My Weight Loss Journey Part One

Pre-Weight Loss: The Fattening

I used to be a steady 12 and a half stone (175 pounds), I ran a half marathon without any training, I use to walk to work 45 minutes there and back every day. I jogged, walked and I enjoyed my life.

Before putting on weight, I was happier. I felt better, slept better and as the old cliché goes, healthy body, healthy mind.

This all changed in 2007!

I went to university full of hopes and dreams and spent 3 years drinking cheap beer and eating noodles on toast. In this time, I put on over a stone a year.

As well as my poor diet, I was not active. The only sport I participated in was pub golf, regularly enjoying 18 holes.

Graduation came, so did more weight. 8 years later it was wedding season, in fact I was invited to three weddings at different parts of the year. The most depressing part was after the first wedding, I looked at the pictures and saw myself bulging out of my suit. I swore, but the next wedding, this would not be the case. I lied.

Weight Loss Fail

Eating healthier always failed. I would do well for a small period and ruin it within a month. I was 17 stone and every now and again I would lose a stone, only to put it back on.

My best results were with the Dukan diet. A diet which was split into four phases and was based on the idea of protein burning fat. You keep burning fat until you get to a certain weight, then you slowly introduce new things into the diet.

Basically, I was just eating egg and chicken. Sometimes I would splash out and treat myself to some steak but I was on quite a low paid job and buying a bag of frozen chicken breasts and a dozen eggs was cheap.

Should I join a gym?

I found myself losing weight, the diet worked and I was shedding the pound, I was feeling pretty good even if I was bored with my diet. My workplace had a benefit package which involved cheap gym membership, the deal was too good to miss, I had been thinking about it. I joined the gym and now I was eating well and working out……so I thought!

I started going to the gym at 6 am, it was enough time for me to work out while the gym was quiet, then go to work afterwards. If anything, it was the only time that suited me, I am what I like to call, a social butterfly. My evening was full with trying to date and hanging out with my guys.

At the gym, this was a new world, I had dreams of weight lifting, swimming and running 10k a day. This actually was more like 45 minutes on an exercise bike. The machine said I lost loads of calories, the problem was, I felt terrible.

There was a big problem with how I was trying the Dukan diet, I was only eating meat, no sugar, no dairy. My nutrient intake was terrible, this led me to feel tired and drained all the time.

After a month or so, I gave up on the gym. I still paid for the gym for another year after that.

How to Lose Weight Fast

This diet was working well, I was losing weight fast and even though I was constantly hungry, the important thing was losing the weight. I got down to 15 stone which was a huge breakthrough for me, it was visibly showing and even more impressive, people were commenting on my weight loss.

One St Patricks weekend, myself a couple friends celebrated in style, we hit the town two nights in the row, drank all day and had an amazing time. When Monday came, my concern was not my hangover, it was the scales. After three months of eating rubbish, boring food, losing weight and trying the gym, I had almost undone all the hard work.

Gaining weight

Putting on all that weight really hit me hard. I was hurt and I lost all motivation. I gave up, I feasted, I enjoyed life and I just did not care anymore. It was not too long until all the hard work was completely ruined. The problem though is, it was not hard work. I starved myself, I ate poorly and I lost unsustainable weight.

This game played out a couple more times, I tried diet pills, I went back to the gym, there were a couple more fad diets but none of them suited me.

Bye Bye -A Weight Loss Story

Always looking for an easy way to lose weight, I stumbled across www.byebyeweightloss.co.uk with the classic, sign up and get our free diet plan, I had signed up to a million of these.

The thing that stood out most about it was how easy they made it all sound. Eat food I like, make some sacrifices and do hardly any exercise. As much as this sounds like a random plug, the funny thing is, last Friday I stood on the scales and I was 14 stone 13 pounds. I had not seen the 14 stones for years.

Tonight, I am 14 stone 12 pounds, I had eaten out three times this week and I was still losing weight.

I invested in two things to help with my weight loss, a Fitbit Blaze and supplements. The Fitbit makes sure I am being active enough and the supplements help with the diet.

I will keep you updated on my weight loss journey, I am going to get back to 12 and a half stone, I will do it at my own pace and I will make sure it is sustainable.

April will be a challenge, this weekend I am visiting friends in Droitwich, we plan to go to the Black Country Museum and I have been told I need to try the Fish and Chips there.

The following weekend I am in London for work and after that my guy friends are visiting me for an Easter weekend of showing them the bars of Manchester. I also want to eat Easter Eggs.

I will make compromises and I will try and keep on the path to weight loss.

What is different from last time is, I am no longer hungry, I enjoy my weight loss and I am now confident enough to Blog about it.

Let me know how your weight loss journey is going. What are the highs and lows? Finally, are you in a pickle? It is so hard when you get stuck.