Sarah's Slimming Success Story

AKA "Sasbongo" on Weight Loss Resources

About Sarah

I am married with two small boys aged 6 and 4; I work full time; 3 days per week in Manchester which is an hour and a half commute from home and two days per week at home.  I am fairly active as I tend to walk to & from the station which is about 5k from my home. I am a university lecturer so am on my feet teaching most of the day when I am at work.

I am part of a dance school and have dance classes on a Tuesday night and I do zumba classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and sometimes Friday’s if I can.

The rest of my time is spent ferrying the boys around to football practice, swimming, beavers, dance classes and cricket and there are usually parties for one or other of them most weeks.

I am also chair of my son’s school’s PTA which keeps me busy.

So I have a very full life and busy lifestyle which tends to lead to eating on the go, eating more convenience foods or sometimes not eating at all!

Previously, I would eat a lot of high calorie snacks to keep me going which contributed to my weight gain, but I now have a subscription to graze which delivers me delicious slow release snacks each week to munch on instead of chocolate which I have almost completely cut out.  I still can’t resist crisps though!

My job is quite intense and long periods of teaching on a Monday and Tuesday leave little time for food at all.  There are work-based social functions but these tend to be drinks based and as I have a long commute home, I will only have a diet coke anyway so they don’t affect my weight loss.  However it is the intensity of my teaching on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that has an impact.  I am scheduled to teach across the lunch-time period on all of those days, so I don’t get a chance to eat until late afternoon, which impacts on tea.

What diets have you tried in the past?

• Weight watchers – worked for a while but too prescriptive!
• Slimming World – only managed two weeks; too complicated and couldn’t get the hang of it
• Rosemary Conley – only did one week; hated it!  It was too dictatorial

Please comment on your experiences of trying these diets

I can’t stick to eating what I’m told; it’s time consuming and it’s hard to make it work with a family.  I prefer to eat what I like and then total the calories up as I go along; I feel more in control and it actually makes me think about what I put in my mouth more too!

This is the first tool I have found that lets me be in control of my eating and actually tells me straight how many calories are in the foods that I’m eating.  No silly colour coding or points, just facts!

WLR treats you like an adult who is able to make up your own mind about what you eat, not a child who should be told to eat ‘green’ or ‘red’; I want to make my own decisions and live normally.

Tell us how your weight has affected you

I think I was more annoyed at myself for having the weight really.  I was annoyed that I’d let it get so high after having the boys and just wanted to get back in control.  I would always dress carefully to try and hide my worst bits so I never felt uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t like wearing a swimming costume on the beach and I would always try and hide behind one of the children in pics! I tended to stick to clothes that covered my arms and were long to cover my stomach too!

I honestly don’t know how people perceived me.  I think they just accepted me as I was – the most frequent comment I get now is that they didn’t think I was big before but they can really see how much slimmer I am now.

What has been your main motivation to lose weight?

To stay healthy and fit for my boys and to try and stabilise my weight in the normal range before I turn 40!  Someone said to me that the body you have when you go into the menopause is the one that you’re stuck with, so I really wanted to get myself in shape before then!

Which tools and resources on WLR do you find most valuable?

• The food diary – it really does help me to control my eating; can’t wait for the iphone app!
• The results section – if I’m having a spell where I don’t feel as though I’m losing any weight; just looking at the chart makes me feel better!
• I do use the boards sometimes – it’s good to know that there are others going through the same things and having bad days just like me but I tend not to comment or get involved because I haven’t got time.

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

Because I am in control.  I don’t have to go to public weigh-in’s which I hated – it’s like ritual humiliation! – and I can decide what I eat and when within the parameters of my calorie allowance.  I also like being able to log my exercise and get extra calories for that. Nothing is not allowed and I can still have take-aways and nights out without feeling like I’ve lost my way.

One of my main problems is that if I eat or drink too much one day, I have a tendency to want to give up straight away.  With WLR, I can look at my calorie consumption over the week and realise that even if I have gone mad one day, I am still on target over the week – so it helps me to keep everything in perspective.

Plus I spend a lot of time in front of a computer so it’s easy to keep track.

Have you struggled at points in your weight loss journey? Experienced a weight loss plateau? What has kept you motivated?

I had a plateau over the summer – I’m not sure why because I didn’t suddenly go mad with my eating but I drank wine with friends more often and I was also having a hormonal treatment too which has since stopped.  But this plateau did make me wonder what the point of it all was and I know that I could have give up at that point!

The results page keep me motivated – just looking at the chart showing downward progress makes me realise how well I have done and this makes me want to carry on.  I want to prove to myself that I can be slim after years of having been ‘plump’.

Comments from friends and family also keep me motivated; it’s lovely when people notice how much you’ve lost.

Also, finally getting into that size 10 has really helped – I haven’t worn this size since my early 20’s and I’m loving it!

Since losing weight can you give examples of how your life has changed?

I have more energy than before plus I am able to just throw on clothes in the morning instead of having to think about what looks ok, and what hides the bits I am uncomfortable with.  I can fit into a size 10!  Plus knee boots fit me now that I have lost weight from my calves – and I love that!

I am much fitter and am able to run more further now in a shorter space of time than I could before which means I’ve got more energy to run around after my boys!

Exercise routines adopted

Yes.  Zumba 2 to 3 times per week, plus latin American dancing.

I have also taken up running and try to do that at least twice a week around the zumba classes.

I walk to the station and back as part of my commute to work three days per week, which is about a 10k round trip.

What do you love about your body now?

My flat tummy! And the fact that it is more toned than before – I just need to work on my bingo wings a bit more now!

Sarah's hints and tips

• Take it easy and don’t beat yourself up if you have a bad day/ week; give yourself a break!
• Look at the results pages regularly and use your weight loss so far to motivate you to stick to it.
• Do exercise – it gives you more energy plus it gets you out in the evening so you’re not sitting at home thinking about food!
• Enter things into your food diary before you eat them – you might just change your mind about that chocolate bar if you’ve seen how many calories it will leave you with!

Sarah's Vital Statistics

	Before	Now
Weight	11st 13lbs	9st 3.5lbs
BMI	26.5	22.9
Body Fat	29.2	24.7
Dress Size
Chest	36	34
Waist	31	27
Hips	40	37