David

David 64, overcame the barriers to weight loss and learned it’s not as hard as he thought to be healthy.

What made you sign up to Help with my Weight?

I realised I needed help with losing weight after many successes and failures over the last 45 years. I’ve had an obesity problem for a very long time. My weight was increasing after every diet I went on and I knew I had a problem and needed help.

Have you had any experience with weight management services before?

Many years ago, my doctor referred me to a dietitian and it was just a chat really and there was no group or useful literature and I thought I’d plotted out the perfect diet anyway. It didn’t work out but it couldn’t have been more different to this experience.

What did you think of KindEating?

It’s a personal experience, but you also benefit from working with a bunch of people, who have the same challenges as you. You’ve all got a common goal so there’s no judgement. In many ways, the dietitian just acts as the meeting chair and guides the discussion so everyone can learn from each other. And the dietitian is always on hand with emails and they respond quickly to any queries. The booklets were also very informative and set at the right level so not too technical, but informative. What was good is the meetings reinforced the information in the books and helped further understanding of them.

What did you learn?

We’re all human and it’s a lot more than just knowing what to do. Over the course, we learned about portion control, nutritional value, which were both very useful, tips from others in the group, way your body reacts to weight loss, psychology of weight loss and the psychology of eating. It was also instrumental in helping me strip out the fiction from facts in weight loss. There’s so much information out there and it’s hard to know what to trust so it’s good to hear it from experts.

What’s changed?

My mindset is much more positive and I challenge what I’m eating or what the choices are. I’ve started walking five miles a day and really enjoy being out of the house and active because it’s so much easier now I’ve lost some weight. And I definitely know I never want to be big again.

What was straightforward about making changes?

I’m a bread addict and have been for many years. I thought it’d be hard to stop eating as much bread, but I started to appreciate all the other options out there. All the different foods I could eat instead of bread and it was just about challenging myself and finding them.

What did you find challenging?

I didn’t find anything hard with the course, everyone was very friendly, very open, nobody discussed weight during the meetings and it all just fell into place. You don’t realise your mindset is full of barriers and excuses until you’re on the programme and you’re looking for reasons not to make healthy choices.

How is your life now?

It’s very different. I should be wearing knee braces but I’m not because the weight loss means I can walk without them. It’s been empowering to lose that weight and know I can do it and keep it off. From a health perspective, blood tests a year ago showed signs of fatty liver disease, but last week, they were all normal and nothing was too high or low, so it just feels great to transform my health.