I'm new, here's my story!
Hello,
I thought I would post and introduce myself because I've just registered and I wanted to say hi! I've been lurking around these forums for a few days, and it seems like you have a really lovely and supportive community here.
A little bit about me: I'm 23 and from the UK, and I'm currently studying for a Masters degree. For the last decade, I've been overweight. I started putting on weight when I was a young teenager, and my weight increased steadily during my time at university, when I put on a lot of weight. I am 5'7", and at my heaviest, I was 16 stone (224lbs).
I tended to eat healthy meals most of the time, but my weight gain was mostly through snacking and binge eating, particularly on carbohydrates like bread and pasta, and savoury snacks like crisps. I would often find myself eating without even being hungry, just because I liked the taste of food, or because I was bored, and would naturally gravitate towards the kitchen. I love cooking and actually really enjoy healthy foods like fresh fruit and vegetables, but unfortunately, the things I ate excessively tended to be unhealthy.
At the beginning of 2007, I finally decided that I was fed up with my size, and I started to try and live a more healthy lifestyle. I'd tried to lose weight before, but due to a lack of willpower, I'd never managed to stick with it and I would give up. This time, I was adamant that this was not a "diet", but a more healthy and permanent lifestyle change - to eat less and move more. I refused to ban any "bad" foods or beat myself up if I made the occasional unhealthy choice, I started exercising more, and the weight fell off. In about three months, I had lost around 3 stone (42lbs), dropped from a UK size 20 to a UK size 16. I felt fantastic, my confidence improved, and everyone was really supportive and complimentary.
I've been at a plateau of 13 stone (182lbs) for ages. I guess this was because I felt much happier with my size than I did before, and so I got into a bit of a rut where I didn't feel motivated to continue losing weight. I managed to maintain my weight by eating healthily for a bit, then eating really badly, and the cycle would go on like that. However, I've now decided that I want to shift about two more stone, and now is the time to do it. I'm still overweight (with a BMI around 28) and so I'd like to lose some more weight in order to be healthier and feel more happy with my appearance.
A couple of days ago, I finally broke the 13-stone plateau, and I feel delighted. At the minute I weigh 12 stone, 11lbs (179lbs), and even though it's only a few pounds shy of what I've been for the past year or so, something about breaking that plateau seems really different, and I feel spurred on to keep the loss going! I've also recently been fitting into a UK size 14, which feels fabulous.
So, with that really long (sorry!) introduction said, I've signed up to these forums in hope of enjoying discussion with like-minded friendly people and staying on track with my weight loss. I look forward to reading and posting here!
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