Success Story: Martin

AKA "MartinK" on Weight Loss Resources

About Martin

I work as an IT consultant. My job involves working with various customers up and down the country, often travelling during normal meal times.

Working away from home a lot makes it hard to eat well. WLR really helped by allowing me to lookup the calorie content of popular packaged foods so that I know if I have to eat on the move, I can at least minimise the impact by choosing the best products, calorie-wise.

I do quite often stay away overnight in hotels and there is always the temptation to nip to the bar for a quick pint. I found by using WLR that alcohol is one of the quickest ways to pile on calories and should be avoided. It is not to say that I stopped drinking but started choosing bottles rather than pints and products with lower alcohol volume to reduce the calories.

I am living with my partner (soon to be wife!) with no children but we do have three dogs (big Labradors). Walking the dogs every day is a great way to add simple exercise to your daily routine.

Dieting History

I have never really tried dieting before WLR. I do not believe that ‘fad’ diets like Atkins etc are a healthy way to loose weight. A good, balanced diet and exercise can only really achieve it.

I did have odd spells of trying to eat better but it never lasted because I did not really know which foods were good or bad for you. This is one of the areas where WLR was most valuable. It educated me on the nutritional values of most of the foods I eat. I know that a slice of bread is roughly 130 calories which I did not know before using WLR.

How being overweight has affected you…

My weight affected the sports I could take part in. I have always enjoyed 5-a-side football, but was never really any good because I had zero agility on the pitch. Now I have lost the weight, I am much faster, more accurate and responsive than before, which ultimately leads to confidence and more goals!

My choice of clothes has changed too. I am more confident wearing fitted clothes now, which is great.

Motivation to Diet

I was getting bigger and bigger and I realised that unless I did something I’d end up in serious trouble.

How Weight Loss Resources Helps

I’ve highlighted many of the areas throughout but the biggest ones were:

• Helping me learn about the calories in food. Which foods are good, bad or indifferent. I now know roughly how many calories are in most of the foods I eat. I also know which foods are good for you generally, like chicken.
• By tracking your consumption, you really start to realise why you were gaining weight. I realised by switching from ‘normal’ fizzy drinks to the ‘zero’ versions, I stopped consuming about 400 calories a day!
• It is really helpful to have a visual results graph which you can use to see how far you’ve come and where you need to get to.
• Understanding the impact of exercise has been very useful. I never knew that even simple activities like walking the dog counted as exercise and helped with weight loss.

The Best of Weight Loss Resources

I used the following the most:

• Storing your own recipes and food plans
• The food diary (obviously)
• The food database
• The goals and results pages

Lifestyle Changes Since Using WLR

I now do more exercise and generally try to keep more active.

My actual diet has not changed that dramatically. I still have treats now and then but not so many of them!

I do try to cut out simple things like switching to ‘zero’ calorie versions of fizzy drinks or only buttering the one slice of bread on a sandwich.

WLR has educated me on why I was putting weight on in the first place and shown me ways to reduce the calorie intake. Other diets do not have this information.

Martin's Calorie Counting Tips

Be truthful with yourself. If you have had a McDonalds, put it in your diary even if it does mean you have gone way over your daily calorie quota.

Likewise do not overlook the benefits of simple exercise like walking the dogs, washing the car (or even sex!).

Also, keep it up – weight loss should not happen overnight and it will take time.

The only other thing is that there will be periods where you do not lose any weight and suddenly, your weight loss will accelerate. I do not know why this is but so long as you know about it, you know not to feel disheartened when you have only lost 1 pound in two weeks.

More Information

The tools of WLR can be used to show you the nutritional values of the foods and drinks you are consuming.

Martin's Vital Statistics

	Before	Now
Weight	17st 4lb	13st 4lb