some before and after pics

I have been overweight for a long time and have been stuck in a rut both in life and with my eating, which had been getting worse. My excuse for eating takeaways was i was too busy. Yes i was too busy sitting on my butt doing nothing!

So after a business trip and not really fitting very comfortably in the less than generous budget airline seats and feeling so unfit after walking a mile or so, i decided it was time to do something.

So back in Oct i weighed 17st 2/240lbs/109kgs. The heaviest i have ever been.



The above was a couple of years ago and probably around my heaviest.



This was oct 2011 just before i started my journey hated having my photo taken back then.


I started off like a lot of people a bit too manic, not eating and not doing myself any favours, making it such hard work to stick to and having unrealistic goals. After a couple of weeks of good loss, i knew i was struggling and thought i would give up as i usually do.

I hate being told what to do so the likes of weight watchers and slimming world jsut do not work for me, but after searching the net i found MFP. I spent hours reading the forums and reading success stories and it was then i had that clear thinking moment, be more sensible, this is not going to be a quick fix.

I joined a local gym and just did my own thing. I love swimming so swam every night and did a lot of dancing wii fit. i needed to start to feel fitter and better about myself and wanted to do something i enjoyed. Spending hours in the gym on machines and lifting weights really was not my thing. I cannot stress enough when you first start out do the stuff you enjoy and ease yourself into it. Dont follow a regime jsut because it is the done or in thing. Doesnt matter what it is dancing around in your living room,walking to the shops, just get off your backside and enjoy yourself. You have plenty of time to move on to more intense and demanding exercise. Just because you want to lose weight, you don’t have to make life hell for yourself, you have to keep this up for a long time, you need to want to do it. Life is for enoying.

I took part in my first team triathlon in April, did the swimming in a reasonable time and loved it and last weekend did my first full one. It was hard work, but the sense of achievement was amazing. Next one in 4 weeks time. I love swimming and have found a renewed love in cycling, which was something i did when i was child. I could never have believed i could have ever contemplated to doing anything like this ever again. I am planning on amateur cycle time trials and do some open water distance swimming in the future. Doing such events scares me , but i know i have it in me, it makes life more exciting.



This is me in spotted blue dress in early april, this was the team photo for the first tri we where doing for charity, all work colleagues and all but one had never done a triathlon.

Everyone has to do it their own way, but this is a rough guide of what i did, after i joined MFP

Started on 1200 – 1300 calories ish, wasn’t really exercising hard so did not really earn too many calories to eat back.

After about a month i stepped up the exercise, doing videos, 30ds, doing press ups (still cannot do a full one, but nearly there) swimming most nights and taking the dog out for a brisk walks.

After 3 months had lost 2st/28lbs/14kgs i started to up the work outs, some jogging, more swimming and a bit more strength work, sit ups, squats and press up etc, not really any work with weights though. Trained hard for my swimming, taking over 6 mins of my 400m time from when i started.

Now i was working harder i started to eat my exercise calories back (get a heart rate monitor, best investment i have made). The weight lost slowed after 5 months, but i was getting smaller and less wobbly.

I do weigh myself every day, not something i would recommend, but more importantly i measure my self in 7 different places and whilst it is great to see the scales move, the decrease in size is far more important. It is so hard to get your head around, it not being all about weight, but it really isn’t. I still talk about losing another 2 st, but more importantly i have size and fitness goals and they are now far more important to me. Who cares what you weigh as long as you look the way you want and are fit and healthy.

I now exercise every week night – cycling, running (not often lol!) swimming and have a weights bench at my house. I don’t do more than a hour a time normally, i like to work hard and fast, cannot put myself through hours of working out slowly. Have a low boredom threshold.

I still feel a little weird working out with lots of super fit people in the weights part of the gym. So bought a second hand weight bench and weights off ebay and bougth the great book new rules for weight lifting for women and do that at home at my leisure. I still love the gym for the pool, sauna, treadmill and other machines and it keeps me focused. But have some basic kit to use at the weekends so i can do my weight works out at home. I always have one day of a week with no exercise just to give myself a treat and my body time to build and repair itself. Listen to your body, push yourself, but don’t kill yourself. I caused my self shin splints and now am regretting it, too much jumping around and running in the early days when i really was not fit enough for it. Work out sensibly, but don’t use it as an excuse not to work out well.

I am now eating around 1500 plus most of my exercise calories as i have to be able to work out well. I lose about 1lb a week, but my fatty areas are noticeably different and my fitness is getting far better.

What do i eat – everything. I try and be good and eat a lot of fruit, veg and chicken and other proteins. I will not deny myself anything. If i want a macdonalds i have one, but its a once a month treat and only a burger, no fries or milk shake. I go out for dinner, i have a drink and i don’t beat myself up about going over 2000 – 2500 on an odd day. When i go out i try and be sensible and don’t pick the cheese starter, rich cream sauce and lots of cream for pudding. I try to pick things i love but not the highest calorie/fat item on the menu. I don’t do it often and get straight back to it. Its all about moderation, i would have eaten 6 – 10 biscuits a day, now i have one small one with a cup of coffee in the afternoon. Not too many calories and a little treat to feel good about.

If i am feeling weak willed i look up the calories on mfp and think 400 calories for that cookie is it worth it? I will have to work out harder and not have another treat later in the week, sometimes the answer is yes eat it. I make myself think about the effects of eating that cookie rather than just stuffing it down my throat. If i have made an informed decision and stick to my resolve to fit into my weekly treat allowance or make up with an extra bit of exercise, then i enjoy that cookie and don’t feel bad about it. Its important not to feel bad about falling off the wagon for one day or one bad snack, but you need to get your mind back in the game and don’t go into a spiral of well i have messed up today, i might as well eat bad all day. This use to be my major down fall in the past and having the right mentality to get yourself back on track quickly makes a big difference.

I cannot eat perfectly so its about moderation, keeping myself interested in food, but being more sensible with my choices and more importantly watching that portion size. I do weigh stuff and do log pretty much everything, it is so easy to forget that extra few grams of butter and they can add up over the week.

I love the way i am starting to look, i am doing things i have wanted to do and actually enjoying eating well and exercising for the first time in my life.

Stats

Started my new lifestyle end of Oct 2011.
Female – 44
Dress size – was creeping in a UK 24 – now – just bought my first size UK 14 jeans (and they are a bit baggy around the bum area)and fitting nicely into Size 16 tops
Start weight – Nov 2011 – approx 240lbs now 180lbs
Bust – 6 inches lost
Under bust – 7.5 inches lost
Muffin Top – 7 inches lost
Waist – 7 inches lost
Stomach -7.5 inches lost
Hips – 8.25 inches lost
Top of leg – 5 inches lost

Thats 48 inches lost, those inches weren’t muscle so thats a lot of fat disappearing.

I have had up and downs, people not being very helpful and plateaus, but have always kept focused that i am doing this for me to make my life better, too look great and be healthy.

I am not on a diet, i have changed my eating habits and i now see what i eat as the norm (though still like to log on mfp to keep on track) and my exercise is part of my daily routine i look forward to.

A massive thank you to everyone that posts on here, it got me to where i am today and will get me to where i want to be another 6 months down the line.

Its not always easy and we all have to find our own way, good luck to everyone with their body shape/fitness/weight loss goals. You can do it.

Some recent head shots





Then these where of the Tri last Sunday.