My Midlife Weight Loss Transformation: 5 Stone Gone in 8 Months
Right, let’s get one thing straight. This isn’t some fluffy guide to ‘gentle’ weight loss, or some ‘body positive’ bollocks that lets you off the hook. This is the brutal truth of how I, a 57-year-old bloke, lost a staggering five stone in eight bloody months. My midlife weight loss transformation wasn’t pretty, but it was real, and it worked. You want results? You gotta put in the work, period.
For decades, I let myself go. The booze was a massive part of it, a crutch for 45 years. But even when I kicked that habit to the kerb eight months ago – a story for another time, believe me – the weight didn’t just magically fall off. I’d replaced one vice with another: comfort eating, the sneaky sugars, the processed crap I convinced myself was ‘food’. I was a mess, carrying an extra five stone that dragged me down, stole my energy, and made me feel like an old man before my time. Enough was enough.
This journey isn’t just about counting calories; it’s about rewiring your brain, reclaiming your body, and understanding that you are capable of far more than you think. It’s about getting back to basics, getting real with yourself, and making non-negotiable changes. If you’re ready to hear it straight, without the sugar-coating, then buckle up. This is how it went down.
Why Did I Let Myself Get This Fat? The Brutal Truth About Comfort
Why do we let ourselves pile on the weight? It’s simple, really. Comfort. Ease. The path of least resistance. For me, it was a slow creep. Military life teaches you discipline, but civvy street, with its endless temptations and the quiet desperation of a life that wasn’t quite hitting the mark, can erode that pretty quickly. The booze was a massive part of my comfort blanket, numbing the edges, silencing the nagging voice that knew I could be doing more, being better. When I quit drinking, I suddenly had a gaping hole, a void where that daily ritual used to be.
And what did I do? I filled it with food. The wrong bloody food. Crisps, biscuits, ‘healthy’ ready meals full of hidden sugars and industrial sludge. I was swapping one addiction for another, just less obviously destructive in the short term. The brutal truth is, I was using food to cope, to distract, to avoid the real work of looking at why I was so bloody unhappy in the first place. I wasn’t just ‘eating my feelings’; I was burying them under layers of fat and self-deception. It took a hard look in the mirror, literally, to see the pathetic state I’d allowed myself to get into. That gut wasn’t just belly fat; it was years of excuses, regret, and unaddressed shit. And it had to go.
The ‘Eat’ Pillar: Ditching the Industrial Sludge and Getting Real
This is where the rubber meets the road, mate. Your diet. Forget everything the ‘experts’ and the bloody government food pyramids have told you. Most of it’s a load of bollocks designed by corporations selling you processed crap. To shed five stone, I didn’t ‘moderately reduce’ my intake. I scorched the earth with my diet. No compromises, no cheat days, no ‘everything in moderation’ until I’d hit my target. This is the ‘Eat’ pillar in its purest, most uncompromising form.
Step 1: Aggressively Eliminate the Toxins (Sugar & Seed Oils)
This isn’t negotiable. If you want to lose serious weight and reclaim your health, you absolutely must cut out sugar in all its forms and the industrial seed oils. I mean all of it. Sugar hides everywhere: bread, sauces, ‘low-fat’ yoghurts, even seemingly innocent things. Read labels like your life depends on it, because, frankly, it does. Anything with corn syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin, fructose, or sucrose – it’s out. Anything with canola oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, corn oil – out. These are inflammatory poisons, not food. They mess with your hormones, drive hunger, and make your body store fat. I went cold turkey. It was hell for the first week; the cravings were brutal, but I pushed through.
Step 2: Embrace Real, Nutrient-Dense Food
Once you’ve cleared out the rubbish, you fill your plate with actual food. And I mean actual food. This is the ancestral way. High-quality, grass-fed/pasture-raised animal products are the cornerstone. Think fatty cuts of meat – beef, lamb, pork. Get the proper stuff, not that bland, feedlot rubbish. Eggs, proper butter, ghee, tallow – these are your friends. Don’t fear fat; it’s what keeps you satiated, fuels your brain, and provides essential vitamins. My plate became a simple equation: quality protein, lots of healthy fats, and non-starchy vegetables (greens, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus).
I focused on nose-to-tail eating where possible. Liver, heart, kidneys – they’re packed with nutrients that modern diets are desperately lacking. If offal makes you gag, fine, but don’t shy away from the fattier cuts of muscle meat. Eating this way, my energy stabilised, my brain fog lifted, and the incessant hunger pangs vanished. I ate when I was genuinely hungry, not when the clock said it was ‘mealtime’ or when a craving hit. This isn’t a diet; it’s how humans are meant to eat.
Step 3: Fasting – Giving Your Gut a Break
Intermittent fasting became a powerful tool in my arsenal. Once my body was fat-adapted from the diet changes, skipping breakfast and often pushing my first meal to midday or even later became easy. Why? Because my body was burning its own fat for fuel, not constantly demanding sugar. Fasting isn’t starvation; it’s giving your digestive system a rest, allowing your body to heal, and tapping into stored fat for energy. It simplifies eating, reduces decision fatigue, and accelerates fat loss. Start with 12 hours, then push to 16, then maybe 18. Listen to your body, but don’t be a wuss. It gets easier.
The ‘Move’ Pillar: Beyond the Gym – Why Movement is Non-Negotiable
When you’re carrying five extra stone, the thought of hitting the gym can feel like climbing Everest. So, I started simple. You don’t need fancy equipment or a personal trainer, at least not at first. The ‘Move’ pillar is about consistent, non-negotiable movement. It’s about getting your body working the way it was designed to. What’s the secret? Just bloody do it.
I started walking. Every single day. Rain or shine, I got out there. An hour a day, sometimes more. Not a gentle stroll, but a brisk pace that got my heart rate up and sweat on my brow. As the weight started to come off, I introduced some bodyweight exercises: press-ups, squats, and lunges. Nothing complicated, just pushing my body, feeling the burn. Then came the rucksack. Load it up with a few kilos and go for a hike. Build strength, build resilience. It’s functional fitness, not just looking good for the ‘gram.
The point is, you have to move. Every single day. Our ancestors weren’t sitting on their arses for 12 hours a day, staring at screens. They were hunting, gathering, building, and moving. Reconnect with that primal need. It boosts your metabolism, improves your mood, and solidifies that mental discipline you’re building. The more you move, the more energy you have, and the more you want to move. It’s a virtuous cycle, and you have to kickstart it.
The ‘Mind’ Pillar: Rewiring Your Brain for Success, Not Self-Sabotage
This is arguably the most important piece of the puzzle. Losing five stone isn’t just a physical battle; it’s a mental war. For 45 years, I was wired for comfort, for instant gratification, for avoiding discomfort. Quitting booze taught me more about mental resilience than anything else, and I applied those same brutal lessons to my midlife weight loss transformation. The ‘Mind’ pillar is about taking control of your internal narrative.
Confront Your Excuses
We all have them. ‘I’m too busy.’ ‘I’m too old.’ ‘It’s too hard.’ ‘Just one biscuit won’t hurt.’ These are lies, mate. They’re the voice of your comfort zone, the part of your brain that wants to keep you safe and small. You have to learn to recognise that voice and tell it to shut the f* up. In the army, there’s no room for excuses. You do the job, or you fail. Apply that same ruthless standard to your health.
Visualise and Affirm
Sounds a bit woo-woo, I know, but it works. Every morning, I’d visualise myself at my target weight. I’d feel the lightness, the energy, the confidence. I’d affirm my commitment: “I am strong. I make healthy choices. I am shedding this weight.” Your brain responds to what you feed it. Feed it crap, you get crap results. Feed it positive, disciplined commands, and it starts to believe it, starts to find ways to make it happen.
Build Discipline, Brick by Bloody Brick
Discipline isn’t motivation; it’s consistency when motivation has packed its bags and gone on holiday. It’s doing the hard thing even when you don’t feel like it. It’s saying no to that sugar-laden treat when your brain screams ‘yes’. Every time you make the right choice, you build a brick in the wall of your discipline. Over time, that wall becomes unshakeable. It starts small: one healthy meal, one walk. Then another. And another. Soon, it’s just who you are.
Beyond the Big Three: Sleep, Cold Water & Living with Purpose
While ‘Eat’, ‘Move’, and ‘Mind’ are the heavy hitters, don’t underestimate the supporting cast. My other pillars of ‘Sleep’ and ‘Cold Fucking Water’ played their part too, albeit often in a more subtle way during this weight loss sprint.
Good sleep is non-negotiable for hormone regulation. Skimp on sleep, and your body cranks up cortisol (stress hormone) and ghrelin (hunger hormone), making fat loss an uphill battle. I prioritised 7-8 hours of quality sleep, switching off screens, and making the bedroom a sanctuary.
Cold water exposure – whether it’s a cold shower or a proper dip – is a shock to the system, but it’s a powerful tool for resilience. It teaches you to confront discomfort, to breathe through it, to calm your nervous system. That mental fortitude spills over into every other area of your life, including sticking to your diet and exercise. It’s not directly about burning fat, but it builds the mental toughness you need to stay on track.
Ultimately, this entire midlife reset, from quitting the booze to shedding the weight, was driven by a deep-seated desire for purpose. I didn’t want to shuffle off this mortal coil having lived a half-arsed life. I wanted to be strong, clear, and capable for whatever was next. Find your ‘why’. What’s your purpose in doing this? Tap into that, and it becomes an unstoppable force.
My Brutal Reality: The Journey Wasn’t Linear, But It Was Worth It
Don’t for a second think this was some Hollywood montage where the fat just melted away effortlessly. It was brutal. There were days I wanted to throw in the towel, days the cravings were so intense I felt like I was battling a demon. There were plateaus where the scales wouldn’t budge, despite my best efforts. I wanted to rage, to give up. But I didn’t.
I learned to embrace the discomfort. To see it as a sign that I was changing, growing. Each time I pushed through a craving, each time I dragged myself out for a walk in the pissing rain, I strengthened my resolve. I focused on how my clothes were fitting, on the extra energy I had, and on the clear head I now woke up with. The scale was just one metric. How I felt, how I moved, how I thought – those were the real wins.
Losing five stone in eight months was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, second only to ditching 45 years of drinking. But it was absolutely, unequivocally worth it. I’m lighter, stronger, sharper, and more alive than I’ve been in decades. This midlife weight loss transformation wasn’t a quick fix; it was a fundamental shift in how I live, eat, and think. And if an old soldier like me can do it, so can you. Now, stop reading and get to work. Vision. The rest builds from there.
Ready to Begin Your Own Reset?
If you’re ready to rebuild from the ground up, start with my book Midlife Reset – Quit the Bullshit, Rewire Your Mind and Reclaim Your Life. It’s not fluff or theory, it’s the exact process I used to lose nearly five stone and find freedom from the bottle.
