Hi all, I'm new here, although by no means new to dieting! In fact, I lost 3st a few years ago on SW, but, due to illness, laziness (when it comes to exercise anyway!!!) and some personal stuff, I've put it all back on and more.
I'm unable to join a SW club this time round, so I'm hoping that writing this will keep me on the straight and narrow and that maybe some of you will read this and recognise a kindred spirit - your thoughts and comments will be very welcome. Also, I need a place to vent!
Some of you reading this might not like the 'poking fun at yourself' approach - but it works for me. Yes, I've listened to Paul McKenna, Susan Hepburn et al, and I know that you have to love yourself first, and I do, I just don't show it very often (a bit like my ex-husband!!!)
OK, here goes...
So, what's led to this new wave of willpower and optimism? I could tell you that there's an awful lot of change going on in my life at the moment (divorce, redundancy, hitting 40...) and I feel the need to regain control in at least one area of my life. That's all true, but, to be frank, the crunch moment came just over a week ago, when I saw a photo of myself in a wetsuit whilst scuba diving on holiday. I'm amazed no one called Greenpeace to report a beached whale...! Anyway, after a few months of faffing around pretending to diet, I decided enough is enough and I'm now back on the wagon, bigtime!
To boost willpower on those dark days ahead, here's a list of the things I hate about being fat:
- Clothes shopping - for any number of reasons. Why is it that changing room mirrors make you look sooooo huge? Also, the fact that you can never go clothes shopping with your skinny friends - why on earth would they want to hang around in Evans all afternoon?!
- The exercise Catch-22. Yes, I need to exercise to lose weight, but until I lose weight, there's no way I'm getting into a swimsuit, or joining a gym. Thank God for the Wii!
- That roll of fat you get over the top of your bra-strap just under your armpits - enough said.
- Chafing thighs in summer - also, enough said.
- Walking into a room and immediately looking to see if you're the largest person in there - and the feeling you get when you realise that yes, you are...
- The fact that my weight is now stopping me from doing things I'd otherwise do - and lots of things I wouldn't (like skydiving, but hey, it's the principle of the thing!)
- Sports day at school - last year the mum's race was 'jumping down the track with a bean bag between your knees' - seriously?!! I think I caused a minor earthquake...!
- Plane journeys, train journeys, or going to the theatre, cinema or footy and having to press thighs with a stranger because the seats are closely-packed and it's too uncomfortable to cross your legs in a confined space.
- Big boobs. I've always had them. They were about a 36FF when I was at my slimmest adult weight (about 11.5 stone), but now they're a whopping 40HH. I wonder how much each one weighs?! And yes, this point is directly related to the sports day point above...!
- The fact that intelligent, sane, rational people (myself included!) will spend an absolute fortune on the latest wonder cure for obesity. Oh yes, I've been there - diet pills, herbal supplements, special teas, patches - you name it, I've spent money on it! Not this time!
- Shying away from the camera. I've got loads of pictures of all the great holidays I've been on in the last 15 years, but I'm not in any of them (recent wetsuit debacle aside!). The last time I willingly posed for the camera was at my graduation in 1989!
I'm sure I'll add to this list as I go on, but that's probably enough to be getting on with for now!
So, this week was my first back on the wagon and it went pretty well. I had that 'new diet zeal' and avoided chocolate, cake, crisps and icecream, apart from one night at the cinema. Went to see Sex and the City 2 straight from work with the girlies. It's really long (and, IMO not very good!) and by 8pm we were starving. The cinema delivers cakes and icecream to your seat...how could anyone resist?!
Weigh-in this morning and I've lost 8lb! Think this is partly due to the fact that last week I weighed in the morning after flying back from holiday - so I was still probably bloated from the flight, but hey - well done me!
Goal for this week - do some exercise! Have bought 'Just Dance' for the Wii in the hopes that it will feel more like fun than exercise and that I can get my son to play along...
So, if you've read this far, thanks and I hope it wasn't too painful! See you next time,
Spanx
Mmmm Crunchy Bran is the best - i do have to agree to that! Good luck for WI on sundays Xx
