The emotion of weight loss

Hi all,

I thought I'd share my experience so far with managing my weight.

In 2007 I was sitting around 23 stone and 6'7" tall. Over the winter I lost 5 stone/70lb by finding the right balance of intake and calories burnt. I got down to 18 stone, which is reasonable for my build and height.

Since 2009/10 life happened - shut down a business, out of work, new job behind a desk etc and my weight gradually grew back to where I originally was, despite trying to manage it with diets that lasted a week, and fitness fads that lasted a month. Looking back now, I can see how life was affecting me, and weight was a constant battle every day, but I can also see why I wasn't losing weight, why I couldn't make progress. I was stuck in rut, going round in circles and it was really getting to me. 2lb off, 3lb on, 4lb off...

I hit my heaviest ever in August of this year, but it wasn't until 3 weeks ago that I managed to break out of going in circles. For the first time I put my trust in a fitness band to monitor my activity, and started using MFP to log intake, and everything has just clicked. I've increased my activity from what was incredibly sedentary, reaching 2000-3000 steps per day, up to 100,000 steps last week. My intake has been reduced and is now under target nearly every day, and is really manageable. I'm eating quite a lot, but it's the right stuff and everything is logged.

I've lost 1.5 stone since my heaviest in April, 1 stone of that since I bought the fitness band three weeks ago.

What I have loved is the feeling this all brings back - confidence, change, progress... This comes every day when I'm out trying to maintain activity and intake goals. The feeling of a loss when stepping on the scales, or fitting into clothes I used to love, is encouraging and reassuring, but it's the everyday successes that keep me focused.

I love this feeling and will come back here to reassure myself when times get tough.


G