A quest for the old happy Em

[EmmyLou30]

After reading so many of the great weight loss diaries on here and finding them entertaining as well as enjoying all those 'OMG, me too!!' moments, I thought I'd get my thoughts down too. Not sure anyone will read them but the act of writing is always a bit of a release isn't it. Especially when you've bored your friends and family to death and if they hear one more mention of A's B's and 'how many syns in that?' they're likely to stop talking to you So here goes, a bit of background on me and why I am where I am right now.....

I've always been on the curvy side and never the skinny sort, but at one point in my adult life I was what I consider to be the perfect size and shape for my build and height. That was after the loss of my Uni/student lifestyle fat at slimming world (or fat club as it was affectionately known in our house) back in 2001. I lost about 3 stone and felt happy with myself for the first time in my life, happy days. Fast forward 9 years, the diagnosis of PCOS, an underactive thyroid which saw me pile on 5 stone in just 3 years and a bit of comfort eating as a result of alopecia and losing most of my hair and we have one fat Emma in need of a serious diet (and some hair!).

So my aim is to lose around 6 stone, but I think 5 is more realistic given that my body shape has changed and I'm not 21 anymore! I also have a rather sizable pair of funbags which don't seem to be shrinking in line with the rest of me - which is exactly what happened when I lost those 3 stone after Uni - freaky or what!?

I'm doing the slimming world thing from home now without classes and using my old books as a guide. They are very old books now though so this forum has been a godsend in finding syn values - thanks to all of you. Hopefully a few of you will follow me on my quest for a happy and body confident Em and share a few 'OMG, me too!' moments with me along the way

 

[EmmyLou30]

As a measure of my dedication to the cause I just had a mid morning snack of a banana.....I can't stand the things. Smell in a shampoo, taste in a muller light or cake - delish. Real banana - yuck. I had to try though! I think I need to up my fruit intake to get a bit more variety in my day and fill the starving hungry moments in my day with something syn free.

1.5 stone down so far and I'm getting to the same old same old point of any diet (sorry, eating plan!). Need to keep the motivation going. How do other people manage? Do you guys vary your syns and recipes or just stick to the tried and tested because you know it works and that drags you through the monotiny.

 

[ronniejacobs]

good luck honey we are with you all the way....

 

[EmmyLou30]

Thanks

I'm hoping the support from here will be enough to make up for not going to class. Cash is a bit tight at the moment so I'm hoping to lose a chunk of the weight (about 2st) and then join so I'm at target quicker and don't pay for so long - I'm assuming when you get to target these days you stop paying like you used to?

 

[ronniejacobs]

yep i cant wait to get there (going on a v slow route tho) cos then its freeeeee

 

[EmmyLou30]

I've taken the scenic route too, coming up to a year and no-where near the two stone mark. I gave up when my weight leveled out as I got frustrated and then promptly porked on half a stone again :cry: Those nice new smaller jeans getting suddenly tighter made me get back on track though 3lb to go and I'm back where I was, ready to try getting past that leveled out weight I got so stuck on before.

 

[Hunyb249]

Hi

Hi, and well done for getting this far, your story sounds a bit like mine, I was always a size 8, even after i had my children only to fall ill with a brain condition three years ago and managed to pile on 5 stone between then and now, was amazed by how much i could eat on this diet and thought that surely it couldn't work eating this much but so far so good, find variety would be a bit of a problem sometimes but try to get hold of a sw directory and they have pages upon pages of great ideas, and remember when life throws you lemons, just add tequila and have a party

 

[EmmyLou30]

It feels like a punishment really. You get a medical problem, pile on weight, and you don't even get to enjoy lots of yummy food on the way there :sigh:

Hopefully all the meds are right now and even with the PCOS I should be able to lose weight if I try hard enough. I just won't expect huge loses....slow and steady wins the race.

 

[EmmyLou30]

Got myself a little ticker now like everyone else. Not very good with a PC so I was pretty chuffed with myself....even more chuffed that my little tortoise looks further along than I thought he would go Bimbo go..... (Bimbo is what my Dad's childhood tortoise was called!). He called the cat Jason. Never let a man name a pet. Me and Mum named all our other pets after chocolate and confectionary, Yorkie, Fudge and Smartie. Much more sensible right!?

 

[Monkey_Monkey_Underpants]

Hi, nice to meet you.

And well done for getting the ticker sorted. I've done mine now too.

Sorry about your health problems: I'm just a fat person, got nothing else to blame it on, except the fact that I like food too much and exercise too little! But our stats show we started from about the same place, and are aiming for about the same place - so it's reall nice to meet you.

Encouragement from others in the same position is always good, so -

Keep up the good work You'll get there!

 

[KarenB]

Hi Em, marvelous start and I look forward to hearing all your successes along the way :wavey:

 

[EmmyLou30]

I feel better already with the support I've gotten so far with my weight loss diary - thanks to all of you Be lovely to have you along with me.

Another pound off this week. A Sunday morning weigh in after a wedding yesterday could have led to disaster so I was very pleased and shocked! Just one pound to go and I'm back where I was in February before I gave up last time. Really motivated to get that pound off this week.

 

[EmmyLou30]

Hey there JimofTroy, you're not taking the scenic route are you, you're flying along!! Well done. Doesn't matter how we all got here, we're doing something about it now I could easily have gained the weight even without medical problems, I did at Uni. Why is food just so damn tasty!? I envy those people who see food as fuel rather than delighting in enjoying it but they're the ones missing out

 

[Monkey_Monkey_Underpants]

Yeah. If I didn't like food, I wouldn't be the shape I am!

But I'd rather be this size, enjoy my food, and know that I can (some of the time anyway!!!) control my relationship with food, and get a bit slimmer.

I'd hate not to enjoy my food!

 

[EmmyLou30]

My friend is giving up smoking at the moment and finding it hard going which made me think - at least with diets you can look forward to the odd meal out or a naughty take away or a sneaky trip to the choccy machine in the afternoon before getting back to the diet....smokers have to give up all together forever. Maybe a slight silver lining to dieting as oposed to giving up other vices?

 

[Monkey_Monkey_Underpants]

Yeah, I suppose so. You could look at it that way.
On the other hand, it can be harder for exactly the same reason:
You can completely avoid cigarettes & alcohol - choose not to buy them, choose not to be with people that use them, choose not to be in places where people smoke & drink. But you can't completely ignore food, so we just have to be careful ALL OF THE TIME, as recovering foodaholics!

Maybe we should start Eaters Anonymous.

 

[EmmyLou30]

Oh yeah, hadn't thought of it like that!! Food isn't really a choice like alcohol or fags. And not being a smoker or a drinker (waste of good syns!) I have far more sympathy for fellow eaters!

 

[Spanx]

Well done on your losses so far and good luck Emmylou - I'm going it alone from home too, seems to be working so far!

 

[EmmyLou30]

Hi Irishchica, thanks for the offer of help. I'm slowly getting back into the SW way so don't know anything about EE other than what I've read on here. Not that it matters as I'm veggie and do all green days - but it does sound like a nice combination of the old two systems for the meat eaters. Finding myself searching new syn values on here all the time. My directory from 2003 is a little too old to be much good!

 

[Monkey_Monkey_Underpants]

Well, anything you want to know, you coud always ask on here.
I've got an up to date book, and I'm sure loads of other people have too.