving is a reminder that you are one step further away
from a life of misery and one step closer to happiness.

It sounds simplistic, but believe me it
works. I know what you’re thinking – how on earth can you simply just tell
yourself to think differently? You surely can’t just suddenly have a different
outlook. Well actually you can. Let’s use an example. Let’s assume that you’re
in love with the most amazing human being on the planet (some of you may be
lucky enough to be in that position right now). What emotions are you
experiencing? Happiness, peace and love. What emotions would you then
experience if you were to find out that very same person had been having an
affair with your best friend? I’d imagine it would be sadness, stress and
hatred. It’s the same person, you’re simply attaching a different emotion to
them, albeit in an exceptional situation. Therefore, if you have enough of a
reason to make the change and enough drive to see it through, there is no
reason why you can’t adopt the same approach with food. Let the cakes be the
bastard boyfriend. Let the takeaways be the ghastly girlfriend. For me, alcohol
and cigarettes were the girlfriends who cheated on me, and I’ll never see them
in the same light again.

You might ask why I haven’t succeeded
with this same approach when it comes to food, and this is where I’m willing to
accept that my magical technique falls a little flat. It was easy for me to
accept that cigarettes and alcohol were responsible for shortening my life, but
I have trouble accepting that the same applies to cakes. Call me a sucker, but
I keep on giving the ghastly girlfriend another chance, even though she’s made
it clear that she’s going to carry on cheating. Perhaps if I were unfortunate
enough to suffer from a debilitating illness such as a heart complaint or
diabetes, I’d grow a pair and ditch the bitch.

There were times towards the end of the
challenge when the weight-loss slowed and I truly wondered if it was worth all
the effort. There were days when I was close to throwing in the towel. Luckily
for me, these were days when I noticed other subtle changes which were
happening to my body. My double chin would be receding, my belt would need
tightening, or I’d be able to see my feet for the first time in years. The
measure of how well you’re doing doesn’t always come down to the small digital
read-out between your toes.

There were times when my actual weight
hadn’t changed, but my body shape had, and I was able to get into a smaller
pair of jeans. Even though those scales hadn’t moved, I could see in the mirror
that I looked healthier, and I felt so much happier than I had just a few days
earlier. I think it’s incredibly important to focus on other factors when
losing weight and to not get too absorbed by the numbers. It’s why I stopped
weighing myself daily. There was absolutely no point to it in the end because
the changes were so insignificant. It meant that any slight fluctuation would
be followed by immediate elation or dejection.

I haven’t mentioned my running at all in
the book, and that was a deliberate decision. I had reluctantly promised Louis
that I would do one 5km run during each diet. I did it on the understanding that
exercise is a valuable companion to a healthy eating regime, and by doing one
5km run during each diet phase I would ensure a fair trial of each. Running
hasn’t featured in the book because there was not much to write about in truth.
I put on a ridiculous pair of shorts, combined with an even more ridiculous
top, and I ran, walked and hobbled my way around a 5km circuit. I felt
ridiculous, I looked ridiculous and the times I managed to achieve were, quite
frankly, ridiculous, but I’m glad to say that I did it. As poor as my times
were, I was able to shave off just under seven minutes from my first run to my
last, which once again proves that success isn’t always measured on a set of
bathroom scales.

There were a couple of things which
happened during the last 50 days which I wasn’t prepared for. For example, I
didn’t expect my appetite to change. Towards the end of the challenge, I
noticed that I had a much smaller appetite and I needed a much smaller portion
in order to feel full. Another thing I’ve noticed is that I have been starting
to actually crave healthier foods. I find myself walking to work in the
mornings, salivating over the thought of some fresh berries or a grapefruit,
rather than a pain au chocolat or a sausage and egg roll. It’s definitely a
subconscious thing, because it often catches me by surprise. I’ll be walking
past a coffee shop and rather than being tempted by the smell of freshly-baked
croissants, I’m actually put off by it. Don’t get me wrong, I know I won’t feel
like this forever, and I’m sure there will be times when I’ll once again be
tucking into baked buttery breakfast items by the truckload, but for now I’m
going to enjoy the feeling of not being obsessed by the need to consume them.

Another pleasant side-effect of the
50-day challenge was that my wife lost weight too. She was very open and honest
with me right from the very start, saying that while she supported me, she did
think that what I was doing was a little irresponsible. After hearing that, I
didn’t expect her to embrace any of my diets, but there were times when it just
made sense for her to eat the same as I did. When I was doing the juice diet,
for example, she didn’t follow it with me but she definitely benefitted from
having lots more fruit and veg around the house, and during the Atkins diet she
would eat the healthy meals in the evening and cut out some of the carbs. Of
course we also had far fewer snacks in the house as a result of the challenge,
and I think my wife just felt guilty eating things in front of me, so ended up
going without. The end result was a 9-lb weight-loss for her too, and she’s
absolutely delighted with that.

I do feel that the way I’ve lost weight
is wrong and, to use my wife’s words, perhaps a little irresponsible, but in my
opinion the time of year when I ended up losing it is perfect. All of my diets
in the past have been born from a combination of over-indulging at Christmas
followed by yet another New Year’s resolution. I dare say a few of you reading
this now are in exactly that position, and to be honest it doesn’t matter what
time of year is, the important thing is that you’ve made the decision to make
positive changes to your health and lifestyle. Just making that decision has
put you ahead of the millions of people who have yet to take that brave first
step. Having lost weight leading up to Christmas, I do feel that I can relax a
little more come the festive season – I feel like I’ve put in the hard work, so
I deserve a little treat. Sure, I’ll put on a bit of weight, but I’ve got some
leeway and I’ll hopefully only need to lose a few pounds come resolution time.

I’ve spoken to a lot of people
throughout this challenge, and one of the most common questions I get asked is
whether I would recommend the 50-day challenge to others. My honest answer is
"no". While I’m incredibly proud of everything I have achieved, right
from the concept of the challenge to the actual execution, there is no getting
away from the fact that what I have done goes against the advice of every
single health professional. Losing weight should be a slow and steady process
and it should be done responsibly. I can’t stop anyone reading this book from
deciding to do it for themselves, but what I can do is advise you not to. If
you like, this is my disclaimer. This is effectively me asking you to sign the
waiver before you strap a bungee cord to your feet and jump off the edge. So if
you do decide to do it, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

For me personally, diets aren’t the
answer. By restricting anything, whether it’s calories or certain food groups,
it ends up leading to resentment and anxiety, and the only thing which seems to
cure either of those is the very food you’re trying to avoid. I’ve said it
before, but it’s a vicious circle, and one that the big dieting firms are only
too well aware of. It’s what keeps them in business. I’ve learned an incredible
amount during the last 50 days, but one of the most valuable lessons I’ve
learned is that losing weight isn’t about changing your diet plan, it’s about
changing your lifestyle. The balanced diet (number three in the challenge)
taught me that I can lose weight simply by trusting myself to make the right
choices. I mentioned back then that it is not so much a diet as a way of life,
a principle you should stick to. I’m going to have to use those very principles
in order to try to keep the weight off, because of course this is going to be
my biggest challenge.

Right at the start of the challenge I
met Louis, my nutritionist, at Charing Cross station in London. We promised to meet
again at the end, and when I contacted him this week he suggested we meet at
Ashford International station as it’s conveniently located between us. Ashford
International just happens to be the termination point of my train home from London each day, and the symbolism of meeting at a station which for me is the end of the
line wasn’t lost on me. We talked for an hour or so, and it was interesting to
note that while I was the one asking the questions at the start of the
challenge, Louis was the one asking them at the end. He was keen to know every
little bit of detail, despite the fact that we had conversed by email and phone
throughout the project. He clearly loves his work and I felt like I was his own
little personal experiment. "Which was the toughest diet?" "What
was your lowest point?" "So what happens now?" "How do you
plan to keep the weight off?" While I was tempted to simply answer,
"Buy the book and you’ll find out", I did of course give him all the
information he had asked for because he had been so generous with his time and
I could see how excited he was to see the results.

It wasn’t all niceties though – he told
me off too. He reiterated the point that slow and steady weight-loss is far
healthier and far more successful in the long-term and that I was silly to have
attempted the challenge in the first place. We agreed to keep in touch and,
while it was under the premise of keeping Louis updated with my fluctuating
weight, I felt like our relationship had moved from one of a business nature to
something a little more personal. I decided to test the theory by asking him if
he wanted to hug it out. At the start of the challenge, I mentioned that
perhaps if I were to succeed, we could hug it out, and I’m pleased to say that
I got my wish.

The only thing left to do was attend a
medical and to compare the results to the ones I had at the start of the
process. My doctor was kind enough to decipher the results and a summary of the
results are printed below.

Plasma Fasting Glucose Level                       

Before                      4.9 mmol/L

After                        4.9 mmol/L

Normal
levels           (3.5 – 6.0)

This was unchanged and my doctor
confirmed that this is essentially good news. It’s proved that while the
weight-loss has not benefitted me in any way, there was no damage done by the
speed with which I lost the weight.

Serum Cholesterol

Before                      4.0 mmol/L

After                        4.3 mmol/L

Normal
levels           (< 5.0)

My doctor confirmed that while this has
actually risen, it’s still within a healthy range and is not any cause for
concern. I found it interesting that despite feeling a lot healthier at the end
of the challenge, and even though I have lost over 30 lbs in weight, it hasn’t
affected my cholesterol level at all. My doctor did point out that even though
the weight-loss was significant, the time period of 50 days wasn’t, and this
could be one reason why the results are so similar.