I weighed myself this morning and I was 297.6ib, just over 21 stone. My waistline is 44 inches, and I wear tops that are XXL or XXXL depending on where they are bought from.
My weight has fluctuated since I was a child. We ate heartily at home, but playing football constantly meant whatever I ate never registered on my weight.
I started to gain weight at fifteen, when my football playing days were brought to an abrupt end with a diagnosis of arthritis, making all exercise intensely painful.
By the time I finished my GCSE’s I was around 16 stone. Still unable to exercise properly, I began counting calories and being conscious of what I consumed. Around this time, my arthritis was under control with new medication and I began swimming.
I was a trim 11 stone a few months down the line, and I fluctuated between 11 and 14 stone during my late teenage years, my weight dependent on how my arthritis was and how active I was able to be.
I met my now wife Danielle at 18, weighing around 13 stone. We set up camp firmly in a comfort zone and by 21 I was an unhealthy 19 stone. This coincided with an extended arthritis flare up which literally lasted several years.
I started some new medication when I was 24 and this seemed to help with the pain and I started eating well and exercising gently.
Around this time Danielle discovered she was pregnant, and impending fatherhood really gave me the impetus I needed to get healthy.
When my eldest daughter Millie arrived, I’d lost several stone, coming in between 15 and 16 stone, just as I was about to turn 25. After the birth, I stuck to my new regime, and by the time Millie was 6 months, I was a trim 12 stone.
We got married shortly after and I managed to keep my weight between 12 and 14 stone over the next three years.
My second daughter Isla was born when I was 28 and I weighed 14 stone. My weight steadily began to rise from this point.
Shortly after Isla turned 1, my wife and I discovered she was pregnant for the third time – this time with twins.
The pregnancy and birth proved difficult and my twin boys, Lucas and Shay were born premature just after I turned 30 and I weighed around 16 stone. They spent a month in hospital before they were ready to come home. This was an incredibly stressful time. Shortly after this period I graduated uni and began was training to be a journalist and got my first job at a news paper when I was 32 – I weighed 19 stone by this point.
After a year working at the newspaper, a job I found very stressful, my arthritis flared up again and I decided to quit in order to go freelance. This is the stage I’m at now and I weigh 21 stone.
Why do I struggle with weight? A number of reasons:
Firstly, My arthritis makes exercise difficult – during a flare up, doing the most basic things is incredibly painful. When not having a flare up, exercise is often hard to fit in with so much going on at home with the kids.
Secondly, I love to eat – meal times are an occasion, I eat when I’m sad, stressed, and to celebrate. With very young children and living with arthritis which can make cooking difficult and sometimes unsafe, occasionally we are reliant on takeaways and easy food simply to make life less stressful.
Thirdly, I also love a drink – My social life is based around alcohol. All my friendships have been built around enjoying a drink, a night out (which always ends with a takeaway) and the pub.
I’ve reached a point where I’m desperately unhappy with the way I look. I’m embarrassed most clothes don’t fit well and I get breathless doing the most simple things. I also worry about what my kids think and the example I’m setting and the way their school friends perceive me – this is without considering the long term health implications which are worth remembering.
I have an unhealthy relationship with food and alcohol and this needs to change.
My arthritis means exercise is tough, but my nutritional and lifestyle choices are exacerbating the situation. This needs to change.
I’m weighing myself each Wednesday and I hope to lose at least 2 Ibs a week. I’m not considering this a diet per se, but a lifestyle overhaul, and I plan to blog my experiences and progress here – tune in next Wednesday to see how I’ve done in my first week!
Danny's weight loss blog 