My first post

nsh1984

I wanted to introduce myself first of all.

I'm Neil. I live in the West Midlands, UK. Since 2006 I've been on a health and fitness journey. Many ups and downs in that time. Admittedly since 2009 I haven't done much as I my now wife and I decided to move in together and my health and fitness became less of a priority.

During 2007 I purchased Paul McKenna's book, 'I Can Make You Thin'. I had some amazing but, unfortunately temporary results on this. The concept was brilliant, eat until you're full. Made perfect sense to me and it worked for a few months. I lost 1 stone, went down to 69kg and then hit a wall. Now matter what I did I couldn't get past 69kg. Hats off to Paul McKenna though, it got me quite far and changed my attitude to food and how we should eat.

As I mentioned earlier, since 2009 it's been a steady time for me. I've weighed anything between 78kg and 80kg (BMI 24-25), so the top end of healthy for my height and age. I've been concentrating on running my house and helping run the family business. My father who owns the business had a stroke in early 2014 so I've been running the business since then, although my father has been very lucky and had a great recovery, he is now back to work.

Now, it wasn't until this year I thought enough was enough. My wife and I went away to Majorca in April and indulged quite a bit. The day after we got back I weighed myself and to my frustration my BMI went to 25.2. This was the first time I had been in the overweight category in my life. That was it, I needed to find a way to not only lose weight but, more importantly, keep the weight off. I did my own research and developed everything I've learnt since 2006 into making calorie counting more effective.

On the 18th April 2016 I was 81.7kg, 24% body fat, 25.2 BMI. On the 19th September 2016 I got down to 66.5kg, 8% body fat, 20.5 BMI. Bare in mind, my wife and I went on a 2 week holiday to Vegas and LA in early August. We ate out every night and I only put on 600 grams during our time away. By the 2nd day after returning home I was already below the weight I was immediately before going away.

As I do all the cooking in our house my wife wanted to join me on this journey. In the same time period, she has gone from size 10 to size 6 and lost 2 stone.

Now as of this morning, my weight is 69kg, 10% fat and 21.3 BMI. You'll notice my weight has increased but, this is because I'm weight training 3 times per week. I have upped my calories and increasing the weights I lift on a regular basis. My bench press has increased by 10kg in one month. Currently benching 60kg (3 sets of 10 reps) which doesn't seem much, but when you factor in that I weight 69kg, I'm close to bench pressing my own body weight.

Earlier I mentioned I've been trying health and fitness on and off since 2006. This is because I went to the cinema that year to watch Casino Royale. Daniel Craig was and still is my inspiration. He looked phenomenal in this movie. He worked so hard to get into the correct shape for that role and did an amazing job.

My weight loss journey this year has been life changing. So much so, that I have learned how to make food and drink work for me. I have used food to lose weight and I am now using it to put weight on in the form of lean muscle. The best of this is, I haven't had to eat salads every day, or ignore alcohol. I've done this in a way that I can still enjoy the food and drinks that I love. We all have one life and we should enjoy it as much as possible.

The other amazing thing my wife and I have noticed with our transformations is the confidence it gives you. The weight loss is a bonus. The confidence is the best thing you can get from this. The mental health boost you achieve is outstanding. I've never had so many compliments from people about my shape and size ever. For the first time in my life I enjoy clothes shopping, much to my wife's delight. I've gone from medium shirts to extra small and as I mentioned earlier I'm lifting heavy weights for my size so I'm not thin and lanky, I've become lean and muscular. I feel great.

I have helped a couple of family friends lose weight in the same way I have. I have tried to help others but one thing I have discovered is that, unless someone wants to be helped you can't help them. Either that or they prefer the diet plan or slimming club they're using and dismiss any ideas I have straight away. I have noticed people can be a little to proud to accept help from someone, especially if they're a close friend or relative.

I'm eager to help others who want to be helped which is why I'm taking my wisdom to the internet. Please friend me or get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.

I hope you've enjoyed my story and if you have any comments I'd love to hear them.

Neil