Reaching out from Wales

Hi! Well done on the weight loss last week - that's a fantastic loss!

I've done countless diets over the years, and lost nearly 5 stone on WW three years ago but put it back on, plus more. I found that although I was losing weight, I was choosing easy choices and although I cooked my own food, it wasn't necessarily as healthy as it should have been. It also felt quite forced - the exercise I did was an act of guilt (if I don't do it, I'll put on weight) rather than a lifestyle choice.

I'm in the process of losing weight - I'm just over 250lbs at the moment (in January I topped the scales at 297lbs) and have just joined a gym locally. I'm absolutely loving it - the burn, the environment, the fact I am doing good things. I'm doing mainly strengthening training at the moment because as I'm just under 18st, high impact cardio work from the get go will probably do more harm than good (although I'm trying my best and nowhere near as unfit as I thought) so if you want to swap tips or anything, please feel free to friend me.

As for food - I am counting calories, but I'm doing so in a way that allows me the things I WANT to eat (bagels, fruit, lean protein) because I'm craving a healthy eating scheme at the moment. I'm completely off junk and alcohol and is mostly vegetarian. I'm not denying myself anything though, but my "treats" tend to be reasonably healthy - something I've never ever been like before.

I'm from Norfolk, UK - I love Wales!
x

Hi Al, I'm Rachel (and this is my first post ever on MFP!)

Good job on the weight loss last week! I, too, have always had a slightly unhealthy relationship with food. I started my first extreme diet at age eleven and struggled up and down for 28 years. Last August I suddenly realized that my 40th birthday was less than six months away and I simply couldn't continue to feel fat, dumpy and unhealthy anymore. I couldn't stand the thought of spending another decade feeling badly about myself. Plus, I live in one of the healthiest cities in the United States...full of athletes that come from around the world to train running/biking in altitude, so I always felt like the 'fattest' girl in the room amongst all the uber-athletes.

When I started I weighed 176 at 5'3"...In the very first weeks I began taking classes at my gym; Zumba, Pilates, anything to just get there. After that, I added in spending an hour three times a week on the elliptical machine. I was suddenly spending four days a week, 3+ hours at a time in the gym and it just wasn't a sustainable way of living for me. I've recently focused on walking and weight training three times a week, which for me, is a much more sane way of working out.

I was so motivated and devoted in the beginning and ate 1200 calories a day and tried to limit my carbs to a reasonable level. Over the Holidays the wheels fell off the bus, so to speak, and I spent three months at a plateau. Just in the past month, I have recommitted to eating a low calorie diet of proteins, healthy fats, and fruits and vegetables. I'm now at 152 and I have twenty-ish more pounds to go. Last August I did set a goal that if I could reach my goal in one year, my husband, daughter and I would go to Disney World...so, I have a little over three months to lose twenty pounds. It sounds a little bit insurmountable for me, which is why I'm here to solicit support.

--Rachel
Boulder, CO

Always offering a wave to my fellow taff - Cardiff girl here xxx