Tina Loses 5 Stone with WLR

AKA "Tina" on Weight Loss Resources

About Tina

Well, I’m a Nurse so there are always tins of chocolates from grateful patients hanging around the Ward. Luckily I’m one of those female freaks of nature who doesn’t particularly care much for chocolate but on a busy ward with breaks coming few and far between it is really easy to spend the day ‘picking’.

I’m 5ft 3 and can gain weight just by looking at food.

I live with my partner who is 6ft 5 and (rather sickeningly) has hollow legs and can pretty much eat whatever he likes, and my 12 year old son who has tin ribs! My partner is a chef so we both work odd shifts and proper mealtimes sitting around a table together are few and far between so both of us have always tended to ‘graze’ rather than sit and eat something substantial.

Dieting History

Every single one! Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Cabbage Soup Diet (Yuk!), plain old calorie counting with a notebook, Atkins, VERY low fat diets... and the list goes on!

Each and every single one of them worked for me. I was eating less calories than I was using so I had good results with them all. I’d lose a couple of stone, start to look better, get bored with the food that I was ALLOWED to eat, and fall of the wagon big time with such good intentions of starting again on Monday… I was just never sure WHICH Monday I meant.

How being overweight has affected you…

I’ve always been outgoing and bubbly and I don’t think anyone had ever displayed a negative reaction to me when I was much bigger (at least not to my face anyway).

Inside I was getting thoroughly fed up of being in my early 30’s and having to buy ‘larger’ clothes. I also found I was seriously lacking in the energy department and I’d started to have physical symptoms which I’m sure were caused by the hefty amount of extra weight I was carrying.

Motivation to Diet

I think the reason I have succeeded this time is because I haven’t lost weight for a specific reason…. Just lots of different reasons rolled in to one.

The number one factor though was for health benefits. I’d started to notice that was I becoming increasingly tired and I was having palpitations (Not the panic attack kind – More an irregular and racing heart rate). I visited my GP a couple of times, and although he never came out and told me to lose weight, he did admit he was pretty clueless as to what was causing it, and advised me to perhaps play around with my diet and caffeine intake a bit.

How WLR Helps

The support network that I have gained through the site is probably the biggest help to me. Everyone is incredibly encouraging and it’s a Godsend to have a bunch of people who will celebrate your successes with you and give you a kick up the bum on those bad days when you THINK you need 6 packets of crisps.

The Best of Weight Loss Resources

I religiously use the food and exercise diary and I can’t turn on the Internet without just having a quick peek at the message boards.

Lifestyle Changes

I can’t really describe how MUCH my life has changed since I’ve lost weight.

Obviously there is the physical difference… I don’t think I’ll ever tire of looking at the size 10 labels in my clothes! I cried in the middle of a department store the first time I bought a pair of size 10 jeans… It was a big accomplishment having been wearing a pair of size 18 jeans that were getting tight just 5 months earlier and even now I still get a shock when I see myself in a mirror. Buying clothes is such a pleasure now, and I’m pretty surprised to find that underneath 60lbs of excess weight, there was quite a girlie girl waiting to escape!! Never in my life did I EVER think I’d wear dresses and skirts! Usually I’d live in combats and boots and my underwear collection is now getting a bit out of control!

Probably the biggest difference is the boost to my self-esteem. These days I feel much more comfortable in my own skin, and although I have never suffered with confidence issues, I really do feel much more outgoing and much more self-assured.

THE most important change though is the changes to my health. Any cardiac problems I had have completely rectified themselves and I feel healthier and fitter than I have done in a long long time.

My partner is astounded by my increased energy levels… After watching me drive 400 yards to the local shop for the last few years he finds it hard to believe that the same person now thinks nothing of ‘nipping out’ for a 10km jog.

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

Because it’s simple and because I don’t feel deprived following it. I don’t have to worry what colour day it is or how many points I have left, and if I want to eat a takeaway or a piece of cake then that’s OK too… I’ll just increase my exercise over a few days to compensate.

Tina's Dieting Tips

Don’t feel guilty for having a bad day. Previous efforts to lose weight have seen me fail because a bad day would turn in to a bad week/month/year. Now I just brush it off and jump back on the wagon again.

Even on those days when you feel like you’ve eaten your own body weight in chocolate still record it in your food diary. Sometimes seeing it in black and white is the wake-up call you need to stop sabotaging yourself… Other times I was pleasantly surprised to see that my intake for the day wasn’t quite as bad as I expected.

My saving grace has been that this time, I’ve never felt deprived. I’ve learned to make healthy choices whilst still ‘enjoying’ myself.

Personally, I couldn’t imagine life without crisps or takeaways but I’ve compromised WHAT I eat, and HOW MUCH!

If I want a packet of crisps, I walk to the shop and buy them instead of jumping in the car. and I will buy the lowest calorie option there is (Thank God for Walkers French Fries).

If I want a takeaway, then I’ll do some extra exercise so I have enough calories to play with, and then I’ll try and eat a healthier version… i.e. I’ll order a chicken kebab made from diced chicken breast with lots of salad rather than a donner kebab drowning in garlic mayo.

Experiment with cooking. There are some great recipes in the database that I wouldn’t have dreamt of trying myself. It stops things getting boring… Surviving solely on salad isn’t something you can maintain and it would get pretty tedious.

Exercise, exercise, exercise!!! Start off slowly and build your fitness levels.

I started off just taking my dog out for an extra couple of walks a day and gradually increasing the speed/length.

Find something you really enjoy doing… be it jogging/walking/exercise DVD’s etc. and build it into your daily routine. Even if it's just cranking your stereo up and dancing around your living room like a bit of a nutter for half an hour…

It’s better than doing nothing at all… and the more calories you use during exercise, the more calories you can eat. It’s really simple science at the end of the day!

Tina's Vital Statistics

	Before	Now
Weight	13st 6lb	8st 6lb