If you are a regular reader of my blog you may know that last year (and the start of this year) I lost 4 stone doing the Diet Chef plan. I felt amazing, like I was going to change my life, break the cycle of dieting and finally feel comfortable in my own skin. People commented on how well I was looking and I was no longer in the plus size department.
I am not sure what has happened this year, I have struggled a little with my PND, I have been busy, we have been away alot; whatever it is my motivation has disappeared and I am in danger of being back where I started, about 1/3 of the weight I lost has already gone back on (below is a current photo).
So I am staging an intervention for myself. I have asked a couple of blogging friends who have been amazingly successful in losing weight AND keeping it off to share their stories and also their top weight loss tips. I hope that the stories of these beautiful ladies will inspire and motivate me to restart and keep going this time. I hope they do the same for you too, should you feel the need to lose a few pounds (or, like me, stones!).
Lucy from Mrs Bishop Bakes and Banter
Back in August 2013 after the birth of my son Bert I was at my heaviest (17st 2lbs) and feeling pretty dreadful. After a lifetime of being overweight I decided enough was enough and things needed to change. I wanted to be the healthiest mum possible for Bert, and I wanted to feel confident in my own skin. I knew that fundamentally my attitude towards food, portion size, emotional/comfort eating and exercise all needed an overhaul – so decided that a diet ‘club’ wouldn’t be the right choice for me: I wanted to go it alone, and learn a way to eat/cook/exercise that didn’t follow a plan, as realistically I think it is hard to stick to any ‘diet plan’ like that in-definitely. I wanted to change my habits forever, and from the inside out. I knew I needed to put work in to change emotionally, and start from scratch with my diet education.
Luckily, I love to cook and am passionate about food – so over the past two years I have got my head down and re-educated myself completely. I now understand how many calories I personally need each day, how much to burn off through exercise, and no longer find myself tempted to gorge on high fat, high sugar treats as I know what they are ‘worth’ in terms of calories/exercise needed to burn them off. Instead, I exercise moderation in all things, and enjoy treats guilt-free (which is a revelation to me). It is amazing how un-burying your head from the sand can lead you to make much wiser choices.
I use the brilliant phone application My Fitness Pal to count my daily calories (and two years on I still use it every day), and I balance my calorie intake with loads of fast power walking on pretty much a daily basis. I now make better food choices due to my new understanding of ‘good calories vs bad calories’ ‘good fats vs bad fats’, and by habit I now check food labels for fat, salt and sugar content, while also cutting out white flour and opting for whole grain where possible. I drink plenty of water, limit my alcohol consumption and save it for a treat, and honestly I enjoy all my treats so much more now that the guilt cycle has been removed from my eating.
Two years on and I have now lost 6.5 stone and counting…I’ve slimmed from a UK size 20 to a size 12, and I feel like a completely different person – happier, more confident, I feel healthy and most importantly I have gained back control of my life. I still eat cake, I still have takeaways, I still drink alcohol, I still bake a lot – I’m just moderate with it all.
Lucy’s Three Tips for Weight Loss
1.Try to address the emotions behind your eating habits – work out why you over eat/binge/make bad choices, and determine whether you could make life changes that ultimately would make you happier and therefore make you less likely to reward/punish yourself with the overeating cycle.
2. The ‘I’ll start being good on Monday/after my holiday/after Christmas’ mentality is a dangerous one – don’t see this as a diet, see it as a commitment to healthier living IN DEFINITELY. You don’t need to ban any foods, stop drinking alcohol or only eat lettuce leaves – exercise moderation in all things and it will happen for you. If you have a ‘bad day’ don’t think “Oh well! I’ve been bad so I might as well be REALLY bad!” – just accept the ‘blip’ and move on to being committed to a healthier day the following day.
3. Set yourself mini goals – don’t run before you can walk, especially if you have quite a lot of weigh to lose. I used to set myself achievable targets, then once I had achieved them I would the change the goalposts and set myself a new target. If at the beginning I had said ‘You must lose 6.5 stone’ I would have been so daunted/overwhelmed and it would have seen like such a massive task that I don’t think I’d have been able to cope. Instead I said to myself ‘Lose one stone by Christmas’ or ‘get into the next clothes size down’, and before I knew it I was smashing my targets and achieving more than I could ever have imagined.
Emma from Life According to Mrs Shilts
It was the summer of 2014 when I decided enough was enough. I was struggling with my self-esteem, my confidence was at an all-time low and my weight was ballooning out of control. I didn’t like the look of myself in the mirror and it was only when I went on an unsuccessful shopping trip for clothes for a beach holiday that I realised just how bad I had let myself go.
After a holiday in Turkey, I returned to the UK with a determination to change my ways. I wanted to look in the mirror and smile, I was so fed up of being miserable and I wanted to feel comfortable in my own skin. I signed up to a Slimming World class and I haven’t looked back.
In just over thirteen months, I have lost five stone and gone down 3 dress sizes. At first, the weight came off quite quickly which was highly motivating. My weekly losses spurred me on to stay on track The weight loss slowed down after the first four stone came off and it’s taken a while to get off the fifth stone but I’ve tried to stay positive throughout as I’m now seeing and reaping the benefits.
My 3 tips to stay motivated are
– Remember why you started. Look back on old photographs and focus on your losses and what you have already achieved.
– Plan your meals in advance and get meat out of the freezer if it’s not fresh. You won’t want to waste it once it’s defrosted helping you to stay on plan and save money you would have once used on a takeaway.
– Don’t turn a bad day into a bad week. You can always start a fresh the next day.
Aren’t these ladies amazing?! They look totally incredible and I hope they have given you some motivation if you feel the need to change your life.