Why did you put weight on to start with….why will you keep it off?

This topic contains 2 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by Buttonboots 8 years, 7 months ago.

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Expat

12:57 am
14 Sep 15
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I am six month into 5:2 and I am now at normal BMI. I have done 5:2 for two reasons…one was for the health benefits overall and the other to lose some weight.

Well, nothing….and I mean nothing….tastes as good as slim. I look better, I feel better, I have more energy (physical and sexual). My husband is a happy man.

Which makes me wonder why I ever put the weight on to start with!! Why did I let it happen? I wonder whether I got so caught up with making a career, raising my kids, paying off a home, being superwoman that the only thing I had left was eating.

The answer is complex because I can’t quite put my finger on why. All I know is I won’t go there again. However, in conjunction with losing weight…I also am in a good place. My kids are grown and doing well, I have no debt, I am very happily married to a man who loves me regardless of my looks. I have a great career and can afford to indulge our love of travel. So, maybe I am now slim and happy to stay slim because I am…well…just plain happy.

So, do you know why you put weight on? Why will you keep the weight off?

RC76

5:45 am
14 Sep 15
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Good question, like you say it is complex. Everyone is likely different, although I suspect there will be similar themes. It rarely happens overnight, most often over quite a long time.

Personally, I have put on weight because of several reasons:

1. It has been a comfort when I am stressed
2. I always backed myself to lose the weight…tomorrow
3. I really, really enjoy eating nice food!

Why will it be different this time? I have structure, I have set out exactly why I want/need to lose weight (see earlier thread – important to start with the end in mind) and quite frankly the price is too high if i don’t.

I had blood tests not long ago and they came back OK, no sign of diabetes/similar – felt like I’d dodged a bullet and was the shot in the arm I needed to keep it so.

Buttonboots

7:19 am
14 Sep 15
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When I was very young I was quite a slender little thing….not scrawny by any means, but not pudgy either…Healthy home cooked meals, a certain amount of outdoor play , long walks in the country (admittedly somewhat enforced….I wasn’t that fond of pointless rambling!), and sweet treats/crisps limited to Saturdays when we got our pocket money – which I preferred to spend on comics – all meant I had a good start weight-wise.

Why did I put weight on?

1. When I was 14 I was put on medication. One of the side effects was weight gain….and so the process began!
2. I was already excused sports/games at school on medical grounds.(From the age of about 11). No exercise meant I wasn’t burning off calories as efficiently as I should have done.
3. No friends, family struggles, health issues (which wouldn’t be fully diagnosed for another 30 years!), moving house- and school – every year or so (Forces brat), all lead down the ‘comfort’ eating route.
4. I am a total foodie! I love food!

I did try and lose weight in the past. I tried all sorts. I had one minor success, at a club, I lost weight …and then put it all back on in a few months, plus a little extra for good measure! After that, nothing helped. My weight just piled on. I DID try various methods but with no success….just the opposite, my weight soared.

So why is 5:2 different? Why am I losing weight now, and why do I believe it will stay off? (I am nowhere near the maintaining my weight phase…another few stone to lose yet…quite a few…but I have lost a huge amount so far!)

1. This actually WORKS! Nothing succeeds like success! Every small weight loss spurs me on and encourages me. I cannot exercise and am still on meds (and will be for life) but I am STILL losing weight, albeit slowly.
2. This plan actually lets me stay a foodie! I still get to enjoy my food. I don’t feel deprived.
3. I can wear clothes I had stopped dreaming I ever would. I am wearing jeans! I used to wear baggy ‘sacks’ with a list of xs as their size….now I am wearing clothes with (admittedly high!) numbers as sizes…I never want to go back!
4. This is going to succeed because it is never going to end! When I reach a weight with which I am comfortable (I haven’t settled on a final figure yet…too far away!) I will still be on the plan, but will switch to 6:1 ….and whenever the scales start to nudge upwards I will 5:2 again until they go back down….it is a lifetime plan not a short-term fix!