deepcomputerturtle-blog - Tumblr blog

[deepcomputerturtle-blog]

Hello.

So hi! This blog isn’t going to be anything special; it’s more for myself than anyone else’s reading pleasure and it’s certainly nothing new.

I’m a 27 year old guy from Leeds, currently living in Wales and I used to be thin. Back in 2008, I was 15 stones 4 lbs which was pretty bad going being, at least according to BMI, obese. I realise the flaws in BMI and I know that it doesn’t take muscle mass into account; however, there wasn’t a muscle to my body at the time or, at least, not a visible one. I was fat and that was that. In 2009, when I was 19, I applied to university and, when I got accepted to my dream school, I knew I would have to get in shape before meeting new friends in halls and, hell, it wouldn’t help with the girls.

So I set about walking; every day and eating less and, with considerable help from the Wii Fit (no, I’m not being paid to say that), I lost four stones in time for Freshers’ Week in Scotland and was in fairly good shape. Throughout the first two years of my course, I went to the gym regularly and became a little more toned. I was genuinely happy.

From 2012 to 2013, my final year of university, I put on some weight and, despite maintaining 12 st 7 lbs throughout second and third year, by fourth year I weighed fourteen stones. It was a bad time and I remember walking past the library to see a friend I lived with in halls who told me ‘You got fat.’ I don’t hold it against him; he was well meaning and had a straight talking Bulgarian attitude that made me like him. I went on to lose some weight, getting myself back down to an acceptable weight by graduation but it didn’t last. By 2014, I was in the middle of my MA at Leeds University and I was gradually putting on weight. I was becoming repulsive to women (by this time I had a girlfriend but it was still nice to get the look from people on the street although I would never act on it).

By the time 2015 rolled around, I was accepted onto a PhD course in Wales and I had given up. The weight gain was unyielding. Due to having an utterly terrible job and with my partner being unemployed for months and with no governmental help, I fell into a depression which lasted from September 2015 to July 2016. I was strapped for cash, my OCD went into overdrive and there was no joy in life. I told my dad in Winter 2015 that I was into the habit of going to sleep on a night time and wishing that I wouldn’t wake up. I took a break from my PhD and, honestly, I ate and drank to get me through each day. I didn’t care what went into my body; by July 2016, I was eighteen stones; my BMI was 34.1; I was a mess. This weight did gradually reduce to about 17 stones by Christmas 2016 and, upon meeting my brother’s new girlfriend I was still very much obese which was embarrassing because that is how she would remember me. My weight continued decreasing upon my partner’s getting a permanent job and our household income raising significantly but I still hated my job. I should mention that from January 2016 to March 2017, I had had nine job interviews and I couldn’t ever nail one down. I knew that, no matter what changes I made, I wouldn’t be happy until I got out of that office, the incompetent and bullying manager and started in a role that paid me more than £560 per month.

That opportunity came when I managed to get a job that paid almost double what I was on with a manager who, I feel, genuinely cares about me. I decided the day before starting that my life was to change the moment I went to work. I downloaded the (free) ‘Couch to 5k’ app from Public Health England and I started running. I’m starting week three tomorrow and I’m genuinely happier, feel better, can run for longer and today, for the first time since 2014, I’ve just dropped my BMI to under 30, the classification for obese. I’m officially no longer obese, just overweight. This may seem like a lesser of two evils scenario and, to some extent, it is but it represents something more. It represents me getting my life back on track.

I’m healthier, fitter and, most importantly, happier. This blog is here to track (some of) my progress on the track to maintaining a healthy weight.