Heidi’s Diet  Success Story

AKA "yorkshiremuggles" on Weight Loss Resources

About Heidi

I lead an extremely busy life, have two children who have far too many hobbies that they need me to taxi them to and from, a husband who works away for part of the week every week, a house to run, two slightly mad cats to look after and a pretty demanding (but very enjoyable) job. 

Family life is very important to me, and I enjoy entertaining family and friends at home, with meals, barbeques etc.  In my spare time I like to be outdoors as much as possible; there is so much to see and do in the area around my home town, and we particularly like to be on the coast, walking, swimming or climbing.

I have been married for 11 years to Andrew, and have two children – a daughter aged 8 and a son aged 9.  We are pretty active as a family, and I have always been keen for the children to eat well, often much to their disgust!  I have always cooked most of their food from scratch, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and lean meat, chicken and fish. 

The problem has been that the children used to eat earlier than my husband and I, and at the end of a long day, having already fed them (and often helped myself to their leftovers…) I often used to feel too tired to cook again for my husband and I.  I would let my hubby cook for us from his repertoire of ‘man recipes’ (Bolognese, chilli etc.!) and would end up eating a huge (man sized) portion, or we would order a takeaway, all washed down with a bottle or two of wine….   Basically, I didn’t apply my ‘healthy mummy’ approach to the adults in the family!  I also used to have crazy binges, like the time I ate one flapjack from a pack, and then just carried on, until I had consumed over 3000 calories in about 20 minutes.  Ugh! 

How Has Your Work Affected Your Weight Loss?

My current job doesn’t really affect my weight loss, I am 50/50 desk based and ‘active’ and my employer, North Yorkshire County Council, provide good kitchen facilities at my workplace, so I can now store/reheat food that I have prepared at home.  This takes some planning, so I try to do this each night before I go to bed. 

Otherwise, I stop by the supermarket before work and buy a yoghurt, piece or two of fruit, and small pack of sushi, or some rice crackers to have with nut butter (which I keep in my desk!!!) However, until fairly recently I ran my own company, which incorporated a restaurant business.  This was like the kiss of death really, as there were always tempting things lying around to snack on (pecan Danish pastries…), as well as a top of the range coffee machine which I used to make myself up to 6 lattes a day with!

Dieting History

I have tried the following diets:

1. Weight Watchers
2. Slimming world
3. Atkins
4. Tesco Diets and Closer Diets
5. VLCD

As well, obviously, as weightlossresources!

1. Weight Watchers worked for a while, but I found my motivation slipping,  It seemed quite complicated having to remember the ‘points’ value of everything, rather than just being able to look up the calories.  I found the age profile of my local groups off putting, many were ‘regulars’ who had been attending there for a long, long time (some as long as 11 years), and the group meeting was like a ‘social’ coffee evening for them.  It was quite ‘cliquey’, and because I carried my extra weight okish and dressed to hide it, as well as being quite a lot younger than them, I actually found their attitude to me fairly hostile at times.  I couldn’t get on with their online system at all; I found it all too confusing
2. With Slimming World I only attended for 4 weeks, again, it was all just too confusing, although I know the system has worked well for lots of my friends and family
3. Atkins really worked for me in terms of weight loss, and initially I felt fine with it, but after about 4 weeks I started to feel sick, dizzy and sluggish.  The side effects of bad breath were just as you’ll have heard about.  I knew it was time to stop when, one day, I crumbled ¼ of a digestive biscuit into dust, and throughout the day I would lick my index finger and press it into the pile to have a ‘fix’ of carbs!  Ridiculous!  It did nothing to educate me or to help me make longer term positive changes to my diet
4. Tesco Diets and Closer Diets - I have tried both these online sites with some success, after receiving promotional codes in various magazines.  The last site I used, to kick-start the last year of weight loss, was Closer.  It did work quite well, but when the promotion ran out, instead of renewing there, I knew I needed to turn back to WLR.  It had worked for me in the past, and I have always found it to be easier to use, with more information and tools.  I realised that shopping around from one money off offer to another wasn’t going to work, and for such a modest amount every month WLR is actually brilliant value, and my health has to be worth investing in!
5. VLCD – I am ashamed to say I succumbed to some high protein VLCD powder shakes from eBay, marketed as being similar to Lighterlife.  In 1 week I lost 9lb, and in 2 weeks I had lost 13lb.  I thought this was amazing but, in week 3 I began to feel seriously ill.  In the end I fainted at work, and was taken to A&E, who ruled out any serious problem but warned against trying to exist on what is basically 400-500 calories per day.  I could tell my body had suffered even in that short time – my nails and hair were brittle and my skin was dry, and I had a constant headache.  Within 1 month of ending this ‘diet’, I had regained all of the weight!

How being overweight has affected you…

Throughout my life I feel I’ve waged a battle with my weight, and had a poor image of my own body.  When I was a child, I was made to feel very self conscious by my family, particularly my mother, who has always been very tiny, as I am a fairly robust build with substantial wrists, ankles etc even when I am slimmer. 

I remember starting senior school and having to weigh ourselves for a science experiment.  Looking back I was fine; about 58kg, but I was devastated to be one of the heaviest girls in the class.  I slimmed down to a size 8 for my wedding, but the weight crept back on afterwards.  I put on 4st with my first pregnancy, and lost 3st of it before falling pregnant again.  This time I put on 2.5st, and never really got back into proper shape afterwards. 

I have been up and down from an 8 to an 18 in my life, and since 2002 have fluctuated from a 10/12 to a 16.  Being bigger affected me in lots of ways.  I often felt self conscious and tried to dress to hide my weight.  I destroyed lots of photographs, there are very few of them surviving where I am very big, which is a shame, as many photos I remember seeing had my kids on them too. 

I turned down invitations to parties if there was a formal dress code as I knew I would struggle to find flattering clothes, and every year I absolutely dreaded the summer, and would spend my holidays hiding in the shade, and watching enviously as ‘thin’ women paraded around.  I was sure my husband must be looking at them, and comparing me to them unfavourably, and gave him a pretty hard time.  It was completely unfounded, and I feel so bad about it now!  My health also definitely suffered – I found I was getting out of breath easily, and having palpitations if I went for a strenuous walk or ran around with the children.  After visiting the nurse at my Doctor’s surgery for a routine test just over a year ago, I was advised to think about losing some weight.  This really made me think about things.  My family has a history of cancer, and other health problems, and I realised I was seriously jeopardising my health, as well as making myself more and more miserable by failing to keep control of my eating.

Motivation to Diet

I’d love to be noble, and say it was all completely about being healthy…..  To a large extent, this is the ‘best’ reason for losing weight.  But what really motivates me if I’m honest is seeing the difference in my appearance – fitting into smaller sizes of clothes, not feeling self conscious any more, receiving compliments – especially from my husband.  I feel good about myself because I have taken control of my diet and fitness in a sensible way.  The feeling of pride in my achievement has been amazing.

The Best of Weight Loss Resources

I live and breathe the food diary; it’s the best tool ever!  I use the boards often, and have a diet buddy who I email.  Having the support of others is the key to WLR, and the best thing is, with so many users, you can always find someone you ‘click’ with!  I read the articles, and dip in and out of the healthy eating recipes.  I like using the reports, and looking at all the graphs and pie charts too – I am a ‘visual learner’, and seeing these has been a  real eye opener – particularly the nutrition report with regards to alcohol….!

Why do you think WLR has helped you lose weight where other diets have failed?

With WLR I am in the driving seat.  I feel the WLR team are ‘in it’ because they care, not just because they’ve jumped on the bandwagon after spotting a way to make more money.  The brand is more trustworthy for me, and this means a lot.  I had previously used WLR, and it really worked.  I drifted away from it once I had lost some weight as I decided I could do it on my own from then on, but this was a big mistake which led to all the time I spend yo-yoing between one fad diet and the next!  I wish I had stayed with WLR before, but once I came back to it, I knew it was for keeps!  I had been dipping in and out of it ‘moonlighting’ before I signed back up again, and one day I just decided enough was enough and I would sign back in!

Have you hit any plateaus, and what has kept you motivated?

My first week I found really hard. I went for a  2 pound a week rate of loss which is such a shock to the system when you have had free reign! I had to work really hard to stick to it. I managed that for a week and then had to up the calories a little to make it sustainable. I moved to 1 pound a week loss which I personally found more manageable. I wasn't quite so tired or irritable then and probably a good deal nicer to live with!

I found that at certain times of the month I would be far more hungry and be tempted by all my sweet cravings. I did have a few occasions where I fell off the wagon but it really doesn't matter about the odd occasion like that. As long as you dust yourself off and get back on it again and that is where the forums are so helpful. I made a few supportive friends out there and it's a shared experience we are all familiar with (we're all human!)  and there are always folks on the forums who are willing to encourage you and keep you going.

My husband, sister and neighbour also joined WLR so I managed to surround myself with folks all doing the same thing. It helps so much to be accompanied by people all striving for the same goal.

Exercise Changes

I have started seriously hill walking with my family; this is great for building strength and stamina, and good for cardio too.  We have recently walked parts of the Cleveland Way, climbed Snowdon, Pen Y Ghent, Ingleborough and Garside. 

I’m not a gym lover, so walking really is the best thing for me, but I have also been cycling locally, and swimming with the children, both in pools and out of doors in designated bathing areas of rivers, and the sea (brrrrrr!)  I have just started to incorporate a few weights based exercises into my routines, as I want to build a tiny bit of muscle now my weight is less scary!

What do you love about your body now?

This is going to sound bizarre, but my arms, as I thought they would just continue to look like two giant hams, whereas I have actually lost some ‘bingo wings’.  Also, my face, now it is slimmer and I have cheekbones to be proud of again!  Being a pear shape has stuck, but now I am a smaller pear shape, so my hips, bottom and thighs look more in proportion, which is the reason I was okay with a swimsuit shot!  When I was bigger, my legs rubbed together almost all the way down, and I was very self conscious about that – I won’t be letting that happen again!

Heidi's Dieting Success Tips

My Lucky Seven

• Be honest with yourself about why you want to do this. Be specific about what you want to look and feel like when you reach your target.  Use pictures, clippings, anything that will help you, and refer to these when you need to
• Find a buddy, and/or use the boards – they’ve been the key for me
• Plan your meals, and take a list to the supermarket.  Only buy what’s on the list.  You’ll be losing one type of pound, and gaining another!
• Record EVERYTHING religiously
• Don’t deny yourself something you really want, but possibly think about earning the calories if you need to before consuming it!  I have been known to run full pelt up and down the stairs for half an hour to earn some chocolate before now!
• Think about how much better you’ve done every day over your old ways, instead of beating yourself up if you go ‘over target’
• Treat every day as a new day

Heidi's Vital Statistics

	Then	Now
Weight	13st 8lb	9st 9lb
BMI	30.7	22
Body Fat	34%	25%
Chest	38"	34"
Waist	36"	29"
Hips	44"	38"
Blood Pressure	145/92	134/85