Back at the start of last summer I faced the choice of buying a whole set of new jeans as the set of jeans I'd bought just over a year before to replace the set I'd bought just over the year before, to replace the set I'd bought just over the year before were too tight. Or instead of accepting going up 4 sizes in 5 years dropping my weight. I never weighed myself and would look in the mirror and see someone who was a bit over weight. The reality is that I was close to if not over an obese level BMI. (I'd already lost weight when I weighed myself and my bmi was 29.7.)
I was approaching 40 and felt that whatever way I went would likely be the way I would stay, so I decided to lose weight and accepted that the first thing I had to do was quit processed sugar. Processed sugar is highly addictive and the more I'd eat, the more I'd want to eat. I'd tried cutting back before but it wouldn't last, and having inadvertently read about the gut biome, I knew I'd have to reset. Here's the important thing though. I read about every study I could find on fruit consumption and weight loss and it seems fruit consumption aids weight loss, so I ignored all nonsense about the calories in apples, berries or even dried fruit and I ate them whenever I wanted. It's much, much easier to cut sugar when you are still satisfying your enjoyment of sweet foods. As my body adjusted to the lack of processed sugar, I found my desire for simple carbs also dropped. In part because I was consuming a lot of carbs in my increased fruit and veg intake but also because I became more in tune with my appetite.
I lost weight steadily, dropping a jeans size every 6 weeks or so. One of the things that made me realise how out of touch I was with how my body looked was when I saw some photos of me at a party about 3 months after quitting sugar. I was really pleased to be fitting in jeans that hadn't fit me in a few years but when I saw the photos, I was clearly still quite overweight. About as overweight as I thought I had been before I'd started. It was probably the hardest part of losing weight. I'd drop a size and be really pleased with that for a week or so and then realise that I really did still have quite a lot of excess weight to lose.
I tried exercising but found learned that I have an inguinal hernia and a lot of cross fit style exercise is off limits to me. Every thing else I found really, really boring, so didn't keep it up. Even still, in under 6 months I turned 40 a healthy weight and comfortably back in my favourite jeans. I looked good in clothes but flabby/floppy underneath. I wasn't fit and would be badly out of breath after running for a bus. I knew I needed to tone up to improve how my body looked and I needed to be fitter. But I had no clue how to do that.
Then I took DS to the roller rink and he liked it, so we went back a few weeks later. And again. Then nearly 6 months ago I went to an adult evening with a friend and I've never looked back. I skate all the time. I skate in the rink, in the skate park and for long, long skates around the city. Skating is objectively one of the best exercises there is, using up to 600cal and hour while also being a serious muscle building exercise for nearly all the major muscle groups. I dance and figure skate and can do simple figure skating jumps going from forward on one leg to backward on the other. And some complex dance steps and manoeuvres that require very serious leg and core strength. Outdoor skating, I skate marathon distances for fun and easily do a couple of 20kms a week.
Physically, I have never looked better in my life. My calves and thighs are visibly muscular even when I'm standing barefoot. My butt is back where it was when I was 22. I have abs! Not quite a 6 pack yet but nearly a 4 pack and my c-section pooch is almost gone. I had accepted that as something that could only be taken away by surgery but now I reckon it will be gone by Christmas. And I don't quite understand the mechanics of how skating has done this, but my arms are very muscular now.
The best part is, that I never work out. Not ever. I just do my favourite thing and get to fly about in ways that I'd always fantasised about but never thought was something I could really do. I feel so fit and strong. I can eat whatever the hell I want to eat but I don't really want to eat shite food any more. I still enjoy chocolate and cake sometimes but I don't ever crave it. The only exception is, if I can't skate for a few days for some reason. Then I tend to want sugary foods more. It's like they both satisfy the same part of my brain. Actually I'm sure scientifically they probably do as they'd both trigger a dopamine release.
The great thing about skating is that I can do it alone, socially with other adults. And also with my DS. I don't need a babysitter to take DS to the skatepark, roller rink or for a rollerbalde by the river. It gives me great freedom to "work out" in ways that other exercise wouldn't.