Starting over (again)

Hi guys, hope you're all well. Great forum!

 I used to be a runner. I used to weigh 12 1/2 stone. I used to be able to sprint 100 metres in 13 seconds.

That was 3 years ago. I'm now 30 and weigh 18 stone 8lb. There's no sugar coating it; I've got fat, settled and too ''comfortable'' at home overeating, drinking lots of pints and doing no excercise.

 I'm no stranger to dieting. I was possibly the worlds' most classic example of a yo-yo dieter. One time you'd see me I'll be thin; the next you'd see me I'd be fat. And it goes on.

 Well last week I started back on the lonely road to a healthy weight. I started the Atkins Diet and things seem to be going well. I am sticking to the plan like a hawk: low carbs, high protein.

In addition to this I have been walking up to 2 hours a day, sometimes longer, mentally preparing myself for my own running programme in a month's time after the Atkins ''Induction'' phase is over and I slowly experiment with foods.

I am sort of sad in a way. I know I can lose the weight as I'm determined to do it; but why did I choose to put the weight back on in the first place? I, sadly, can't answer that.

Anyway thanks for reading.

Bear.

Hello Bear,

Welcome to the forum

It sounds like you've got the right mindset to achieve your goals. Your final point of asking why the weight came back on is (IMHO) the key to long-term success. If you can work that out then hopefully you can break the yo-yo dieting cycle  Before you know if you'll be at a weight you're happy with and you'll be running again. A 13 second sprint is pretty impressive! Are you aiming for sprints or distance runs?

Good luck with everything!

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your comment.

I was never a sprinter; however my gym instructor at the time gave me a good idea to put sprinting in to my programme if i didnt fancy doing a long distance run occasionally.

So, what i did was hundreds of ''sprint starts''. basically sprint from a standing start, keeping your head down. when you reach full speed stop, walk back to the start and do it again and keep repeating this.

In short your muscles get used to it and if you were to play football (where bursts of pace are needed) then it comes in handy

I also finished off the session with 2 full bore 100m sprints but I could never get under 13 seconds (13.4 if i remember correctly was my best)

 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa happy days