What are the 'real' stories behind the weightloss pictures

I'm not at goal yet, but almost 3/4 of the way there.

Ah, where do I start?

This is my first time posting my whole story on here. It's long, I must warn you.

Well, I was always a slim person. As a baby, I was slim. As a child, I was skinny. And as a teenager, despite my developing curves, I was still very slim and maintained it easily.

When I was 14 years old, due to problems at home and emerging inability to cope with my emotions, I ran away from home. I was gone for four months. In this time, I became very underweight. To the point that ribs, hibs and collarbones jutted out. I remember many weeks of not eating, in fact, one time that comes to mind is not having a proper meal in a week, and begging some guy I knew to give me £1. He eventually relinquished one to me, and I went and bought some chicken and chips. It was a relief. And I, always an animal lover, wouldn't even give one to the dog, who was also starving (wasn't around very nice people, I still think about that poor dog).

Once I came back home, my appetite was phenomenal. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I couldn't get enough food. I was constantly hungry. I would go to people's houses just to eat, and I'd still feel empty and starved. I remember devouring packets of kit kats, yogurts, bananas and crisps, and still feel insatiably hungry.

I put weight back on quickly. But it was nice weight. Nothing drastic. I looked good. But, little did I know, my weight and food troubles were soon to start...

Over the summer of 2008 (I think that was then. I was about 15 or so), I really packed on the lbs. I used to eat whole cakes daily. A favourite of mine was chocolate trifle or chocolate gateaux. By the time I got back to school for my final year, I was noticeably bigger (though, I was still pretty slim). EVERYONE gave me flack for it. I was honestly fine with the way I looked, but after the constant comments, the jokes about food and the shock on people's faces when they saw me eating, I started to feel insecure about my weight.

Fast forward two years to sixth form. I was 16, going on 17, and clinical depression took over my life. My eating and binging got out of control, and I dropped out of college. I was disgusted with my appearence, but food was honestly my only friend. My only comfort.

The binging, the bad eating, the comfort eating carried on.

Fast forward, again, to September 2011. I met my ex, and in the same month, started work at Starbucks. Being in a comfortable, serious relationship, dealing with the emotional issues that being with him brought back up and working in a place inundated with sugar = massive weight gain. I got so fat, I had to unbutton my work trousers to avoid stomach aches. It cut into me so bad, I had marks on my skin. I looked massive. I had started to look obese. I am 5"5 and, as far as I know, my highest weight was 196lbs. I honestly hated my body, so much. I couldn't find anything to truly like about my appearence. I felt like a beast.

Then, one day, in March, I was on the app store on my iPhone. I found an app called calorie count, and downloaded it on a whim. I tried it out, liking the concept of being able to log food and scan them (I like scanning things :laugh:). But, to be completely honest, CC was BS. It was rubbish.

So, I downloaded MFP.

I already had a log in, as I joined this site in 2010 (was on a thing called Diet Chef. Lost 11lbs, gained 9 back very soon after). And I stated logging!

30.5lbs later, here I am!

How has this journey been for me?

Amazing. Difficult. Inspiring. Worrying. Confusing. Upsetting. Distressing. Frustrating. Exciting, and many more.

It's not all roses for me. I still have deep set issues with food. I am currently struggling with constant hunger pangs and little to no willpower. I have this constant worry that I'll regain the weight. And sometimes, I get so damned angry that I can't just eat what I want without calorie counting.

But, to see my body change and curves re-emerge, like a flower blooming in summer. To feel my confidence growing. To know I look good.

All worth it

Sorry this was so long!

I am still a work in progress but I have gotten most of the way to my goal. I have lost 121 lbs. Check it out:




Summer 2009. I weighed about 320-325 in these pictures and had already lost a good 15 or so lbs when they were taken.



February 2012


Here is the FULL story...

I've been overweight most of my life. I never cared enough to do anything about it because the way I looked was never a concern to me. In 2008 I bought the motorcycle you see me posing next to in my picture. My weight made riding problematic since I was a learner because it made the bike too top heavy to be able to master basic low speed maneuvers. That was my motivation.

It was ALL nutrition in the beginning. I did not do diddly squat for exercise at first. But I made massive changes to the way I ate. I did not count calories or macros. Here is what I did:

I drank only water.

I cooked all of my own meals. I didn't change WHAT I ate, but I stopped eating at fast food places and started preparing everything I could with low cal ingredients. Burgers were made with 93% lean beef, on whole grain buns, with low-fat cheese. Pastas were made with whole grain pasta, and I stuck to using sauces that were savory enough as-is (such as pesto) to not necessitate parmesan for flavoring. Burritos, same thing. I ate lots of chicken breast and egg whites and egg beaters. I also made certain to get more vegetables in my diet. The easiest way I found to do this was to add 1 cup of diced fresh spinach leaves to anything I cooked. The only stuff I gave up entirely was stuff that was too much of a pain to prepare at home in my own kitchen. I allowed myself one cheat meal every two weeks which was usually spent on going out to eat on payday.

I kept this up and got down to 275 lbs with no variation at all in what I was doing. At 275 I began incorporating regular exercise. I began by working out with a DVD that came free with a subscription to men's health magazine. It had four 15-20 minute workouts on it. The one I did the most was a dumbbell routine focusing on offset training. I alternated between working out with that and with the Shadow Boxer Knockout Body System for cardio, along with going over to my sister's house a few times a week to do her Leslie Sansone DVDs with her. I then got a membership at Planet Fitness and went 3x a week doing the circuit training workout they guide you through off in that corner followed by 20 minutes cardio on treadmills, usually intervals but sometimes I would do steady state instead.

After I'd lost 35 lbs doing that, I purchased a suspension trainer and working out with it at home using it and a jump rope has been my main source of exercise.

I also own a Tower 200 I purchased at the ~260 lb mark or so that I have been working out with intermittently over the years.

I am still a work in progress but I have gotten most of the way to my goal. I have lost 121 lbs. Check it out:




Summer 2009. I weighed about 320-325 in these pictures and had already lost a good 15 or so lbs when they were taken.



February 2012


Here is the FULL story...

I've been overweight most of my life. I never cared enough to do anything about it because the way I looked was never a concern to me. In 2008 I bought the motorcycle you see me posing next to in my picture. My weight made riding problematic since I was a learner because it made the bike too top heavy to be able to master basic low speed maneuvers. That was my motivation.

It was ALL nutrition in the beginning. I did not do diddly squat for exercise at first. But I made massive changes to the way I ate. I did not count calories or macros. Here is what I did:

I drank only water.

I cooked all of my own meals. I didn't change WHAT I ate, but I stopped eating at fast food places and started preparing everything I could with low cal ingredients. Burgers were made with 93% lean beef, on whole grain buns, with low-fat cheese. Pastas were made with whole grain pasta, and I stuck to using sauces that were savory enough as-is (such as pesto) to not necessitate parmesan for flavoring. Burritos, same thing. I ate lots of chicken breast and egg whites and egg beaters. I also made certain to get more vegetables in my diet. The easiest way I found to do this was to add 1 cup of diced fresh spinach leaves to anything I cooked. The only stuff I gave up entirely was stuff that was too much of a pain to prepare at home in my own kitchen. I allowed myself one cheat meal every two weeks which was usually spent on going out to eat on payday.

I kept this up and got down to 275 lbs with no variation at all in what I was doing. At 275 I began incorporating regular exercise. I began by working out with a DVD that came free with a subscription to men's health magazine. It had four 15-20 minute workouts on it. The one I did the most was a dumbbell routine focusing on offset training. I alternated between working out with that and with the Shadow Boxer Knockout Body System for cardio, along with going over to my sister's house a few times a week to do her Leslie Sansone DVDs with her. I then got a membership at Planet Fitness and went 3x a week doing the circuit training workout they guide you through off in that corner followed by 20 minutes cardio on treadmills, usually intervals but sometimes I would do steady state instead.

After I'd lost 35 lbs doing that, I purchased a suspension trainer and working out with it at home using it and a jump rope has been my main source of exercise.

I also own a Tower 200 I purchased at the ~260 lb mark or so that I have been working out with intermittently over the years.

My journey started around a year and a half ago but more seriously around a year ago. Everyone always asks "what are you doing!?" "How'd you do it?" The minute you try and tell them "I eat better and exercise" they shut down and don't want to hear anymore. Everyone wants the magic bullet or the super pill and not the truth.