I'm 45 and have been trying to lose weight for 30 years. I've had brief periods of being relatively slim but most of the time I've been a lot bigger than I would like to be. At the moment I'm 14 st 13 (got weighed on my next-door-neighbour's scales yesterday cos I don't own any!) and I'm 5ft 6 so around 5 stone overweight. I'd settle for 4.5 stone weight loss though! I have been around 10st 3 in living memory (aged 28 as I recall) so I don't think that's unrealistic.
I have a goal in mind - next Easter, I'm determined somehow to afford a family holiday abroad before the children are too old to want to go with us any more (they're girls, aged 11 and 14). For the last few years we've been really struggling financially but my husband has a good job prospect now so it might be possible to save up. That gives me about 10 months to lose the weight.
The last thing I want is to scrimp and save for a fabulous holiday, only to have it ruined by being fat! That would be unthinkable. I want to wear swimsuits (one-piece will be fine, I draw the line at a bikini!) and gorgeous little strappy dresses instead of covering up in huge tent dresses.
So, here I go! I'll need to lose half a stone a month or thereabouts to achieve my goal. I don't believe in "diets" for permanent weight loss (I've been on them all) so I'm reducing portion sizes, eating loads of veg and salad, lean protein and small amounts of wholegrain carbs, combined with lots of exercise. Oh, and knocking my 3 or 4 glasses-of-wine-a-night habit on the head...
I have a goal in mind - next Easter, I'm determined somehow to afford a family holiday abroad before the children are too old to want to go with us any more (they're girls, aged 11 and 14). For the last few years we've been really struggling financially but my husband has a good job prospect now so it might be possible to save up. That gives me about 10 months to lose the weight.
The last thing I want is to scrimp and save for a fabulous holiday, only to have it ruined by being fat! That would be unthinkable. I want to wear swimsuits (one-piece will be fine, I draw the line at a bikini!) and gorgeous little strappy dresses instead of covering up in huge tent dresses.
So, here I go! I'll need to lose half a stone a month or thereabouts to achieve my goal. I don't believe in "diets" for permanent weight loss (I've been on them all) so I'm reducing portion sizes, eating loads of veg and salad, lean protein and small amounts of wholegrain carbs, combined with lots of exercise. Oh, and knocking my 3 or 4 glasses-of-wine-a-night habit on the head...