Well done. Just over 4 stone in 4 moths is great.
They'd never get off the ground!
Congratulations, Ian. I have been following your progress with great interest. Whilst never having been given the stark warning by a GP that you have, I too am massively overweight. I don't think I have what it takes to go down the gastric band route. I am filling myself up with salad instead, something I haven't tried before. I have reduced greatly the quantity of bread that I am eating, and have also reduced the ale. I'm cycling more again, and have signed up to our local swimming pool for a year, with the intention of going at least twice a week and swimming for at least half an hour. So far, things seem to be working, but it is early days.
The one thing I have noticed is an immediate drop in blood pressure. My BP has never been particularly high for a fat bastard (compare my older brother, who is two inches taller than I am and about 8 stone lighter and has always been very fit. He has been on BP meds for years), and my cholesterol figures are also pretty good, but over the weekend, during which I have cycled almost 50 miles and swum a kilometre, my last measurement was 114/54 with a pulse of 66. I have never been given BP meds. Previous to my current exercise/diet regime, my BP was typically 140ish/80ish. When I had a rheumatology appointment in November, my BP was a fair bit higher than that, at 150ish over 80ish, but that is the highest it has ever been. My GP has never been concerned about a reading of 140/80.
Taking my BP again now, during a day in which my exercise has been about 2 miles walking pushing a 40lb toddler in a push chair, and a further half-mile without a push chair, but nothing significant in the past 5 hours, it's 131/72, pulse 64.
