Weighty Issues

For Halloween my daughter dressed up as me 15 years ago!

Along with swimming, weight has been an enigma of mine for as long as I can remember.

I was a chubby kid and a stocky teenager, it was in my early 20s that I accepted that to manage my weight I had to exercise more that the average person.

I was playing football at quite a serious level at the time which required squad training sessions every Tuesday and Thursday evening and a match on Sunday. For most of the lads, this was ample – but not for me. To maintain my playing weight I needed to hit the gym every lunch hour and run on the evenings when there wasn’t training.  And I watched what I ate and drank.

My playing weight was 71kgs which I maintained up until around the age of 29-30 when babies and work demoted football to more of a hobby than anything serious. The gym stopped and the running became less frequent and the weight piled on. I peaked around 94kgs following a stint when I was based in Texas where they do EVERYTHING bigger – especially meals!

After moving back to the UK I wanted to start playing football again, so I picked up the training and cut down on the food and managed to get down around 79-80kgs. I found I could maintain this weight but only if I trained at least 4 days a week. If the training stopped for whatever reason, the weight piled on. I could pack up 4kgs in a week’s holiday very easily.

Clearly the problem was food. Exercise (and a lot of it) managed to keep my weight in check, but even when I was trim I felt there was a fat person bursting to get out.

Constantly striving to be 71kgs again had become my raison d'être. I’ve come close a few times and sabotaged myself with binging and laziness. It was almost as though attaining that goal would leave me without purpose.

I’ve been accused (rightly) of being obsessed about my weight. Rach often says we place way too much emphasis and importance on food, also correct. Rach, being a Hypnotherapist, works with a lot of very overweight people who have similar issues to what I’ve had.

Yes, “had” – past tense. I think we’ve cracked the Yo-Yo weight gain-loss cycle and have finally got it all under control without even having to think about it too much anymore.

The secret was to make eating correctly part of everyday life and “normal”. As simple and obvious as that.

About a year ago we adopted the Paleo for Athletes philosophy. 90% of the time we eat pure Paleo with specific post-exercise windows for taking on extra protein and carb. Bread, pasta, rice  and potatoes dramatically disappeared from our diets and were replaced with meat, vegetables and fruit. Like any new diet, it took a while to adjust but now it’s completely natural.

Now that it’s the norm, we no longer beat ourselves up for the odd non-Paleo meal if we’re out for dinner or even if we just fancy something different. It’s not like smoking where one careless smoke can break someone’s resolve completely. We actually enjoy the food we eat and being on this diet isn’t viewed as a hardship at all.

As a result of eating this way, I very quickly dropped back to around 73-74kgs and have stayed there all year. My race weight for 2012 was 71-72kgs which was achieved naturally by the increased training hours with no real changes required to the diet. The weight loss was all fat and I think I’ve actually gained muscle mass during this time.

Unlike other fad diets, Paleo eating makes sense. Just eat what we as humans were intended to eat. Except sprouts. And fish. Yuk.

So, less weight and more muscle mass – the holy grail as far as going faster on the bike and running are concerned. I’m certain this was the main factor in my setting PBs this year and I’m hopefully of continuing this trend into 2013.

I’ve still got a bit of padding to lose and the aim will be to drop to 69-70kgs whilst maintaining or maybe even gaining muscle mass in the legs. Every little bit helps!!

TTFN!