I was the fat kid in school, which is not an easy place to be. You get trapped in a vicious circle. Obviously, to lose the fat you need to exercise, which means throwing yourself into PE. But PE is absolutely the last place the fat kid wants to be. PE is were you are paraded in front of the entire school as being basically shit at everything. PE is were you have to face being consistently picked last for everything. PE is were you are laughed at and tormented.
It takes a lot of courage for a fat kid to really get involved with PE. It was courage I didn't have.
So I stayed the fat kid. I became the fat kid. I joined in the jokes, initiated them even. It became a key part of how I defined myself.
Which is why what I'm about to write feels really weird.
The results of the 2nd six week challenge are in: I'm not fat.
The 2nd six week challenge has replicated the results of the first almost identically. I've lost the 6kg in 6 weeks that I set out to, the majority of which is pure fat loss.
I've hit my targets. Targets that I worked out years ago. Targets that always seemed out of reach.
I've hit targets that mean I am, officially, not fat.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not fit. I still have a keg rather than a six pack and I won't be running any marathons any time soon.
Not fat. I wonder how long it will take for that to really sink in. I hope I can keep the weight off long enough to find out.
If your reading this looking for tips on how to become not fat yourself, there is only really one tip that matters. Find something that works for you.
Forget about looking for the "best", "quickest", "most efficient" ways of losing weight.
Last year I needed to lose 12 kg, I had 6 weeks, so I "should" have aimed for 2kg a week. If I had gone to the gym every day, and a run, and whatever else I "could" have done it. BUT, and it's a big BUT, if I was the kind of guy who could do all that I probably wouldn't have got to the stage where I needed to lose 12kg. The far more likely outcome of pushing myself too hard would have been to break down and quit after a few days. The breakdown probably would have involved ice cream.
Look for something you can do. Look for something boringly easy. Look for quick wins - maybe switch to drinking more water, cut down on obvious junk food, go for more walks. Whatever works for you.
It's not a race. It takes time - give it time. In many ways my "6 week" challenge started nearly 30 years ago.
And now I'm not fat.
