Michelle's Calorie Counting Success Story
With the big 4-0 only three years away Michelle decided to make
lifestyle changes to be slimmer resulting in a loss of nearly 2
stone.
Age: 37
Height: 5' 4"
Start Weight: 11st 7lb
Current Weight: 9st 12lb
Goal Weight: 9st 8lb
Weight Lost: 1st 9lb
Working to Rate of Loss: 2lb, sometimes 1lb a week where I know I
will have a dieting challenge ahead of me!
Dieting History
Weight Watchers and Rosemary Conley. I had very little to
lose with Weight Watchers (less than a stone) but I just
couldn’t do it on my own. Didn’t manage it with them either!
Rosemary Conley classes were great because the exercise was more
of a dance class! But I didn’t do too well at sticking to all
foods below 4% fat per 100g.
Have you lost weight before and regained the weight?
Yes, I lose a little bit of weight and then I just put it
straight back on.
How being overweight has affected you…
I hate the way I look when I’m over 10 stone. Imagine how I
felt being 11 st 7lb ! It stops me wearing nice clothes in the
summer; it prevents me from doing anything energetic. I’m not at
all sporty and this is an area I knew I would need to address to
finally get down to a weight I’m happy with. I don’t think I
realised how large I had become – my before pic wasn’t
originally a ‘before’ picture – it was the first pic I put of me
on WLR and I was quite happy with it! I now see an amazing
difference!
Motivation to Diet
I am a few years away from being 40. I have always wanted to
be slimmer than I am at any given time, so have decided that
this is not a diet, but a lifestyle change, and by the time I am
40 it will be part of my life.
As the weight comes off, my confidence goes up, and I’m a lot
happier in myself. I took up singing a few years back and would
never have dreamed of singing lead in front of a band as I am a
sax player and percussionist and I always stand at the back
where size doesn’t matter, but now that I have this additional
confidence, I can probably pull it off! – and have done!
I have also taken up running and I know that the lighter I am
the easier running will become (I hope!).
Discovering Weight Loss Resources
My husband’s Niece was doing well on the GI diet so I did a
Google search for that to read up more about it and found WLR. I
had even gone out and bought a GI diet book that day, but by the
evening when I found WLR I decided to give the trial a go. It
took me 2 days to realise there was no diet plan to follow and
that it was me who had to input food into the diary! The
flexibility therefore really impressed me which is why I wanted
to try this rather than the GI diet.
How Weight Loss Resources Helps
The food and exercise diaries are key. I can tell what foods
are going to be higher in calories than others, but being able
to map out everything to the last calorie using the database is
wonderful! It really puts me in control and I know that if I
stick within my calorie allowance, I will lose weight.
What I eat has changed dramatically since I joined in
February. I used to have very little time to prepare any food
and was very lazy about it. I lived on ready meals every single
night, and takeaways at weekends. Very little fruit or
vegetables either, and absolutely no water! I find it very
difficult to drink anything during the day – I just don’t get
thirsty. However now I have a glass of water on the go all day
long at work and it makes a big difference.
The other bonus is the online forum. Everyone is so friendly
and supportive. There is real community spirit at WLR and I cant
see me wanting to leave when hitting goal weight – I’d miss the
people and the advice and support they give far too much!
The Best of Weight Loss Resources
I use the food and exercise diary religiously – my husband
and I can be mid meal and deciding what to have next and we both
disappear off to get our PDAs and establish how many calories we
have left!
I also read and contribute to the forums – particularly the
Running forum. I took up running on 6th March and it’s that
board that has kept me going. I read through A&S board and
sometimes the OT board. More recently the SURFs board is of
interest.
Michelle's Calorie Counting Tips
Weigh everything for the first few months – you wouldn’t
believe how much the food you eat actually weighs and its
important to get this correct so that the Food Diary works for
you.
Fill in the Food Diary – down to the last calorie. If you
under estimate or skip things you know you’ve eaten, you are
only cheating yourself - those 4 party rings you stuffed whilst
making the kids lunches for tomorrow, the chunk of cheese you
had whilst making hubby’s sandwiches, the 4 Coco Pop Straws you
snaffled out of the cupboard because you were peckish before
dinner – write it all down! The fact you don’t want to write the
cheats down means you know it’s not doing you any good. Have a
look at what a dent it makes to your calorie allowance when you
do these naughty things! – it has helped me stop doing it –
although I do still do it, and then kick myself later when I
find I don’t have enough calories for my planned dinner so have
to modify the food diary accordingly! (or go and do some
exercise quickly!!).
Drink lots of water – this initially is a pain as you run to
the loo every 20 mins! However think of all that extra exercise
you are getting by getting up out of your seat to go! I find my
skin is much nicer now I drink lots of water. I don’t always
manage 2L a day like I should, but I have experimented for a 1
week period by drinking 2L every single day – and I lost more
than 3lbs that week. I know if I want a good loss on a
particular week, I have to drink loads of water!
This is the only time in my adult life that I have lost
weight properly. I haven’t followed some weird diet where all
you can eat is boiled eggs and grapefruit – the type of diet
that is guaranteed to have you put the weight straight back on
as soon as you look at normal food again.
I have treated this as a lifestyle change. Counting calories
is the only thing that works for me – but if you combine this
with exercise, even if it’s walking more than you did before –
it all helps immensely. |
