Peter's Weight Loss Success

Peter, Age 34, Height 5ft 9in

Start Weight	17st 2lbs
Current Weight	12st
Goal Weight	11st
Weight Lost	5st 2lb
Working to Rate of Loss	1½lbs per week

About Peter

I am 34 years old and live with my girlfriend.  For many years we would enjoy eating lots of junk food ranging from fish and chips and kebabs through to regular trips to restaurants such as Frankie and Benny’s and TGI Fridays. 

We also enjoyed the sweeter things in life and for years I loved my sweets, crisps and chocolates and would generally combine these items into my normally daily diet.

On a professional level I have been working within the IT industry for the past 19 years and for the past 10 years I have been working as an IT consultant travelling all around the world. 

Working as an IT consultant see's me spending a large amount of time working away from home and staying in hotels and socialising with customers. 

For many years this was a luxury where I would eat almost anything offered and would enjoy several drinks with clients during the days and evenings on a regular basis, sometimes even daily.

"My job also involves very strange working hours and as a result I would always use this as an excuse to avoid any sort of exercise."

As a result the excessive eating of hotel and pub food combined with the zero activity levels resulted in me gaining vast amounts of weight and becoming extremely unfit.

For many years I managed to keep my weight at around 14 stone which I was never happy with.

Weight started to pile on fast when I stopped smoking 4 years ago and started to replace my smoking habit with a new habit of food and beer.

I had always been unhappy with my weight; however in February 2009 it had got to the point where I knew something had to finally be done.

Dieting History

As I have been unhappy with my weight for many years I have tried several diets throughout my life. None of these really worked for me due to either restriction on the type of food I could eat which did not work with my lifestyle or simply from the diet being too complex to follow.

Calorie Controlled Diet

Many years ago I purchased two books from a local supermarket and started to follow a calorie and fat controlled diet. 

In the early stages of this diet I did lose some weight. However I soon stopped following this diet as it was becoming too hard to track all of the food I was eating.

Weight Watchers Online

I found the Weight Watchers diet almost impossible to follow as most of this diet was based eating the food sold under the Weight Watchers brand.

"This was not flexible enough for my lifestyle of working away in hotels."

As I recall this diet lasted for no more than two months before I decided to cancel my membership and go back to eating whatever I wanted to.

Slimming World Online

In 2008 my girlfriend decided she wanted to join Slimming World so I decided to go along to the welcome meeting with her and see if this would work for me. 

After the initial group meeting and consultation with the group leader it was clear that this type of diet would also be hard to follow with my hotel lifestyle.

Nevertheless I decided to join the online website and see if this was something that I could do. 

After just a few weeks on this diet I realised that this diet was again too restrictive for my lifestyle and as a result I decided to cancel my membership and return back to my original ways.

How Being Overweight Has Affected You

For many years I was never happy with being one of the larger people in life. 

"I was never a confident person within a group and always felt that people were judging me on my size and not for who I am."

Another downside of being overweight and unfit was that it stopped me from participating in many sporting activities that my friends would be doing simply because I did not have the energy available. 

I always wanted to be able to run, or partake in martial arts; however I never did any of these activities due to being overweight and unfit.

I also hated shopping for clothes since it was getting harder and harder to find clothes in normal shops that would fit me. 

As a result I would generally end up buying items simply because they were the only items that would fit me rather than something I liked.  This became worse when I was at my heaviest.

What Was Your Main Motivation To Lose Weight?

I read the book 'Fat Bloke Slims' and was inspired to read how someone else had managed to turn their life around and get back into shape. 

Once I had finished the book I decided that as a treat to myself in 2009 I would try a few sessions with a personal trainer and see if this would motivate me to get into shape.

In February 2009 I stated training with a local personal trainer at home. I never addressed my diet initially and did not train on a regular basis.  

After just a few months my personal trainer informed me that he was unable to continue with the sessions and at this point I was back to where I had started. However I had lost 1st in weight.

I then decided to search the internet for the website that was talked about in the book and found Weight Loss Resources.

I decided to try the 24 hour trial.  My focus now shifted from exercise to diet and I joined WLR and started to track my food intake.

After a few weeks I found an excellent new personal trainer who was local to me and who had experience of training people like me. 

I also decided to join the Gym and start a running program which was something I had wanted to do for years but had never had the confidence to do.

"My motivation to keep going with my weight loss came from my improved fitness levels and increasing weight loss and change in body shape."

My personal trainer insists on regular body measurement, to track my progress and it was amazing to see how my body was changing in such a short time.

My improved fitness levels were also a major motivation. 

At the start of my journey I could not walk up stairs without being out of breath and being unable to talk for several minutes. 

Within a few months I had gone from this to doing short runs in the gym and as a result I was hooked and wanted to take it further.

The Best Of WLR

My best tool is the WLR food diary.

"I have learnt from WLR that I can still eat all the foods I loved and I can still eat meals in hotels and with customers."

I can even enjoy my weekend beer with my dad. The food diary has educated me in how to enjoy what I want without going over calories and still manage to lose weight. 

It allows me to understand which foods are good and bad and with this knowledge I can make much better decisions when I do have to eat out. 

I also use the Member Forum for motivation and support and find that there are many wonderful and helpful people within the WLR family all who are willing to offer a friendly ear and sensible advice when it is needed.

Try WLR For Yourself

Lots of people have achieved their weight loss success using the tools, information and support that WLR has to offer. But don't take our word for it – take free trial and see for yourself.

Why Has WLR Helped You Lose Weight Where Other Diets Failed?

Because there is no food that is banned. The site has educated me to know which food is good and bad in terms of calories and as a result I can still enjoy what I want.

However, I understand how that food can affect me.

By tracking the calories I consume against the calories that I burn during exercise it has allowed me to follow some simple rules that my personal trainer set from day one. 

"Is the food a need or a want, and with WLR I can decide if I can have that odd treat if I want."

The food diary has also shown me just how much food you can actually eat when eating healthy compared to eating the typical junk food that I would have previously eaten from the motorway services when on the road.

Have You Struggled in Your Weight Loss Journey Or Experienced a Weight Loss Plateau?

Several times throughout the past year and in fact I am at a plateau at this moment in time struggling to get rid of the last stone. 

When I hit a point where my weight has hit a plateau it can be very depressing.

However when I look back at how far I have come it shows me that this is not the time to give up just because of a small set back.

I think the hardest thing I had to get to grips with was that fact that sometimes I was not eating enough food and as a result I was not losing weight. 

It's a hard theory to take in that if you don't eat enough you won't lose weight.

Once I had overcome these issues my weight loss resumed and showed positive results on both the scales and in my body shape.

Lifestyle Changes

Before I lost weight I would never walk anywhere, let alone run.  I would generally jump in the car just to go to the shop at the end of the road. 

I would eat junk and then get all depressed about how big I was.

"Since I have lost my weight I walk all the time, and run 3 to 4 times a week with average run lengths of 5k."

I also cycle most days and as a result I have managed to see more of my local area in the past 6 months than I had in the past 5 years.

I set a challenge last year at the start of my journey to climb Snowdon and this year in May I completed this challenge with 500 other people for a great charity.

"A year ago I could not even climb the stairs and now I have climbed Snowdon."

I now think more and more about new challenges and I am currently planning some of the following which I would never have even considered this time last year:

• Water Skiing Lessons
• Sky Dive (If the other half lets me)
• London to Paris Bike ride (This is the challenge I most want to do next year)
• More mountain climbing and hill walking

Exercise Changes

I now exercise 3 to 4 times a week in a local gym doing mainly cardio exercise which includes running, x-trainer, rowing and exercise bike. 

I do various body weight exercises and I am currently working on a program called 100 push-ups to help tone my upper body.

I still work out with my personal trainer. However this is now down to once a month to simply ensure that I am staying on track.

I also try to cycle at least once a week. Now that the summer is here this is becoming a daily task so that I get the benefits of the great weather and exercise.

My next exercise challenge is to take up martial arts which is something I have wanted to do for many years but never did due to my poor fitness levels.

What You Love About Your Body Now

My shape and the fact that I can now see my feet when I look down and not that huge belly sticking out. 

There are still parts of my body that I am not happy with and this is what now motivates me to continue tracking my food and working on my exercise routine. 

I love the fact that I now look and feel slim and as a result of this I can buy clothes from almost anywhere which is great.

	Before	After
BMI	35.4	24.9
Body Fat	37%	Less than 27%
Chest	48"	38"
Waist	47"	34"

Peter's Tips

Don't give up no matter where you are in your journey.

Remember there will be many good days and many bad days. Try to put a line under the bad days and simply start as fresh the day after. 

WLR has taught me that there is no such thing as a diet and this is about a lifestyle change. 

You can still enjoy drinks at the weekend or the odd chocolate bar. It just needs to be balanced with the other food eaten during the week.

The other tip I would add it be true to yourself. 

There have been days where I was 2000 calories over due to heavy drinking and pub food. 

I still logged this into my diary as it helped me to educate myself for the future and as a result I can still enjoy these days but in a more controlled way, or with lots of exercise before.