6 years ago I knew 'enough was enough' and I was motivated enough to start a weight loss blog, join the gym, track my diet, yada yada yada. While that all fell to pieces very quickly (more on that in a moment), one thing I am glad for is the foresight to take 'Before' photos on that off chance that maybe one day I would see some progress. At the time I was in the high 90kg range (I believe around 97kg / 213lbs, so at 1.7m / 5'7" that put me as obese, although I had already lost a few KG by that stage. With scale discrepancies, I think at my worst I was in the low 100 range, around 102kg / 225lbs).
I very quickly became depressed and obsessed with my diet and weight loss, obsessing over tracking my calories, weighing a few times a day, just generally unhealthy behaviours. I became discouraged with the food I was 'allowed' to eat, so sure enough.... I gave up. What followed was on again off again weight loss attempts, sometimes with great motivators, others simply following the latest fad. Occasionally I would lose a decent amount, either to gain it back (and then some), or to plateau for months... or years....
Where am I going with this?
Weight loss isn't linear. It sure as shit isn't easy. And boyyyy is it slow.
Linear: Happy Scales saved me at one point, until I came to peace with the fact that my weight would go up and down, but that if I was patient, it would eventually show me the results I was working for. My weight currently varies by up to 3kg, if it goes by longer than a month without a decent change then I know I need to adjust something.
Easy: The science is easy, sure. Calories in VS calories out. Eat less, do more, blah blah blah. All well and good til you have to put it into practice day in day out for the rest of your life. I figured out pretty early on that 'diets' weren't the go, it was about making adjustments to my lifestyle (over time, see next point) that I would consider sustainable. This of course differs with everyone, for example, maybe I love my desserts. So I'll have my desserts- but I won't eat as much of my dessert as I used to. In fact this applies to nearly all the foods I keep in my life- I try and eat healthy but I am only human, so I know if I'm eating a crap, calorie dense meal, then I just need to eat less of it. I hate veggies, so I 'hide' them in meals where I won't necessarily taste them. Finding that balance, finding what works for you, it sucks, but once you figure it out, honestly it makes coping each day a lot easier. Which brings me to....
Slow: In 6 years I've lost a grand total of 25kg / 55lbs (nearly 30kg / 66lbs from my highest point). That's a little over 4kg a year on average. Read that again- 4kg a year. 1kg a season. A few hundred grams a month. Of course, as I mentioned above, it wasn't exactly a straight line to where I am, but when you average it out, my god it seems so slow, right? Until you happen to remember that you took photos 6 years ago...
I'm not done, I don't have a final destination in mind but I do have a couple mini goals, one to hit 72kg representing a total of 30kg weight loss and also my shift into 'average' BMI; and then to hit 69.9kg as the 60s would be exciting new ground for me. Aside from that, I just want to be a happy weight where I can ride my horses, be fit and as healthy as possible (I have a lot of chronic pain issues), and feel good about how I look. I'm nearly there on all 3 points.
I'm not sure there's a point to this as such, but I have been following this sub for years now, given up, come back, given up, come back... And if it weren't for the ability to look back and go 'whoa, you know what, that is a reeeal difference there' maybe I'd have given up again.
So take a photo now, today. And realise that weight loss is a long haul project, I've been at this game 6 years and expect it'll be another year or 2 before I feel I can concentrate on maintenance (I'll be 35).
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