6 stone off, 3 stone on

Hello
My names Michael and I'm 20 (this is beginning to sound like an instruction to Alcoholics Anonymous). When I was 16, I weighed nearly 18 stone at a height of 5ft 9". With a bit of hard work I managed to shed 6 stone in the two years that followed whilst also growing from 5ft 9" to 5ft 11". A lot of this was because of the strong medication I'd been put on from the age of 14 to manage the Bipolar Disorder I'd been diagnosed with.

At 20 I've put 3 stone back on. I wouldn't say it's because I lost weight too quickly or anything like that - there was a mixture of other complications which got in the way of a healthy lifestyle.

For a start, I met my current boyfriend at 18 and he eats a LOT but he's one of those people that seems to be able to eat whatever they want and gain only one or two pounds, before shedding it again within a couple of days. My body, however, isn't so kind to me (I'm not kind to it either though to be honest). If I so much as look at a fruit pastille I gain half a stone. The fast and sweet convenient foods were all I are for just over a year. A limited budget for food also helped lead to the amount of cheap yet unhealthy meals I consumed.

Along with slightly influenced dietary changes, a factor in the weight gain was a Bipolar relapse. Food was (or is) a very simple antidepressant (especially copious amounts of chocolate and other sugary foods) for me and most likely many others. With a lower mood, excercise was a no-go and I found myself smoking more (40 a day) and not moving much at all. Luckily I didn't put ALL the weight back on, though.

The final complication was the breakdown of my social life. A lot of the people I socialised with started work or went to University, so I was doing less walking around on a daily basis.

Now, I'm back on it. I've quit smoking (cold turkey) and I do half an hour of medium-low intensity cardio a day (building it up) and a 7 minute medium intensity in the morning and before bed. I feel great, actually.