S_J_B
Gold Member
I'm starting a journal midway through my weight loss journey for a variety of reasons. Please note the title and excuse the following outpouring..
I've always been fat. I was a fat child and I've been fat most my adult life. On a couple of occasions I've been “successful” with diets usually Weight Watchers but I used the inverted commas because I've successfully lost weight but never managed to maintain any kind of loss and each time ended up bigger than when I started. I think because I never adjusted my head or that I was going to have to eat this way for the rest my life. It was more that I was in on the diet to fix myself and as soon as I felt happy I could stop.
So why in 2014 did I decide to start losing weight again? A really good friend who I still owe a lot to for getting me through the doors of the Slimming World group had been going to Weight Watchers for a few months and in a very lovely and gentle way was trying to encourage me to start. However there was always an excuse or something coming up that meant I shouldn't or couldn’t start. But then in March another good friend phoned me in great excitement to say she was getting married in summer 2015. My first thought was I was ecstatic and happy for her but it was rapidly followed by a very selfish & negative thought that I’ll be the fattest person in the wedding pictures. I gave myself a kick up the bottom as I had 18 months and could do something about it. I tend to find that if I have events or occasions coming up I stick my head in the sand until I get within 3 to 4 weeks of it and end up stomping around the various fat clothing stores unable to find anything that I like or feel good in!
So I talked to my friend about joining her at WW but in the meantime the group that she's been going to was closing. She done some research and had heard lovely things about a consultant running a nearby SW group. I’d never done SW (unlike most other diets!) I didn't really understand it I had some idea about red and green & different food combinations but thought there's no way a diet that lets me eat as much pasta and rice as I want could ever work! However because that's what she was going to go to and I didn't want to be the super fat woman walking to class on my own fate made the decision for me.
I've not looked back since! It took me a while to get my head around it but I've loved eating with this plan. I have to do a lot of cooking from scratch and planning with batch cooking but I genuinely rarely feel deprived. Other than the fact I would love to drink more gin and to eat more Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I think I have learnt more about eat well & healthily than I did on WW or calorie controlled as I don't think I'll sacrifice some of my dinner to save points for a chocolate bar later! I often find I’m so full with the good stuff that I'm not craving the bad stuff. I've been able to eat in moderation the more dangerous foods (a concept I’ve been trying to learn my entire life
)
So why have I started diary now?? Well some of you out there know why! Plus I've done pretty well so far but I think that as I get closer to target and as I start to feel more happy in how I look that it will be harder to stick to it and am hoping this will make me accountable and focused. I'm feeling very happy with how I’ve done & feel so much better in myself. I’m confident to be out & about without thinking everyone is staring at the really fat person and I can run for a bus without ending up dying. This is a dangerous stage of a “diet” I have been known to stop and think oh well I'll be okay now. But do that and in a few months time I’ll have gained weight & be sat on the sofa with a family sized pizza and a tub of B&J ice cream. This time I want to get to somewhere normal sized and stay there. I have recently added a goal weight to my stats. I've aimed for just in the top of my normal BMI range although given thats so far in itself why not aim 2 pounds lower because 14 stones is such a lovely round number to have lost!
So are there any secrets to my losing eight & a half stone in the last nine months? Not really I have followed plan continuously although I have eaten what I wanted for meals at Christmas / Birthdays & holidays etc. I've allowed myself to be flexible and eat off plan but tried to be super good on other days and got back on track as soon as possible. I do quite a lot of exercise and have even from the outset. I genuinely love exercise and when I get back into it I can never quite believe I let myself become a couch potato! I started off with Leslie Sansone walking DVDs (some free on YouTube) they aren’t as easy as you think especially when you're super morbidly obese like I was. I also use kettle bells which are great cardio & strength work. I would strongly recommend them to anyone. I started using them in a very limited fashion from early in my journey but I am now stepping up. The other exercise that I truly adore is running. I have completed the Couch to 5K program. It builds from very brief intervals of running & walking over 9 weeks to being able to run for 30 minutes comfortably. I now do that three or four times a week. On Christmas Day I made myself a little mini target of actually running 5 km so on a frosty Christmas morning I got up put the kit on and did it. It was fabulous I felt truly amazing and I saw other runners out who waved & acknowledged me as one of them! It also meant that I came home I was able to sit and eat my Christmas dinner with all the trimmings & Christmas pudding with Brandy butter and cream with somewhat less guilt! I hope one day to run a marathon
About this wonderful place I can't say enough positive things. I'm not quite sure how I found it I think it was in my early days I was Goggling trying to clarify something SW and came across Minimins. I signed up and have found it to be a constant source of support, information & amazing inspiration. I've made some fabulous online friends who have truly kept me focused through their inspiring diaries and I love the group challenges where everyone is so encouraging. Not sure my diary will be anywhere near as inspiring as I don’t have anything profound to say. I'm not quite sure what I'm going write (but seem to have managed to drivel on so far!)
So 2015 has arrived and my friends wedding is in July and I have lovely holidays planned for June, September and I'm going to Florida in October. So my goal for the year is to get to target and stay there. I will be fit and fabulous forever …
I've always been fat. I was a fat child and I've been fat most my adult life. On a couple of occasions I've been “successful” with diets usually Weight Watchers but I used the inverted commas because I've successfully lost weight but never managed to maintain any kind of loss and each time ended up bigger than when I started. I think because I never adjusted my head or that I was going to have to eat this way for the rest my life. It was more that I was in on the diet to fix myself and as soon as I felt happy I could stop.
So why in 2014 did I decide to start losing weight again? A really good friend who I still owe a lot to for getting me through the doors of the Slimming World group had been going to Weight Watchers for a few months and in a very lovely and gentle way was trying to encourage me to start. However there was always an excuse or something coming up that meant I shouldn't or couldn’t start. But then in March another good friend phoned me in great excitement to say she was getting married in summer 2015. My first thought was I was ecstatic and happy for her but it was rapidly followed by a very selfish & negative thought that I’ll be the fattest person in the wedding pictures. I gave myself a kick up the bottom as I had 18 months and could do something about it. I tend to find that if I have events or occasions coming up I stick my head in the sand until I get within 3 to 4 weeks of it and end up stomping around the various fat clothing stores unable to find anything that I like or feel good in!
So I talked to my friend about joining her at WW but in the meantime the group that she's been going to was closing. She done some research and had heard lovely things about a consultant running a nearby SW group. I’d never done SW (unlike most other diets!) I didn't really understand it I had some idea about red and green & different food combinations but thought there's no way a diet that lets me eat as much pasta and rice as I want could ever work! However because that's what she was going to go to and I didn't want to be the super fat woman walking to class on my own fate made the decision for me.
I've not looked back since! It took me a while to get my head around it but I've loved eating with this plan. I have to do a lot of cooking from scratch and planning with batch cooking but I genuinely rarely feel deprived. Other than the fact I would love to drink more gin and to eat more Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I think I have learnt more about eat well & healthily than I did on WW or calorie controlled as I don't think I'll sacrifice some of my dinner to save points for a chocolate bar later! I often find I’m so full with the good stuff that I'm not craving the bad stuff. I've been able to eat in moderation the more dangerous foods (a concept I’ve been trying to learn my entire life
) So why have I started diary now?? Well some of you out there know why! Plus I've done pretty well so far but I think that as I get closer to target and as I start to feel more happy in how I look that it will be harder to stick to it and am hoping this will make me accountable and focused. I'm feeling very happy with how I’ve done & feel so much better in myself. I’m confident to be out & about without thinking everyone is staring at the really fat person and I can run for a bus without ending up dying. This is a dangerous stage of a “diet” I have been known to stop and think oh well I'll be okay now. But do that and in a few months time I’ll have gained weight & be sat on the sofa with a family sized pizza and a tub of B&J ice cream. This time I want to get to somewhere normal sized and stay there. I have recently added a goal weight to my stats. I've aimed for just in the top of my normal BMI range although given thats so far in itself why not aim 2 pounds lower because 14 stones is such a lovely round number to have lost!
So are there any secrets to my losing eight & a half stone in the last nine months? Not really
I have followed plan continuously although I have eaten what I wanted for meals at Christmas / Birthdays & holidays etc. I've allowed myself to be flexible and eat off plan but tried to be super good on other days and got back on track as soon as possible. I do quite a lot of exercise and have even from the outset. I genuinely love exercise and when I get back into it I can never quite believe I let myself become a couch potato! I started off with Leslie Sansone walking DVDs (some free on YouTube) they aren’t as easy as you think especially when you're super morbidly obese like I was. I also use kettle bells which are great cardio & strength work. I would strongly recommend them to anyone. I started using them in a very limited fashion from early in my journey but I am now stepping up. The other exercise that I truly adore is running. I have completed the Couch to 5K program. It builds from very brief intervals of running & walking over 9 weeks to being able to run for 30 minutes comfortably. I now do that three or four times a week. On Christmas Day I made myself a little mini target of actually running 5 km so on a frosty Christmas morning I got up put the kit on and did it. It was fabulous I felt truly amazing and I saw other runners out who waved & acknowledged me as one of them! It also meant that I came home I was able to sit and eat my Christmas dinner with all the trimmings & Christmas pudding with Brandy butter and cream with somewhat less guilt! I hope one day to run a marathon About this wonderful place I can't say enough positive things. I'm not quite sure how I found it I think it was in my early days I was Goggling trying to clarify something SW and came across Minimins. I signed up and have found it to be a constant source of support, information & amazing inspiration. I've made some fabulous online friends who have truly kept me focused through their inspiring diaries and I love the group challenges where everyone is so encouraging. Not sure my diary will be anywhere near as inspiring as I don’t have anything profound to say. I'm not quite sure what I'm going write (but seem to have managed to drivel on so far!)
So 2015 has arrived and my friends wedding is in July and I have lovely holidays planned for June, September and I'm going to Florida in October. So my goal for the year is to get to target and stay there. I will be fit and fabulous forever …
