I lost 31 kilograms

A routine medical examination led to Yvonne's discovery that her blood pressure was dangerously high. She was told to lose weight or face serious consequences to her health.

Name: Yvonne*

Age: 48

Weight before: 116kg

Weight after: 85kg

Time to achieve: 7 months

Yvonne (not her real name) lost weight by using a foreign website that provides similar tools to Slimtrack.co.za. Her story is told here to show Slimtrack users what is possible, but we would love to tell the stories of actual Slimtrack users here. If you want to share your Slimtrack success with others (anonymously if you prefer!), please let us know at help@slimtrack.co.za.

Lifestyle before: I was an overweight child, weighing in at around 80kg when I was 11 years old. When my mother realised I was not going to grow any taller, but was continuing to grow wider, she gave in and took me to the doctor. He did what most doctors in the 1960s or 1970s would have done and put me on pills, presumably some sort of amphetamines, and I did lose weight on them.

I also started to train by swimming around the same time, but the weight crept back on after I stopped the tablets. I did have a brief spell of losing weight successfully when I was in my final year at university, though I didn't exactly do it healthily. When I left university I was at the lowest weight ever in my adult life, 63kg, and could just squeeze into a size 10.

Once I was out in the real world, I started to put the weight back on, and despite occasional desultory attempts to do something about it, that's pretty much how I continued for the next 26 years, steadily piling the weight on.

How did you make the change? I started on this change of lifestyle initially because I moved to a new area and had to get a new GP. The GP insists on a general check-up for all new patients, and the nurse who conducted it didn't like the look of my blood pressure. I had to make a series of monthly appointments to get checked again, and by December of 2005 it was becoming clear that the reading was not a blip and I had a serious problem. We talked about what I might do, and the nurse suggested that if I really didn't want to be put on medication, I had to lose some weight. I wanted to get off to a flying start, and she offered to try me on a weight-loss drug and with instructions to adopt a healthy diet.

How has losing weight changed your life? Twelve months later I had lost 30% of my original weight and my blood pressure is now normal. I'm a little over 7kg away from my ideal weight range and I've never felt better. I love being able to buy size 14 jeans, and I love the way my body is now; it seems to work really well, and I've rediscovered my hip-bones, to say nothing of my cheekbones!

What did the website do for you? When searching for a way of checking what I was eating, I initially tried one of those weight-loss clubs, but I needed a way of figuring out healthy portion sizes and didn't want to do it without the support of others. In my frustration I did an online search for a kilojoule counter and found the website. I signed up the same day. The site is incredibly useful in letting me know how much I'm actually consuming. And was that a shock to begin with! When I first started recording my diary, I was quite clearly, to quote a friend, "digging my grave with my own teeth."

The site has been instrumental in teaching me what a sensible portion is and reminding me of the principles of good nutrition. I love logging my exercise too, and seeing how that can allow me more kilojoules. I've also learned a lot from other members about what works for weight loss, and what doesn't.

What is your advice for people who just start their journey? Be scrupulously honest when filling in the diaries. Use the community forum and don't be afraid to ask questions. There is a wealth of support out there for you. Use it. Enjoy it. Contribute to it when you can. Be in the right frame of mind. You have to want to do it. Drink lots of water, at least 2 liters a day - it's important to keep your body properly hydrated if you expect it to work properly. That way it will cope with the other changes you are making so much better. Get active. Walk. Run. Swim. Whatever. You need to move more to burn off more kilojoules. It doesn't matter what you look like in your kit. What matters is to get that body moving.