I am wearing the same shirt for comparison's sake.
I subscribed to WeightWatchers in August, I had gone through multiple "diets" in the past years, but nothing stuck, and every kilogram I lost came back with it's friends. I was depressed for a long time and couldn't deal with myself, so I sought comfort in cheese, pasta and bread. Lots of it. Since then, I have lost 14 Kilograms. I hope the following will encourage you all to keep going strong, or as motivation for what's to come. I'm sure a lot of people are on Day 1 right now.
My journey began June 2019, when my father told me he had type 2 Diabetes. My sister has type 1 and always told me that if I caught type 2 because I wan't watching what I ate, she would crucify me, so that was my call to action. I started using a bicycle to go to work, mostly to save money. After my Vespa got destroyed by a car (I wasn't on it, don't worry!), I had no vehicle and could not afford a new one. I figured summer was here and I may as well get some exercise. I moved 12 kilometers away from the office and started going to work on the bike, starting with going one day, then taking the bus, then coming back the next day. After 2 months of increments, I was finally able to do back and forth every day, but I wasn't losing weight. If anything, I was gaining more of it.
I went to WW for the support system more than the point counting. Weekly meetings really helped me get perspective. I also started making inventory of why I had the things I had in the pantry and fridge. Turns out, mostly I didn't want to throw away vegetables so I wouldn't buy a lot of them. I did some searching and discovered lacto-fermentation. I now always have a steady number of varied vegetables ready to be jarred/already jarred. I also discovered some very nice Indian cuisine dishes which helped integrate beans and chick peas to my diet and remove some of the meat that is always oh so expensive both in calories and $$. At the end of October, when the snow started to fall, I stopped using the bike. Since the WW office is out of the way of the metro, I stopped going. I also stopped counting the points. I'm proud to say that I was able to keep the good habits I had picked up however. My one problem was that I was restless, with my 8 hours of cycling every week gone. I have yet to find a suitable replacement for this. I'm paying for a monthly bus pass now that I can't use the bike, so a gym is a bit out of my range. For now I do body weight exercises in my living room and some stairs in the metro. It's not great but it's something.
Starting the second half of November, I was getting the "November depression" that is common to me and many other Canadians and north US citizen. Not having an outlet like cycling was affecting me as much as the lack of light. I took a decision. I would attempt to maintain my weight until after the holiday and not actively try to lose a pound. At the time, I was at 116 Kg. During the Holiday, I "got lucky" and caught a cold, which meant I couldn't eat or drink as much. That turned out to be a blessing, because it kick-started my weight loss at the prefect time, surrounded by friends and family to support me. I am now at 114.8 Kg. My current goal is 110 by the end of April, long term goal being 105 by the end of the next cycling season.
This whole thing was both the easiest and second hardest thing I've had to do. The only thing I can see was harder was when I stopped smoking a few years ago. Changing everything I thought about food, weighing everything, spending hours in the kitchen, trying new things and throwing away so many failed dishes was difficult, but keeping it up was also the easiest thing, because once you're set up and have an understanding of what you can eat in which quantities, it almost works by itself.
End note - it really helps to have friends and family that support you, understand what you're doing, accept that you have done extensive research and know more than they do about the subject. I see a lot of horror stories on this board about parents or loved ones that don't want accept that they have a toxic mindset. I honestly don't know how that feels and am glad for it. My sister is a nutrition technician and backed me up in the few arguments that inevitably happened with my mother. My family and friends are all educated. It also helps that I live alone, so the only food that enters my home is what I bring in. Just know that I am behind you 100% and wish you the best.
Sorry for the rambling and poor vocabulary, I'm primarily French.
TL;DR: started cycling for money reasons, lost weight for health reasons, took a maintenance break and have not fallen off the weight loss wagon, but am dearly missing the exercise in this snowy winter. It was hard to get started, but also surprisingly easy to keep going when I got used to this new lifestyle.
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