I made it. Now, I need to maintain it.

On the 18th of February this year, feeling particularly heavy and uncomfortable in my clothes, I decided to weigh myself to see how much damage I had done to myself in recent years. I stepped on the scales and discovered to my horror that I was 16st 7lbs. I had only been this heavy once before in my life and it was time to do something about it.

I started looking for a calorie counting app and MFP looked ideal. When I discovered the community it became even more appealing. I used the BMI calculator on the NHS website to find out what the healthy weight range would be for a man of height 5ft 9in and found out that I was firmly in the "obese" category. I set myself a target to be a weight of 12st which is at the top end of "healthy".

The first 3 weeks were the most difficult, not because I felt hungry but because of the hassle involved in trying to find healthy foods that were convenient for me without creating an inconvenience for the rest of my family. I ate the same dinners as my family and chose healthy options that were conveniently portioned for breakfast, lunch and snacks. When I'd found what worked best for me by the end of the first 3 weeks the weight loss was simple.

On average I was able to lose 3 lbs per week (sometimes it was more, sometimes less) but by the end of April I started to feel that the weight loss was slowing down and I started to get out for a walk during my lunch break to burn some more calories and I walked to and from work when I could.

It's now 23 weeks later and I now weigh 11st 13lbs.

The next step on my journey is to find a diet that will maintain my weight while I do some bodyweight training to change my body shape.

I want to thank everyone who has given me advice to get this far and reassure everyone on MFP that this really does work and will work well and quickly for everyone who can be honest enough with themselves to log EVERYTHING.