{"id":5092,"date":"2026-09-24T13:17:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fat-loss-quest.co.uk\/blog\/?p=5092"},"modified":"2026-09-24T13:55:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:55:48","slug":"reasons-for-losing-weight-my-weight-loss-success-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fat-loss-quest.co.uk\/blog\/reasons-for-losing-weight-my-weight-loss-success-story\/","title":{"rendered":"My 12 Reasons for Losing Weight \u2014 And What Happened Afterwards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Fat<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Phil here, (Founding author of Fat-loss-quest.co.uk) with the motivations behind my own weight loss journey and how they can guide you in your weight loss journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 34, I had plenty of reasons for losing weight.<\/strong> I was carrying around 28lbs more than I wanted, my waist had grown from around 28\u201330 inches to approaching 38, and I’d reached the point where looking down and seeing my toes had become something of a distant memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of my reasons were obvious. I wanted the belly gone. I wanted my old physique back. I wanted to feel fitter, move better and regain some of the self-respect I’d lost along the way. So I changed what I ate, became active again and lost the weight in around 12 weeks. But that turned out to be only the beginning of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly three decades later, I’ve maintained that loss and lived through relationships, physically demanding jobs, health scares, fatherhood for a second time and experiences I could never have anticipated at 34. Looking back, some of the most important reasons for losing the weight weren’t even on my original list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the 12 reasons that mattered to me then \u2014 and what happened afterwards.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.Lose the Belly Fat<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Reasons<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Losing my belly fat was my primary goal. Getting rid of the rest of my excess body fat would come with it \u2014 a natural progression.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losing that 8-inch belly fat \u2014 along with the 28 lbs of excess body weight \u2014 wasn’t just about health or vanity. While there are health benefits to losing weight, particularly excess abdominal fat, for me it was mainly about self-respect<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, as with many obesity-related problems, a darker side was about to reveal itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had I not lost the excess weight and the beer belly, who knows where it might have led? There is only so far you can take the \u201cit’s all paid for!\u201d<\/strong> attitude \u2014 or use your belly as a makeshift table \u2014 before the joke starts wearing a little thin.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n




2. Re-Gain My Slim Physique<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For most of my childhood and teenage years, being overweight simply wasn’t part of my life. I was naturally slim and active \u2014 noticeably slimmer than the rest of my immediate family. My parents were both more stockily built and my sister was obese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, my slim build was noticeable enough for my mother to jokingly refer to me as \u201cone of Pharaoh’s lean kind.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the age of 34, that familiar physique had disappeared beneath almost 28 lbs of excess weight and a waist that had expanded from around 28\u201330 inches to approaching 38 inches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t particularly like the person looking back at me in the mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losing my belly was the immediate objective, but underneath it was something else:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted my old physique back.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn’t trying to recreate my teenage body or chase some unrealistic physical ideal. I simply wanted to look and feel more like the naturally slim, active person I’d been for most of my earlier life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twelve weeks later, the excess weight had gone, my waist was back to around 28 inches and \u2014 helped by the squash, swimming and gym sessions I’d added along the way \u2014 I was considerably fitter and more muscular too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some ways, I’d regained something familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I’d also built a better version of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n




3. Re-Gain Self-Respect<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Respecting yourself is very important. If you have little respect for yourself \u2014 and your health \u2014 then you can easily find yourself going downhill in both appearance and health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we’re not talking lip service here!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losing the weight didn’t just help me regain my own self-respect. It also changed the way other people saw and treated me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is an uncomfortable side to the obesity-versus-normal-weight debate that I’ve observed for decades. Some people will fiercely defend their own weight while turning the argument around and verbally attacking slimmer people. I’ve been a people-watcher for more than 50 years, as well as having a long-standing interest in psychology, and I’ve witnessed that behaviour often enough to recognise it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But prejudice certainly isn’t confined to one side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, people do look down on people who are overweight or obese \u2014 and that’s more than my personal observation. Weight stigma and discrimination have been documented in research and recognised by the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For someone of shorter stature, I felt that disrespect even more strongly. People weren’t simply looking down on me because of differences in height; carrying the excess weight seemed to add another level to it \u2014 regardless of how subtle the slight or insult might have been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re-gaining my self-respect through losing weight and improving my health changed that relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if someone’s \u201cfriendship\u201d depended upon being able to belittle me because of my height, weight or appearance, improving myself would ultimately be their downfall \u2014 not mine.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They would lose the friendship I had offered them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n



4. Improve Physical Movement Abilities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All that excess weight was getting me down. Bending or kneeling down to tie my shoes was taking too long. The very act of manipulating my body around the bulge was becoming annoying and time-consuming. It was holding me back from living life to the full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it wasn’t only about tying my shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to be able to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n