50lbs lost in 13 months. Loving it!

TL:DR (people have advised these are better at top of threads)
My diary is open and I never really had a food ‘plan’ as such – just ate what I liked and what fitted into my meal prep time on a particular week. I think overall average will be around 1800 calories eaten a day. Was already fairly active, then did C25K and Stronglifts 5x5 as well. Went from 227 – 177 in 13 months. Am 31 and 5’8”.


Now for the spiel and wow is it long! It’s just that I have learned so much stuff about CICO from these boards and there have been so many changes.

I started at 227lb (16st3) in Jan 2017 but I do know that in 2010 I was 238lb (17st). I lost and held at around 227 for the next 6 years and never really thought I was that unfit or unhealthy. Clearly 227 was just my ‘limit’ and as much as I could lose.

Since 2014 I had been more active, swimming 5 times a week, playing squash regularly, doing BodyPump and Body Combat each week. Just goes to show that it is totally diet that shifts weight!

I cannot even remember what or who started me on MFP – it may have been a mate who sometimes logs on here. But in January 2017 I began logging and tracking everything – everyday.

6 weeks in and I had lost 14lb. Without restrictions or suffering. Just gaining so much knowledge about what I was eating. (And realising that 30g of cheese was plenty – I did not need 80g as a snack!) I log using entries in the database for the most part. I think I have only entered in around 10 recipes of my own. I did get a food scale right away and wow I was severely off in my 100g estimates!

20 weeks in and another 14lbs gone. The loss did start to slow a bit, but averaging out over the weeks helped me to see just how it was working. Also, these messageboards helped me realise that the slow was normal, healthy and made sense! I also went from Obese to Overweight in the BMI chart.
It was around this time I started lifting the heavy things as well as starting C25K. Love Stronglifts 5x5 and have recently started back at it as I drifted for a couple of months due to life timings changing and not being able/inclined to get to the gym as often.

37 weeks and yet another 14lbs down. I was now at 185lbs and far beyond the lowest weight I could ever remember being. In 2009/2010 I was using Alli and slimming world and I remember seeing 209 on the scale at the lowest before I just gave up and put it all back on.
I also had braces fitted around this time which gave me a week of meeting my deficit easily ! Also, cleaning them is a trial so I have stopped snacking in general – not that I was over snacking anyway, it’s just now, eating between meals is more hassle than it is worth. Sometimes laziness can be a bonus

Now
I am 177lbs. The timescales above show how it slowed, but I was aware it would happen and have also seen some definite muscle growth and lost inches from everywhere! I am still 9lbs away from my first MFP goal but as it has slowed so much I am taking the 50lb win and running with it.

I feel so much more ALIVE, it’s crazy. I am losing money hand over fist as I want all the metal/goth clothing I now look good in!! I am planning on walking the West Highland Way and wild camping! When I think back to how I was at 227, I can see that I wasn’t all that unhealthy, but neither was I healthy! Energy levels, sleep patterns, everything has just gotten so much better.

I really have not missed any foods or any activities. I still enjoy eating out, maybe even more so now as I plan for it, and know that even if it is a big meal, it isn’t likely to even make me gain 1lb, let alone the 50 I have lost! Knowledge is power and the lack of guilt I experience now when eating food is incredible. Favourite saying from here is still, ‘If you get a puncture in a tyre, would you slash the other 3??’ Makes moving forward so much easier knowing that I have this new control over my weight. I pre-log a few days to a week in advance based on what I have time to batch cook or what is in the house. All subject to change, but then I can always see where I stand.

2017 was my first Christmas ‘on a diet’ or ‘logging’ and I did get a bit worried (read obsessed) about gaining with all the events and food activities that were going to be happening. Usually in past years I have said, ‘ah well, forget everything for a few weeks and start again in January’. Never did – along with about 50% of the population I am guessing!
This time I knew I would still be logging. I still pre-logged all the events etc as best I could and worked out when I could based on events and gym opening times. It really helped when I realised that in no way was I going to gain the whole 50lbs I had lost at that point. A gain of a few pounds was not going to derail me and send me back up to 227. I would not let that happen.
Then, after 4 Christmas dinners, lots of mince pies and a fair few chocolates (but 1 a day rather than 6 a day!), 2 all you can eat buffets, German Market and Manchester food outings, 2 weeks off work and a New Year’s Eve party – I gained a total of 6lbs. Nothing in the grand scheme of losing 50 over a year!! Also, I had the knowledge that most of those would be water weight and would fly off. Which is what happened.

Am not finished yet as I will keep going until my tummy has disappeared a bit more, it will go! It has to eventually haha – another lesson learned from these boards. NO SPOT REDUCTION. Also, 165lbs is a healthy BMI for me at 5’8” and that is a very close milestone! Having seen a lot of before and afters on here (thanks everyone – you are all an inspiration) I will not feel bad about trying for 154lbs and seeing how that looks! If anyone says I look too skinny I will know it is false – still can’t trust my own perception yet as I still see 227 me everywhere!

Some measurements and pics

Start (Inches)
Hips - 46.5
Waist – 43.5
Thigh – 24.5
Chest - 48

Now
Hips - 40
Waist - 36
Thigh - 21
Chest – 40


I don't have a lot of before pics as, you guessed it, never liked the camera!

2007!
2013
2015 vs now



and new hair - finally feel like short hair suits me



Thanks to everyone on here for making these boards and this app so informative and inspiring!! This last year seems to have flown by, and a lot of my friends have said they can’t believe I have ‘stuck with it’. But I am not ‘sticking with it’, I have changed my entire outlook and I love what those changes have meant for my life!