How Steven Lost 1½ Stone

AKA "Stampz" on Weight Loss Resources

About Steven

I work as a Quality Assurance Technician for a Computer Games company, so spend pretty much all day every day sat at a desk. Before WLR I used to do little to no exercise as I just couldn’t find the motivation.

Although I am engaged I currently live at home without my fiancé as she is studying in Manchester. This led to me having a lot of convenience food and takeaways in the week as I could not find the time (or so I thought) to cook for one person.

My weekends would then be spent with my fiancé going out for meals etc to make the most of the limited time we had together.

Weight Loss History

I never really dieted before, although when I did first decide I wanted to lose weight I went about it in a very silly and somewhat dangerous way.

I started to just not eat. I would eat one meal a day and would lose weight rapidly. However this led to my body entering “starvation mode” something WLR taught me a lot about.

Due to the way I was eating as soon as I would eat normally again the weight would pile back on. I convinced myself that it was food in general that did this and not the way I was treating it. This in turn led to me getting myself caught up in a vicious circle.

WLR has completely changed my train of thought towards food and my lifestyle in general.

How being overweight has affected you…

At my worst point I lost pretty much all self confidence. I would refuse to go and see people because I was just not happy with myself.

I became very subdued and introvert and decided it was time to do something about it.
 

Motivation to Lose Weight

I suppose one of the key factors was the age old reason of seeing pictures of me with my friends and family. I would always look bigger, and I would see myself as even larger in my head.

One day I just decided enough was enough and I needed to do something about it.

How WLR Helps

WLR has helped me enormously. It taught me first and foremost that food is not my enemy, and that in moderation I can eat pretty much what I want when I want and still lose weight.

Of course there is the flip side to this. Eating nothing but chocolate may still enable you to lose weight but it is not very nutritional. The site also helped me to see which areas of my diet I should aim to improve.

The Best of Weight Loss Resources

Like so many other people the food database is my saviour. I use it religiously and am still surprised by the amount of foods and various brands that are in there. I could not do without it.

Along with this I also update my goals and results regularly to make sure I am on a reasonable target at all times.

Lifestyle Changes

I am now much more active. I run regularly for pleasure and am also playing for a local Sunday league football team. In general, I just feel that I have a lot more energy to do things that I enjoy doing.

I also feel a lot better about myself and the way I look.

On holiday this year I think it was the first time in a fair few years that I have felt comfortable about swimming and walking around on the beach in just a pair of swimming shorts.

Diet Changes

I now cook for myself a lot more and eat a lot more fruit and veg as well as fish.

However the beauty of WLR for me is not about the new foods that I eat but about the foods that I did not have to give up.

Most diets would tell you to cut out all of the bad food I was eating before, takeaway crisps etc etc. However on WLR I can still eat these, admittedly these are now seen as treats as opposed to being regular meal options but it’s nice to have the option.

Typical Dinner – Before

Takeaway Curry

Fried rice

Onion Bhajis

Peshwari Naan.

Typical Dinner – Now

Fresh grilled tuna steak

Green Beans

New potatoes

(Still sneak in the odd curry now and then though :-) )

Why do you think WLR has helped you lose weight where other diets have failed?

Simply because at no point during my time on WLR have I felt like I am on diet. If I start to get a little tired of sticking to my calories then I will allow myself to take a week off and relax.

The next week I may have gained a pound, but this no longer bothers me. I can easily lose that again by getting back to my now “normal” eating routine.  

Steven's Weight Loss Tips

Just do not give up!

I know that at the start of a diet it feels like you will never get to where you want to be. For me the goal result, and the feeling that I no longer have to lose weight has made it all worth while.

Be your own weight loss success story

Steven's Vital Statistics

	Before	Now
Weight	12st 11lb	10st 5lb