Adam's Weight Loss Success Story
| Start Weight | 17st |
|---|---|
| Current Weight | 13st 2lbs |
| Goal Weight | 13st 2lbs |
| Weight Lost | 3st 12lbs |
| Working to Rate of Loss | Less than ½lb a week |
| Time Taken | 2 years 19 days |
About Adam
I’ve almost always been a big lad. For most of my adult life, I played Rugby - I was strong and fit.
As I approached my late 30’s, I started to slow down and feel the knocks a bit more than I had in my younger days – I played social Rugby until I retired. That’s when it all started going wrong. In no time at all I’d put weight on, and it wasn’t muscle!
"As I approached my late 30’s, I started to slow down and feel the knocks a bit more"
I didn’t appreciate that when I stopped playing, I couldn’t eat and drink like I had done whilst I was playing. I love food, I love beer and I love life…that was kind of the problem!
I work in IT Sales, so spend most of my working day either sat in front of a computer screen or in the car. Always very easy to pull up at a filling station somewhere and fill up on fat laden rubbish.
What diets have you tried in the past?
Weight Watchers. I had some success, but got fed up – I felt WW had nothing to offer Men, and I always felt like a bit of a clown at the weekly weigh in with a room full of women…it just wasn’t for me.
We were on holiday in Cornwall in August 2008...
"...I saw photos on the camera of a fat bloke I just didn’t recognise any more."
I decided there and then to do something about it – I was flicking through a magazine and saw an article about a lady who’d lost weight with WLR, so I made a note and joined the day after we got back off holiday.
Tell us how your weight has affected you
I was a bit of an easy target for my Rugby mates.
When I met up with them, I had to endure the jokes about having become fat. It was all good natured, but boys being boys it was relentless.
Looking back, I’m glad they were so forthright with me. It all helped to get me to the starting line of my journey.
What has been your main motivation to lose weight?
I lost my Father when he was 59 after a lengthy battle with Heart Disease.
It hit me really hard. I want to live as long a life as I possibly can, and I had to do something to change my lifestyle, otherwise I figured I’d be heading for the same early death.
I also didn’t like the way I looked – shallow and vain but true nonetheless.
Which tools and resources on WLR do you find most valuable?
For me, the big ticket from WLR is the database. That’s the function I use most.
The forums are useful – my only minor problem with the forums is that they are dominated by the girls – there’s only so much I can read about girl things – so it’s nice to occasionally find a like minded bloke on WLR and I’ve made some virtual friends along the way.
Why do you think WLR has helped you lose weight where other diets have failed?
The answer lies in the question – diets have failed.
WLR isn’t a diet – it’s a lifestyle change. You can sit around bleating on about putting weight on, but the bottom line is to lose weight you need to eat less and move more.
"WLR isn't a diet - it's a lifestyle change"
For me, it’s been about making small changes to my life over a longer period of time.
Half a pound a week, or less was the way I did this – When I first started, I went for the jugular and targeted 2lbs a week – after a month or two I realised I couldn’t cope with that scale of a reduction in my daily intake, so I reduced it down to half a pound a week and have stuck around there ever since.
In my experience, deprivation leads to deviation – so depriving myself of something I like just makes me crave it all the more – so I enjoy food and drink in moderation these days.
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Have you struggled at points in your weight loss journey? Experienced a weight loss plateau? What has kept you motivated?
Oh yes! Mostly every weekend, birthdays, meals out, special events and Christmas!!
Motivation is not something I’ve struggled with really. I’m quite a focused, goal driven person and when I set my mind on doing something, I usually do it.
Might take me a while to get there, but the end result is usually worth the journey.
Since losing weight can you give examples of how your life has changed?
Simple – I’m not fat anymore.
It’s cost me a small fortune in new clothes, but that’s a downside I’m quite happy to endure.
People who I’ve not seen for a while are amazed at my weight loss…and the lads from the Rugby club have acknowledged they will have to find another target for their jokes. If I’m honest, there are more than half a dozen who used to rip into me who could be the target now!
"People who I've not seen for a while are amazed at my
Exercise routines adopted
I quickly realised that when I stopped Rugby training I turned into a bit of a lazy slob.
So, I took up Squash which I play 2-3 times a week now. I go to the gym 3 times a week to do weights and a couple of times a week to do Spin (often on the same day as weights). I can run 5 miles without stopping.
What do you love about your body now?
I love the fact that I’m not fat. I’ve been told that my body is getting some good definition.
I’ve always been physically strong, but the weight training I’m doing now is really building strength and physique. I’ve always been a bit weirded out at the sight of myself in a mirror, but now that there’s not as much of me, it’s easier to look in a mirror.
Adam's hints and tips
Here are my Top 5 tips:
- My biggest tip is to remove the word “diet” from your dictionary…
- You will not lose weight if you don’t change your lifestyle…
- Sensible eating and good exercise through the week and bingeing at the weekends will not work. Make your choice.
- Do it slowly – cut your calorific intake by small amounts and look to play the long game…
- …and finally, don’t believe everything you read. The world and internet are full of so-called “experts”…the one expert in your body is YOU.
Identify your target, plan your strategy and stay the distance. Don’t worry about the occasional stumble, Get back up, dust yourself down and remember the end goal.
You get one chance at life. Don’t louse it up.
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Like Adam, you can achieve weight loss success by using the tools on Weight Loss Resources. You can set a weight loss goal and see how many calories you need each day to get there. Try it Free for 24 hours.
* Note: The success stories published on Weight Loss Resources are written by WLR members, past and present, telling their own stories in their own words. As you will see if you read more than one or two of them, everyone's story is different and they have reached their success from a variety of starting points and lost weight at varying rates. Individual results may vary.
