It's all a little too easy...

It's been two weeks since I reached my first goal. In that time I've reached another goal - I lost 2 stone in 9 weeks. To think that this was beyond the goal I set myself at the start of the journey is mind blowing to me. 

I've set two more dresses out which I would like to get in. One is a 'small' size 20. Those of you above a size 14 will know that shop and cut can make you need anything between 3 sizes. This is one of those dresses that I really should have bought a size up at the time. I love it though so can't wait to fit in it properly. The other, a black dress,  is a 16 that I bought in a sale when I was on another 'yo' (diet). I've never fit in it, so that will be a special day. It's some way away yet!!

I'm almost in the larger of the two dresses...I look forward to showing you!

I've attended a number of social events including drinks with my aunt who was in town and an afternoon with my bestie in the pub. We booked a holiday! Another motivator...I have 7 months until I'm in a swimsuit (or even bikini?!). 

People are noticing the changes and mentioning it which is nice. 

However, December is just around the corner and, of course, so is party season. I've got events a minimum of twice a week to Xmas. Then of course there is Xmas itself!

One step at a time though. I need to stay in the moment and look at the successes. 1lb and then I'm 1/4 of my way there!!

Lbs lost: 29

Lbs to lose: 91

I reach my first goal in 8 weeks!

So, anyone who has been a dieter at some point in their life knows that seeing a different number at the beginning of their weight is a huge milestone. So, I set my first goal, 1 stone and 9 lbs. Not only does this mean the number at the beginning has gone down by 2, but it was also my ‘I never get fatter than’  weight before I had my back problems.

 

Unsurprisingly I suspect, I still find it hard to say what I actually weigh or weighed. Its probably easy to guess, but I'll continue to talk around it I'm afraid.

I think most people (other than those who eat to a massive excess) seem to top out at a weight for them. Thinking about it, it’s likely to do with metabolic base rate. How much you eat, your age, height and weight and your level of exercise. I suppose this is the case for those that eat to excess too, but that they just haven’t reached the weight yet that they would max out at, eating what they do.

I was so excited when I reached my first goal, but also a little disappointed. I was really proud of myself, but then didn’t know what to set as my next goal. This is where the support of Jane Plan put me on the right track again! They reminded me that every 7lbs should be a great achievement, in fact each lb. So following my support call that week I set around 20 seperate goals. I wrote a list of all the future milestones – dress sizes, weights, a new number at the start of the weight and what I’m going to treat myself with for each.

For my first goal I treated myself to a hot stone massage. I wanted to congratulate my body. It was AMAZING!!! (the massage, not my body!) I hadn’t had anything like this in 7 years. I hadn’t felt that I was worth it. Now I had, I wanted more.

Lbs lost: 24

Lbs to go: 96

 

I start to see a difference

Following the success of my birthday week I felt like I really could do this. This is when I started to believe that I could reach a healthy weight. I set my goal of losing 120lb. At first I didn’t want to tell anyone because, again, I didn’t believe I could do it, but as the lbs started to drop off and the diet wasn’t too tough, I figured why not! I didn’t set a deadline and I don’t expect to continue to lose 2lb a week, but I’m going to keep chipping at it until I’m there!

I started to notice a difference in my clothes. I set out an outfit for an important meeting the night before...when I came to put it on I couldn't wear it... It was TOO BIG!!! This was not the trend I'm used to. I have accumulated clothes in around 5 different sizes over the years. In the last year alone I've put on 3. As the outfit I had laid out was too big I tried on a dress I loved but hadn’t been able to wear for a while... it fit!

 

I wasn’t really sure how this was happening (of course I knew I was on a diet)…I wasn’t hungry, it wasn’t affecting my life in any significant way and the food was great! How was I losing this weight? If it is this easy, why has it taken me this long to find it!

 

Lbs lost:22

Lbs to lose:98 (only double digits!!)

Why I chose the Jane Plan

For at least 21 years of my 31 on the planet I have been obese. For the vast majority of those I have been in the morbidly obese category. I've yo-yo dieted; at the end of each diet I gained more weight than I lost. I sometimes wondered what size I would be if I'd never bothered trying to diet in the first place!

Recently I've had back problems and I've been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Until then I'd been waiting for a magic cure to the pain and put my life on hold waiting for this. Finding out that there was no cure was tough. I felt hopeless, but I had a power to take control of one aspect...my weight. 

I needed to find a way to lose some weight that I could stick to. I didn't have much faith in myself if I'm honest. That's why I considered a delivered diet would be the easiest option. They send me the food and I eat it...I knew I like convenience, that's half the reason I'm in this situation. After some research I chose the Jane Plan. 

I took the plunge and I signed up!

lb to go: 120!

Starting my journey with Jane Plan

The start of my journey...baby steps!

I chose a start date but I didn't stick to it because I had a social commitment. The plan recommends that you have a drink free/no eating out first week.  My second start date came and I began. 

As every dieter knows, the beginning is easy...its exciting...you still have motivation. But I was hungry. Really hungry. I was getting worried that I'd wasted The cost of a 4 month subscription on a plan I'm not going to be able to stick to! 

Support helped me through

I had my first call a few days in - I was told at this point I could eat as many crudités as I liked - this really helped. The hunger slowly subsided and I realised I wasn't quite hitting the celery as often. 

Following a sober (and boring) first week I began to resume my social life. My first commitment was dinner with friends I hadn't seen in a while. I looked at the menu in advance and panicked... I couldn't see anything on the menu I could eat. What should I do? Cancel? Have a side salad? There isn't one! Only buttery vegetables! I thought I could test the support via email (one of my reasons for choosing the Jane Plan) - I sent the menu to Jane Plan and very quickly (within an hour) I received a response! My nutritionist suggested either steak with plain veg or another option on the menu with some suggested tweaks. I chose the steak; I knew I wouldnt feel like I was missing out with a nice juicy steak to eat! 

Of course, despite ordering with all the amends, the veg came with butter on. I sent them back! Not only had I found motivation, but confidence and determination to follow this through. I have to say it did take that determination to watch my friends eating truffle fries!!

A number of social events came and went and I managed to make amends to the dishes to stay within my calories. A salad with no sauce and no croutons or another steak. A gin and slim rather than my usual glass of red. 

I used my fitness pal to track my calories (and still do 9 weeks in). I checked with my nutritionist and she said this was ok. As I began to lose weight though, the calories started to reduce!

My first slip up

I went for 'just one drink' at a reception at work. It started out well. I refused canapé after canapé, but unfortunately I didn't refuse the wine! As I got more drunk my new-found resolve weakened and I started to say yes to the canapés! Then the macaroons came out. Again, I started off well refusing them but after a while I broke down. Despite the weakness I recorded my consumption in my fitness pal..

The next morning, very hungover, my nutritionist called!! My weekly catch up. My nutritionist was amazing! Tantamount to a counsellor. She emphasised the positives - in the past I would have said yes to every canapé and every macaroon and probably taken some home! This was a key moment in my journey - I learned some new rules -

• Don't beat yourself up;
• Alter your behaviour as best you can;
• Be better, it doesn't have to be perfect; and
• Make up for it afterwards.

lbs lost: 9
lbs to go: 111