The Gut Returns! Can Man Possibly Stop It?

I'm precisely THIS serious.

Maybe you remember that a little over a year ago I started this blog to chronicle my battle to be less fat. Maybe you also remember that after a flurry of early interest I left it to die on its arse.

Well, since then I ran a half marathon in under two hours, got my weight down from 18st to 14st 6lbs and took up mountain biking to complement the running. I am, I can happily say, in loads better shape than I was a year and a half ago.

Now, though, it's time to level up.

I'm running a bloody marathon.

And, while my headline was a tad sensationalist and I'm still around 82% of my former, fatter self, my weight has crept back up a bit. Nothing drastic, but it's more than it was and I never quite pushed the weight loss as far as I should have.

So, state of the union:

I'm 6'2 and weigh 14st 12lbs. The BBC's BMI calculator* gives me a score of 26.1, which is 'overweight'. That's pretty sobering. I'll be 'normal' when I hit 14st 2. I'm 3st 2lb lighter than the 18st I weighed 18 months ago. I'm also now pretty fit. To give you an idea of that, I'm marathon training and ran 13 miles on Sunday.

I'd like to be healthier, though. I'm gunning for somewhere round the 13st 7lb mark and I'm estimating around 2lb/week loss.

There are a couple of reasons I want to do this. The best is that I want to be about as healthy as I can be. I also want to be lighter so I can run the best marathon I'm able to. The worst reason, but one I might as well 'fess up to, is that I'd like to be thinner.

So, here's the plan in brief:

Train for a marathon. I'm using the Runner's World intermediate marathon plan as the basis for my training, although I was perhaps not quite as fit at the start of it as I should have been, so I've been modifying the first few weeks so I don't over-do it. I've also decided not to do hill-sprints, as I injured my achilles tendon earlier in the year doing that. I'll be substituting those for tempo runs and speed work.

Eat properly, like a real human. Last year, I was on a weight loss diet. This year, I'm on a 'be able to run a marathon' diet. I'm counting on the increased running to do the heavy lifting, and healthy eating will be supporting that. The marathon, and being fit enough to run a marathon, takes priority over weight loss. You need to put it in to get it out. So: plenty of carbs, predominantly from whole grains and low GI sources; lots of fresh fruit and veg; whole foods; not too much processed crap; less meat. I won't be starving myself, I won't be writing off the odd pie or dessert-y treat-y thing. I won't be calorie counting. I've got a good enough idea of what should go in and what shouldn't now to trust myself. It's just common-sense, healthy eating, really.

And that, folks, is where I'm at. I'm actually ridiculously excited about it all.

You can follow along on Twitter, if you care to. More soon(ish)...


Update: As pointed out by DoctorDee in the comments, BMI is a very general, frequently unhelpful measure that often fails to adequately deal with muscle mass, which is heavier than body fat. To that I'd add that the BMI rating isn't the point of shifting this weight - it was just a handy signpost to present here. More accurate, perhaps, is the 'Looking at Mark's Belly Indicator' (LMBI), which also clearly demonstrates that there's still room for improvement.