An update on my weight loss

One of the major changes that I have to report since I was last blogging is that I did, eventually, lose the weight.  Losing weight is one of the most challenging but the most rewarding things I've ever done.  There is nothing like walking into a shop knowing that pretty much everything will fit, whether it looks good or not is a different matter altogether.

I looked back at some of the old blog posts I wrote about losing weight.  I'd forgotten some of the reasons I wanted to diet in the first place so it's nice to look back and read through what I was thinking at that time.

Here is what I wrote all those years ago.  http://wonkywatt.blogspot.com/2012/06/dieting.html

At the time I wrote that post I never thought I'd get to where I wanted to but I hoped that one day I might just do it.

I started that post by talking about my trigger points, that thing that makes someone want to lose weight and change their life for good.  Everyone has a trigger and I had many.  I was 30, fat and miserable and I didn't want to be 31, still fat and still miserable. 

I looked back at that old blog post and I've picked up on a few points.

I was 16 and a half stone, size 22-24 and I couldn't fit into my old clothes.

Now I'm a size 10/12 and I can't tell you how good it feels.  I had several trips to the charity shop to ditch the old me and endless shopping sprees to buy new, smaller sizes.  When you lose a lot of weight, like I did, you go through lots of different sizes and this can be expensive.  I never minded buying new clothes, even if they did only fit me for a few months.  You learn to be a bit of a fashionista, if it's too big, stick a chunky belt on and it'll be alright etc. etc.

I've given myself lots of small goals to work towards which I think is really important.

I still think this is important.  Even though I got to a healthy weight I'm still careful about what I eat.  When I've overindulged, on a holiday or at Christmas, then I use small, tiny goals to get back to where I want to be.

Another half a lb and I'll have lost 10% of my body weight on Weight Watchers.

Well I did lose that half a lb to get to my 10% and a whole lot more.  I actually lost 89lbs altogether.  I've tried to lift weights that are about a quarter of what I lost and I can't pick them up off the ground.  It's quite hard to imagine how I carried that weight around with me.  I've no idea how I did it.

It's not all about the numbers either, you can get all caught up with numbers and I don't think it's healthy.  Clothes and confidence can tell a bigger story.

I still believe this too, if you feel good about yourself then it shows in the way you hold yourself.  The more I lost the more confident I became.

The thing with losing weight is that you have to really want to do it and believe me, I really want to.

Well I did really want to do it and, and times, it was bloody hard work. 

It took me a long time, life, several operations, and a house move got in the way, but I didn't let it beat me.  I have to watch what I eat all the time and I don't think I'll ever stop thinking about it.  The hardest part now is keeping the weight off.  I'm still a fat girl inside and I don't think that will ever go away.  The important thing is that I did it and I'm never going back to that person again.

Glastonbury Festival 2011 v Download Festival 2016

A catch up...



My 10% Keyring



So I'm still amazed everyday with how much weight I've lost.

After last Friday's weigh in I've lost 40lbs and I got my 10%. I can't quite believe it. I'm going to be so excited when I get to 50lbs and then 60...and so on...and so on!

I promise there will be photos soon.

Losing weight and a dress size

As you know I've started using My Fitness Pal.  I started in December 2011 and I'm happy to announce I've lost 9lbs and am already wearing clothes that are a size smaller.

I'm feeling a lot better in myself and my joints are benefitting too.  Obviously the last month has been difficult and I haven't done much exercise but when I have managed to do a bit my joints have felt a little more comfortable.

The only exercise I've been doing is on the Wii.  If I exercise at home I can do a few minutes and then sit down which is a lot better for me than going for a 30 minute walk, which I couldn't do anyway.  It's worked well for me so far, some days I can't do anything and some days I can manage up to 10-15 minutes split up into small manageable chunks.

I find My Fitness Pal easy to use because it has a website (myfitnesspal.com) and an app but the best part is that it's free.  After adding a few details, height/current weight you can add in how much weight you want to lose, either 1 or 2lbs per week 2 lb per week, and it calculates how many calories you should be having each day.  The friends feature is also good as you can help each other along the way.

Adding food into the app is easy as it has a barcode scanner but there is also a search facility, then all you do is you add how much you've had and it tells you how many calories is it in.  The only problem with that is that due to the website being American people have put things in lbs, oz, grams, cups, all sorts of different measurements so I've also downloaded a free converter app so I know how much I'm having.  And no I haven't got a clue how big a cup is!  People also put calorie values that are totally wrong, either too much or too little so you have to double check.

The app also shows your projected weight loss if you continue eat like today, for instance if I've eaten 1350 calories it tells me 'if everyday were like today you will weigh so many lbs in 5 weeks'. I think this is good because it gives me something to aim for and doesn't leave me disheartened.

So will I continue to lose weight? Well I certainly want too so watch this space and see!

Dieting

I don't like to say that I'm on a diet, but I'm...erm... watching what I eat and exercising more so, therefore, I'm on a diet.

I don't really know where it all started but I had a go on the Wii Fit and now I can't stop playing on it.
I've been using the Wii Fit for almost 2 weeks now.  I like the balance games which are very low impact in my joints and I love the tennis on the Wii Sports.  I have to play with my left hand because of my shoulder but I'm doing ok and burning a lot of calories doing it.

I've also been using an app called My Fitness Pal where you can log the foods you eat and how much exercise you do.  There is also www.myfitnesspal.com which syncs in with the phone app so you can use both.  The app has a barcode scanner so you can tell how many calories are in something straight away.  The only criticisms I have is that people can put in what they think the values are so therefore I think some of the values might be a little far fetched.  Also, people don't cook anymore so trying to find the value of a parsnip was a little tricky.  My Mum is a proper cook so working out what's she's made can be a pain.  I have to add everything together and divide by how many portions she makes.

My Mum and Dad are really helping me, my Dad bought me some scales to weigh my food which was lovely of him.

After first week I lost 6lbs but then then the next day the Wii said I'd put 4lb back on so I don't know what happened there.

I didn't have a good weekend with food as I went to see my friend from university.  She's using the same website as I am and she's lost 2 and a half stone.  We were a little naughty this weekend but according to the scales I haven't put any weight on so that's good.

I'm weighing myself every Thursday morning to take an average over the week.

So from here on, I'm trying to lose weight and now I've written it on here I've got to do it!