MY STORY - Weight Loss Part 1

Skye Bridge: 14th January vs 4th June 2017

Given my 'WEEKLY WEIGHT LOSS UPDATES' most of you will have sussed by now that I've been attempting to lose weight and get fitter. And I've been doing pretty well, having lost over 5st in just 5 months and gone down three dress sizes. Some of you have asked how I've managed it, so I thought I'd share with you how it all started, how I've managed to get this far, keep myself motivated and what my goals are.

First off I should start with the "back story", why I am even on this "journey". At the beginning of January I was a size 26, verging on going up a size, medically classed as "very obese", and feeling pretty miserable about my body. This was nothing new of course. I've struggled with my weight since I was a teenager, if not younger, and the problem only got worse as time went on. Nothing I tried worked. People would often “attempt” to advise or encourage me to make changes, but these were often people who had never had a weight problem in their lives and did not understand how difficult it was.

You can’t just “lose weight”! 

Of course there were also the taunts and the jokes about being fat, from strangers yes, but sometimes from friends and family, people who are supposed to care, but don’t realise the damage they were doing with their “friendly” words.

As most people who have struggled with their weight can probably relate, as a result, I had very low self-esteem, hated what I saw in the mirror, and often got depressed and tearful about my size. I had pretty much given up and thought I'd never lose any weight.

For years I have felt very alone, unable to talk to anyone about it, and at times, unlovable. I quite simply felt stuck. I'm not saying I'm over these feelings by any means, not at all, but I've finally found something that works, something that's given me hope, the motivation to keep going, and the confidence to say:

"I CAN do this!"

So what happened, what triggered this changed? Well, like most of us, I've never managed to stick to a New Year's resolution and even gave up making them a few years ago. But this year I thought I'd keep it simple, achievable and make a resolution to just walk more! I had to do something…

In June 2016 I had a great ten day holiday visiting the cities of Copenhagen, Berlin and Paris, travelling by train between each city. The holiday involved a lot of walking, but because of the joints I inherited from my mother, my weight and general lack of fitness, I was on Ibuprofen and paracetamol every day for my back and my knees. I figured if I started walking more in general I'd get fitter and be able to do more when I went on holiday again, and maybe even be able to cut down on the medication.

I did a bit of googling looking for tips on how to get fitter by walking and found this thing called 'Walk 1000Miles Challenge'. I was intrigued! This worked out at an average of 2.8 miles, or 6,000 steps per day. I set my pedometer goal to 6,000 steps, which for someone with a desk job, is a much more achievable goal than 7,000 to 10,000 step. I knew my daily goal had to be realistic, otherwise I wouldn't stick to it.

One of the first things I did was start walking in the evenings, around 8pm. Just a short walk round the village every evening no matter what the weather. I also set up a spreadsheet to keep track of my miles and keep me on target.

After a few weeks I realised I was no longer snacking in the evenings because I was out walking instead. Dark chocolate digestives were my downfall and of course you can never have just one... It was at this point I started thinking about weight loss and the possibility of actually being able, at last, to finally start losing some pounds.

At the beginning of February the first thing I did was add a new column to my spreadsheet and weigh myself. I decided at first that I would weigh myself every two week and lost half a stone after my first weigh in. By the end of February I had lost three quarters of a stone and thought I should start making some proper changes to my diet and weigh myself weekly.

 I would advise a decent set of digital scales is a must. They are more accurate. I’d also advise against anyone weighing themselves more than once a week, as your weight can fluctuate day by day. My biggest tip for a weigh in is be consistent, create the same circumstances each week to ensure your weight loss reading is more accurate. For example, I weigh myself every Sunday morning before I eat or shower.

When it came to goals, at first I had none, other than to lose weight and get fitter by walking a thousand miles… But as time went on I realised I needed more than this to keep me motivated. So I started looking at things like my BMI, my healthy weight and dress sizes.

I also started keeping a record of my waist and hip size. I’d advise these measurements, and any other measurements you might wish to keep a track of, be taken once every two or three weeks, as loss in inches is slower than loss in pounds.

When I looked at my height vs my weight I discovered that the NHS classed me as very obese, not just obese, but very obese. It was also at this point and time that I realised I needed to lose a total of 11st before I was classed as a healthy weight for my height.

Rather than see this as yet another thing to get upset about, I decided to add the different weight classes to my set of goals. So I had ‘Obese’, ‘Over Weight’ and ‘Healthy Weight’ as targets. I’m pleased to say I have reached the first of these targets! Ideally I'd like to reach a 'healthy weight', but I will be delighted if I can at least fall somewhere in the middle of the 'over weight' category. Only 3st 10lbs (she says...) before I am no longer obese! 6st before I can officially claim to be a healthy weight...

As for other targets, I’ve included each stone, and each dress size, as well as the half way mark. All my targets have dates attached to them, but if things aren’t quite going to plan, it is important to allow wiggle room, and adjust my targets if and when necessary. There are always weeks where I lose very little, and others where I lose a lot, so things can vary dramatically.

I’ve also found it useful to set weekly targets. 

Had I done this in the beginning it would have been difficult as I had no idea how quickly, or otherwise, the weight would come off, but after a couple of months, my weekly average weight loss became quite clear. I set my weekly target at around 1lb less than my average weekly weight loss, and based the rest of my goals around that. This allows for wiggle room, but also gives me an extra boost of confidence if I reach a target early!

There’s nothing wrong with going on a diet and just seeing what happens of course, but I’ve personally found that keeping a record of everything and setting goals has helped keep me motivated. Also, when I started having to get rid of clothes, I’ve kept one pair of trousers and one top as an example of how far I have come.

*DISCLAIMER: This is not a definitive guide on how to lose weight and get fitter, it's just what has worked for me, with a bit of trial and error along the way...