This is a repost of the first article in my new diet blog In 2012 I successfully lost 10kg and much waist. Blogging the detail helped because it kept me in check with the public.

I started this year with good intentions. I intended to diet, write and exercise. Well, it was not to be. In February, I followed Lent. One meal a day (OMAD), no alcohol, no carbs except on Sunday. By the end of March, my weight was 83.5kg and my clothes were comfortable. And then we went to Miami.

Our first trip away this year was in USA. We stayed by Miami Beach. We watched the sunrise on the first day using jet-lag to our advantage. We didn’t overeat. We transferred to the city and then flew to New York. It was there that we became relaxed. On the first day I had a huge breakfast. And then bad habits took over. When we returned home, I found that the weight lost had returned.

I suspect this is why the weight came back

The few of you that know me, will know that I lost a significant amount of weight around 10 years ago. I started that journey in April 2011 with a 102cm (40”) waist weighing over 102kg (265lb). With the help of a personal trainer and a better diet, I reduced my weight to 86kg (190lb) by the following May. My waist was around 91.5cm (36”).

I followed the Slow-Carb Diet and by October 2012, I weighed in at 76kg (168lb). I maintained this diet for most of 2013 and 2014, and my waist reduced to 87cm (34”). I was 38 years old. The last time my waist was this size, was when I was 18.

One of the activities that helped was cycling. In 2013, I cycled from London to Paris on an organised trip. The following year, I cycled from London to Brussels via Amsterdam. Cycling is great exercise, but it is difficult to complete long rides without carbs. As a result I relaxed the diet. In 2015, I’d stopped cycling and the weight started to return.

Since then though I have returned to low-carb diets and have managed to keep the weight off. I have also experimented with fasting and OMAD. In May 2020 I got back on the bike and was able to ride 75km - 100km by July. Unfortunately things changed when my back wheel slipped and I fell. I broke my shoulder. The consultants told me I would not regain full movement in my arm. More or less, I recovered fully. I maintained a low-carb diet throughout the period and I often wonder if it helped.

At the tail end of the Covid quarantine, I followed Lent in 2021 and only ate one meal a day. I did not drink and only had carbs on Sunday. I started at 80.7kg (19.6%) and finished at 76.5kg (13.3% fat). At the end of Lent, I could wear my 36” jeans in comfort.

But back to the present. After the USA holiday in April, I did not settle down to my good habits. I have not been measuring my weight and I have not been exercising as much as I should. Also as I’ve got older, I’ve had to work harder to keep the weight off. There is only one course of action: 

Start again. Try harder. Accept it will take longer.

As I write this, I have recently started on a low-carb diet. I was 87.2kg (21.9% fat) yesterday. I am 88.3kg (22%) today because I had a cheat day yesterday. A cheat day always adds weight back on, but it is necessary to keep sane. Both measurements are more than I weighed in May 2012. I have had to buy larger clothes for comfort.

 I will eat one or two meals a day. I will avoid alcohol, but allow myself an occasional glass of dry wine. I will take a day off every week. I intend to maintain this for the foreseeable future. 

Life can be difficult with travelling and work commitments. So I will give myself the occasional pass. But I will be writing about the diet here so that you, gentle reader, can keep an eye on me and keep me in check.