One month, 2 stone (nearly) lighter…

Well what I can say is that Keto really is neato! I’ve now been a Keto concert for a month and seen a 2 stone weight loss (nearly…26lbs so far)…but…not without a few treats along the way. Included in this has been birthday dinner & drinks, 4 days skiing and eating and drinking all the carbs, and a dinner that included pasta and mucho vino!

Anyway what I’ve learnt along the way is that sticking to the Keto lifestyle will show a continued weight loss but weighing in daily although good when the pounds are falling will also give you a slightly less motivating morning when they have stayed the same for a couple of days. But…sometimes this can spur along the need for a little macro flipster as I like to call it…basically an excuse to eat all the carbs! Kind of gives your body a little shock and then when you go back into keto life the pounds seemingly start coming off again (granted you might have put a pound or two on when you tried to eat your own body weight in pasta and sandwiches…but still).

Anyway my top tips after month one if you’re going to do Keto are:

1. Get a carb and macros manager app…might seem boring but really starts to help you work out what you’re putting in and helps you realise where all those secret net carbs are hiding. I use Carb manager but MyFitnessPal is another popular one.

2. Fat bombs…look them up, buy a book, find recipes sweet or savoury…these little bundle of fatty joy will help sort you’re macros at the end of the day when you’ve found yourself eating too much protein. Fat is really hard to get your head around consuming enough and within your daily cals so these little Fat Bomb beauty’s will help keep you on track usually for 200kcals and under.

3. Olives are a mans best friend…like fat bombs olives are full of good fat…keep these little rascals in the fridge and throw them into anything…or keep a good quality bottle of its liquid sister Extra Virgin Olive Oil to hand and add a couple of table spoons into anything (beware cals of olive oil though).

4. Beware spices…as an absolute spice master I previously added lots of dried spices and the whole trinity of garlic, chilli and ginger to most dishes. The advise now is to do in proportion and just have a butchers in a carb manager on the volumes you are using. This is probably a piece of advise that only applies to a few but you will be fine and food is still spicy and delicious (see my Keto curry recipe…I’m still perfecting so is a dish in development).

Bisons Keto Curry with Barenaked Rice

5. Fasting is a thing…if you can hold off the temptation once a week for an extended period of time then a little bit of light fasting keeps you on track (also probably helps shrink your tummy so smaller portions just become the norm).

6. If you love eggs bite the bullet and go Burford…If you’re going to start eating eggs daily or at least a few times a week as a delicious and filling part of a meal or star of your breakfast, my advise is to buy quality eggs and Burford Browns really are the cream of the crop. Once you’ve tried them you won’t look back you egg snob you!

7. Water…it’s advised in every diet and life in general but do yourself a favour and try and squeeze plenty of the wet stuff into your day. I usually end up making up for it in the evening. Also whilst not ideal, most diet drinks are relatively Keto friendly but there are mixed reviews on them. Personally I love a sparkly little tin of diet delight but do beware some of them are hiding the sugar so keep an eye on the nutritional info before sipping.

8. When dining out…have a sneaky ore look at at the menu online. This way you can navigate it without having to get your phone out to check carbs and can maybe even pre build out a couple of things you might have to see how they stack up.

9. Carb replacements are awesome and keep you feeling like you’re getting your fix. My top two have been Barenaked products (tried the noodles and rice so far) and Lo Dough. Check out these bad boy Pizzas…recipe to follow:

Anyway…I think that’s it for today but I’m going to be following up with recipes and more snaps of some of the epic dishes I’ve developed. I’ll update on progress and how this little diet comes along. I don’t think I’d choose it as a permanent lifestyle which I know a lot of Keto peeps do, but I will eventually when at my goals transform it into something more manageable as I love my veggies too much.

Keato is Neato…11lb lost in 5 days already!

Okay so this might not be the first time I’ve tried to shed some timber…but following in the footsteps of some of the great inspirations to us all, Scarlett Moffatt, Vicky Pattison, and not forgetting Nadia Sawalha to name a few I decided I’d slam on circa 5 stone by drinking beer and eating sandwiches on the hour every hour only to set out to lose it all again in the new year with the rest of the world…and get a DVD deal. Anyway…DVD deal didn’t take off so I’m just going to talk nonsense for a few months on here, lose weight and get fit, all whilst being a dad and dealing with day to day of the digital advertising world.

After having a baby I found it particularly tricky to shake the baby weight (don’t we all) and whilst trying to maintain bringing up a small and most wonderful human I managed to cram beer and sandwiches into every given opportunity (to be fair how much fun is it drinking beer and eating sandwiches?!). So…a cool 4-5 stone (I cant be too precise as when I lost the weight I stopped weighing myself as couldn’t give a stuff about the number on the scales) heavier than the last time I shifted all the weight.

Unashamedly I’m now looking for a quick zip of weight loss and then to just maintain it, get fitter and then keep it off! Wish me luck!

Why Keto I hear you say?! The honest answer…my wife’s doing it as well! So in a bid to support her efforts and my realisation that I’m carrying a few extra pounds myself (second heaviest and most unfit I’ve ever been just for context). Keto also looks pretty neato to be fair and yes I hear you cry, Keto and Neato rhymes…quelle surprise…that’s all the science I need and anything that’s low carb seems to always give me results. And most importantly, anything where gin and slimline tonic is in the approved list of drinks and where chicken wings are encouraged is absolutely one for me!

Alas…you won’t hear me banging on about me keeping my macros tight and all that boring sh*t…but I’ll merely post progress updates, how workable it is in the hustle and bustle of family and work life (dinners and lunches out and about etc) and any other nuggets of wonder I come across.

So the reason I have decided to actually talk more about this is I join you genuinely on day 6 of the diet having lost over 11 pounds already…granted the day before I started the diet on 2nd Jan I decided to cook and consume a 3 cheese pasta bake that I reckon my body was just holding onto!

So let’s see how this pans out over the next few weeks and I’ll then look at how you transition this diet to eventually include the odd sandwich and beer as life without sandwiches and beers is pretty dull.

Wish me luck and if you see me…encourage me to eat chicken wings and put away the salt beef bagels!

To quote Eminem: “Guess who’s back, back again, Blog is back, tell a friend”

That’s rights after a load of time dicking around and drinking premium lagers, ales and more wine than Lord Rothschild himself could quaff in an afternoon with the taps open full (not sure this means anything but sounded great in my head) and lining my stomach with low grade processed carbohydrates in between for some light relief, I have decided it’s time to get this sh*t sorted.

Note the excessive extra Q4 chin…

I say I have decided and yes I did make the decision…but I also kind of had too make this decision. Somehow I got confident…probably when I’d had a couple of glasses of spicy Shiraz and decided to sign myself up along with a couple of pals to Ride London (that’s 100 miles around London up and down some massive hills if you weren’t aware)…oh and the really tough luck no getting out of it clause…I’m signed up to do it for one of my wonderful clients Cancer Research who have kindly managed to sort us a couple of places.

Now I know what you’re thinking…that’s fine you’ll have a couple of other blokes who are massively unfit and out of shape to help train with…wrong…I’m practically doing it with the Media worlds version of Cavendish (Otherwise know as Chris), Wiggo (otherwise know as George) and Mo Farah (otherwise know as Danny!)! Two keen cyclists (one of them talks too much about lycra to me and it’s slightly uncomfortable and boring) and a bloke who did the marathon last year (and seemingly still manages to enjoy a few ales in between)! Nice team choice Bison! So to say I’ve got some competition is an understatement to say the least! I have never been more the fluffer than in this situation and am clearly in the team to raise some serious wonga based on the fact nobody will believe that I’m actually doing it!

So in between badgering people to dig deep and sponsor me I’ll be peppering my themediabison blog with tales of how I try to survive in my media world by maintaining a non boring status but still throwing plenty of training in and using my totally proven theory of #eatlikeaking

I’ll also be throwing in some training tips I’ve been offered from a variety of pals for the beginner cyclists amongst you…as I haven’t been on my bike since my mate Elliot kindly donated the bike to me about 7 years ago to encourage me to exercise more and lose some timber…that went well didn’t it?! This is going to be interesting to say the least!

So…out for a sushi lunch today…and maybe a couple of Kirins before the real training kicks in next week! If you see me around please do spur me along with kind words! Much love!

@themediabison

A quick update…

This is potentially the most rambled of all my posts…so hope this doesn’t turn you off. I hope any challenges you’re doing you’re succeeding in and remember life happens in between stuff so it’s cool to have a blip (The Body Coach or Mr Motivator would never say this).

So it’s been a challenging week and a bit on the #bisontenweekchallenge as I’ve had some real curve balls thrown at me.

Amongst being a busy bee up and down the country and having lots of cracking work to do I seemingly have squeezed in leaving dos for friends, a tapas and Albariño frenzy with a client mate in Manchester, a media stag do (they basically involve excessive fun and drink for all), a beautiful wedding in Stratford Upon Avon with delicious food and drink on tap, a curry cooked by a mate in Leeds washed down with his home made beer and breads (do me a favour…no man on the planet would turn this down!), lunch with more client mates at restaurants where you can’t avoid the carbs, an evening with mates where unlimited chicken wings was on the menu (technically allowed), and a spa trip where I managed to be good…ish and have salad type products with a few vinos.

Ah…just another thing to add that I did and I realised the other weekend. If you eat a steak that weighs circa 2kg then this will probably also harbour you for a few days and portion size really does matter even when eating lots of protein!

Ultimately I’ve basically committed a few cardinal sins by going off grid and not sticking to my rules. As well as this I’ve basically not been to the gym! I have been maintaining step levels most days but just had a bit of a shocker.

Despite this I’m still half a stone down from the start weight so just another 21 pounds to go to victory. Need to make more time for the gym. 

Saw Adrian Mole the musical at the theatre on Monday evening and reminded me that writing all this nonsense down is pretty useful for me to look at where I might be going wrong…or right for that matter. No tales of Pandora or Bert Baxter in this #bisontenweekchallenge though and I doubt we will turn my blog into a musical…although anyone out there that wants to make this a reality just holla!
Keep classy, enjoy life and be focussed in everything you do. As long as you recognise where you balls it up you will continue to get better.

Here’s to the next 7 weeks and 21 pounds to go! Yikes!

#bisontenweekchallenge

10 weeks left…I clearly couldn’t count…not a great start.
So I’d say it was more of an 11 week challenge as I got my final weigh in day wrong…not to worry I hear you cry, the 10 week challenge is firmly on.

So week 1 or as I like to call it, the sampling week saw highs and lows. A trip to the gym, lots and lots of walking and in the main, I stuck to my guns on food and drink…what wasn’t needed was a day at house festival with basically all my favourite food and drinks being handed to you on a plate followed by, lunch at a carb heavy ace restaurant, and a night out in Manchester filled with many delicious treats made by my friends, and a few refreshing drinks.

House festival should have been the hardest challenge but I kept it mellow, drank a zippy low carb vodka and soda type drink and ate the grand total of an Oyster, a slither of lobster tail, 3 meatballs and a 1/4 chicken (how very house festival)…all low carb…all delicious and non excessive. Also managed to squeeze a non conventional work out in whilst at the festival in the form of a go on the Waltzer and threw a few shapes to Sean d Paul. Mainly classic disco moves if you’re asking. All in all a solid day and didn’t break…until en route home in my cab my mate insisted we stopped for some chicken (he definitely didn’t insist, in fact he didn’t even want any…that was me and the old voddy sodas talking)…ah well not too bad.

Lunch at The Ivy on Friday was a tricky one and not ideal to enter the weekend with but I avoided the carbalicious treats and opted for some roasted Hake, washed down with a couple of superb gin and slims and excellent company…a great set up for me to then go and have an epic BBQ at my cousins in the evening and a couple more Gin and slims.

Saturday delivered me the hardest of days…a night out in Manchester to see Joyce Sims! Easy I hear you say…just apply the old Sean Paul disco dancing method and a few voddy sodas in the mix…not that easy when your pal rustles up a pre night out incredible BBQ lamb wrap for dinner…the wrap was essential to hold all the delightful ingredients together. Maybe where there was a problem was when I started to drink a couple of beers in Band on the Wall…noooooo! Anyway I pulled it back with the old voddy soda trick and a few disco dancing moves.

We won’t talk about Sunday but obviously after 3 boozy evenings I didn’t drink a bean but may have had another couple of wraps let’s just say.

Onwards and upwards…it’s Monday and I’m feeling revved up! Here’s to a top week!

@themediabison

#bison10weekchallenge

Wing Wednesday…what to do?

Eat wings obviously! Not the trickiest dilemma I’ve ever faced, but I was made to think last night about the consequences of eating wings whilst on the #bison10weekchallenge by my boss who claimed that my Wednesday Wing intake could have circa 2000+ calories in! Wild stallions huh!

Now I get the whole cals in cals out vibe and believe you me I put a lot more cals in than cals out and have done since birth! You’d never guess though as metabolism is so high I’m such a slight chap! Unfortunately though I don’t buy the whole cals in cals out thing when shedding timber as many years ago when I actually wasn’t a porkster I was shovelling about 5000-6000 cals into my body a day and not burning them all off and was in the best shape of my life…Why I hear you cry?! It’s all about putting the good stuff in…and the cavemen back in the day weren’t calorie counting…they were grabbing tasty morsels here and there or eating large dead animals until they were full, and then grafting there way to being strong people.

Now I’m not saying the cals in cals out slimming world, weight watchers or dust diet doesn’t work…I’m just saying it’s not sustainable for this thirty something media chap who loves chicken wings. A bare chicken wing is acceptable (protein filled goodness)…a wing caked it hot sauce…not so much. Although when wrestling with this hot sauce point in my head I quickly won by convincing myself that the chilli will actually a metabolism booster.

So to conclude…it’s Wing Wednesday today…if you’re doing or taking part in the #bison10weekchallenge or #eatlikeaking ways of living…then find your nearest Wing vendor this lunchtime, take a mate and chow down on one of life’s wonderful treats…the beautiful chicken wing…just skip the pint of beer you’d usually wash them down with!

Much love and happy winging!

@themediabison

#bison10weekchallenge

The 10 week challenge…it’s on!

Okay so yesterday was day one of the 10 week challenge…for those thinking this is an official challenge sponsored by a cereal brand or protein powder you’d be very wrong! This is themediabison 10 week challenge and you guessed it…I made up all the rules!

Basically in 10 weeks I’ve got to shed some serious flipping timber as myself and a mate have a bet on with two friends. The bet was actually made over a very large dinner the four of us had some two months ago in Manchester and now the reality is kicking in! The bet was to lose 2 stone by the 15th September…easy…if I’d have started it the morning after the bet was made but unfortunately I didn’t and spent two months being a lush! I don’t lose bets…and either way who ever wins the only consistent and worthy winner is a Manchester Homeless Charity which is where the bet money will go to regardless of who’s paying.

So…the reality of what I need to do is kicking in…probably needing to lose a bit more than 2 stone in 10 weeks…I’ll be aiming for at least 3lb a week so this is fairly intense.

For anyone wanting to join in these (for sh*ts and giggles) are the golden rules* I’ll be living my life by:

– No processed carbs, sugar, beer, bread, pasta or rice basically!

– At least 2, ideally 3 gym classes or trips a week with a min of 10k steps a day ideally pushing 12k plus (squeezed in a quick spin session today…good start)

– Protein heavy, green veg rich meals where at all possible (see quorn zipper recipes in my recipe section)

– Keeping my fun token drinks to spirits with diet mixers, the odd red wine and maybe a glass of fizzy vino here and there (appreciate processed sugars in wine but get back in your box and give me a break!)

– Trying to be veggie one day a week (this is a tricky one as I eat at least a full chicken most days!)

*Please note that the rules don’t apply at stags, nags, weddings and festivals…obviously (that would just be daft)! At these events I’ll just try my hardest to be good 🙂

So…if you’re reading this and worry because we are out in the next 10 weeks for some kind of epic lunch, dinner or some dancing evening soirée…fear not I’m not a total bore when living with the #eatlikeaking diet! I still devour epic meals and drinking just all gets a bit cocktail sans sugar (espresso martinis don’t count!).

Finally if you’ve read this far…thanks! Potentially the most boring thing I’ve written to date but I’m doing this purely to drawer a line in the sand so I commit and publish the fact I need to do this or will be skint!

Much love and great to be back…if you see me with a sandwich, pint or sugary treat in my hand then knock it out of my hands fast and give me a telling off! I’ll be keeping you updated on my progress!

@themediabison

10 pounds week 1 – It’s easy when you’re a bit of a unit…

I’ve come to the conclusion once again that after 1 week in, losing timber as a gently obese man is easy in the early stages. I mean…10 pounds in 7 days to any normal sized human would sell dvds, books and get you a multi million social media following. When you’ve spent weeks and months of effort slamming beers down and turning anything possible into a sandwich it’s no wonder your body rewards you in the early stages for a cheeky TO. It’s what you do after these early weeks that really counts and that’s where a remotely manageable diet and squeezing exercise in what ever form becomes important.

In the last week I kid you not I’ve eaten loads, had a couple of days boozing, and actually NOT been to the gym yet! I once again pushed myself to be more paleo in my choices (basically avoiding processed carbs), pushing myself to have brekkie every day (not tricky when you’ve got mates who are clients who are game for a full English on a daily basis!) and for lunch and dinner still going sizeable but paleo. Fish Monday is back with a vengeance, and after brekkie with a mate last week who’s going veggie for Jan, I’m also trying to do at least one full day a week without consuming a couple of chickens or half a cow.

But…and there is a big butt (literally)…I even managed to squeeze in a couple of espresso martinis and an evening dinner in a brewery where it was “compulsive” to drink beer vs gin. I mean…how had I forgotten when I made the rule of only being able to drink beer and eat bread on stags and at the nags? I was clearly tripping as missed of “if one finds himself in a brewery, it’s okay to nush back on a few of there local brews”. I was worried that it might have an impact but it’s clearly been okay. As the beer slipped down I think my body thought…”hello…here he is again…the rogue is back”. I put it right the next morning by having a full English and a spicy Thai lamb stew for dinner.

So…week 2 is well and truly on as I sit on the train having a coffee deliberating what to have for my breakfast…knowing it’s my birthday this week, will I buckle again?! Remember it’s easy when you’re a bit of a unit early doors but keep it up through the later tougher weeks and maintain as a lifestyle rather than fad for success.

Once again if you spot me eyeing up sandwiches or see me in the pub choosing myself an ale, please pop over and kindly remind me not to bother.
Ta very much and have a cracking week all!

The Q4 curse…

Well…it’s been a while since I’ve written an update…and for very good reason! It’s not even worth saying I fell off the waggon, as basically the waggon was so far behind me and I actively decided to just give it a few licks in the second half of the year and most notably in Q4.

The gloves for my struggle to be a shredded, ripped, lean, mean piece of prime real estate were firmly off! I found some old friends of mine including Beer, Pasta…and BREAD! Hells teeth I had some fun! I changed my job so had lots of fun with old colleagues and new fun with new people! A recipe for me no longer being able to see my balls had taken place.

Big breakfasts, heavy lunches and raucous evenings with colleagues, clients, friends and family helped see me pile on the pounds. I saw off Christmas and approached New Year feeling sluggish and ready for a chilled break…but on the horizon was an almighty trip to a friends parents hotel in bonny Scotland where every day was started with Full Scottish breakfasts, lovely lunches and large dinners and a few refreshing Scottish drinks in between. Once again it was a lot of fun and we did pad it out with a few walks and a whole heap of banter (must burn off cals) but I’ve returned to England feeling somewhat even fuller than I was over Christmas. I won’t even try and dress it up…I reckon this years H2 I managed to rack up a cheeky 3.5 stone! What a chump…but a chump who had a cracking time and now wants to get rid of the excess timber!

And now for something completely different…as of today I’m on a mission as have some mega milestones I need to see results for. First goal by the end of Jan I want to see at least a stone gone, ideally a stone and a half. I’m back with my old friends on Instagram sharing delicious Paleo recipes, will be hitting spin classes frequently and generally indulging in herbal teas on a regular basis.

I’ll be checking in with stories and recipes but drop me a comment or note on Instagram to share any hot tips. Please also feel free if you see me with a processed carb (namely beer, sugar, bread and pasta) near my mouth to kindly remind me that these are not paleo or acceptable in the #EatLikeAKing way of life.

Fitness First and Eating like a King here I come. Peace all and here’s to losing that timber!