Ok to give you a bit of background .. This was me Back in Feb 2009.You may remember this .
That was almost 2 years ago now, what a Weigh2Live .. So why am I showing you this photo then you might ask? Well, you may or may not notice.. but I’m quite chubby in that photo. To tell the truth, that photo was taken when I was at my heaviest weight. I was topping 23 stone at at Height of 5′ 10. You can do the maths on that one. I hear the BIM calculators ringing in at a morbidly obese level. My god, did it feel morbid!
Just after that photo, I decided to do something about my “extra” weight. When you put it into context, I was almost 2x my recommended weight (11-13 st). Its not like I haven’t tried to control my weight. I’ve been quite broad since I was child. I think at one point or another growing up I tried just about every diet under the sun. It turns out some worked for me and some didn’t. I tried to exercise too and without trying to make excuses, I found that quite difficult.
When I was 17 my weight was at about 19.5 st. At that point in my life it was the highest it had ever been. For the first time I had found something that seemed to work. It was a high protein / low carbohydrate combination with buckets of fats on top. It seemed like a dream diet as you could eat whatever you wanted, you would never feel hungry and the weight just fell off. It was the first time I realised that I had an addiction to carbohydrates and refined sugars. The diet had some down sides! Your breath had a horrible smell, eating so much protein without any fiber had side effects and by the end of it I was having palpitations in my heart. So when I got to 17.5 st I stopped, the diet was not sustainable. Life went on and I was content for a while.
Year by year, the pounds crept back on. There is a huge catch 22 when you go over a certain tipping point in terms of weight. You have very little energy, exercise becomes very uncomfortable and dieting is an uphill battle as you are feeding an unquenchable appetite. The normal lines I heard bantered around at the time from friends and family were “Eat well, Stay active, Plan and track your progress”. That’s all well and good, but given I was experiencing the above I found those kind of statements quite unhelpful. My issues is less to do with eating crap food and more to do with the balance of proteins, carbohydrates and sugars.
When I see this Weigh2Live shit from Europe or the government it breaks my heart. I wish they would spend less time insulting people like me and more time informing people about the root causes of our weight epidemic. Why bother spending money creating or reinforcing stereotypes! Its not a bloody safe food campaign… oh wait it is! When are they going to put an advert on the TV that sings the virtues of a wholemeal wrap over a slice of white doorstep bread, informs people about substituting high starch veg with low GI alternatives or explains how to prevent the effects of hypoglycemia. People need support not criticism.
Two years ago I tried the diet again without much success as I couldn’t get the same results. So I went for some help. I heard about a magic pill that fixed everything. It was on prescription and cost a small fortune. I tried it and it did seem to work at the start. I took it on and off for about 6 months. I had six month prescription and I only ended up only taking 1 months supply. It was horrible, the side effects were worse than you could ever imagine and I told nobody! These tables would make any sane person suicidal in 3 easy steps! I turned my life upside down in that year as I quit a well paid job, ended a long term relationship and moved homes. The tablets were later withdrawn from the market as they caused “High blood pressure”.
I had lost 2 stone in the process but it was a high price to pay. I accept that It was a kick start that got me going again but it was the low carb stuff that kept me on track. So I was back to 19.5 st, the same weight as when I was 17. Not bad I thought and Life went on again. You guessed it, the weight started climbing again and stopped at 20.5 when I realised what was going on. I joined a Gym and started to build up my fitness a bit thinking it would level out again. It turns out it didn’t and I quit.
Then earlier last year I ran into some health issues. It was the first time that I had ever felt my weight causing health problems. It turns out I had 2 prolapsed disks in my spine. They were pressing on nerves and and resulted in me being unable to walk without agonizing pain. It started off as a pain in one of my feet. It was like i had twisted my ankle but I hadn’t . Its the kind of thing that would swap from one foot to the other at random. Very scary stuff as I was unable to walk and was rushed into the matter hospital. They thought i might need surgery to fuse some disks in my spine. Shocking stuff. In the end they decided not to. But suggested that I take some pressure off my back. I needed to loose to weight and fix some posture stuff.
So I’m sure we are both stating to see a pattern here. We have identified how to remedy my weight loss issues but we never really addressed the root cause of why the weight creeps back on. My health issues in the fore front of my mind, I wanted to lick this once and for all.
I decided to do a weight management programme. I’m sure you have heard about them on the radio. I’m not going to mention names as that’s not what this post is about. They work on your motivation and look at the underline issues. The “why” and “how” is addressed. So I’m glad to say its working. Its not as fast as my own previous efforts but it feels less detrimental towards my health. You cant help the bad breath but I’ll live with that. I’m back down to 19.5st and have set a goal of 15st. Its been an epic struggle over Christmas but its Okay to drop the ball as long as you pick it up again. I have a long way to go, but at least I’m started down the road. My back pain has reduced and its looking positive on the health front.
I hope someone finds this useful..Maybe you will find a better Weigh2Live from my experiences.
This is me now..
Please excuse the random inserts of Weigh2Live.. I’m sure you can guess why its there.
Best of luck, Dude. A friend of mine did the Motivation
thing and it certainly worked for him. I had a creeping problem,
but sorted it out before it got too big. I now have a habit of
exercise and healthy eating established, so “falling off the wagon”
is not an issue anymore. That said, now that I am at a healthy
state/weight, it is much easier to maintain than when I was
heavier. As I said, best of luck, keep at it, It certainly is
worthwhile.
A very insightful story, I will say, Jason. From what I’ve
read from other places weight loss can be a long and painful road.
Hopefully you’ll be able to get to the weight you want without too
much trouble! Although hopefully then it will make a nice
before/after picture!
Hi Jason, thank you for sharing your weight loss journey so
Keep
honestly as you know I am currently on a similar journey using
Weight Watchers. 2 stone, 1 Ibs down, 1 stone 4 Ibs till goal. I
think it will be harder now that the end is in sight. If you ever
need a chat or are lacking motivation you know where I am
going, it’s so worth it, I’m sure you feel great already! I’m not
sure if your exercising as well as eating well, if you &
Louise ever fancy a walk, just give us a shout, Muffin and I are
always looking for walking dates!
Hi Jason,
Great article, fair play! im currently being ‘motivated’ and find it very good. Some of its a bit… well…. canadian but im down 3st 3lbs and it feels great. keep it up!