Another Year, Another Try

[Pomegranate]

Up until recently I was living in blissful ignorance of how much weight I'd put on in the 6 years since I left behind sporty activities in favour of long work hours and weekends on the sofa. How? By actively avoiding the camera (something I've always done!) and not quite realising that when I stopped running, swimming and actively going to the gym I probably should have adjusted my portion sizes. It's not that I sit at home and binge on crisps, chocolate and takeaways, it's that since I gave up sports I kept the calorie intake. In fact I'd completely ignored the fact that my exercise now took the form of a leisurely 3 mile stroll to work and allowed myself to become complacent. Of course I could still eat that much, I was still active wasn't I? I still walked everywhere, ran up/down stairs, and I only ate chocolate at work. Whenever I thought I looked a bit heavier than I had been, I put it down to natural spread. It was impossible to look like I did at 19, and anyway everyone gets a bit softer as they get older. So I had to wear dresses in a 20-22, it was down to my broad shoulders ... I'd always worn at least a 16 to accommodate my shoulders without feeling like I could mimic the Incredible Hulk with one wrong movement. I mean, wearing clothes in the 20-22 range didn't mean I was fat... then the Christmas party photos were uploaded to Facebook. Two separate photos, both group shots, and both sending my previous belief that I was just a little bit rounder with age plummeting to the obese reality.

So I've joined MiniMins (because it seems to be full of useful things and friendly people!), and set myself the very low goal of losing a kilo a month. I know that's hardly an impressive goal, but I wanted something low enough that I could concentrate on changing the bad habits I've fallen into without beating myself up over failing to meet a target. The first habit to break is seeing the calorie laden portions of a very active person as normal fare for a sofa bear! Obviously I want to up my activity levels as well, but I think I'll need to learn how to eat an appropriate amount for my current activity level firs. Besides, between 12 hour shifts and overtime that eats into my day off, portion sizes are easier to concentrate on. Baby steps!

I think that's enough rambling for now . Shall see some of you around the forums!

 

[Cobby88]

Baby steps are a good choice to start with. That's what I did and a year later I'm 4 St lighter. Good luck x

 

[slimmingsoph]

Well done on taking the first steps! Are you trying to lose with healthy eating or joining a class? I absolutely love skimming world. Never hungry, big portions and loads of different things you can eat. You can make pretty much most meals slimming world friendly with a few slight changes x