Reminder: Target and plan
Last month, in my New Year, no bullsh*t: It’s time to improve my fitness article, I set a weight loss goal for 2025 and outlined the three main steps that I will be taking to try and achieve my target weight of 70 KG by the beginning of April. Essentially, through daily running, calorie counting and intermittent fasting, the plan is to try and lose 6 KG whilst improving my overall fitness, mental health and wellbeing. If you happened to miss that post, you can find out more about my challenge in this video.
I’m now one month into this challenge and thought this would be a great time to update you on my progress.
Intermittent fasting: 16/8 Plan
Intermittent fasting has probably been the easiest part of this challenge so far. I’d fasted often before this challenge, so I knew what to expect with this one. Whilst I did manage to fast every single day of January, I didn’t quite manage my intended 16 hours every time. My shortest fast was 13 hours and 27 mins, and nine of my fasts were under the 16-hour target (most of these were between 15-16 hours). However, most of the remaining 22 fasts were 17-18 hours long, which was good going. My average fasting duration for the month was 16 hours 26 mins.
Admittedly, the first few days were tough going, especially after I had been eating rather uncontrollably during the Christmas period. I found that it did take quite a lot of effort not to eat anything at around 9 or 10 PM, and, I generally felt really hungry when I woke up, so those few hours in the morning before I could eat were tough.
However, after the first week, the evening cravings settled down and I actually found it pretty easy to go the full 15-18 hours without eating. I’m now very much in the routine of having no food after dinner and only a coffee when I wake up which lasts me until I can break my fast.
One thing I have learned is that I find it much easier to go without food in the evening than in the morning, so I’ve been trying to finish my last meal by around 6 PM at the latest so that I only have to wait until 10 AM to eat again. If I have dinner too late, the hunger really does start to kick in before lunchtime, and it can be difficult not give in to the temptation to eat something too early.
The Fastic app that I have been using to track each fast has been great but the biggest issue I have found is that I’ve often forgotten to either start or end the fast, so have had to enter the details retrospectively. I’ve now set up notifications within the app so that I’m reminded to start and stop my fasts 15 mins before the fasting period starts and ends.
Having now found my feet with fasting, I’m confident that going forward I’ll be able to routinely manage the 16 hours each day and hopefully start seeing the benefits. I’ll probably discuss these in a separate post in the near future.

Daily running: A minimum of 1 mile a day, every day
The second part of my fitness plan is to run at least one mile a day, every day for the entire year. Last year (2024), I managed a rather pathetic eight runs and a total distance of 17.6 miles, so in truth, beating that was never going to be difficult but managing 365 consecutive runs will be a different story.

In January, I got to work building a real running habit and successfully managed to run every single day of the month. Having done very little in the way of running for a good while, jumping straight into a one-mile run on January 1st wasn’t exactly easy. I managed to run it in 8:32 but it was a bit of a struggle and I certainly felt it the next day. However, I made an effort to continue going out come rain or shine, no matter how much I didn’t feel like it and trust me, there were many days when I really didn’t feel like it.
I’ve found that going for the run during my lunch break or straight after work are the two best times for me in terms of how my body feels and how motivated I am to get out. If I leave it any later then it can become a struggle as it gets colder and darker, and I generally feel less enthused about the idea. There’s also a lot going on in the evenings in terms of dinner, getting our daughter down to sleep and other things, so although it’s only a minimum of around 10 minutes, it can be difficult to fit the run in.
The two most difficult days of the month were due to the weather. One of those days, it was so icy that I couldn’t run on the pavement or road, so had to do 8 laps of the field (which was covered in snow) behind our house. After one lap my feet were cold and soaking wet, so rather unsurprisingly, I only opted for one mile.
The second came as a result of Storm Éowyn, which battered the country with its 100 mph winds. As the storm was due to arrive at 4 AM and last until the following day, I figured that it wouldn’t be safe to go outside running, so I’d end up failing to register a run for that day. Therefore, the day before, I finished my daily run at 8 PM and then stayed up until just after midnight, before going out for a 1.5-mile run, like some sort of weirdo. I was tired, it was very cold and I’d have rather been in bed but doing so meant that I could still count this run as one of my daily runs and keep my 365 challenge alive.
I feel like I’ve made a great start with my daily runs in January and I really am delighted with these January stats.
With 31 runs in the bag, I feel like my mind and body are now completely on board with this challenge. I’m happy enough to put on my running clothes, grab my headphones and head out the door – it’s now part of my daily routine. I find running more than easy now, and to be honest, I think I could probably run several 3-4 mile runs each week if I wanted to. That said, I still don’t really find running particularly interesting but that might change the more often I do it!
The plan for February is to continue running every day and maintaining or bettering my 1.56 mile average. I’d also like to bring my average pace down but that’s not too much of a priority at this moment in time.
Calorie counting: Calorie deficit diet
The final part of my fitness plan is to track all of the food and drink I am consuming on a daily basis using the Nutrafit Check Counter app. So far, I’ve found that I’ve developed the habit of logging the food as and when I eat it because the app makes this so easy to do. I’ve been able to search for or scan pretty much all of the foods I have been eating, with the exception of one or two which I have just found the closest alternative for.
I’ve been able to enter the weight for most of the foods I’ve been eating using the portion sizes within the app or the packaging, but for foods like pasta, I’ve got into the habit of quickly weighing before cooking to try to keep my calorie counting as accurate as possible.
My focus has been to try and consume between 1500-1700 calories per day – this results in a net calorie intake of around 1200-1400 after deducting the calories burned during my daily run.. I’ve generally found this to be more than manageable, with an average of 1643 calories consumed each day, however, there were days when I chose to indulge and consumed significantly more.
The main thing that tracking calories has done is made me far more aware of firstly, just how much larger my portion sizes have been compared to those suggested on packaging (for example cereal) and secondly, just how high in sugar and saturated fats many of the foods I have been eating are. For example, I was surprised to learn that a single After Eight contains almost 6g of sugar – I normally eat around 5 of these in one go. In terms of reducing saturated fats, I’ll be looking for leaner sausages and mince in the future!
Keeping a food diary has encouraged me to be more careful with portion sizes, especially for things like cereal. It has also made me more mindful of my food choices. I am now trying to avoid foods high in sugar and fat, as these provide a quick energy boost but then leave me feeling hungry soon after. For example, I’ve routinely tried to swap my after-lunch biscuit for a Graze oat bar and some fruit.
Although there were days in January when I ate poorly and exceeded my target calorie count, there were also many days when I made healthier choices. This, for me, was a great start.
Somewhat surprisingly, my body seems to have responded well to the reduced calorie intake, and I am now accustomed to running on around 1500 calories a day. Next month, I want to continue averaging between 1500-1700 calories, reduce my processed food intake and increase the amount of fibre in my diet.

Month one results: Did I lose weight in January?
So, I’ve outlined above what I’ve worked on over the last month and the amount of effort I have put into my fitness and diet, but has it been worthwhile and what do my Bluetooth smart scales tell me?
Well, I think the numbers from the February 1st weigh-in below speak for themselves and I for one am really happy with the results:
I have to be honest, I’m absolutely delighted with my results so far. I’ve put a lot of effort into my fitness and diet over the past month and it’s great to see that it has been worthwhile. Whilst visually, I don’t see a big difference when I look in the mirror, I know that the weight is dropping and I am close to my goal of 70 KG. And, as I get closer to my goal, I’m sure I’ll start to see the results.
What I have noticed over the last 31 days, I have noticed that I generally wake up feeling brighter, have more energy, and am much more enthusiastic. I no longer sit on the sofa feeling tired in the evenings, Instead, I am now enthusiastic about activities such as creating content for this golf blog (including equipment reviews), making YouTube videos, and other things I previously wouldn’t have bothered with.
I’m excited to continue on the same path as we move into February and hopefully be able to provide another positive update like this one next month.
Thank you for supporting this challenge, whether by reading this article, contacting me on Instagram, or leaving a comment below. If you are on your own fitness challenge or have been inspired to make a change after reading this post then please do let me know in the Comments area below.
– Andy