When I was contemplating how on earth I could lose weight - fast - I never really believed I would manage it. I started at the end of February 2007 (crikey, almost two years ago) and weighed in at 14'8 BUT this was after some post-Christmas weight-loss activities (being ill) and having shifted some serious weight (or so I thought) from a pound or two under 17 stone, 18 months earlier.
As Porkchop keeps reminding me, if she had told me I could lose almost five stone within a year, I would NOT have believed her. Fact.
Anyway, after doing some serious decluttering on my hard drive, I now have all my photos from when I was doing a VLCD. I'll try to find a photo of when I started but just for some sense of scale, I've included a pair of photos where the top remained the same.
It's when you can see photos together that you can really see a difference.
12 stone 3 lbs - 30 April 2007
I won't get back to under 10 stone this year because that weight is not sustainable in the longer term BUT I realise photos are going to play a huge part in me getting back down to a lower weight.
9 stone 13 lbs - 09 September 2007
The mind can play all sorts of tricks and this was particularly true for me - having lost all the weight but never really believed I had.
This shot shows me in July 2007 at 10 stone 3 lbs (BMI 23.4)
And then, several months later in December at somewhere between 10 stone 2 lbs and 10 stone 5 lbs but, guess what? I felt so much bigger. If I'd only looked back at the photos in July, I could have proved to myself that I was NOT bigger but, in fact, the very same weight.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing! 'If only' is a dangerous thing. But one thing's for sure - unless we can learn, we can't stop making the same mistakes.
I guess I am proof that losing weight too quickly is not sustainable. I didn't get to stay the weight I wanted to be. That's not LighterLife's fault (the VLCD I followed). That's not any diet's fault. When I lost this weight, I made it the most important thing in my life.
When I stopped making it the priority, I started to put on weight. I also told myself, constantly, that I would 'get back on track' but, somehow, never did. I can point at some very good reasons why but, at the end of the day, they're excuses. That's not me being hard on myself; that's just a fact.
Of course, I'd rather do anything than go on a 'diet' again; I vowed that it would be my last - back in 2007. And here I am again. But I'm older (sadly!) and maybe a teeny, tiny bit wiser. Not much. But enough to know that I can do this.
Other people have vocalised the fear of going public with their diet plans (and wondering if they are setting themselves up to fail). As my LighterLife Counsellor often says, there are just learnings. Opportunities for learning.
I don't underestimate the challenges ahead - the tears and tantrums (!) but this time I know where I want to get to. THAT, in itself, is progress.
Okay I am going to say it - you do look especially AMAZING in that slimmer photo in the breton top and cropped jeans, very gamine.
love
Peridot x
Posted by: Peridot | January 08, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Hi, I can totally understand where you are coming from, I lost 6 stone on Lighter Life, I loved it, it is thee most amazing diet ever! Unfortunatly though I have put all of my weight back on, for exactly the same reasons as you! I am however on day 1 today, yesterday I thought to myself, just how far am I going to let this go before I do something, how big will I let myself get! So thats it, day 1 today!
Posted by: Lisa | February 23, 2010 at 09:00 PM
All really good advice for any want who wants to lose weight. As you rightly say I think people get bored with when they put too many restraints on themselves for their food intake, be realistic with what you can achieve.
Posted by: UK Health | May 13, 2010 at 10:03 AM