Looking for fellow travelers for a long road ahead

Augos

Hello everyone,

I'm from Estonia and I'm hoping to find some friends here to keep my progress going and help others do the same! I haven't really had the opportunity to share my story, so I apologise if it gets too long

After going down a dark path due to some personal and Covid related reasons, I finally pulled a break on my ever increasing weight about 3-3.5 months ago. At my peak I was around 160kg / 353lbs (193cm, 6'4"), a recluse working from home, not able to even tie my shoelaces without sweating.

With the motivational help of a therapist I started to move more, just walk. Initially weight loss wasn't the primary goal, but I noticed that I had started to skip some meals and my weight was decreasing. I didn't really weight myself during that time, but one day noticed I was down to 340 lbs. Then it clicked that I could actually do it. I wasn't cursed to sweat just to get dressed and not be able to walk more than a couple hundred meters, I could actually change myself!

I turned my accidental changes into a plan, which I kept adding small additions to every week. I started walking more, stopped drinking alcohol which had become a problem of its own and turned my accidental eating habits into a plan. I always thought I was an impulsive eater and couldn't really control when, what and how much I ate. Turned out I was wrong. I could stick to eating the same things every day at the same time. My cravings lessened. I introduced more rules to when I started eating (cleaning things up first, not eating out of packages, preparing meal times properly etc). Hunger or cravings no longer had any control and it felt really liberating. I barely even notice them anymore.

This gave me motivation to get more serious. I started exercising with an exercise bike I bought about some time ago and came back to MFP. At first I could do just 5 minutes (as intensive as possible though!). Now, two months later, I'm up to an hour on good days. 30 minutes on usual days. And I can actually go outside and walk for a couple kilometers without really sweating! It's hard to believe two months made such a difference.

11kg or 25lbs later, I'm quite happy with my progress, but I still want to take it a step further. I'm planning on getting into more simple strength training the starting week and I'm also hoping to find companions to share the path ahead with. I've loved every step of the way so far, but I've just taken my first baby steps down a long road and not every corner might be so easy. So maybe some folk to share it with will make it easier