In the summer of 2008 I started the Atkins diet. In July 2009, after losing around 50lb, I stalled at 168lb and nothing seemed to make any difference. Eventually I decided to loosen up, and inevitably the "manana" mantra emerged: "I'll start back on the diet tomorrow", meantime stuffing my face at times with sweet treats, like cake, watching the lbs creep on, and thinking all my clothes were "shrinking in the wash". Luckily, having learned from Atkins, I always limited my consumption of pasta/rice/potatoes/bread at mealtimes, or omitted them altogether, which thankfully meant that I only regained some of the weight, and not all.

Almost eleven years on, the fact that overweight people were being killed by Covid-19 gave me unparalled resolve, and the lockdown removed my partner's ability to pop out to the shops for goodies. And so, yesterday I hit 168lb again almost 11 years to the day I reached it last time. My body immediately began to hit me with horrible weakness and hunger, as if again resisting my attempts to drop below the 168lbs. I have learned from my mistakes and other peoples' successes, however, so I am in it to win it this time. I'm doing a strict induction diet and combining it with intermittent fasting (AKA skipping brekkie), and I won't be giving up, however long it takes.

This is the beginning of the next stage of my weightloss journey - hopefully heading towards a "Normal" BMI.

Good luck everyone! And congratulations to those who have spent the last 11 years reaching and maintaining your goals, instead of eating cake like me!