Success Story: Wendy

AKA "wendy" on Weight Loss Resources

Dieting History

As a teenager I lost a lot of weight through calorie counting and exercise. When I first met my husband, Dave (April 1994) we ate out a lot. We ate out far too much really. If I couldn't be bothered cooking (which was quite often) we'd nip down to the local pub. I can't really remember what sort of food I used to eat, but it was obviously too much when you add the eating out as well. My weight gain was too easy to blame on the medication I had to take for epilepsy - overeating played a major part.

Between April 1994 and November 1998 I tried various ways of losing weight - Slim Fast; Weight Watchers; Slimming World; Rosemary Conley. I did lose small amounts of weight but, because of the medication, found it virtually impossible to lose any real amount and keep it off. November 1998 I was at my highest weight of 15 stone and 2lb. It was not until I made the decision to change my medication for epilepsy that I managed to start losing weight properly.

January 2002 I started the year off at 14 stone 2lb. I counted calories and did some exercise: walking and the occasional step/aerobics video at home. I feel that I led a fairly normal life last year. I went away on holiday / for weekends, ate out and enjoyed myself. I still managed to get down to 11 stone 11lb for January 2003 (not bad considering we went on holiday that Christmas too!)

As I neared my overall target, I was finding it harder motivating myself. I was a bit blasé about it because I'd lost so much already. I was forgetting food I'd eaten, not journaling accurately and finding it harder to get myself to exercise. I joined Weight Loss Resources in February 2003 at 11 stone 7lb.

On Being Overweight…

When I was heavier I refused to eat a meal out if Dave wasn't eating. I felt like people would stare at me and think I was greedy because I was eating on my own; or they would notice I was eating and think "should she be eating that when she is so overweight?" I have had people ask me "should you be eating that?"  - it depended on who that person was to what reply they got!

Someone I didn't know rolled their car window down in town and yelled that I was a "fat cow" - this really upset me, and I have never forgotten that night.

I hated clothes shopping. I used to come home in tears most of the time after shopping. I felt really big, that everything looked awful on me. My words at the time were that I looked like a beached whale.

In the years I was not dieting very successfully, if I had a bad day, it could quite easily turn into a bad week. Now if I have a bad day, that is usually it.

I feel my confidence has increased since losing weight. I feel happier about how I look and this obviously reflects more in my day-to-day life. Not being able to lose weight made me feel like a failure.

Finding the Motivation

Ever since my highest weight of 15 stone 2lb I decided I wanted to get down to a goal of 9 stone. Now that I know I can do it I am determined I will lose it and get down to 9 stone however long it takes!

April 2002 I managed to wear my engagement ring again. That was an important moment to me. I hated not being able to wear it.

Buying new clothes, as going down sizes. I enjoy clothes shopping so much more now. Losing weight means I need to go clothes shopping more. No longer the chore it used to be. My problem at the moment is being between sizes! Getting back into old clothes is a lovely feeling too! I still have some clothes that I can't get into yet... but I WILL!

People's support and encouragement is really helping me as well. People are amazed that I've lost so much weight and that I am still losing weight. I enjoy seeing people's reactions when I tell them how much I've lost in total.

Health is a motivation. I felt is so hard to do things when I weighed more. I didn't have the energy to do a lot. I found warm weather very tiring (this was partly weight / partly medication I think!)

I really want to get this excess weight off while I am still young as I know it will get harder as I get older.

I met a couple of old work colleagues I hadn't seen for a couple of years - they didn't recognise me, until I showed them my old work's pass. This just about summed up how different I actually look now.

Discovering Weight Loss Resources

I found WLR on a search engine and started because a friend had started. She thought it would help me because it was very similar to what I was already doing, ie. calorie counting and exercise. I just needed a kick start to get the weight coming off again.

How Weight Loss Resources Helps

• I try to eat more vegetables now since the site keeps a tally of your daily fruit and veg quota.
   
• I changed to skimmed milk to help reduce the fat content of my diet (every little helps!)
   
• I find the challenges quite motivating. Accounting for exercise and weight loss always seems to give you that bit extra motivation.
   
• I find the site encourages me to exercise more as it counts against the food I've eaten. If I've had not so good a week eating, but exercised lots it doesn't look so bad.
   
• Because the site looks at nutritional value rather than just at calories I do try to make my diet healthier. I don't always manage, but I'm sure that every bit helps.

The Best of Weight Loss Resources

I use the Food/Exercise Diaries on an daily basis. I always complete them when I've been away on holiday/for the weekend. Even if it's really bad!

I try to read the messages on the board when I have time. I like to know how everyone else is doing. Again, when I have time, I like to go in the chat room for the same reason.

I read the information on the member's home pages. I find it interesting and gives me ideas.

Wendy's Tips for Losing Weight

Write down the food you eat as you go through the day. It is easy to "forget" something you have eaten.

Don't guess! Weigh your foods / measure your liquids - your weight loss will benefit from this. Those missing calories soon add up!

Don't forget to add your exercise to your journal.

Losing weight is a long-term thing (especially is you have a lot of weight to lose to get to your overall target). You need to be able to do it in a way that doesn't restrict you life as you are doing it. This is how I feel I have managed to lose so much weight. I eat foods I enjoy; I just choose lower calorie versions of them - then I don't feel like I'm depriving myself. I see this as a way of being allowed all foods - unlike some other diets. I like the fact that I can have everything I want... just not all TODAY! I feel that you need to be able to follow this lifestyle after having lost your weight and when maintaining your weight afterwards.

When I started to lose weight in January 2002, I decided to look at my weight loss in small targets (short term). I usually did it in 7lb targets. I also used to set more long term targets - such as if there were 10 weeks to my holiday - I would work out what I could reasonably expect to lose in that amount of time.

If I have a bad day (don't we all) I try to do some extra exercise to help make up for it.  I don't feel guilty - I just remind myself how much weight I've already lost and that it will take just a little longer to get to the particular goal I was aiming for.

I have found exercise to be a very important factor in losing weight. Basically, if I don't exercise as much my weight loss is definitely slower than if I do.

Wendy's Vital Statistics

	Before	Now
Weight	15st 2lb	10st 2lb