I lost over 10 stone in 2 years... Here's what no one told me

JamesGYMNASTY · September 2022

This is the journey of how I’ve gone from 336lbs to around 197lbs, turning my life around and improving myself for the better.

I just want to stop anyone before they continue to read in the hope that there’s a magic weight loss pill, a shake, or a course that’s going to help you lose weight… There isn’t. I hope that sharing my journey will inspire more people to get serious about their fitness, get involved with something they enjoy, or even just shift a bit of weight to fit into a suit they’ve had their eye on.

First Experiences With Weightloss

Without getting too deep, in the early days of my weight loss journey, I didn’t experience much. Due to me being quite short - 5ft3, yes I was pretty low down in the gene pool 😂 - and really big for my size, it took a bit of time for me and everyone around me to start seeing a difference.

It’s important to not get disheartened when starting out on your journey. Your body is still getting used to a new routine, new eating habits, and various body changes. As a general rule of thumb, it’ll take about 3 months for you to notice a change in your body and around 6 for anyone else.

The truth is, that everyone wears their weight differently. Along with that everyone’s body will react differently to changes.

If you’re training with friends try to avoid comparing your success with theirs.

Clothes Getting Bigger When Losing Weight

A blessing and a curse. One of the first things I experienced when losing weight was my clothes started to feel a lot looser. Whilst the baggy hoodies made great pump covers, I noticed that people weren’t seeing the true gains of my hard work.

The clothes got baggier and baggier until it was pointed out to me on a progress picture. “Probably time for a new hoodie mate”.

I didn’t want to buy new clothes as I was still on my journey. But the truth is that you should. The journey is never complete and it’s okay to treat yourself to show off your gains and be proud of what you’ve achieved.

This brings me to the next thing I experienced, this was about 6 months to a year in.

Body Dysmorphia When Losing Weight

This is something I still experience now and I’m going to start out and say it’s okay to feel off some days. Avoid getting into a mindset of beating yourself up because you haven’t achieved a goal as quickly as you’d planned to.

In fact, beating yourself up over it and stressing out will keep you from achieving your goals for even longer.

But yes, body dysmorphia is something that I’ve experienced throughout my weight loss journey. Looking in the mirror and feeling like you haven’t achieved much. And again, this is going to go back to the point of keeping track of your progress.

Whenever you feel a bit down, take a look back at the calories burnt and the before and after shots. If you’re still only just starting out, take a look at the item of clothing that you’re aiming to get into to help keep you training with a smile on your face.

Body Composition When Losing Weight

I spoke about this briefly on my blog about the best steps to losing body fat. The reason I bring it up is that it’s only something I’ve noticed very recently and it definitely plays a bit part when losing weight.

For a while, the numbers on the scale weren’t moving. No joke, for at least a month I felt as though I was just hitting a brick wall. Once I started to look back at progress pictures and analyze my body I noticed that there was a huge difference.

When doing any intense exercises such as lifting weights, martial arts, and just about anything that’s keeping you active. Your body is building muscle and adapting to the exercise. Over time, you’re building muscle, and losing fat and your body composition will change. Things tighten up, skin starts to lift, and more. (I’m not an expert in body composition and how the body/skin changes, this is just based on my experience).

Building Confidence During Weightloss

We’ve all been there. On the first day at the gym, walking in is very daunting. Throughout my weightloss journey, I have constantly been building up my confidence. It’s definitely something that builds slowly over time, it’s that subtle you don’t even notice it happening but as you develop more, you become more comfortable with yourself.

Better Sleep

To lose weight effectively it’s important to have good sleep. During your weight loss journey, as you start to lose more weight you’ll begin to develop better sleep habits and patterns.

Before I started I’d be awake until 3-4 AM, those late-night trips to the fridge and tossing and turning trying to get comfortable.

It’s so important for your body to get rest as it helps with your recovery. As I started to lose a significant amount of body fat my sleep started to improve. Now, I have to go sleep before the main card of the UFC. 😂

Better Mood and More Focus

When I was at my largest my mood and focus were pretty poor. Fitness and mental health are very closely related. How I felt was related hugely to how I perceived myself and how I felt others perceived me.

Because I felt weak, uncomfortable, and not very confident, I always had my defense up. As a result, my mood was terrible.

The same goes for focus. I was still able to get into a creative mindset but when I was overweight, my concentration was really off. I’d struggle to sit and focus on something for the length of time required and would get easily distracted.

As you lose weight, your confidence builds and you’ll start to develop a healthier mindset. You’ll begin to put less focus on the irrelevant things and focus more on developing and seeking positive resolutions to everyday problems.

Loose skin

Loose skin isn’t something I’ve necessarily suffered from, but I know a lot of people do. I have noticed certain parts of my skin starting to have a ripple-like effect where my body is starting to pull in and tighten.

The reason I haven’t suffered from it so much is that I’ve steadily lost weight over time through a severe lifestyle change, improvement to my diet, and lifting weights.

If you start to experiment with crash diets or try to lose too much weight too quickly then that’s when you’ll start to suffer from loose skin. If you just make gradual changes to your lifestyle over time and lift what you can then you’re much less likely to start developing loose skin.

Have you experienced any of the above in your weight loss journey?

peiotter · September 2022

Good story James- Thank you. I have also really struggled with sleep for much of my life and tried to toast and PB myself to sleep. Works a bit but too adds the calories! Finding some kind of exercise that just makes you feel good-can help with sleep. Took me a year of pilates just so I could move more easily in the world. then I started to lose weight after that. Congratulations to you and well done.