Joanne's Calorie Counting Success

About Joanne

I took 10 months maternity leave before returning to work. I work full time in an office.

It’s not an energetic job but it is very stressful so generally I'm exhausted after work.

Unfortunately I work for a very kind company that lay on sandwiches and cream cakes daily, which makes weight loss an extra challenge! My life is very busy!

Family

I live with my partner and we have been together for 3 years. I have a son.

Both my fiancé and my son have appetites like sparrows, so there is always LOTS of leftovers kicking around and that can make life hard at times.

Also because I am so busy working full time, mother to a toddler and running a house it’s hard to slot in exercise and it would most certainly be hard to fit in the time to shop and cook to follow a specific fad diet!

It’s also hard to find the motivation to cook properly at times, and now that I don’t go out as much it’s sometimes tempting to give in a bit and find some comfort in food.

Dieting History

I have always had a passionate love of food and have (when not controlled) an enormous appetite.

As a teenager and in my early/mid twenties I was a size 18-20 dress size and completely oblivious to diets and calories.

One day for no apparent reason though I decided to join Slimming World and got down to a size 14 within a year.

After which it just didn’t work any more and I couldn’t shift any more weight. So I moved to calorie counting.

"When I hit my goal I found my new size increased my energy, self confidence, and strangely the way people treated and saw me."

I loved it and vowed no amount of comfort from eating chocolate would ever equal the feeling of confidence from having lost that weight. I knew I would never allow myself to get big again.

Slimming World was good, but because you can eat ‘as much as you like’ of ‘free foods’ I was eating plates and plates of pasta, potatoes etc.

This was ok while my basic calorie allowance was so high due to my size; and as the calories from these ‘free foods’ were still less than my body needed to maintain.

However, once I hit a certain weight clearly I stopped depriving my body of enough calories to shift any more.

I know now of course that although the free food was healthy and good, there is still no such thing as ‘free food’ and everything has calories.

I found too that after a while I got sick and tired of the lack of variety these club diets have and you soon become very bored of the strict rota of foods on the list you can eat.

So it suited me to calorie count as I could eat whatever I fancied provided it was within my calorie limit.

How Losing Weight Has Affected You

Mostly I found that I've got a LOT more confidence in myself from losing the weight and I think in part that probably gave people a different perception of me.

I also found that I was taken more seriously in my job and people were less inclined to associate my appearance with terms like ‘lazy’ – which is a terrible injustice done in what seems to be a more and more appearance focused world.

I also started to get attention from men, and that helped boost my confidence too.

"Suddenly this confidence motivated me to tackle other aspects in my life that I was previously dissatisfied with and I became career hungry."

I took more pride in my appearance generally, with better clothes and make up and I set my sights in life that much higher than I had before, because suddenly I felt I deserved it.

I think too I surprised myself with how much self control and motivation I really had and channelled this into other aspects of my life. It was good to be proactive and in control.

Motivation to Diet

This time round, I gained the weight during pregnancy - perhaps over used the expression ‘eating for two’ and gained 4.5 stone!

As soon as I had the ‘all clear’ after the birth I knew the only method to get the weight off again was through calorie counting and gentle exercise.

I had always been fairly toned before through very little exercise indeed, but I’d lost a lot of muscle tone through pregnancy and needed to get that back, so decided to give myself a generic 1400 calorie limit a day and did a callanetics video 3-4 times week while my baby napped.

Within a matter of months I was into a size 12 again, but then found that I didn’t drop any further.

I reviewed my day and realised that all the little extras, milk in tea, odd biscuits, finishing off my toddlers weaning food were probably adding up to quite a bit. I joined wlr so I could be very accurate about what I ate.

"It’s taken me a year to get the last stone or so off, but have stabilised back at a size 8-10 for the last 6 months."

I think the hardest part was probably the last stone in fact, but I knew I had a year until my wedding and that gave me all the motivation I needed and thanks to wlr I could do it at a gradual pace if I wanted (which I did)!

How Weight Loss Resources Helps

I can be precise about what I have eaten and the daily log is a real wake up call to see where I waste a lot of calories on unrewarding foods.

It makes me more conscious to spread my calories throughout the day and be more aware of what I am eating in terms of nutritional content too.

Also, I found that it’s invaluable to have a constantly updated record of what your body needs in terms of maintenance calories so you know you are also on track for your goal.

The Best of Weight Loss Resources

All of it! The on line database of recipes is very helpful, but what’s most helpful though is the calories database which is up to the minute accurate of the latest branded food products so guess work in calorie counting is totally removed.

It’s good to see too on-line graphs of how you are progressing and the impact exercise is having on your weight loss.

Lifestyle Changes

I certainly eat a lot more healthy foods out of choice now.

I found that you can spread your calories further by doing this, but mostly I wasn’t aware before of the nutritional distribution of my diet and keeping a healthy balance on fat, protein and carbs.

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

Because it’s a simple science and is easy and accessible, so there is never an excuse to not do it.

Instead of writing down everything I ate before or keeping a mental calculation of my calorie intake, it’s all logged in black and white and I can update my daily food diary and forget about it, whilst still having an ACCURATE tracker of what I have eaten and what further options I have for the day.

"It stops me obsessing and most importantly it makes me very aware of the impact nibbling and the ‘little extras’ have (that I might not have previously counted) on my overall success."

Joanne's Calorie Counting Tips

Every other diet, club or fad to lose weight works along the same principle of eating less than you intake, but these other diets lack variety and are annoying or complicated and are difficult to stick to.

It’s not just about losing weight either. It’s about keeping the weight off and that requires a lifestyle change and an awareness of what you are eating permanently.

That’s where wlr is different, as I use it now to maintain weight and keep a balance on my intake over the course of the week.

"Losing weight is not complicated; wlr shows how easy it is. Everyone can do it if they want to."

Simple science, no need for fads – consume less calories and expend more and you WILL lose weight!

There is never a good time to start a diet. There will always be reasons we try and give ourselves not to.

The simple thing is – if you want to lose weight enough you’ll do it!

Despite what some companies promise, there is no magic cure. It takes work and it’s a big commitment, some are easier to fit into your life than others.

wlr allows you to take on a lifestyle and diet that is entirely tailored to yourself. What’s easier than that?

Calorie counting is the ONLY way to do it in my mind.