60 yo Aussie - 25 kgs (55 lbs) in a year

Hi there

When I first started REALLY doing this, I found other peoples stories and pictures inspiring, so I am sharing my story in the hope of inspiring others. I am a 61 year old Australian, female - I was 60 when I started this! Just after Christmas 2011 I weighed in at 98 kgs (216 lbs) - and that was my "moment", my trigger. I did not want to go into triple figures. I had been worrying about my weight for ages - years, even joined MFP in the middle of 2011 but never did anything about it.

Once I determined to start it was easy - honestly. I thought I was quite well informed about dieting, foods etc. Perhaps for me the biggest thing was to eat enough - to eat to my target, not to restrict myself to tuna and lettuce leaves as I had in the past. I did that once, took me 18 months to lose 10 kgs. And then put it all back on as soon as I relaxed and ate normally. Eating a decent amount has worked for me. Eat to your target, get some exercise, and log faithfully every day. This is not a "diet" - been there, done that,came "off" that; regained the weight - it is a lifestyle change - incorporating better food choices and exercise.

My exercise started with me walking around my backyard 10 times as quickly as I could, (it was a small back yard!) then 15, 20, 25 times. I got up and did this at 6 am before I had even time to think about it. Sometimes I pumped my arms as I went - no one could see me! :laugh: Then I started to do some longer walks around the block. I tried to find opportunities to move my body wherever I could - walk the long way around to the shops, walk instead of emailing colleagues at work, walk in my lunch break for 10 minutes. I made better food choices (but at no time have I felt deprived or deprived myself - look at my diary and you will see it littered with cake, chocolate, fish and chips - but within my limits - usually :laugh: ). I stopped having milk and sugar in my coffee and "spent" those empty calories elsewhere! I eat a good protein breakfast with carbs.

Most of my weight came off in the first four-five months, as I have got closer to my goal the weight loss has slowed right down, but is still trickling off slowly. I think that the next step is to start doing weights, I just need to get my son to change the weights on his machine so I can MOVE the things!!

I have gone from an Australian size 20-22 (US 16-18) to an Aust size 12-14 (US 8-10) depending on the make and what it is - I tend to be 12 in pants, 14 in tops. I have given away bags and bags and bags of clothes to the charity shops, but I did keep the aqua top in the before photos. Might get a photo in that to compare! All the pants fell off so they went!!

I want to thank my true blue MFP friends who have stuck with me daily, encouraging me and sharing my victories - :flowerforyou:

And now - drum roll (I hope I can get these to work!!) my pictures.


This one was taken just after Christmas 2010 – scary – but it was not enough to make me do anything. I was 96 kgs. I got fatter.

This one was taken about a week after I started this “long and winding road” (yes I was a teenager when the Beatles were around!! 98 kgs


And from the side – awful.


By 26 Feb 2012 I was down to 89.6 kgs – not quite 10 kg lost but I could see a difference – front & side




By the time my daughter got married at end of August, I was about 75 kgs and feeling great – family who came for the wedding couldn’t believe it! I lost 3 kgs after I bought the dress, glad it still fitted!



And today … 72 kgs (158 lbs)




And face comparison …. Botheration as Winnie the Pooh would say! If you right click and open in new tab it should pop up OK.



One of the best things has been finding “me” again – for so long I have looked in the mirror and not known who looked back at me – I’m back!

MFP has been the best thing for me, I intend to be here for a long time monitoring and ensuring I never go back.