Looking for motivation

Hanna1983

Hi everyone.
This is probably my 37th go (or so) at losing weight and getting back to my old slim self, but hopefully this time it will work.
I decided to try this attempt completely on my own. No Weight Watchers, no personal trainer. Just me, a calculator and the gym.
You might wonder why I am doing it this way. I calculated that since beginning this year I spend over £1,000 on subscriptions to diet websites, special diet meal/shakes and a personal trainer. I could as well have flushed it down the toilet.

In September I decided to look up how many calories I eat in a day. The result was quite shocking. Especially when I found that my favourite Indian take-away added up to more than my daily allowance (2,000 cals). And obviously I would not just eat the take-away dinner during the day, I had also had a rich breakfast and lunch and chocolate of course. So my calorie intake on weekends with take-aways were far over 3,000 calories per day.

I decided to reduce my allowed daily calorie intake by an absolute minimum of 500 calories (i.e. eat maximum 1,500 calories per day) . In the first 2 weeks I went from 172lbs down to 163lbs. Obviously this simple way worked and that much better than any of the diets I had tried and failed at before. I was very happy to see it was working, especially seeing I could still eat chocolate :bigsmile: even if only a few pieces per day.

I decided to spend money on a personal trainer to get fit and get the motivation to keep me going until I would reach my goal weight of 126lbs. After all, I thought that not buying anymore clothes until I dropped at least 2 dress sizes would save the money I could splash out on a personal trainer.
When I met the trainer she told me to show her the food diary that I had kept for 2 weeks so she could see my diet. Considering that in the previous 2 weeks I had drastically changed my eating habits I was quite disappointed when she took a red marker pen and crossed out all the foods I was no longer allowed to eat.

I had swapped my danish pastry and chocolate milkshake breakfasts for a bowl of cornflakes with skimmed milk. But according to her neither cornflakes nor milk are good for you and so she crossed it out. She told me to eat porridge made with water for breakfast...

My high calorie lunches I swapped for low calorie ready meals from the supermarket which were usually less than 300 calories each. She told me that I am not allowed to eat those meals and should swap them for fruit, vegetables and salad.

For dinner I was only allowed fish and vegetables or a boring vegetable or chicken stock soup. And in general I was not allowed to eat

- any kind of bread, not even wholemeal or rye
- any kind of pasta
- any kind of rice
- potatoes
- corflakes
- cheese
- any kind of sauce ( not even the fat reduced ketchup)

:mad:

Absolutley ricidulous. I did that for 2 weeks. After the first week I had put on 5lbs. And during our weekly session I informed her that her diet made me put on weight instead of losing any. She told me to leave out the porddige and eat only fruit for breakfast and only vegetables for dinner. I eventually gave in the weekend of the 2nd week and went out for lunch with my friends. When I saw her again I had put back on all the weight I had lost before following her eating plan. I was so disappointed and upset and could not believe the result. I cancelled my sessions with her and was close to giving up.

But now I have gone back to my calorie counting diet plan and have joined another gym. I am planning to go 3 times a week and work with the cardio machines for an hour.

I am very hopeful this time it will work. I have got 25 weeks left to lose 41 lbs as I am then going on my Florida beach holiday and need to have a figure fit for a bikini

Hopefully this site will help me to stay motivated. I really want to be slim again.

Feel free to say hi anytime, I am sure we can all motivate each other to reach our goals.

Take care.

Hanna

Hanna1983

Hi everyone.
This is probably my 37th go (or so) at losing weight and getting back to my old slim self, but hopefully this time it will work.
I decided to try this attempt completely on my own. No Weight Watchers, no personal trainer. Just me, a calculator and the gym.
You might wonder why I am doing it this way. I calculated that since beginning this year I spend over £1,000 on subscriptions to diet websites, special diet meal/shakes and a personal trainer. I could as well have flushed it down the toilet.

In September I decided to look up how many calories I eat in a day. The result was quite shocking. Especially when I found that my favourite Indian take-away added up to more than my daily allowance (2,000 cals). And obviously I would not just eat the take-away dinner during the day, I had also had a rich breakfast and lunch and chocolate of course. So my calorie intake on weekends with take-aways were far over 3,000 calories per day.

I decided to reduce my allowed daily calorie intake by an absolute minimum of 500 calories (i.e. eat maximum 1,500 calories per day) . In the first 2 weeks I went from 172lbs down to 163lbs. Obviously this simple way worked and that much better than any of the diets I had tried and failed at before. I was very happy to see it was working, especially seeing I could still eat chocolate :bigsmile: even if only a few pieces per day.

I decided to spend money on a personal trainer to get fit and get the motivation to keep me going until I would reach my goal weight of 126lbs. After all, I thought that not buying anymore clothes until I dropped at least 2 dress sizes would save the money I could splash out on a personal trainer.
When I met the trainer she told me to show her the food diary that I had kept for 2 weeks so she could see my diet. Considering that in the previous 2 weeks I had drastically changed my eating habits I was quite disappointed when she took a red marker pen and crossed out all the foods I was no longer allowed to eat.

I had swapped my danish pastry and chocolate milkshake breakfasts for a bowl of cornflakes with skimmed milk. But according to her neither cornflakes nor milk are good for you and so she crossed it out. She told me to eat porridge made with water for breakfast...

My high calorie lunches I swapped for low calorie ready meals from the supermarket which were usually less than 300 calories each. She told me that I am not allowed to eat those meals and should swap them for fruit, vegetables and salad.

For dinner I was only allowed fish and vegetables or a boring vegetable or chicken stock soup. And in general I was not allowed to eat

- any kind of bread, not even wholemeal or rye
- any kind of pasta
- any kind of rice
- potatoes
- corflakes
- cheese
- any kind of sauce ( not even the fat reduced ketchup)

:mad:

Absolutley ricidulous. I did that for 2 weeks. After the first week I had put on 5lbs. And during our weekly session I informed her that her diet made me put on weight instead of losing any. She told me to leave out the porddige and eat only fruit for breakfast and only vegetables for dinner. I eventually gave in the weekend of the 2nd week and went out for lunch with my friends. When I saw her again I had put back on all the weight I had lost before following her eating plan. I was so disappointed and upset and could not believe the result. I cancelled my sessions with her and was close to giving up.

But now I have gone back to my calorie counting diet plan and have joined another gym. I am planning to go 3 times a week and work with the cardio machines for an hour.

I am very hopeful this time it will work. I have got 25 weeks left to lose 41 lbs as I am then going on my Florida beach holiday and need to have a figure fit for a bikini

Hopefully this site will help me to stay motivated. I really want to be slim again.

Feel free to say hi anytime, I am sure we can all motivate each other to reach our goals.

Take care.

Hanna

3babybeans

Sometimes the best motivation you can have comes from within. Good luck on achieving your goals!

ChubbyBunny

Just remember, this isn't a diet...it's a lifestyle change.
Don't change your lifestyle so much you can't live with it forever.

:flowerforyou:

denisebee

I think you just need to be ready to do this. If you are, than this is the place to be and and you will do well. When I started in April, I wasn't ready. In Aug. I finally buckled down and decided to do this. It works. What I have found is making small changes and eliminating nothing I am happily losing weight. What you'll find is you start making better choices because it allows you to eat more and feel better. My favorite chocolate fix is Ed'y Ice Cream 1/2 the fat icecream bars. Good luck!!!!!

Anna_Banana

Welcome to MFP. We are here to help you.

allaboutme

You have come to the right place. I hope your personal trainer has another job to fall back on Everything is edible in moderation.

Hanna1983

Dear All,

thank you for the nice messages.
And I agree, small changes and moderation is what will get me through this hopefully.
I still remember how I was when I was slim, that is a big reason why I am wanting to achieve my goal this time and get back to 9 stone. Cant believe I let it come to this to be honest. I am quite annoyed with myself. :explode:

Good luck everyone :smooched:
Hanna x