Weight gain | Fat Fighting Foodie

Weight loss: +0.5lb

Current weight: 12st 2.5lb

Weight loss since start: 4lb

Lbs to go to reach next target: 1lb

I must admit, when I stepped on the scales this week I was absolutely gutted. I’ve still stuck to the program, still not had any alcohol or chocolate and still kept up my new exercise routine. I honestly could have cried (although I’ve also had an extremely stressful time at work over the last few days so I am slightly emotional anyway).

However, I soon had a little chat with myself though and realised that only 2 weeks ago I was moaning that I’d ‘only’ lost 0.5lb. Therefore, it surely makes sense that I don’t give myself too hard a time about putting on this amount. It may well be due to some kind of natural fluctuation in my weight and I may well end up with a bigger loss next week.

Whatever the reason for it I’ve decided to view it as a positive and make sure that I’m concentrating on feeling ‘satisfied not stuffed’ this week and hopefully it will also motivate me not to go mad on alcohol and chocolate once I’m allowed them again on Saturday.

What’s gone well?

I said in last week’s post that there were a couple of moments when I’d felt like I couldn’t be bothered to go to my fitness classes. Well, I’m happy to report that this week it is beginning to feel like just part of my routine.

I’m also really pleased that I have managed another week without chocolate or alcohol. To be honest, I’m not even missing it. The only time when I did feel like a glass of wine was on Sunday when my dad came round for a meal for his birthday. I am looking forward to having a glass of wine or a cocktail next weekend, but I won’t be going crazy!

Me & Mr FFF went to the cinema on Saturday to watch The Wolfman of Wall Street (really good but really long film – 3hrs!). As I had plenty of weekly points available I did treat myself to 2 scoops of Ben and Jerry’s (1 FroYo & 1 ice-cream) and we shared some popcorn. However, the popcorn wasn’t that tasty so I didn’t eat much of it. I’ve never done this before – in the past I’d just munch my way through it anyway. But this time I thought ‘This really isn’t worth putting into my mouth’. So I didn’t. Simple.

What’s been difficult?

I’m starting to worry about whether I’ll be able to control my chocolate intake when I allow it back in to my diet next weekend. I’m not too bothered about the alcohol as I don’t drink much anyway. Chocolate however, is another story. I could quite happily scoff my way through a large bar of chocolate in about 20 minutes. I’ve also got a few chocolate gifts left over from Christmas in the back of one of my kitchen cupboards.

I’m planning on having a couple of drinks on Saturday evening but no chocolate. That way I’m not going to be treating myself to chocolate straight away on 1^st February. I might even lay off the chocolate for the rest of that week.

I’m also going to bag-up my Christmas chocolate into 3/4pp portions and keep them out of sight at the back of the cupboard.

The week ahead

I’m going out for dinner with my sister on Wednesday. I’ve had a look online at the menu for the restaurant we’re going to and there are at least 3 options I can have with a choice of veggies, salad and new potatoes.

I’m still going to have a nice relaxing bath tonight to unwind but I won’t use my Lush products as I didn’t lose this week. Instead, once I’ve stayed on track this week, I’m going to treat myself to a Lush bath on Saturday.

As I’ve already achieved my January target of losing 4lb, I’m going to set myself a mini-target of losing 1lb this week to help motivate me to stay on track. If When I achieve this goal I’m going to buy myself a bunch of flowers as a reward.

Thanks for reading.

PS What do you do to help you stay on track following a weight gain?

So I thought it might be an idea to share my where I’ve come from and where I’m hoping to get to.

As a teenager I was extremely slim. At one point I was probably actually underweight having developed some issues around food following the break-up of my parents’ marriage. At this time it felt like I didn’t have control over much that was happening in my life, but I had control over what I ate. A typical daily intake for me would be a small bowl of dry cereal, a dry bread roll or a bar of chocolate for lunch, followed by a small ready meal such as a frozen lasagne or packet of Super Noodles for dinner.

Paradoxically, I would also binge eat being easily capable of polishing off half a large pizza, a quarter of a cheesecake, 2 donuts and some chocolate on my weekly visits to my dad.

I continued this eating pattern until I was about 16 years old when I began to adopt a more healthy approach to my diet, eating, on the whole, 3 meals a day. I always made sure I chose low fat options, never chose creamy sauces or used butter and rarely ate chocolate or drank alcohol.

The weight started to creep on when I got together with my boyfriend. We would regularly go out drinking heavily at the weekend and get a pizza on the way home then have a McDonalds breakfast to help cure our hangovers the following morning.

When we moved in together, the scales crept up further. I cooked meals for us and dished up equal portions even though he had an active job and took part in martial arts while I worked in an office and did very little exercise. We also lived over the road from a convenience store and so it was all too easy to pop to the shop for a chocolate bar or a bottle of wine.

In 2004, I saw a picture of myself on holiday and I was stunned gobsmacked Although my clothes size had gradually increased from size 10/12 to size 18, I was shocked to at how big I looked. Coupled with this was the fact

that I was now struggling to do up my size 18 jeans. I vowed I wasn’t going to go up to the next size and decided to do something to tackle my weight.

The photo that made me realise I needed to do something about my weight.

I started off doing my own thing, doing a bit of exercise and going back to eating more healthily. I lost 6lbs but I was finding it difficult. Then one day I saw an advert for Weight Watchers on TV and thought it was worth a try. I phoned up to find my nearest meeting and found there was one nearby that night so I went and joined.

I was horrified when I stepped onto the scales and found I was heavier than my home scales told me. I’ll never forget seeing that figure – 13st 9lb. And I realised that, having already lost 6lbs, I would have been over 14st at my heaviest.

Initially I had great success and soon achieved my 10% target. Feeling confident that I had all the tools I needed, I stopped attending meetings and decided to go it alone. Before long I veered off track and put most of the weight back on. This led me into a cycle of re-joining, losing, stopping and gaining which lasted for a couple of years. I knew that when I stuck with the plan it worked but I just couldn’t find the motivation to keep going.

At about my slimmest since joining Weight Watchers

Two years after first joining, I’d been back at Weight Watchers for about 6 months. I’d lost some weight again and was feeling good. However, I was just about to give up work to go to Uni full time and I was facing having to stop my membership again as I wasn’t sure I’d be able to afford it. At this point my leader was looking for a clerk and so I on this role. I was able to attend meetings for free and being a clerk meant that I would attend every week, even if I’d had a ‘bad’ week.

I’ve attended consistently since that time and although my weight has fluctuated and I’ve still not yet got to my goal, I’ve never put all the weight back on.

In December of 2011, my boyfriend proposed. Of course I was excited to be marrying my soul mate but I was also excited that the wedding would give me the motivation I needed to finally get to goal. Or so I thought. In reality, between the proposal and the wedding I lost a grand total of 3 lbs!

So, that pretty much brings me up to date. We got married in August 2013 and although I had a great day and felt amazing, I am a little disappointed that I wasn’t at my goal weight for it. So I’ve decided to really go for it this year. No more messing about. No more excuses. I AM going to get to goal!

Thanks for reading.