My weight loss journey: for support and motivation! :)

Hi all

In the spirit of offering support and motivation I hope that many of you will read, identify with and see my story as proof that you CAN do it!

Starting with my childhood - I was never particularly overweight growing up although my mum was definitely a "feeder" and to this day (I'm 25) I am still greeted with "what can I get you to eat?" before I've even walked through her front door! My experience of food in childhood is different from others I've read about who often remember their parents being overweight or not exercising etc. My parents are both very slim (not genetically - they have always gone to the gym and eaten well to maintain this) but I think psychologically I have always associated good food with happiness having grown up in a happy family home.

My weight was always been between 10 and 11 stone from the age of 15/16 (standing at 5''4 tall) and have never been obese but I suppose on reflection I wasn’t particularly "slim". My weight really got out of control when I went to University and replaced 3 good meals a day with no breakfast, baguettes/crisps/chocolate for lunch, unhealthy uni café meals for dinner, boozy nights out and takeaways the next day to recover from hangovers. I also met my (now) husband at the time and lots of date nights and feelings of contentment led to further weight gain. During my 2nd year of uni (whilst back home with my mum over Christmas) I finally braved the scales and gasped when I saw the digital numbers read 12 stone 4 lbs.! With my size 14 jeans straining against my obvious bulk I knew I had to do something, and fast!
(Thanks for sticking with this… because this is the part where I explain exactly how I achieved my weight loss.)
Losing weight is simple when you remove greed, lack of will power, hunger and laziness from the equation. So with that in mind I simply calculated how many calories I needed to consume a day and how many I needed to burn a day in order to lose 1 – 2 lbs. a week. If you type “calculate my resting metabolic rate” into Google there are loads of calculators that can provide you with this information. This first attempt at weight loss was before the days of MFP so I kept a little book and jotted down the amount of calories in my regular meals and went to Argos to purchase a £30 “stepper”. I can’t remember the exact brand of my first one, but a stepper is essentially a small non-electronic machine with two foot platforms that allow you to step up and down. You can adjust the pressure of the steps to increase calories burned and use the system provided on the machine to calculate time and calories burned. I did this (without fail) every day – 1,400 calories maximum per day in food, 30 mins everyday (usually in front of trashy TV!) on my stepper. 4 months later I was 10 stone 4 lbs (a 2 stone loss).
Unfortunately after leaving university, getting my first job, driving to work and falling out of my routine, in October 2011 I found myself back up to 11 stone 7lbs and knew I had to do something about this before my wedding which took place in Feb 2012. This is when I discovered MFP. I used my previous knowledge to calculate how many calories I wanted to eat and how many I wanted to burn each day, went out and bought myself a brand new Reebok stepper from Argos and I haven’t looked back. I have set my daily calorie limit to 1,200 on MFP (the minimum it can be set to) but I know my body and as long as I eat no more than 1,700 a day and exercise as often as possible, I will maintain my current weight. I now work long hours in the city and I can’t realistically exercise on my stepper every single day … but… I walk 30 mins a day whilst commuting and do my stepper at weekends. I just make healthier choices in general – not all salads, veg and fish but plenty of that and a curry/pizza/ice cream at weekends for a treat! Life is about living – you lose weight to enjoy and experience a better life, not to be skinny and miserable!
Losing weight is hard but my advice is that by using a tool like MFP it puts you back in control – be good and stick to your calorie limit Monday – Friday, exercise at least 3 times a week (cheaply and in the comfort of your own home like me so there is minimal effort involved) for 30 mins a time. Eat something bad now and again – enjoy it!
I write this today at a very happy and contented 9 stone 4lbs and I won’t ever look back!