I haven't posted on here in a while but I just had to come back and update.
Drum roll please, lol......As of this morning I have reached my goal weight of 10st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooo happy, I cant quite believe it. Its been a hell of a journey, but over the last few months or so things just seem to have 'clicked' and I no longer feel like I am ruled by food.
I have battled with my weight my whole life and was always the biggest in my class at school, but then managed to get down to about 10st when I got married in 2005. Then I piled on the pounds and reached my heaviest (14st 8) in about December 2007. I tried to lose weight on my own but in July 2009 I decided to get some help and I signed up to SW for the first time weighing 13st 8. This worked quite well for me to begin with but my losses were slow which I found quite demoralising and I fell off the wagon over Xmas 2009.
At the beginning of 2010 I decided to try a VLCD (Weight to Go) because I wanted to lose as much weight as possible before my holiday to the Caribbean in March. I think I only managed it for a couple of weeks though as I wasn't feeling very well at all on it and developed gastritis. So I discovered the grass isn't always greener and although the losses were good, I wasn't willing to sacrifice my health.
So in May 2010 I returned to SW weighing 12st. By this time to be honest I think I had started to learn the 'tricks' of SW and developed the ability to eat quite a lot of 'free' food and still be totally on plan. Which meant that once again my losses were extremely slow and I eventually gave up again. I did try another VLCD (Weight to Go) at some point, cant remember when exactly, but it was after I gave up with SW again. Once again I didn't last all that long on it but it was a slightly better experience than the previous attempt and I did manage to lose a few lbs. I think my problem was that even though I stuck to it 100% ketosis never kicked in for me so I was constantly tired and headachey and just had zero energy, and I couldn't live mt life like that.
So then the switch clicked in my head and I decided that the only way I was going to lose weight properly and learn to keep it off was to do it the natural way, through calorie counting and exercise. Which is exactly what I have done and it has worked. I've had better losses doing it this way than I had on SW. I don't feel that I am being deprived of anything, and it makes you stop and think about what you are putting in your mouth. When you actually look at some foods it is shocking the number of calories in things. Like even the 'healthy' options like a salad from a supermarket has a crazy number of calories in. So for me its just being aware of what I'm eating, whether I really NEED to eat it or whether I just WANT it.
Looking forwards, my plan now is to lose a bit more weight. I have always said that my inital goal was 10st and I would see how I feel when I get there. It feels amazing, but I am not quite where I want to be just yet. I am still wearing size 14 clothes which is a bummer, and I would like my stomach to be a bit flatter and just to be more toned. So my new target is 9st 7 and I will see how I feel when I get there. Or I may not feel I need to lose as much as that. I cant wait to see a 9 on the scales though, think I might have to do a little dance, lol.:bliss:
Now I am at target, I am over the moon because it has been a rollercoaster the last 2 1/2 years or so since I originally started SW. At times I honestly never thought I would see the day when the scales read 10st. But it goes to show that all your hard work can pay off. Yes it can be extremely frustrating to see people losing say 5lbs a week when you have only lost 0.5lbs, but I truly believe slow and steady not only wins the race, but enables you to maintain more successfully due to the skills and mental attitude you develop along the way.
And now I am saying :Na_Na_Na_Na: to those 64lbs. Gone forever. :wavey:
Drum roll please, lol......As of this morning I have reached my goal weight of 10st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooo happy, I cant quite believe it. Its been a hell of a journey, but over the last few months or so things just seem to have 'clicked' and I no longer feel like I am ruled by food.
I have battled with my weight my whole life and was always the biggest in my class at school, but then managed to get down to about 10st when I got married in 2005. Then I piled on the pounds and reached my heaviest (14st 8) in about December 2007. I tried to lose weight on my own but in July 2009 I decided to get some help and I signed up to SW for the first time weighing 13st 8. This worked quite well for me to begin with but my losses were slow which I found quite demoralising and I fell off the wagon over Xmas 2009.
At the beginning of 2010 I decided to try a VLCD (Weight to Go) because I wanted to lose as much weight as possible before my holiday to the Caribbean in March. I think I only managed it for a couple of weeks though as I wasn't feeling very well at all on it and developed gastritis. So I discovered the grass isn't always greener and although the losses were good, I wasn't willing to sacrifice my health.
So in May 2010 I returned to SW weighing 12st. By this time to be honest I think I had started to learn the 'tricks' of SW and developed the ability to eat quite a lot of 'free' food and still be totally on plan. Which meant that once again my losses were extremely slow and I eventually gave up again. I did try another VLCD (Weight to Go) at some point, cant remember when exactly, but it was after I gave up with SW again. Once again I didn't last all that long on it but it was a slightly better experience than the previous attempt and I did manage to lose a few lbs. I think my problem was that even though I stuck to it 100% ketosis never kicked in for me so I was constantly tired and headachey and just had zero energy, and I couldn't live mt life like that.
So then the switch clicked in my head and I decided that the only way I was going to lose weight properly and learn to keep it off was to do it the natural way, through calorie counting and exercise. Which is exactly what I have done and it has worked. I've had better losses doing it this way than I had on SW. I don't feel that I am being deprived of anything, and it makes you stop and think about what you are putting in your mouth. When you actually look at some foods it is shocking the number of calories in things. Like even the 'healthy' options like a salad from a supermarket has a crazy number of calories in. So for me its just being aware of what I'm eating, whether I really NEED to eat it or whether I just WANT it.
Looking forwards, my plan now is to lose a bit more weight. I have always said that my inital goal was 10st and I would see how I feel when I get there. It feels amazing, but I am not quite where I want to be just yet. I am still wearing size 14 clothes which is a bummer, and I would like my stomach to be a bit flatter and just to be more toned. So my new target is 9st 7 and I will see how I feel when I get there. Or I may not feel I need to lose as much as that. I cant wait to see a 9 on the scales though, think I might have to do a little dance, lol.:bliss:
Now I am at target, I am over the moon because it has been a rollercoaster the last 2 1/2 years or so since I originally started SW. At times I honestly never thought I would see the day when the scales read 10st. But it goes to show that all your hard work can pay off. Yes it can be extremely frustrating to see people losing say 5lbs a week when you have only lost 0.5lbs, but I truly believe slow and steady not only wins the race, but enables you to maintain more successfully due to the skills and mental attitude you develop along the way.
And now I am saying :Na_Na_Na_Na: to those 64lbs. Gone forever. :wavey:
