My Success story. 72lb in 12 months! (NOW WITH PICS!)

What a great story, and I can relate in many ways!!

Football was my passion, but I ruptured my cruciate ligament when I was 21. Three years of misdiagnosis and bad advice meant that I started to put weight on. I had played football for years and could pretty much eat whatever I wanted - it didn't matter.

Then I was diagnosed with CFS (ME) and this then prevented football until I was into my 30's. By this time I was about 5 stone above my 'football' weight of 11 stone.

I was still eating far too much rubbish and ended up peaking at 16.5 stone. I did a very low carb diet for a couple of months before going away last year and got down to about 13st 2lbs, went on an all inclusive in August and have kept eating like it's a free for all since :(

I'm now back up to about 15st 4 and wondering what approach to take. I have to start exercising again and am looking at doing something with kettlebells.

I have been considering a very low carb diet again but am thinking that I would prefer to do it slightly slower perhaps but with more of a change that I can continue long term. A very low carb diet isn't really a long term change. It can't be done forever.

If you don't mind me asking, what is your approach to doing this?

I am looking at maybe counting points, doing something like WW so I can eat a bit of anything but in moderation and lowering my overall intake.

Although, a variation on the very low carb diet with a cheat day once a week is tempting as a short term approach.

Your story is really motivating and your writing style is actually pretty captivating, so don't talk yourself down :)

If you wouldn't mind sharing what your approach is that'd be really helpful to maybe guide me in a better, more effective direction than I might guide myself in!!

Thanks for telling your story, it is most definitely inspiring - well done you!!

Phil
 
Plus i've got a brilliant story to tell about how I lost all the weight.

4 stone 2 lbs in 7 months, 5 stone 2 lbs in a year, 6 stone 2lbs since my top weight.

Ain't no stopping us now!

I've still got some work to do to get incredibily fit, and I will have done that by June 2012. Because I can, and YOU can. You just have to be able to mentally beat yourself EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY. EVERY LITTLE DECISION COUNTS!

Life is an absolute joy. You DO only get one shot at it, so why not be at your ultimate happiest whilst doing it?

TAKE CONTROL! I did, and now I'm unstoppable.

and Yes, I am always this positive! How could I not be?!

I sound like a mental case don't I!

Any questions, please ask.

Just re-reading your post - you say you have a brilliant story to tell HOW you lost your weight - have you told this somewhere yet? I'd love to read it!

My birthday is June 1st. At the beginning of the year my goal was to lose 3 stone by my birthday. I haven't started yet :(

I need to get myself moving in a positive direction like you have been doing for a while now.

If you could share your 'HOW' that would be really appreciated!!

Thanks again

Phil
 
Hey mate, what a great read, sorry I'm late to your story. You are so close to your Century club badge as well, keep it up, your an inspiration.
 
Sorry if I seem vague on how I lost all the weight. I'll write a bit more detail on exercise and diet below. But I must stress, like i've said previously, I strongly believe the key is getting your mind in the right place. Being able to win that fight against yourself every minute of every day - that is the key.

At the risk of repeating myself, as soon as I understood that - I was 95% of the way there. Because as soon as I knew there was a side of me that added another scoop of mash, or knocked 5/10 minutes off exercise time, the decision to defy that side of me became an easy one.

I didn't follow any specific diet or exercise plan, mainly because there's so many different diets and plans out there that it can be mind boggling and make quitting seem like the easy option.

I've got various rules that I now stick to, I'd love to say I decided at the beginning on these rules, but that would be a lie. They've formed the basis of my weight loss as I've progressed - meaning they've stuck because they've worked.

1. I got a wall chart. I write my weight down every Monday morning. No getting on the scales in the week because you might ease off if you see how well you're doing!

2. Exercise 5/7 days per week. No excuses.

Exercise started simple. It started out by parking my car at the top of a hill near work, walking down the hill to work, then back up the hill to my car at the end of the day. A mile each way. Psychologically it worked, because I had to get back to my car to get home, so I embraced the fact I had to walk the hill, instead of trying to form excuses to get out of it.
This developed into parking my car over 3 miles away from work and walking to and from it every day. Cycling shorts were a must to avoid chafing, and a good waterproof for our gorgeous British weather!

I don't do the walking anymore because I'm at a point where I need higher intensity training to get rid of the remaining fat I have, but I strongly recommend walking for weight loss if you think/know you've got over 4 stone to lose. It's low intensity, but I built up to walking 7.5 miles a day, which helped me to lose most of the weight.

I can't cope with the walking in freezing cold conditions, so I bought an exercise bike. 5 mins warmup, 30 mins as high intensity as you can without being ridiculous - if you go all out you won't last a minute, 5 mins warm down.

3. Eat 3 meals a day. No extras. I mainly eat Bran Flakes & banana for breakfast, a ham/beef salad sandwich for lunch and a balanced tea. I don't believe in a diet that misses certain food stuffs. They may work for some, but it's never appealed to me as the right way to go about things. So I haven't missed anything out.

I'm not going to insult you by saying anything on portion size. You KNOW when you've gone over, just admit it to yourself!

4. One week per month, ease off. Only if you want to though, if you feel like ploughing through, you keep on bloody going. But If your a bit jaded, have a week where you only do 2 days exercise & have a few beers & a takeaway! Only ease off if you've lost enough weight in the first 3/4 weeks of that month though.

5. Don't get frustrated with your body, i've had weeks where I've tried my hardest and gained 1lb, but then out of nowhere I've lost 6lb on an 'ease off' week! The way I looked at a 1-2lb gain is that it's absolutely nothing compared to what i'm gonna lose!

Like i've said before, my favourite benefit of weight loss is the reaction from women! So you've got to get out and about and show off how well you're doing - it's good for the soul to recieve compliments!

It's amazing what a different person I am now compared to before the weight loss. I'm not frightened of being outspoken, meeting new people or speaking to women anymore.

I'm ME all the time, and I constantly want to share that with other people. Probably because i've been hiding myself for so long. It feels absolutely great and is DEFINITELY worth the hard slog!

There's probably a load of information i'm missing, ask the question and i've probably got the answer but have forgotten to mention it (I do tend to babble!)

x
 
Wow brilliant story & attitude, thanks for sharing :) I've been feeling less motivated recently but you've helped me pull my socks up! I will go for a run tomorrow, NO EXCUSES! :D
 
Your'e right about getting your head straight first mate, i believe that's what did it for me.
 
Bloody love this attitude! Hope you keep it up, look forward to reading more from you.
Dieting is defiantly a mind over matter thing, sort out your mind and your half way there.
Well done :)

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins
 
7 stone total loss as of yesterday morning!

6 stone in 8 months!
 
I'm 14st 2lbs now, which I consider an acceptable weight as i'm just over 6ft and a reasonable build.

I've got some fat remaining around the chest and belly area, any tips from those who've been here as how to get the final bits off?

The other thing i'm a bit concerned about is how much of this is excess skin. I can't really tell if it's excess skin or fat. Hoping it'll be fat and just burn off as I carry on exercising.
 
Morning Henry, I had what I can only describe as "an apron" of loose fat and skin on my waist, that has slowly shrunk away over the last few years. I have moobs though and nothing I do seems to cure them :(
 
If you don't mind me asking Jim, how much weight did you lose and how old are you?

I've lost 7 stone and i've just turned 25. So i'm hoping i'm young enough and things will tighten up as I convert the remaining fat to muscle.

I'm still rocking some moobs as well, i'm hoping interval training and pressups will sort them out!

i'm gonna be really keen on the exercise for the next couple of months, so I suppose time will tell.
 
Henry my stats are below and I'm 63 now, been on Atkins maint for ever and ever

Diet: Atkins Maintenance
Height: 6' 1"
Start Date: May 2002
Start Weight: 350lb
Current Weight: 183lb
Goal Weight: 183lb


BMI Information:
Start BMI: 46.2
Current BMI: 24.1
Goal BMI: 24.1


Statistics:
Total Weight Loss: 167lb
Weight to Lose: 0lb
% Lost 47.71%
 
13st 12lbs!

Not much weight loss going on anymore, but my body is still changing positively!
 
Well done! I love reading sucess stories - it gives me hope that I stand a chance of achieving my goals. I've let this weight creep up on me, now I need to stay conscious and make sure I kick it into touch - once and for all.
 
Well done there mate, looking good then!
 
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