ABOUT ME

I come from a sporting background...so never had a weight problem when I was still playing sport.   However, when injury curtailed my football career, I didn't adjust my eating patterns to compensate for burning less calories.   Worse, I started eating less healthy foods, particularly sweets to satisfy my chronic sweet tooth!  

I have a rare condition whereby I cannot keep down cheese or tomatoes....to test me out, my wife and my mother before her would sneakily mix cheese or tomato into my meals and my body would always reject it. Luckily I love fruit and vegetables so always have at least my '5 portions a day'. However, I grew up on red meat and pretty bland food. At university I graduated to fast and fatty foods. And throughout life I have always succumbed to that chronic sweet tooth....a Hershey Bar here and there and a pot or two of ice cream!!   No wonder I developed a weight problem when I gave up football!

Over the years I tried loads of diets ranging from the established programmes like Jenny Craig to wacky ones like a boiled chicken & cabbage diet (that was your evening meal and during the day you survived on the previous night's leftover 'cabbage juice'!).    I generally had success in losing weight but would slowly put it back on again.  In early 2010 I was the heaviest I had been in my life. I resolved to lose at least 4 stone and ended up losing 60lbs! But once again I put some of it back on.

That is when I looked for the reasons why.......in short, I failed to make the necessary mental commitment to change my eating habits for the rest of my life.  Life is about compromises....did I want good health, a slimmer appearance and to feel good about myself?   Or would I rather overeat and stuff my face with bad food?  

By surfing the net I learnt many useful tips.  For example, a good weight loss programme isn't simply about losing weight. Anyone with strong willpower can do that by eating less or exercising more (or both). A good weight loss programme/regime is about lifestyle change so that once you lose weight you don't put it back on again. It is about laying the platform to avoid later health issues caused by fatty livers, blocked arteries, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc. It is about becoming fitter (and often, more mobile) and feeling good about yourself


I have used that knowledge to lose the weight I had regained and am now successfully balancing my food intake with the calories I burn off