Today marks the completion of a full year of weight loss. This time last year, I’d just come back from a weekend event where I advise a student organization. Every year, I struggled to fit into my suit, and hated how big I looked in the group photos. Then, I went to my doctor, who told me I really needed to get a grip on my weight. I went home, talked to my wife, and resolved that this time, I was going to lose weight and keep it off.
I’d done this before, of course. I’d lost anywhere between 20 and 40lbs at a time. But I’d always put something back on. I’d never got back to my highest weight of about 260lbs, but I’d hovered around 240lbs for a long time.
What was different? Well, I have a daughter now. She was 6 months at the time, and I wanted to put the effort in so I could enjoy being active with her for longer. I also have a supportive wife, who always encouraged me in the journey - to go out for solo walks when I felt I had the energy; to not buy the special treats so that there was less junk food around the house to tempt me. She is the best accountability buddy I could ask for, and has made it much easier to cultivate my healthy habits.
Because, basically, that’s what I’ve been doing. Changing my lifestyle gradually to try and build something that I can sustain in the long run. I started going to the gym regularly: initially I used the stationary bike. But on vacation, I found hotel gyms didn’t have stationary bikes, so I started running on the treadmill and doing C25K. When I got back home, I found I’d lost enough, err, padding that I hurt my tailbone if I was on the stationary bike too long. So running has become my exercise of choice, and I’ll be at the gym 4-5 times a week, with walking on top of that.
The biggest change, though, has been in eating habits. Turns out there’s nothing like a strict calorie goal to make you focus on what fills you up! And also, how quickly your eating habits can change. I found that I actually liked roasted vegetables, especially with the right seasoning. I’ve found new recipes with beans and lentils to replace fattier meats. I’ve worked hard to cut out my biggest vice - chips/crisps. A lot of the time, I’d use baked versions as a substitute. But over time, I’ve found my tastebuds have changed. I feel odd if I haven’t had enough fruit/vegetables/fiber in a while; I don’t enjoy the junk food I used to in anything like the same quantities.
Now there’s a different challenge for me. For most of my life, a part of my identity was ‘the big guy’. For the last year, it’s been ‘the guy who’s losing weight.’ But now that I’m maintaining, I know that’s going to change. At the event I mentioned at the start, I had lots of comments about how much weight I’d lost. But the students there for the first time have never known me as ‘the big guy’. Next year, I’ll be (hopefully) more or less the same size. And so I’ll need to move to a third identity. THat’s my challenge for the year ahead - how do I move away from a laser focus on diet and exercise to something where I get used to being a healthy-sized guy at a healthy-sized weight?
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