FIT AFORE FORTY !
Hello all
New to this and just working out how the website works, so I’m posting this on the introduce yourself thread as well as a blog.
I have LOADS of weight to lose. I’m determined to do it this time, hence the introduction being in the WeMITTs thread. I came across this site by putting an “I need to lose 10 stone” search string into google. Borne out of pure desperation, I thought I would see if I could find a site that would help me to shed this amount via a healthy eating and fitness plan. I joined up, thought about how I would do this and have decided to follow this route. I intend to embark on a fitness plan and eat more healthily in order to get to my goal which is a very, very simple one. I want to be able to buy a pair of designer jeans. A pair of Evisu, or G-star raw or Versace, or something similar. Please do not, however, confuse me with a clothes horse. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am most definitely a jeans and trainers type of girl; you will definitely not find me in any party dresses or indeed ANY dresses at all if I can avoid it! lol J
Ok, so who am I? Well, I’m Elaine, I’m from Glasgow and I’m 37. I’m probably around 23 stone-ish and 5 foot 4. I’m not even remotely interested in what my weight is and I won’t be following any specific dietary plans. What?? I hear you say?? Why is she on here then? Well, I’d be delighted if you were to read on and allow me to explain.
I have tried EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. Weight watchers, Scottish Slimmers, Slimfast, lighter life, the one where you only eat proteins that I can’t mind the name of, the cabbage diet, some egg diet monstrosity that’s put me off eggs for life; similarly one where tuna seemed to be constantly on the menu. I haven’t eaten tuna since then, for that very reason. Anyway I’m sure you get the picture. I have lost weight and put it on, lost weight and put it on and lost weight and put it on again. In an attempt to MAKE myself do it again I have decided to publicise my efforts in the hope that some kind folks on here might take an interest and give me a virtual kick up the backside when I feel like slacking or it’s all getting on top of me.
I have a fairly hectic social life, and am away a lot of weekends through it, which is where the plan immediately begins to fall down. Mmmmm beeeeeeer!! However, I am intending to choose to curtail these weekends for the time being and instead work in the garden or out somewhere with the kids instead; being a nice Auntie and take them places. I am not saying I will omit them completely from my life as I believe that is where my approach to diets in the past has failed. I have associated being overweight and dieting with negative phrasing like “I can’t have that” “I’m not allowed that” “I really shouldn’t, that’s bad.” I’ve now got to the stage where I’ve said “well actually – who says I can’t have that? Who says I’m not allowed this? I’m a big girl (no pun intended) I can decide for myself what I can and can’t eat, not some book from a company who want to make money from me?”
So, this time last year I embarked on my big adventure, roped in my mate who is a fit freak to come with me to the gym nearest me for a week or so instead of her own gym, so that I wasn’t walking in myself and I joined the gym. Biiiiiiig step for me, overcome with the help of a mate. Next step was, I watched what I was eating – I chose to eat what I wanted when I wanted and hey presto I discovered that once I was in control of what I was eating I actually no longer wanted to eat chocolate, purely because I knew I could have chocolate any time I wanted. I however CHOSE not to. I discovered there was a class called body pump in the gym, where you did exercises with weights that Geoff Capes and Dawn French could do in the same class (ie any level of fitness) So with aforementioned mate in tow once again, I went to my first body pump class. I LOVED it, she hated it. So she went back to her own gym and I went to body pump classes once a week to start with, on my own. Another big step overcome; going to a class on my own. I got a wee bit more self confidence about me through that and I upped it to twice a week and occasionally Friday lunchtime as I worked across the road from the gym. As my confidence and fitness were building I went the next step and paid for a fitness assessment at the gym and started on a fitness plan, which basically involved me walking at a certain speed for 20 minutes, cycling above a certain rpm for 20 minutes and some weights work for toning purposes. Everything was going swimmingly and I had lost almost 3 stone. I should say at this point I still had no idea what weight I was as the fitness instructor did that. He asked if I wanted to know what weight I was and each time I said no, but he could feel free to boost my ego by telling me how much I had lost which he did and by the last time I saw him I had almost reached that 3 stone mark.
All this was fantastic until, suddenly, our family was struck by an illness to one of the cornerstones of it. An illness which was devastatingly quick in the grand scheme of things but, still, one that brought my life as I knew it to an abrupt and shuddering halt. It meant that as well as trying to hold down a full time job I had to deal with this mentally myself, help others around me with the grief process, take on caring responsibilities the like of which I have never had to do before and hope never to have to do again. From October to December I walked about in a daze half the time, my only interruption to this daze like status (sometimes) being my work, which I never missed a day of through it all. That however would not have happened without the help and support of my colleagues in allowing me to leave early and . At the turn of the year the expected bereavement occurred and I felt that I would have a chance to get my life back on track. This did not happen as quickly as I thought it might however, as I really struggled with motivation, and really I suspect still with the bereavement and its subsequent fallout on my family.
Anyway, missing out all the negative stuff between then and now… it has taken till now for me to be in the position of telling myself. Right camp – arse in gear – get to the gym and get back into this again. So I have decided to go back to what I was doing last year, positive mental attitude, I CAN do this, I have proved it and I WILL. There is a 5k in Edinburgh on Oct 3rd which I intend to try and hirple my way around in some shape or form. Whether that will be by walking, running (lol) jogging, crawling or more likely a combination of all of these, I AM intending to do it. I have a gym near my work that opens at 7am every morning. I have no excuse other than laziness for not being in there pounding away the pounds before work.
I’ll use the blog to keep updated with daily/weekly/periodic chat and anyone can feel free to comment. Even if no one comments, I will have a written record of what I have achieved at the end of it. For those who are wondering how I will judge the success or otherwise of this, I will be purely using my clothes and my eyes at the minute, along with feedback from family and friends. My clothes, as in being able to fit into smaller sizes; my eyes as in how I look to ME (who is the only person that really matters after all) and feedback from family and friends as in the hope that the comments I heard last year like “you’re looking well” or “are you back at the gym” or “you’re looking great, have you lost weight”? will return.
I have started already this week by being in the gym yesterday morning for 7am, and this weekend I am building a deck in my garden and bowling. I’m sure the bowling will involve alcohol but I will watch what I am doing and be in the gym on Monday morning again.
Apologies that this was so long, but my god, I’d recommend that everybody does one, it doesn’t half make you feel good!! J
Thanks for reading it, if you’ve stuck with me the whole way through J
