Losing Weight As An Adult

Losing weight when you reach your 30s is tough. Rather than being as easy as taking a few days off, you need to stop and make a plan. You need to admit that you have a problem and accept that you will not be able to change this overnight.

You are overweight and the situation must be addressed as to continue forward would be to accept a hit on your mental health in a world that spends every day taking swipes at you.

The Scale Of The Problem

To place the issue into context, I currently weigh 84kg and during the first lockdown, I weighed 75kg, with an average of 78kg being registered in the proceeding years.

By this token, I have gained at least 6kg and at most, a total of 9kg...a huge amount (for me) as whilst I have never been obese, battles with weight have permeated across my life.

To lose nearly 10kg will take time. It will not happen overnight and if my FitBit is correct then it will not occur until November. Nearly six months it will take me to reach this target and that is assuming that I reach my food deficit each and every day. It is also assuming that I start to exercise weekly once again, as it has now been more than three weeks since my last run.

The problem needs addressing or much like my finances, I will be in the exact same situation 15 years later. I could be stuck within a never ending bubble of success and failure that takes me up until my 48th birthday to realise and by that time I will be a father. I will have a family to care for.

Mental Health

My weight and health situation are very much linked to my mental health. When I am fit and healthy, positivity reigns supreme, whereas when I am overweight and not exercising, I feel lethargic. My thoughts drift more often towards negativity and my days drag into a spiral of self-doubt.

Whether I like it or not my mental health is incurably linked to my health. When I feel in shape, I feel happy and want to engage with the day ahead of me, whereas when I feel overweight, as I do now, the opposite is true.

My first thought is towards anxiety and feeling down about myself. I reach towards reasons why not when at those times I should be reaching for reasons as to why I should.

It is my route to a happy life and whilst the journey is difficult, with many ups and downs, it is the one true route to success.

My mental health and that of everyone across the face of the earth is something which we take for granted. We assume that it is not a consideration worthy of note. I know that I have and whilst there have been times when I have considered asking for help, I've never made the leap forward.

I still feel as though I do not need assistance as I recognise what is wrong and that is linked to my health. By taking steps to lose weight and sticking with my daily calorie deficit goal then I will lose weight, much like I did during the first lockdown.

What Am I Going To Do About It?

I remember how happy I was during that first lockdown and whilst that is not meant as a comment of hate as I can see how it can come across as disrespectful, it is not my intention. My intention is to convey that I turned a negative into a positive and took the additional time in which I had to lose weight. To take the opportunity to focus on an issue that is important.

Throughout my life, I have had challenges with my mental health. Some of those challenges I have beaten whilst others have been stumbled through, yet for every moment, the thought of exercise and being in shape has calmed me.

The mere act of going for a run offers me the chance to search through my feelings and come to a conclusion, whereas before there was stress, post-exercise there is calm. Exercise offers me a route to acceptance through the processing of my emotions and maintaining my body weight.

As I am writing this on Friday 17th June I am making a promise to myself to no longer ignore the problem. To no longer buy larger t-shirts and baggy pyjama trousers, I will wear older clothes in an attempt to shame myself. To feel the pain of being unable to fit in. Something that will persuade me to focus on the problem and no longer ignore it. That is my route to success and one that I can ignore no longer.

A Final Thought

Losing weight when you get older is difficult. It is no longer a case of taking a step back and stopping for a couple of days, it is the case that you need to make a plan in order to lose weight and stick to it. You need to focus on the problem and stay positive. That is what I need to do at least as I know that I will not be able to solve it overnight.

I can no longer ignore this problem and need to knuckle down whilst staying positive. There will be tough weeks ahead but I know that in the long run, it is the correct decision as without positive mental health I am lost. I have my friends and family, yet need to acknowledge that without a sense of contentment I am doomed to be left alone.

My weight is linked to my happiness and my mental health. To feel overweight is to consider myself obsolete and I know that a better version of me exists.

Right now I feel sluggish and it is not a feeling I enjoy, I like to feel positive about the world and my interactions with it, something that is essential for a happy life.