talkhealth Blog

Another good day in the world of Weight Loss Bitch! This was today’s weigh in result…

Not far from being halfway there…and 1.5lbs away from dropping into the 27 stone-something bracket. I am aiming for at least 2.5lbs off next week though, as that is my last weigh in before Jessie Pavelka pays me a visit and I set myself a little goal of reaching that number when I organised the event. The only thing that might hinder this, as silly as it sounds, is my exercise starting again tomorrow…it varies, but there are times that my weight losses slow when I exercise. I would have said ‘initially’ but my losses have been quite good since not exercising! Not exercising is not an option as far as I am concerned though – it helps me feel good and I am hoping it will help me look less like a deflated hot air balloon and more like an overused carrier bag in terms of my loose skin!

Group – I want to talk about group. We are a mixed bunch – some very old…one in fact in her mid-80s who today stormed off in a huff saying that she wasn’t coming back as the diet didn’t work! I must point out though that she doesn’t follow the plan and is always saying that she has no idea what to eat, despite my lovely consultant sitting with her and writing a meal plan, and me giving her lots of ideas along with other group members doing the same…and I hate to say it, but read the bloody book…it is all in there! We then have some young slimmers who are just fab. I like this mix of characters as you constantly get given new perspectives.

Pizza Lady didn’t let me down today. She wondered if potatoes were classed as a vegetable and therefore superfree, and wanted to know what mushrooms, tomatoes and onions were classed as. At this point in time I thought my consultant would tear her hair out, but she explained that they were superfree – but starchy veggies such as potatoes, peas, sweetcorn and parsnips weren’t – and that there was a big alphabetical list in the book. Then she wanted to know how many syns were in cappuccino’s from Starbucks as she drinks loads of them each week – the big ones…but has no idea of syns! I wonder what she eats at times and whether the fact that she attends group each week registers when she is planning her food.

We then discussed people who had come to group and maintained for a while – so putting weight on at Christmas, losing that weight in time for Easter only to put on at Easter, and losing this by the summer holidays only to put on during the holidays…it continues like a vicious circle. Pizza Lady laughed, and mentioned that they obviously don’t follow the plan or read the book! I daren’t look at my consultant. Pizza Lady’s innocuous comments led to a bit of a heated discussion between a few members…

One lady explained that, for her, just being at group is preventing her from putting weight on, so if nothing else it prevents her getting bigger which she is grateful for. The chap who has just hit target had a mini rant asking where people’s commitment and dedication was. In his opinion, it comes down to whether or not you really want to lose weight…if you do, you will do it – if you don’t you won’t. He has a point, but if only it was that simple!

I explained about a chap that I became aware of last night who has, in thirteen months, lost 14st. He did this from an immediate and complete change in diet from junk to clean eating overnight. His view is that it is too difficult to have a little of what he likes and stop…so he wiped out everything ‘unclean’ and processed from his diet overnight. This obviously takes some willpower, but I can understand his view about not being able to have a little of what he likes…I can’t do a day off plan for the same reason.

The chap in group was interested in hearing about this story, but I then said that, despite losing over 15st, that wouldn’t have been easy for me to do and not easy for most people. Our consultant discussed that – for the most part – the men she deals with tend not to eat emotionally and have a very rigid focus, to which the chap in class nodded his head. This isn’t always the case of course; I know plenty of men who eat emotionally and women who don’t. But I guess if you throw in hormones for the ladies too, I would concur that if you had to generalise, this is fair way of looking at it.

Mr Rigid then commented that he eats really well and finds it so easy…to which I asked, “If you had to cook your own meals and do the shopping – and your wife didn’t do it all for you – would you find it as easy?”…he backed down at that point in time!

I hadn’t asked him that to prove a point though; I was genuinely curious as I have often said that if I had a Slimming World chef cooking for me, it would make life a whole lot easier…and he has one – his wife! The sad fact is that life gets in the way of weight loss at times. As I mentioned last night, you just have to be the best you can be in that moment.

After group I headed to see my niece and nephew as they like digging through the Slimmer of the Week goodies and picking some fruit out! It was whilst I was there that I had a bit of a lightbulb moment…

They had been baking – my niece had produced some butterfly cakes with sparkly bits sprinkled on them, and my nephew had make some Thomas the Tank Engine ones. My niece proudly carried the tray of cakes in from the kitchen to show me, and rested it on my knees (she said that there was more space on my knees now that I was not so fat!) and she wanted me to have one as, “one won’t hurt, and they aren’t that big”…she is learning saboteur tricks early! I then said, “No thank you sweetheart, I don’t eat cakes.”

Now where on earthy that came from, I will never know. Who am I kidding? I love cake – I used to polish off a carrot cake meant for a party of six in one sitting! “I don’t eat cakes”…it dawned on me though that I don’t. Anymore! I haven’t eaten cake for a long, long time. It felt good to say it. I didn’t feel deprived as I hadn’t said, “I can’t have one.”

How empowering is it to say, “I don’t”, rather than, “I can’t”? I can’t seems to be very negative…I can’t…it seems as if you are depriving yourself. Yet to say I don’t somehow doesn’t. I wouldn’t take a cigarette from someone as I don’t smoke. And they tend not to get offered to me as people know that I don’t smoke. I wonder, if I tell people that I don’t eat cake…will they stop offering it to me, trying to tempt me into having just a little as it won’t hurt?

Try it – and let me know if it works and if you feel any differently by approaching offers like this in another way!

The usuals have been really usual today…other than group and the visit to see the children, all I did was feed the horses and pop to Asda. I have been working long hours on my other half’s project and am pretty tired already…and it’s only Tuesday! I think my garden prowler might have something to do with the tiredness too. I could hear all sorts of strange noises in the garden last night – of course my other half was snoring through it all. It sounded like a large animal running rampage out there! My garden is really overgrown, so goodness knows what it could have been…I just know that it wasn’t human as no human could get in there without getting brambled to death! So this morning was a slow starter as I was bleary eyed but soldiered on – yes, get the violins out! This afternoon meant more project work and this evening will hopefully bring some more Jack Bauer…I will need a support group once I finish watching them all, or just something else to do with my time.

Breakfast: Banana.

Lunch: Homemade hummus (2 syns) with Quorn deli chicken, salad and warm pittas (2 x HEB).

Dinner: Marmite roasties, runner beans and broccoli and cauliflower cheese (2 x HEA).

Snacks: French Fries (24 syns).

A lovely food day today. Just the banana before weigh in, followed by a really filling lunch with too much garlic in the hummus – it still tasted good though! Dinner was immense. I had seen someone mention Marmite potatoes and had to get in on the act! Apparently, you just chop and boil the potatoes for a few minutes, warm a roasting tray and drizzle on a little Marmite – this sounds so easy but I made it easier by just chopping my potatoes (skin on) and throwing them in the Tefal Actifry with a spritz of FryLight and drizzling it on…OMG (and I am not usually an ‘OMG’ person) but these are worthy of an acronym! They were immense, especially when partnered with veggies and cheese sauce…food heaven.

Exercise: None!

Thank you for reading my ramblings…

Weight Loss Bitch xxx

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WeightLossBitch

On a health and fitness driven journey to lose over 32st / 448lbs / 203kgs – yes, it is a considerable amount – I am committed to losing my excess weight without the aid of weight loss surgery, diet pills, or quick fixes…as there aren’t any! Changing my eating habits and building up my fitness levels, along with addressing the ‘head issues’ will be crucial in order for me to achieve my goal. Living in England as a 31 year old super morbidly obese woman can be challenging to say the least. I have been shouted at in the street and verbally abused far too many times to mention; hence the name ‘Weight Loss Bitch’…the day I am just called a ‘bitch’ instead of a ‘fat bitch’ will be the day that I know I have cracked my weight loss! With many reasons to lose this weight I am documenting my journey for a number of reasons. Firstly, I would like to keep a record of the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and the challenges I face with such an enormous task to tackle. Secondly, I would also like to inspire and encourage other people who are in a similar situation and to show them that significant amounts of weight can be lost naturally…with a bit of motivation, hard work, dedication and will power. Thirdly, all of the blogging, Facebook-ing, Tweet-ing, Pinterest-ing and YouTube-ing keeps me occupied and keeps my fingers out of the fridge!