Today we’ll take a break from my BodyAware journey. The BodyHoliday’s new General Manager, Mark Lyttelon-Frances, shares his personal weight loss success story with us:
Since starting at TBH on the 10th February I have to date lost 34 pounds, gained 10 pounds of muscle mass, reduced my waist from a tight size 38 to a comfortable 32 and reduced my bodyfat percentage from an obese 30% down to a normal 16%. Mostly I have done this on my own, but also by following interesting and basic snippets of information from Felix, Rob and the Bodyguards. I arrived on island fairly overweight after a diet in the UK that consisted of a lot of high fat, high carb food, and regular pints of lager. A sedentary lifestyle with a combination of fatty, salty food meant that my weight went only one way for four years. I learnt that I had a wheat intolerance a few years ago, but had never really done anything about my diet, and continuously felt bloated and fairly lethargic, a side effect of the wheat, and one that I never really took seriously. Having had a fairly organic diet in Africa, the over processed fats and carbs in the UK really fired up my taste buds, so to eat a full English breakfast (loved the sausages), Burgers for lunch and fish and chips at the Pub in the evening was a 3 day a week occurrence.
I arrived on island a hefty 220 pounds at only 5ft 7inches.
Getting going was tough I must admit, but quickly my gym sessions stretched beyond 30minutes. I found myself getting stronger and fitter daily, however, the weight was shifting slowly, and I hadn’t really adjusted my diet that much, and my water intake was still low. I was convinced by one of the team to ignite some high tempo cardio into my routine, and to concentrate on High Intensity Interval Training. Short bursts of high heart rate over a 30-40 minute session. Running was out, I was too heavy, and my knees are shot from years of rugby as a youngster. So I climbed on a spinning bike about two months ago. I nearly died, it was seriously tough going initially, but I persevered and the weight just fell off of me, as I revved up my heart rate and got my metabolism ticking over. A few test weeks with the old heart monitor, and we showed that I could burn 500+ calories in a 45 minutes session, and about 650 in an hour session. This was great, but not if I was eating badly. I had a chat with Felix and Rob, and got advice from both. Simply, to get my metabolism working properly I needed to up my food intake (5-6 small meals per day), and get some water into me. Simple, except that I needed to make a conscious effort to avoid fatty foods and to raise my veggie intake. Tough! It turned out not as tough as I thought it would be, as I actually enjoy all the fruit, fish, fibre, low carb rice and gluten free breads. I avoid sauce, salt and fat, but am fuller and less hungry than I used to be, but don’t let me miss a meal, as I get really hungry about every two/three hours and I am constantly looking for another glass of water as my metabolism is on fire.
All told, my weight has started to plateau slightly, but still coming off. I keep control over my diet, but still have a few drinks when I want to, and indulge in a burger or two every now and then. So I live quite normally and I am not a prisoner of my diet. In fact my diet is now my normal eating pattern, and I am happy to continue eating like this. I do cardio four times a week and do about 30 minutes of weight training every other day. I keep my lifestyle active, walk everywhere, and drink loads of water.
Good luck on the rest of your journey!
