Joe Lennon

Back when I was in my first year of college, I weighed 10 and a half stone, which is pretty light for someone roughly 6 feet tall. I was lanky, scrawny and underweight. Much of this I attribute to the fact that I walked almost everywhere, and I also put it down to the fact that being a 20-a-day smoker virtually killed my appetite. I remember wishing I’d put on a bit of weight so I’d be stronger…they do say you should be careful what you wish for!

By the time I had started my second year I had learned to drive and hence was driving to and from college every day. Not only was this bad for my social life (gone were the days of having a few pints after lectures), but it also led to me becoming very lazy. Now that I was on the road, I no longer walked anywhere – I’d drive to the shop, I’d drive to my girlfriend’s house, I’d drive everywhere. Of course with laziness comes a lack of fitness and with a lack of fitness you put on weight. And I did.

Cue to my third year in college, during which I travelled to Boston in the United States for a six month work placement programme with Fidelity Investments. This was great, probably the best six months I ever had – we made good money, travelled every weekend and partied often. Our apartment was nice, but the kitchen was disgusting so we ate out every night. And I mean, every night. Of course, I was still smoking at this time, but six months of eating a cycle of Thai, Chinese, Pizza, and Cheesecake Factory food culminated in my weight spiralling out of control. When I returned from the States I weighed in at roughly 15 stone.

I returned from my placement in September 2006 and entered my final year of college. I quit smoking on 1st January 2007, and although I didn’t find it all that difficult, I did find myself replacing cigarettes with alcohol and food. Over the next few months I would gain another 1 and a half stone, topping out at 16 and a half stone. I’d be lying if I said I did much about it – for about six months I refused to change my lifestyle. In September 2007 I started full-time employment with Core International, who I still work for today. A month later I moved out from my parents’ house and into rented accommodation. Soon after I decided I’d had enough of being overweight and that I was going to do something about it.

I set my target at an ambitious 14 and a half stone, in other words, I needed to shed two stone. I radically changed my diet and started to go for a run around the estate in the evenings. After a few months of dieting and exercising, I weighed in at 14 stone 8 lbs, just a single pound short of my target. Then Christmas happened. Fortunately I didn’t put all my weight back on – I was averaging between 15 stone 6 lbs and 15 stone 10 lbs. I tried to do the whole January 1st New Year’s Resolution thing but it didn’t last very long. In April 2008 I moved back home as I was in the process of buying a house with my long-term girlfriend, and by the end of May 2008 I was moved out for good. Since then I haven’t really worried about my diet, although I did join a gym in November to start swimming.

My current weight loss regime began on Monday 19th January 2009. My start weight was 15 stone 4 lbs, and my target weight was (and still is) 13st 10lbs. I’ve decided to go with a 100% diet plan, rather than concentrating on going to the gym and working out. People will disagree with me on this method, but I’ve decided that I want to shed weight first, and once I have done so I will start to go to the gym as I relax my diet somewhat. Call it lazy if you like, but I have a specific plan set out and I intend to stick to it. Other than the odd unplanned walk, I play 5-a-side football twice a week, but I am not currently going to the gym.

So for now it’s all about the diet. Although it won’t suit everyone, I find that Weight Watchers works very well for me. I don’t go to the meetings or have a subscription or anything like that, but a bit of rooting around on the Internet told me that I would have roughly 26-30 points per day available to me. So that was my starting point. I like to record progress daily so I went to the Apple iTunes App Store and downloaded two apps for my iPhone. The first is called “WeightBot” and is an excellent little tool for recording your weight on a daily basis. It will allow you to enter your measurements in stones, pounds or kilograms, and has a beautiful interface. It displays a chart when you tilt the phone sideways, which is neat for seeing how well (or how badly) you’ve done. The second app I downloaded was a really basic app called “UKPoints”. You can work out the points value for any food using its nutritional information. All you need is the energy in kCal or kJ, and either the Saturated Fat in grams or the Total Fat in grams. It will be more accurate if you use Saturated Fat. Please note that this works for the UK-based Weight Watchers formula, which uses Saturated Fat information. In the US, they use Total Fat and they account for Fibre aswell, so if you’re on the US plan, be sure to get a US-oriented calculator. Entering these values into this app will give it all the info it needs to crunch the numbers into a Weight Watchers points value.

In terms of food, I eat a mix of general healthy food and some Weight Watchers brand products. Some people may accuse me of falling for the marketing ploy that is Weight Watchers branded food, but I like some of it and it offers convenience in terms of telling you how many points per portion on the box. If it doesn’t work for you, fair enough, but it works for me so I’m sticking with it! In general, the WW products I purchase include:

• Baked Beans
• Tomato Soup
• Mushroom Soup
• Clear Chicken Noodle Broth
• Cookies (of whatever variety I can get my hands on)
• Yogurt (Citrus Fruits, Toffee & Vanilla)
• Mousse (Chocolate, Stawberry)
• Ready meals (Mediterranean Pasta and Sweet & Sour Chicken)

So what is a typical day in terms of food for me on this diet? I always have exactly three meals a day, and a snack while watching TV in the evening. For breakfast I always have Sultana Bran with Light Milk. This is 3 and a half points. If I have some in the fridge, I will have a Citrus Fruit WW Yogurt for a half point. So I usually use four points for breakfast. I also allot one point for the day’s coffee intake (I drink a lot of coffee!). What I have for lunch depends on whether I am in the office or working from home on a given day. If I am in the office I will usually have a WW Mediterranean Pasta (4 Points) or Sweet & Sour Chicken (5 Points) dish. If I’m working from home I will have WW Tomato Soup (1 Point), Pitta Bread (2 Points) and a WW Yogurt(0.5 or 1 Point). Sometimes I might have a chicken breast and sweet chilli sauce if there’s a cooked one from the night before.

For dinner I have a wide variety of dishes. I am a big fan of Donegal Catch frozen breaded fish, especially Hake, Lemon Sole, Cod and Scampi. These are all 3 and a half points per fillet. If I’m having one of these, I will chop three rooster potatoes into chips and cook them in the oven for 4 points. I then have a tin of baked beans or mushy peas for a further two points, bringing the grand total to 9 points. Sometimes I will have fresh fish like Cod or Monkfish. I like to cook Cod in the oven in tinfoil, with olive oil, lemon juice, spring onion and cherry tomatoes, with a sprinkle of paprika. It is truly delicious. Fresh fish is great for those on a diet, as it can be as low as a single point per fillet, and is full of Omega 3 fatty acids which are great for your skin. Another dish I like is a very simple one, 100g Frozen King Prawns, half jar of Sharwoods Sweet Chilli and Red Pepper sauce and one nest of Sharwoods Medium Egg Noodles. This is about 4 points or so, and if you’re peckish you can simply double the portion – it will seriously fill you up! Try to use a low fat cooking spray instead of fatty oils when possible. Sometimes (especially with Asian cuisine) this won’t work as you need oils with a really high smoking temperature, but for my King Prawns dish the spray does the job just fine! I also often eat Spaghetti Bolognese (a very meaty variety) which usually costs me 9 points.

I really love my dinner and am more than happy to sacrifice a big breakfast and lunch so I can allow myself a decent portion of dinner in the evening! I don’t eat desserts, they are just asking for trouble! I have a very sweet tooth so if I were to indulge myself with luscious desserts, even if they come within my points allowance, I just know I wouldn’t last long on the diet before I break out the Taytos!

My only non-main meal snack of the day is in the evening when I’m relaxing in front of the TV. I will have a nice cup of good coffee, 2 WW cookies for 1.5 points, and 4 mints for 2 points. The great thing about the mints is that they last in your mouth for ages so you don’t tend to feel the need for food as much!

So I’m currently just in my third week of this plan, and I’m happy to report that I currently weigh in at 14st 7lbs, and am roughly at the halfway mark! So far I have lost 12 pounds, and I have another 12 lbs to lose before I reach my target. I am very confident I will do it, although as anyone who has dieted will tell you, it only gets tougher as time goes on! On the upside, I am feeling much healthier and I look healthier, having lost some of the chubbiness from my face and neck in particular. I will let you know how I get on over the next couple of months! If you have any hints, tips or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment on this post. If you have successfully lost weight in the past please share your stories, or if you’re struggling with losing weight share your grievances. We’ve all been there!