Losing 7 Stone with WLR

Paul, Age 43, Height 5' 10"

Start Weight	19st 2lb
Current Weight	12st 3lb
Goal Weight	12st 3lb
Weight Lost	6st 13lb
Working to Rate of Loss	2lb / week

About Paul

For the past 10 years I had been working freelance in my profession as a building surveyor, often working long hours, up to 60 hours per week. This did lead to me eating at irregular times.

In the last 18 months I have changed to permanent employment. This has helped me get into more of a regular routine.

My new job does involve a lot of corporate entertainment, so I have to choose wisely at times.

I have been married for the past 18 ½ years, have two children, both girls, aged 15 & 11. I have always done the cooking at home, which has mostly been fairly healthy, hence the reason why both my children are fit and healthy.

My problem was always eating outside of home, and indulging in too much alcohol in recent years as pressures of work built up.

Weight Loss History

Having been overweight for much of the last 35 years, I have never personally followed any of the national diets.

When I have chosen to lose weight in the past, I have done so on my own, by reduction of food and calorie intake.

After losing up to 2 stone in my previous attempts, I give up through boredom.

As with most diets you end up depriving yourself of those things you like, so back on goes the weight lost, plus more.

I ended up a yo-yo dieter, but never got any real long-term success.

How being overweight has affected you…

As a fat person I now know I have missed out on so much, personally and socially.

A lot of my friends who are fit and healthy were always up to something like five-a-side football. I was never fit enough to take part, so missed out on a lot of fun.

Also, when on holiday I always avoided the beach as I never felt comfortable showing my body off.

For the last 16 years I have never been able to dress how I would have wanted, so always wore baggy clothes to try and disguise my size.

Always being overweight, I have suffered with low self-esteem and lack of confidence.

Motivation to Lose Weight

Four years ago I was diagnosed with diverticular disease, a condition of the bowel, which is possibly caused by poor diet.

This lead to few bouts of diverticulitus, which is a nasty infection in the bowel, often making me ill for a week at a time. This got me down, but for a while made me put on more weight as I turned to food for comfort.

In more recent times while on a routine visit to my doctors my blood pressure was taken and was high, at 159/90.

A few months after this, the switch inside my head flicked. I was middle aged, fat and unhealthy.

I didn’t want to get ill, so knew I really had to start looking after myself. Getting back to an ideal weight and starting to exercise was going to be the only way forward.

How WLR Helps

Initially, in December, I started to lose weight under my own steam, by cutting out all the junk food and alcohol I was consuming.

By April, this had lead to a 2st 10lbs weight loss. I got stuck for a few weeks, and was on the point of giving up as I had done so many times in the past, when I thought I would use the internet to find out how many calories was in my own prepared food.

Fortunately Google lead me to WLR, and from that day on, I have never looked back.

Over a period of 6 months, I steadily lost another 4 stone 3lbs, to get to 12st 3lbs, one lb below the goal set.

In my free trial, I immediately understood how exercise and a balanced diet went hand in hand, and how my portion sizes has lead to me eating more than I thought I was with my own prepared meals.

I quickly learnt that by exercising I could earn a lot more food, as WLR worked out how many calories my exercise was worth.

I also learnt that I didn’t have to deprive myself of all those foods that I liked.

If I counted the calories accurately in my food diary, and they were within my daily calorie quota, then I could have them without the worry of weight gain.

I soon got the calorie balance right, and over the course of six months, set at 2 lbs per week, I lost consistently each week to get to my goal.

The Best of Weight Loss Resources

Full use of all the facilities at WLR has lead to me having my own nutritionist and personal trainer on hand 24/7.

The exercise and food diary has been invaluable, and being accurate with this daily has certainly been the main contributor to my successful weight loss.

I have constantly found interesting and informative articles in the research section.

The message boards have always been a source of inspiration and motivational support with all the successful people on there.

Lifestyle Changes

Since losing weight I am a much happier and self confident individual.

My self-esteem has gone up immensely, and I have a wardrobe full of clothes that fit and look good on me.

I have even been told that I look 10 years younger, which makes you feel really good about yourself and your achievement.

I have rediscovered my love of cycling. After my bike being in the garage for best part of the last 10 years it has played a big part in my weight loss.

This time last year I would have been lucky to have been able to cycle to the local shop under 1 mile away, now I can cycle up to 60 miles in a morning or afternoon.

We had a really nice holiday in the South of France in the summer, and for the first time in ages I felt comfortable in wearing a swimming costume and sitting on the beach.

Diet Changes

Typical Dinner – Before

Sausages, fried chips, baked beans, egg and two slices of thick white bread with flora.

Typical Dinner – Now

Homemade turkey burgers with cranberries, baked potato wedges, peas, carrots, one slice of medium wholemeal bread with flora.

I have also swapped high sugar and fat content snacks such as sausage rolls, crisps and chocolate bars, for more fruit, nuts, and cereal bars.

Exercise Changes

In my early days of weight loss, I just walked briskly five times a week.

When I had lost half of my weight, summer was here, so I got my bike out.

As my fitness improved through walking and cycling, I decided to join a local health and fitness club.

Each month I had a personal plan worked out for me, which got my fitness levels up as the weeks went by.

The good thing was that through not eating junk food and cutting right back on alcohol, I was saving over £100 per month.

This saving easily paid for my gym membership at £ 49.00 per month. The rest of the saving went towards new clothes that were needed.

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

WLR has been the only place to help me successfully lose weight.

This is totally down to the fact that it has re-educated my whole way of life - recognising the importance of a balanced diet combined with regular exercise.

I have not had to eliminate any of my favourite foods.

All through doing WLR I have eaten my favourite Indian and Chinese foods, had fish and chips down on the south coast, and eaten out many times.

Paul's Weight Loss Tips

Always be honest with your food and exercise logging. Fill your diaries out daily. Try to plan ahead. It helps to see your food and activity plan for the week ahead, forward planning has been key to my success.

Find an exercise you really enjoy, and can do anytime you feel like it.

Take a look at your diet, and swap for lower calorie alternatives where possible.

Always look for ways of increasing your activity. For instance I now walk the 3 mile round trip to town at lunchtime.

Before I would either use the car, or just sit in the office. I now walk to the local shop in my village, as well as the local recycling centre to take the plastic bottles and papers.

Always work out how long it is going to take you to get to your goal, that way you will not be fooling yourself. In my case, I knew I had best part of a year ahead of me, and that really helped me to know that at the outset.

"I have to thank all those success stories of others that gave me the motivation."

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