Hello Dear Reader and may I say what an absolute delight it is for you to join me in my journey to the thin side.
I am unsure how I came to be 'this big' but somewhere along the line of years I have obviously put to much down my throat that a) wasn't good for me or b) couldn't be arsed to exercise the excess amount of cals away.
Actually its more like a combination of the two elements. So there we are. I am 'this big' but this time I intend to do something about it!
Without further ado let me catch you up:
In August of this year (2012) after another knock on deaths door back in March (luckily the grim reaper was on the phone so didn't notice me standing there) I had what I can only call an epitome. A wake up call that if I don't do something about my ever increasing weight then no one would.
I looked for possible agencies who could help me with this: Slimmers World (been there, done that), Weight Watchers and various agencies that deliver small boxes of food to people with large appetites and await the result.
Well I already know what my result of that would be: Eat all the boxes meant for the month in a week and then go shopping! So, with mouse in hand I travelled up and down, across and through the world wide net until I spotted something that just may work.
It was called Weight Loss Resources and it offered a free day trial to see how you get on with things.So on August 28th 2012 I religiously logged everything I ate and drank and the website kept track of it all for me.I liked it! I liked how I could see where I was or could be going wrong and by watching my calorific intake I just might be able to make a difference to 'this big'.
On August 29th 2012 with credit card in hand, I joined www.weightlossresources.co.uk. I uploaded a few pictures bravely I thought, showing me 'this big' and truthfully measured myself in places I had forgotten about like my waist. The results were then recorded along with my height and with a goal of 2 pounds a week loss, a calorie allowance was worked out for me to stick to. For my first week I was allowed 1306 cals per day. How I consumed these little beggars was completely and totally my choice.
My Journal Day One
Its day 1:
Loving this website, really good how it can keep my food diary so very accurate.
I intend to join for the year and see how the weight loss fares now I have decided to count calories.
My very first time for counting but my son recommended this way to me and it works really well for him.
Pretty sure I shall miss the occasional treat but as long as I record everything I stick down my throat, then I know I wont be cheating myself!
So, today I had breakfast lunch snacks and dinner with enough calories left to enjoy a hot chocolate before bed.
Note to self.......drink more water!
Lets just say at this point, I wasn't hungry nor did I feel like it was hard work :)
Do not be alarmed Dear Reader, these journal entries are merely by way of catching up to where I am now so do bear with.
My Journal Day 2
Yes....still up for it!
I know its a long haul and not a quick fix this time but I need to be able to be around for my daughters wedding and of course my 2 sons should they decide to 'tie the knot'...lol
Hardest part is breakfast: after 5 decades of NOT eating breakfast I am struggling with the concept of eating! I shall be creative and look for lots of different and varied things, things of course which are low on calories but hight in taste and see if that can encourage me to break my fast!
Today I enjoyed a lovely large dish of strawberries with some splender (YUK) and half fat creme fraiche, quite delightful!
Since March 2012 when I had my brush with death (pulmonary embolisms and many of them) I have tried to be good about what goes in my mouth but yes, I have zero will power and from then till now I have managed to gain another stone.
Funny thing was, when I was discharged from the hospital I had lost one, a whole stone, 14 lbs etc. so all things being equal I guess you can say I piled on 2 stones! Not good.
I notice my knees have decided not to be part of the game any more. Refusing to work most days and the pain is quite something to live with. You would really believe that I am used to pain but I can honestly say that my sciatica falls into quiet submission compared to the constant and unmitigated ache these two buggers dole out on a daily dose.
So, onwards and upwards they say...... I say OK but can we rest for a while...........Please??????
My first week continued to go very well and by the end of it the following Wednesday I stood in the bathroom eyeing up the scales. Now, scales can in my opinion be viewed in 2 distinct and quite opposite ways. They are either your friend and show you how MUCH you have lost during any set period or they can be your enemy by showing you how LITTLE you have lost in any set period of time. Especially if you have been extraordinarily good and kept your mouth away from treats and goodies in the shape of chocolate!
I do enjoy chocolate Dear Reader and I can not understand anyone who says 'Oh I cant stand the stuff'. To me they are either mentally unstable or dead! How anyone can not get pleasure by allowing the soft smooth delight of this utterly gorgeous confectionery to melt and run over your taste buds to produce the most narcotic of all feelings can only be dead or mad.
Anyway, around this first week we ( by we I mean all who live here with me) had to endure not one of our family felines being ran over but two. Trauma by the bucket load which made me wonder about the emotional side of over eating.
My Journal Day 3
Eating is the last thing on my mind when I am upset, distressed, unhappy or worried. Looking at my life from that perspective I have obviously had a stress free life with unlimited amounts of happiness and good fortune and ate my blissful way up to 'this big'!
I eat when I am content, it has to be said. There is nothing more I enjoy than a wonderful meal out with loved ones, family or good friends and I enjoy every mouthful surrounded by people I enjoy being with. Maybe therein lays my secret to success:
Find upteen ways to make myself miserable and the pounds will drop off!
But what about the pussies I hear you ask........and thankfully Dear Reader they both survived and are here with me now. Phew.
All too soon the weekend came around. A time of great eating and adding to 'this big' with gusto but I had to be careful and good.
My Journal Day 4
I did wonder how I would fare on my first day of my first weekend but I believe I have done rather well.
Popped to Sainsburys and bought a ready cooked chicken on which I nibbled way through lunch. Also re-discovered my complete adoration of Muller-light toffee fat free yoghurt! Bliss in a pot!
For dinner tonight, as my only daughter is home before leaving for Fleetwood and naval training college for 3 years, I bought almost a kilo of sirloin steak and a couple of packets of raw king prawn to make a spicy dish called funnily enough "Spicy Beef with Prawns and Bok Choy" Not being able to find bok anything I have settled for sweetheart cabbage!
So dinner tonight will be a lush 408 calories topped with a portion of salad potatoes for another 80 calories which leaves me plenty to enjoy a rather decadent dessert which was a slice of her chocolate birthday cake plus strawberries and creme fraiche.
What a splendid way to use up today's calories :)
My Journal Day 5
Day 5
Its Sunday! Traditionally Sunday Roast Day so unsure how I shall feel when I cant start preparing a lovely joint of beef with ALL the trimmings. I guess I could do a smaller version, weigh everything and count my calories but apple and blackberry crumble with lashings of custard will not taste the same if I have to limit myself.......lol
Poor me huh. I think what I shall need to do is a mid week roast and see how that pans out before having my family round for lunch.
Breakfast was an expensive do! Fruit muesli which I thought would be fairly OK turned out to be a whopping 365. I shall need to watch that or forfeit lunch! I have however stopped my semi skimmed milk for fully skimmed. Didn't taste as awful as I thought it might.
My Journal Day 6
One more day before weigh in.... not that I am anxious or anything you understand!
I always tend to lose a lot on the first week as I know everyone and his wife does too but for me, its an important week. It states that I am loosing weight ( fingers crossed) and that becomes the incentive I need to boost me through to the next week and so on and so forth.
I am enjoying the diet and strangely counting calories which I never thought I would! Its like becoming creative with the little beggars to see what I can spread out where and still find what I am eating enjoyable.
I have not gone over my daily allowance at all and I have not been adding calories for my exercises (LMAO) as I am still in the 'look at me.....am I not good?' stage!
Today I will attempt to pull something out of the bag with chicken without the help of a certain jar and lots of dancing in the kitchen!
My Journal Day 7
My first weigh in day and a 9 lbs loss.
Last night was really REALLY hard. I so wanted a big plate of chips and not just 'be good to me oven tasteless' chips but the chippie kind. You know the ones, sticking to the paper and loaded with salt and vinegar!
Yeah........well........... I didnt!
I resisted and the scales have rewarded me! Hallelujah!
From then to today here are my results.
Week 1 lost 7lbs
Week 2: lost 5lbs
Week 3: lost 1lb
Week 4: lost 4lbs
Week 5: lost 5lbs
Week 6: lost 2 lbs
Week 7: lost 4 lbs
I feel I have given you taste of my first week on WLR as a catch up to where I find myself now and throughout the following weeks I have steadfastly remained good and virtuous up to this weekend so its here I shall start again and bring you up to date with the next chapter: "What a difference 2 days can make."
