My story

I read through a few of the success stories, and even though my story isn't over yet I thought I would write something to encourage anyone that might be struggling with motivation.

I am 52 years old (and 5' 8" tall) and last Christmas I weighed over 17 stone (238lbs). I do not know how much over 17 stone but I was weighed at the surgery a couple of months before and I was 17 stone then. I put more weight on after that; my 40" trousers were getting tighter and I thought I might have to get 42" at the next clothes shopping trip.

Well in the new year my wife and I decided we needed to do something, I have a heart condition (Wolff Parkinson White) and it was triggering more often and it was putting my life at risk as well as the struggle I was having to carry out my work due to the excess weight (I'm a building services consultant and regularly have to survey multi storey buildings as well as squeeze through some pretty tight spaces in plant rooms.)

In January there was a programme on the BBC about fat and dieting, it was on for two nights and covered some of the psychological and physical reasons for obesity; it was very interesting and I learnt something about myself. I downloaded the accompanying book, did the online test, and on the 31st January my wife and I threw away all the leftover Christmas sweets, biscuits and chocolates and started a high protein, low GI diet and ordered new bathroom scales from Amazon. I also went on a 5:2 diet, on the recommendation of the BBC diet specialists.

I did not weigh myself for the first 2 1/2 weeks, I did not want to know how bad it really was! My belt went down one hole in that time and my 40" trousers fitted me again. When I did weigh myself I was 16st 8lbs (232lbs).

I lost a stone a month for the first four months, then it slowed down. I weighed myself every Monday morning and I'm proud to say that there was not one week that I put weight on. There was one week when I did not lose anything, and in the last few weeks I have only lost between 1 and 2 pounds per week (though I lost 3lbs last week, being extra vigilant on calories and weighing everything to the nearest gram! My wife despaired of me but it got results!)

So now I am down to 12st 9lbs (177lbs) and have at least 13lbs to lose to be within to my BMI healthy weight band (and so no longer classed as 'overweight'.) I will see how I look and feel when I get to 11st 10lbs and then decide if I need to go lower; everyone around me (family, friends and work colleagues) say I will not need to lose any more, but that's just because I have already lost over 61lbs and they therefore see the difference not the weight I should be.

I dug my bike out of the garage in March and that helped considerably, bringing up my fitness and energy levels and burning calories. I struggled to do 12mph for 11 miles when I started in March, yesterday I did 23 miles at 15.5 mph without a struggle, I could easily have gone further but I did not have the time.

So keep at it, it all works out in the end!