DivaOnaDiet
Member
Hi all,
I'd like to start a diary - and I really hope I maintain it - to keep me honest on my new weight loss mission (attempt 6782).
I'm 28 now and when I was 20 I left the UK and haven't lived there since; instead, I've been working in travel and during the past 8 years have lived in Ireland, France, Gibraltar, Mallorca, Finland, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Thailand & currently in Costa Rica.
Working in travel is great - but it's very different to a 'normal' lifestyle. Your whole life needs to fit in to 2, 20kg cases, I'm usually in a country with either no diet groups or at least no diet groups in a language I understand, I'm usually in a country where I can't read the labels in the supermarkets, I often live in hotels and thus have no personal cooking facilities and have to either eat out or eat in the hotel restaurant for every meal. It makes dieting very difficult.
Not only that, but in this line of work you tend to have a lot of young, sociable colleagues around you to tempt you - on a daily basis - to head out for drinks, go to a restaurant for dinner, etc. This also makes dieting very difficult.
In the past I have bounced between 17 and 21 stone, safe in the knowledge that whenever I felt motivated enough I could normally drop weight very quickly. However, this January I gave up smoking and since then have rapidly gained weight - 23 stone, 5 lbs as of today's weigh-in - and for the first time I feel like it's completely out of control and that I can't just put the brakes on it when I feel like it... I feel like I can't stop it ballooning and that I'm approaching an age where the damage will become harder to reverse.
I've also seen the impact on my life worsen dramatically; I work from home most days so I don't have to leave my bed, which is becoming more difficult to get out of by the day. I avoid bending over whenever possible. I actually notice myself stop breathing as I fall asleep now as my sleep apnea gets worse. In Thailand, this February, my swim shorts split open during an island excursion and I had to try to hide the massive rip with a t-shirt for the rest of the day - I was then unable to find anyone who stocked my size in the country and thus could no longer go swimming (no swimming, in Thailand!). Now, in Costa Rica, my work colleagues and suppliers are desperate to get me on a zip line through the rainforest but I'm 50lbs over the maximum allowed weight. Every flight I dread the initial sit down, never sure if the belt will fit or if I'll need to request the dreaded... orange belt.
Well - no more - Whilst in Costa Rica I am living in an apartment rather than a hotel or the next year or so, so I do have limited cooking facilities - I went out today and bought some meal replacement mix, a blender and some bathroom scales - it's time to take back control.
I will try to post an update most days and would like to invite you to join me through the trials & tribulations, success & struggles, on my mission to avoid the orange belt.
Joe x
I'd like to start a diary - and I really hope I maintain it - to keep me honest on my new weight loss mission (attempt 6782).
I'm 28 now and when I was 20 I left the UK and haven't lived there since; instead, I've been working in travel and during the past 8 years have lived in Ireland, France, Gibraltar, Mallorca, Finland, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Thailand & currently in Costa Rica.
Working in travel is great - but it's very different to a 'normal' lifestyle. Your whole life needs to fit in to 2, 20kg cases, I'm usually in a country with either no diet groups or at least no diet groups in a language I understand, I'm usually in a country where I can't read the labels in the supermarkets, I often live in hotels and thus have no personal cooking facilities and have to either eat out or eat in the hotel restaurant for every meal. It makes dieting very difficult.
Not only that, but in this line of work you tend to have a lot of young, sociable colleagues around you to tempt you - on a daily basis - to head out for drinks, go to a restaurant for dinner, etc. This also makes dieting very difficult.
In the past I have bounced between 17 and 21 stone, safe in the knowledge that whenever I felt motivated enough I could normally drop weight very quickly. However, this January I gave up smoking and since then have rapidly gained weight - 23 stone, 5 lbs as of today's weigh-in - and for the first time I feel like it's completely out of control and that I can't just put the brakes on it when I feel like it... I feel like I can't stop it ballooning and that I'm approaching an age where the damage will become harder to reverse.
I've also seen the impact on my life worsen dramatically; I work from home most days so I don't have to leave my bed, which is becoming more difficult to get out of by the day. I avoid bending over whenever possible. I actually notice myself stop breathing as I fall asleep now as my sleep apnea gets worse. In Thailand, this February, my swim shorts split open during an island excursion and I had to try to hide the massive rip with a t-shirt for the rest of the day - I was then unable to find anyone who stocked my size in the country and thus could no longer go swimming (no swimming, in Thailand!). Now, in Costa Rica, my work colleagues and suppliers are desperate to get me on a zip line through the rainforest but I'm 50lbs over the maximum allowed weight. Every flight I dread the initial sit down, never sure if the belt will fit or if I'll need to request the dreaded... orange belt.
Well - no more - Whilst in Costa Rica I am living in an apartment rather than a hotel or the next year or so, so I do have limited cooking facilities - I went out today and bought some meal replacement mix, a blender and some bathroom scales - it's time to take back control.
I will try to post an update most days and would like to invite you to join me through the trials & tribulations, success & struggles, on my mission to avoid the orange belt.
Joe x
Last edited:
Go you!
