A cyclist

[fortyfour]

Hi. I cycle both my weight and my bike. In the last few months my weight has ballooned to over 83kg which is more than i've ever weighed before. I'm 165cm tall. I did that by sitting on my bum, and eating a lot of lollies (mainly) and not much else, especially in the later stages.

I've got a cycling trip planned starting Late May. Its been getting me down that i'm so out of shape. So much so that i wasn't looking forward to the trip but luckily, i guess, i had the flight booked and the show must go on.

I was getting nowhere by wishing things to change. Then one day something unpleasant happened and i was able to kick myself into gear. Since then (which is only about 10 days ago, i've been eating well and exercising every day. I'm down to 80.4kg today. And not struggling with cravings at all. I'm committed to my program. Its worked before and it will work this time too. My secondary concern though is that when the trip is over, i'll put the weight on all over again. I read an excellent article last year in the Australian weekend magazine about how losing more than 10% of body weight fairly rapidly is what causes the backlash appetite and a return to fatness. So this time i'm going to try to address that.

I'm following diet that's worked for me before. Its basically three meals a day, healthy food, zero sweets. Fruit if i get hungry between times for the most part of something else that's healthy. The other night i was up stupidly late and had a baked bean sandwich with one slice of bread.

I used to weigh myself every day but this time while i may hop on any time, i'm mainly only paying attention to the weekly weigh in. I do not have a problem with the scales going up and down day by day. I know what that's about.

[CronicBadger]

Hi FortyFour

Too right. Wishing is the easy part, but for it to actually happen the wishing has to turn into doing. Make your dietary change into a permanent healthy lifestyle - that's the only way not to put weight back on after a "diet" has succeeded.

[fortyfour]

Easier said than done. Of course i try repeatedly to make the change permanent but mood issues and events get in the way. This doesn't mean i don't always try again, hoping to make the changes permanent but so far i haven't been able to do it.

[CronicBadger]

I've been going through it for the past few years. I went from 128 down to 76 kilos in the space of a year, but since then have been hovering around 80 kilos due to occasional lapses in my "permanent lifestyle change" brought on mostly by stress.

I have noticed that as good habits are reinforced over time the binges become less damaging and are easier to overcome.

[Blitz]

Why should we be surprised that lifestyle change takes a while to kick in? We have spent years and years dealing with stress and life the wrong way. It is going to take years of good practice to get it right.

That is why character in lifestyle change is so important. The more ingrained these good habits are into our very being the better it is for us. Then it isn't just a question of doing the right thing but being true to who you are.

Kim