Weight Stories

In February 2012, I was a 30 year old woman who weighed 43st 5.5lbs and was desperate to lose weight. Desperate enough to be considering life threatening weight loss surgery as I did not think that I had any other option. My self-esteem was rock bottom and I was dying. That might sound dramatic, but it is true. My body was under considerable strain, I had been diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder by clinical psychologists, and I was suffering from depression and felt truly awful. I would not leave the house, other than to see my horses or to visit my family, and I had not been into the local supermarket for over four years (I have recently braved a visit!) as I kept getting verbally abused, laughed at, and stared at. So life was pretty awful – I was barely existing and I would be incredibly lucky to reach my 35th birthday. My niece was three and my nephew was one, and I desperately wanted to be a fun Aunty for them…rather than this huge heaving mess of a person.

I have always been overweight and can never remember being slim, or a similar size to my friends. When I joined my first weight loss group I was fifteen and weighed over 18st…so I have been fighting my weight issues and demons for a long time. I used food as a comfort, but in the end I was abusing myself with food…it was killing me. There were no real reasons for my eating habits. Yes, my family loved food and we always had huge family celebrations with food, or if we were feeling poorly we would eat to get better. So my habits began at an early age…I can remember stuffing myself with a box of Cadburys Roses that I was supposed to be giving to my friend as a birthday present…I was still at primary school and so would have been about nine years old I think. I hid the empty box in my wardrobe. I cannot blame any one reason on my eating – I was not a victim of abuse, my parents weren’t violent – I guess I just picked up little habits along the way that snow-balled!

Slimming World is the healthy eating plan which I am following. I understand that not all plans work for all people, but this one works for me! I had tried this plan before; I joined and re-joined, and re-joined again, and again, and again! I also never managed to crack my weight loss time and time again, but yet never blamed the plan for me not losing weight. Quite simply, the plan was excellent but I was a nightmare and would never follow it properly! So I knew it worked and that’s why I re-joined again last year. I returned to Slimming World as it is a healthy, balanced plan that does not eliminate food groups and allows a huge degree of flexibility. I enjoy support that Slimming World provides and the success stories are amazing…but you do have to put the effort in…They don’t hand you a magic motivation pill when you sign up…but their Image Therapy does a great job from a motivational perspective for me!

Given what I have mentioned, and the situation I was in, I think you can see that I had plenty of motivation to stick to the plan. It was hard initially and for the first six months my weight was up and down as I really struggled with my old habits. I remember losing 19lbs one week, yet putting on 13lbs in another week. The first six months were hard, but my consultant stuck with me and I managed to lose 2st during that period. I was then diagnosed with diabetes and that gave me a real kick to start taking things seriously. I don’t know why, as I had plenty of other health reasons – such a cancerous cells in my womb – that should have spurred me on – but the diabetes diagnosis and a chat with the psychologist saw a ‘light bulb’ moment happening. The changes to my health and my mood keep me going. The joy on the faces of my niece and nephew when I take them to the park keeps me going. And the fact that I can now spend more quality time with my horses spurs me on. Progress is good; as I write this it is the beginning of June 2013 and I have lost 13st 0.5lbs so far.

Exercise is an important part of my journey. I invested in a treadmill - a very heavy duty one! - and use this as and when I can. I also started doing seated arm exercises - using small weights. There is always something that you can do! I have now managed to build up to 15 minutes of BodyPump (weights to music) and up to an hour on the treadmill each day...no easy task for a 30st+ person. However I do what I can, and aim to exercise multiple times during the day - so sometimes I do 6 x 10 minute sessions on the treadmill...which is great to keep my circulation going throughout the day. I used to be a gym-goer when I was 25st and will definitely be joining one again soon. Do not let gym-bunny types and hulking great muscle men put you off...most people are there in jogging bottoms and a big t-shirt and are too focused on their own workout to bother about you! I used to love the gym and I still get a real buzz from working out. The mental and physical benefits are too numerous to mention here!

I began blogging as a way to document my journey and have found it very therapeutic! I have suffered a good deal of abuse from people regarding my weight and so was losing my faith a little…but the people I interact with on Twitter and Facebook and via my blog are wonderful and have helped to restore that faith. You can follow my journey on my website, on my blog spot at talkhealth and on Twitter @weightlossbitch and also on Facebook by searching ‘weight loss bitch’ once you have logged in!

Read WeightLossBitch's blog on talkhealth here