Losing seven stone in half a year changed my life

This story begins with a saddening truth, that insecurities and body image issues lie within many of us, regardless of how good other people seem to look, deep down most have concerns.

My issues still plague me to this day, I still feel and always will feel that I could do more. But if  I truly wanted to change myself for the second time then I would. I believe that deep down if you want something bad enough then there is no excuse that will get in your way. But maybe to get to that point you have to hit rock bottom. A point which I hit during my first term at university.

I am often asked: why then? Why that time? The truth is, I simply got to a point in my life where I looked at myself in the mirror and realised I wasn’t happy, or even close to being happy, and if I continued down this path I never would be.

The first term of university helped me see that. I was exposed to the wonders of university, such as meeting new people and going out. However, the burdens I laid upon myself effected this. I was often shy and quiet, and most of the time I wouldn’t really want to go out. The main reason behind that was a lack of confidence and shame. My confidence had probably never been lower, as I went from a place of comfort at home to a world where all my fears came true. I often felt that as soon as I would walk into a room I would be judged for my size. Sounds a bit paranoid I know, but every time I would leave my flat I felt that when someone would look at me they would be filled with a sense of disappointment. I guess I just thought because I portrayed myself as insecure, why would anyone else think any different? Time came where I wanted more from life, and more from university.

My diet was the first thing to change. I stuck to a plan of eating 1500 calories a day, every day for virtually the next seven months, give or take a few cheat days. I decided that as I was never really fussed by breakfast I would eat two meals, one at roughly 12:30pm and the other at 6pm. I never eat out of this window or had anything else throughout the day. Most of the meals were quite basic: chicken, rice and some vegetables was my daily fix. In terms of drinking, as I was already embarrassed to go out I didn’t struggle with cutting alcohol off, in fact I basically just drank water for seven months, roughly three litres a day.

The next thing I focused on was exercising. I joined a gym near Westgate in the city centre because I was too ashamed to go the university gym for fear of shaming. I went to the gym every day during my second term without failure, I got on the exercise bike and pushed myself further every day I went. Whether it was for extra minute or half a mile, I did it.

In the end, by the time I got to summer, cycling became easy, doing 40 miles wouldn’t be to challenging anymore. In hindsight, I wish I worked out with weights more, I noticed that I lost a significant amount of muscle/strength during the period and at times felt very weak both mentally and physically. However, I kept pushing through whatever pain I may have felt, as I knew every day was one step closer to becoming someone I could be proud of.

Every month I saw both a literal progression in my body and with how I felt. The first month I lost just over one stone, and for the next seven months I lost a total of seven stone.

The experience showed me that all you need is the will power to last past the first three to four weeks and then life becomes easier, it then turns more into a lifestyle change than a diet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not obsessed with health and fitness now, which may seem strange. I still enjoy bad food, but the difference is I know that I will never let myself become that boy who lacked so much confidence once again.

This change has allowed me to see the world in a different light. I now feel more comfortable in clothes both literally and metaphorically. The benefit of actually fitting in to the majority of clothes brands has allowed me to express who I am, whereas before i would be limited to clothes brands that ran to 3XL. In fact, I only bought dark coloured clothing. Not because i thought it looked cool, but because I thought it would hide my weight. How naïve i was.

In the end, and probably most importantly,  I feel free. I don’t worry every time I step out about whether people are looking at me, I don’t feel that emotional burden of worrying anymore.