by Lissie
I've tried all the diets out there, that's how I managed to eat myself to 108kg! For years I was in denial, I didn't really care. But more recently my partner has been under doctor's orders to lose weight, and I rather suspect that my knees would hurt less if I weighed less.
This is the story of my weight loss journey - I hope it has a happy ending!
I'm a flipping expert on weight loss - that's why I look like this! No I'm not a medical professional or a nutrionist, but I can tell you I am expert on every fad diet ever invented: Over the years I've done:
and quite a few others I can't recall. Oh and they all worked, for a time. Yup each time I lost weight, stopped the diet and ended up 10kg heavier my starting weight.
 Me @ 108kg 238lbsBMI 33 Age 49 Dec 2011 |
I was a normal weight kid up until uni (college).
I put in bit on over 4 years at uni. (I think I hit 10st (63kg/138lbs) at about this time, I was still living at home but had quit public transport in favour of a motor scooter)
A few years later I ended up in Papua New Guinea in a mining camp (I was a geologist at the time) - I was determined to lose weight - after nine months I'd dieted from 70kg (154lbs) to 65kg (143lbs) - mainly by just not eating (helped by a limited choice in the canteen and the one local shop, no take aways and no vending machines).
The photo below was taken just after that job - I was on a diet at the time of course! I had a physical job which meant I did exercise for at least 4 hours/day 5 days a week - just walking and carrying, nothing extreme.
 Me at about 65kgs (143lbs) BMI 20 Age 23 1985 |
Then I retrained, into computers and IT, a year later I was weighing in about 80kg (176lbs). I travelled off and on for years, when I travelled I typically lost weight (carrying a pack, walking, harder to get snack, particularly decent chocolate and cheese).
After my last 6 month solo trip through South America (a part of the world not know for its high quality chocolate or dairy products) - I weighed about 90kg (198lbs). I was 30 years old. I considered myself obese (or the record at the time of writing 90kg is my aim!).
Living by myself with a sedentary job I combined lots of snacking, with some good cooking, to end up at 95kg (209lbs) after a few years.
Moving in with my partner just made mine (and his) weight issues worse. Even though we were doing competitive ballroom dancing, and dancing flat out 4 or 5 nights a week for several hours, we put on weight.
 Weight c.98kg BMI 30 Age 43 Dec 2004 |
Before we start some facts: I'm 1.8m tall (5'11") I have big feet (10 1/2 or 43 size feet) - so I do get away with quite a bit as far as weight is concerned. Your mileage may vary. I'm a classic "pear shape" - the weight I want to move is on my belly and hips. When I am dance fit I have really great leg muscles - they weight a lot - so realistically I am healthier when I am heavier and I doubt that I could be dancing and be at my theoretical ideal BMI of 23 - about 74kg for me.
One of the huge lies that the weight loss industry perpetuates is that we are all the same. As far as I am concerned if you want to lose weight you need to understand your own body, and ignore all the generic advice out there. Find what works for you!
I decided I was over diets. I ate what I wanted. Amazingly my weight stabilized. With two of us I did more cooking, but even so our favourite take aways are Thai or Subway, neither of which are terrible calorific. I decided that I could live with being around 100kg (220lbs). It wasn't ideal - particularly for dancing Latin American - but I could live with it - skinny girls got nothing to shake anyways.
Which was all fine, for years in fact. Until 2011 which was the year I turned 49 and my weight ballooned to 108kg (237lbs)
What happened? Basically because of ongoing knee injuries to my partner we danced very little all year. It was also a long cold winter in New Zealand, and I got into the habit of consuming quite a few lollies (candies) and chocolates in the afternoons (one of the downers of working from home).
Basically I've always thought that most people lost weight to look good. Its a trigger that doesn't work for me. I don't care what I look like 99% of the time (the other 1% is when I'm performing!). I don't live to shop either - give me chocolate over a new outfit any day of the week.
I really have two main motivations to lose weight:
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| 20 Amazing Easy Weight Loss Tips (100 Amazing Easy Weight... Only $0.99 |
My top weight loss tip is quite simple. Don't diet - I'm not dieting - this page is a record of my change of lifestyle - which will result in weight loss. Not a short-term diet - which will, most definitely result it weight gain long term.
One thing that will be doing is updating this page about once a month with my weight loss successes. I'm not doing anything terribly original here - I was inspired by tssfact's Weight Loss Journey
OK this is where I'll update my progress once a month.
| Date | Weight | |
| 11 Jan 2012 | 108kg (289lbs) | Probably my all time heaviest |
| 1 Feb 2012 | 106kg | Well at least I went down! |
| 1 March 2012 | 105kg | Bouncing all over the place - the next day I was down 700g! |
Well it hasn't been a hugely successful month. The high carb thing was fun, I like deep-fried chicken for lunch, but in practice is bloody hard to cut out carbs like bread for lunch!
So I switched over a bit and ended up counting calories and exercise. I've done this before with Weight Watchers, and it worked for about 5kg. This time I'm not eliminating anything, if I eliminate chocolate I will binge on it, I know that. But I have cut it down, a lot, in the last couple of weeks.
I went looking for an online free alternative to weight watchers, its all very interesting seeing where the calories come from: which has more bar of chocolate or 2 pieces of break - yup the bread! Go figure! One thing I disagree with is that they only do a weigh in once a week - yesterday on my weigh in day I was 105.1kg - this morning I was 104.5kg! Same time of day - first thing in the morning! I watch with interest to see what it will be by the 1st LOL
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What are your weight loss goals - share your tips and comments here!
Hi Lissie, I'm trying to lose weight too, but, like you, I've decided to listen to my body. So what I do is eat healthy, most of the time. I do get the occasional soda and high sugar dessert -- but don't overeat: I just had 2 squares of chocolate after dinner, for instance. There are times when tea with honey after a meal will do as desert. So, in short, eat a lot of veggies and fruit, and less desert, and, if you're not dancing, do some other form of exercise. I agree that our bodies are different, but for me those are the three magic elements. Good luck!
About as well as money making at the moment ...
And? How are you doing now? SY
A great story and very realistic! I lose more weight when i stop stressing about it too! All the best!
What an awesome story. You guys look fabulous dancing. I would love to dance like that! I love the third dance, you guys are rockin' it on the dance floor!
You're so fortunate to have dancing as an option. I've always wished I could ballroom dance. It looks like so much fun and you get to wear such beautiful outfits. (Where else could you dress like that?)
Don't worry about not losing a lot at a time. I agree with Sam. Slow and steady wins the race.
Gaining weight is an occupational hazard for us writers. I've started to just get up and run around doing chores every hour or so.
It helps, too, that your husband is also trying to lose weight, as you have each other for support. But men tend to lose weight faster than women for some odd reason, so don't compare your progress with his. You're doing great and headed in the right direction.
This was very inspiration, hats off to you for wanting to make a difference in your life! That dancing looks so much fun too. Wonderfully written.
Well as of this week we are back dancing - so that's 1-1.5 hours x 5 days a week - see if that does anything - if nothing else it gets me out of the house in the evenings which is my mega snack time!
Rubbish Lissie! I lost 32kg, without surgery, so far by simply exercising more and eating a tiny bit more conscious, if I can do it, so can you. I went down from 107kg to 75 without pain, just get up and do something small in terms of exercise every day. For the records, it took me around 8 months to get there. Remember, the weight you lose quickly, you will regain quickly, the weight you lose slowly, will stay off. So, you are actually doing well to permanently lose weight!
Updated - my stats - 2kg in 3 weeks - yup this stuff doesn't work for me at any real level. I really do think that if you have more than about 10kg to lose AND its not the first time you've been over-weight, then you probably need surgery to lose significant weight