What a great title to have for a blog post eh? I have actually lost weight. Anyone who’s tried to lose weight will know how much of an achievement this is. I’ve lost weight in the past, in fact I lost 47lbs on the Weight Watchers plan shrinking to a tiny 8st 13lbs. I am only 5’4″ and so any excess weight really shows. My happy weight is 9-9.5st, about what I was when I got married. This was back in 2013, but since then the bad habits have been creeping back in and the weights been creeping on.
I was comfort eating (and drinking) because I didn’t like my job, I was comfort eating because I wasn’t getting pregnant, I had an undiagnosed underactive thyroid and so on. I had every excuse under the sun. The main reason I put on weight is because I consumed more calories then I burnt off in a day. Simples really.
With three holidays booked and two weddings in 2015 I knew now was the time to do something about it. After all…..
I think Kerry Dyer posted this image on her Instagram and it’s so true, how many times in the past have I started dieting in May/June only to realise its all too little too late? Too many times, that’s how many. So, armed with my newly acquired gym membership I took myself off to the gym on the 8th January 2015 for the very first time. I was actually looking forward to going. The induction was a little intimidating, everyone looking at you like the new year fat bird. But, once that was out of the way and I could pop my headphones in and forget where I was I was happy.
To begin with I struggled to make a kilometre on the treadmill……WALKING!! This is how unfit I had become. I was tired after the ten minutes it took me to walk a kilometre and so I moved on to some machines, starting with small 2.5kg weights or more depending on the muscle I was working.
Since the 8th January I have been to the gym three times a week except the one week I had tonsillitis…..come on give me a break! I have been trying to follow the couch to 5k plan which you can find here and so far so good. It breaks you in slowly using a type of interval training, so you might walk for 2 minutes then jog for a minute then walk for two again and repeat this for a certain period of time. I know it sounds lame as Matt could probably do 5k for a warm up but I really needed to start from square one.
Today, as I sit here writing with wet hair from going to the gym before work, I managed 3km of which I jogged 2.5km. To say I am proud is an understatement and just goes to show that perseverance really does pay off. I now crunch 22.5kg when I started on 15kg and I press 70kg on my legs when I started on 50kg. The change in my body I felt took some time to come which can be a little deflating but I definitely see a change now.
However, exercising a lot and eating and drinking the wrong things still makes for a bad lifestyle. I soon realised that I needed to increase my water intake if I were to be able to sustain any kind of pace at the gym. Matt and I had salads with chicken for lunch to add protein in to our diets and we’ve sacked off the garlic breads with the evening meal. We did try juicing but we got totally sick of that and to be able to do this we need something sustainable. I usually instagram my lunches, you can find me on instagram here.
We still have a takeaway at the weekend, or eat out when we fancy but we just make a lot more sensible choices at home and take regular exercise. It really is simple, you just have to want to do it.
In all honestly I didn’t weigh myself at the start of this because I couldn’t bring myself too so I only know what I’ve lost in the last sort of 6 weeks and that’s 4lbs but I have clearly lost more then that and I’d hazard a guess at a bout half a stone, maybe a little more. Those first few weeks you could feel the weight almost falling off. I’ve still got over a stone to lose but I am so much happier with my self now. My mood has improved (that may be down to the thyroxine I take) and my clothes fit better. The numbers on the scale are heading in the right direction and I will be within reach of my target by summer. Now I just need to get through the all inclusive holiday without doing too much damage!
Ten weeks progress
11 weeks progress
Wowee you look amazing and wow to losing all that weight in the past too. I lost 2 stone last year, going down to a tiny 8 stone. I was actually a bit too skinny and have recently gone back to 8 stone 10, which actually is a better weight for me. I have let bad habits creep back in recently though and have been eating far too much junk food again- I need to get back on the case! x
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Hey Katie, thanks for the comment. I actually read your posts about getting back into running and it was really inspiring. Losing weight is so difficult, I think getting in the right head space to start with is the biggest challenge. The actual work-outs aren’t that bad! x