Hi all! I’ve always been a bit on the zaftig side and been ok with that, but it’s amazing how your weight just creeps up over the years without you noticing. After a couple of really stressful years, I realized around Christmas last year that at 83 kg, I was the heaviest I’d ever been, and I was feeling it. Not only were all my clothes tight, I just was physically uncomfortable, my knees hurt, and I felt really out of shape. I knew I wanted to lose weight, but I didn’t want to “diet”.
At first I decided to just be more conscious of my food choices. I’d drink less soda, not eat half a pack of cookies after dinner, that kind of thing. I did lose some weight this way, about 4 kg, and was hovering around 78 kg (which is about where I’d been for quite a while before the more recent weight gain). But I wasn’t tracking and never really had a goal to aim for.
Then corona hit, and I kept hearing how it was hitting obese people much more severely. They did an interview on the news here with a woman about my age and my level of obesity talking about the rehabilitation she would have to do to recover from corona. And it scared the crap out of me. That’s when I decided it was time to set a goal.
I decided that if I could even just go from and “obese” BMI to “overweight”, that would be an improvement. (I know BMI is not the best indicator in the world, but it can be a broad indicator or weight category.) I also knew I’d need to start moving, not for weight loss but for health. I read up on the science of weight loss and learned about CICO. I calculated my TDEE and started tracking calories on MFP.
I’m not a natural born exerciser. I hate gyms, I’m uncoordinated, and I have several health issues that affect my energy (Crohn’s disease, and an inherited kidney disease). I knew how easily I could get demotivated with exercise, so I had to choose activities I enjoyed and could keep doing. So I started walking for half and hour every day, rain or shine. I got a rowing machine and row for 20 minutes three times a week. (I used to row and knew I enjoyed the movement enough to keep at it.) I have been able to keep this up since March, and it’s been such a boost to my feeling of fitness, and my mental health. Especially the walks. I can clear my head, I have watched the seasons change, and I get to enjoy the nature that I walk through. And keeping the walks to a half an hour means even when I’m dealing with fatigue, I can get through it.
I’ve also been pleasantly surprised that it’s not that hard for me to lower my calorie intake. At first I was aiming for 1200 a day, until my gastroenterologist warned me I needed more calories than that. (I was surprised, because I’m quite short, but he was worried that with Crohn’s, 1200 was too low to get enough of the nutrients I need.) He suggested a minimum of 1500, so that’s been my daily aim. Some days I’m a smidge under (in the high 1400s) and some days I’m up to 1600 or 1650 but that still puts me in a deficit.
Since I started tracking, I went down from 78 kg to 68 kg and am now “just overweight” rather than obese. My clothes all fit better, and in fact, a lot are now too big. I feel much better, I don’t get out of breath as quickly, and my knees don’t hurt as much. In fact my general aches and pains that I had attributed to ageing have almost disappeared. I going to keep going and see where I end up. I don’t think I’m going to aim for the “normal body weight” category, but rather something in the “low-to-mid overweight” range. But even where I am now, I can feel how my health and quality of life has improved by this shift!
I’m hugely private so I don’t really talk about my progress with people I know, and it’s hard for me to say that I’m proud of myself, but I’m proud of myself! And if there are any lessons that I’ve learned from this that might be helpful to someone else, I’d say 1) make realistic goals, 2) make changes that you know will be sustainable, and 3) meet yourself where you are now. If health issues make it hard, then do what you CAN do within your limits. What works for someone else won’t necessarily work for you and doing something is always better than doing nothing!
Wishing you all good health, sustained and healthy weight loss, and happiness!
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