About Me

If you’ve found your way to this site, it’s highly likely that you want to do something about your health and more specifically, your weight. I’m not about to tell you that I have all the answers, but I can tell you that I am in the same boat as you.

And, if I’m honest with myself, the boat I refer to is only leaning to one side because that is the side that I am sitting on!

I want to change that…

My journey is already underway, in the last two months I have lost 10kgs. I will go into more detail about this in a follow-up post.

UPDATE: My current weight loss to date (24th Nov) is 17kgs (37.48lbs)

A bit about myself…

 

My weight is something that I have struggled with for about the last 8 years. Mind you, I hadn’t really considered I had a serious weight issue until I hit just over 134kg. (296lb)

In the past, I would say that my ideal weight would be in the 95-100kg range. If you look at the BMI index below, this is based on my height and weight at 95kg and you can see that I would still be considered overweight in this range.

 

 

Personally, I’m not really sold on the idea of the BMI being accurate as a means to a healthy weight, but I think that might be a story for another time.

In the 6 years that I have been documenting my weight, via the MyFitnessPal app, my weight has zigzagged upwards from around 110kg to 134kg.

As you can see from the chart below, the lowest point on the chart is when I was around 110.9kg, 27th March 2013 (I began using the app, when I was at 117.5kg) and the highest point at 134kg as of June 2019.

 

 

(This chart is a recording of my weight prior to my weight loss to date) 

If I was trading on financial markets, my weight would certainly be an easy market to make money from!

That’s nearly a 22% increase in the 6-year time period presented above and if I take into account the 2 years prior when I was just under 100kg, then it would be around a 37% gain in about 8 years! Awesome, if we are talking about investments!

How could I let this happen, you ask?

I am glad that I had recorded my weight in this way for the last few years, as when I posted my weight at 134kg, it really dawned on me that I was in a cycle. A continuous cycle that had been maintained for what is now, many years.

Below is an outline of my weight gain cycle….

Step 1. Look at the scales and be disgusted in myself that I have broken my highest ever weight record, again!

Step 2. Get “serious” and start dieting and exercising and having some control over my food intake. Lose a bunch of kgs, usually around 6kg or so over the course of about 2 months.

Step 3. Start to sneak in food and drink that I used to eat, prior to dieting, as a “reward” for my great work of being disciplined and losing weight!

Step 4. Literally put back on the 6 or so kg that had I lost from 2 months of disciplined eating… in about a week.

Step 5. Get disheartened about my rapid weight gain, from only a relatively small binge and realize that I’m fighting a losing battle. Give up and return to old habits until I reach Step 1 of my cycle again…This step is otherwise known as “falling off the wagon”

The pattern has remained the same for at least 8-10 years. I believe this is known as “yo-yo dieting” and if I’m to be realistic, it is not sustainable.

What goes up must come down, right?

Let’s not beat around the bush here. If I am to continue this trend of the next 8-10 years, as I have, the only “down” in my life will be my body being lowered into the ground.

I don’t like to think of this as an option and that is why I believe I have turned things around.

What makes things different from before?

The difference I see from before is that, as mentioned above, I see my weight as a major issue now, whereas I wasn’t that concerned because I didn’t feel the adverse effects in my body as much back then.

When I began to see that a small amount of strenuous activity was really affecting me and even tying my own shoelaces was starting to become an issue because of my gut, I knew I had to do something.

I have two children aged 11 and 6 and I don’t want to get myself into a self-inflicted condition that affects the time I spent with them or worse…

All this, coupled with seeing the weight chart presented above, I believe, is driving me to succeed more than ever.

I need to break the cycle.

The “Journey”

Weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight is not that easy. Well, it hasn’t been for me for sometime now. It takes work, planning, effort and education.

Essentially, it’s a life-long commitment and a continuous fight and the path is different for everybody.

It’s about learning about your own body and really reading what it needs. There is no “right” or “wrong” answer for everybody, because success can and will differ from person to person because there are many differences in body types, the way one’s body reacts to different things and one’s mentality.

Do what you feel is right for yourself, because you’re the one that has to live it.

What To Expect From This Site

By documenting my road back to a healthy weight again, I aim to show you that it can be done and hopefully inspire people to take their weight loss seriously and make changes in their life. There will be bumps in the road for sure and depending on your goals, it can be a long road to get your life and health back on track.

Sustainable weight loss is said to be a marathon, not a sprint. Slow weight loss over time is much better and more sustainable than crash diets. Be realistic and controlled with you choices.

I want to share the things that have worked for me and also the things that haven’t and I’m sure that the results of the things I have tried will vary from person to person.

All I aim to do is pass on information that I have learnt in the past or that I learn along the way, that have been successful or not.

I Am Not A Doctor

I don’t want to tell you how to do things, and I am not a GP, nor have I undertaken any formal studies in anatomy, physiology or personal training.

I will give my honest thoughts and feelings based on my experiences and share information that I have picked up from various sources of the years.

Please don’t take everything that I say as gospel. If I haven’t provided references for some of the information that I present, please take the time to research further into whatever the subject matter is about from other sources and if I’m found to be wrong on anything, I would gladly like for you to contact me with some more accurate information.

That being said, I do not wish to pass on any misleading information and I do not want to risk the health of anybody else. You known your own body better than anyone else and only you can make the right decisions for what works for you.

I hope that you find this site useful and I welcome any feedback that can improve the information that I present or even how you are going with your own weight loss goals.

If I can help you in any way, I would be glad to.

Wish you all the best!

Feel free to leave a comment below or contact me personally here.