For those of you that don’t know my story, it’s fair to say that I could answer that question in lots of ways. That’s because I have lost weight, and re-gained it many times over the years. But for a good number of years now, I had cracked it. I had been at my personal ideal weight and stayed there for a number of years. Above is a picture that shows me at one of my heavier stages in life at around 170lbs and me in January 2016 age 52 at my perfect weight of 123lbs. Then, this year in 2018, something happened that completely de-railed me. And once again, I found myself gaining back about 20lbs of the weight that I thought I had banished for good. Before I share how I lost weight, you may want to read the background.
- March 2018 – The Trigger for re-gaining the weight
- May 2018 – How it made me gain weight
- June 2018 – How I got back on the weight loss wagon
How I lost weight – despite the de-railment
The hardest part turned out, not to be just the getting started bit this time, it wasn’t enough just to see the first few pounds fall away like it had in the past.
I managed the first week on my own very well but the second week, I felt my willpower wobbling. This time I had to address my motivation and how I was feeling every day and really focus on getting and most importantly keeping in the right frame of mind.
The problem for me wasn’t about how to lose weight, or even what to eat. I know the what of dieting and how it works, I just had to get over the phsycological barriers and make myself apply the theory again. And not just for a few days. I had let myself regain too much fat for a mini diet to work this time.
So, to support my weightloss mindset, I turned to a technique I’d used successfully in the past. Listening to a self hypnosis app. I found that for the first 5 weeks, I listened to session 1 at least once a day (3 times a day to start with and then just at bedtime).
By doing this, I felt much more in control and back to my old self. The app doesn’t tell you what to eat or how to do it (at least session 1 doesn’t). It just focuses your subconscious mind on sticking to your diet plan and making sure you avoid your own personal diet poisons.
What I did to lose the weight back
With my mind back in control and my focus set clearly on losing weight, I then set about doing all the things I know work for me. I ate between 1000 and 1350 calories a day and walked 10,000+ steps a day. Once a week I’d attend a pilates class and a Kettle bells session.
The weight started to come off.
- Week 1 – 7.8lbs lost
- Week 2 – 0.5lbs lost
- Week 3 – 3.1lbs lost
- Week 4 – 2.4lbs lost
- Week 5 – 1.4lbs lost
- Week 6 – 2.3lbs lost
- Week 7 – 2.7lbs lost
- Week 8 – 1.5lbs lost
By the beginning of August I was back within my (new) normal weight range. Over the last few years I’ve weighed 123lbs at my skinniest and felt good upto 130lbs. So at 128.6lbs, I felt I was back where I should be and began to settle back into a maintenance regime through August and into September. In October or November, I’ll try and reduce down closer to 123lbs in readiness for the holiday season.
3 things I’ve learned about how I lost weight
This time I had to really think about how I lost weight, much more than ever before and I’ve realised:
- Stress can make you put on weight
- The way you react to stress can stop you losing weight
- Your mind is a huge part of how to lose weight
Leave A Comment