How Jane lost 4.5 Stone with WLR
Start Weight | 13st 7lbs |
---|---|
Current Weight | 9st |
Goal Weight | 9st |
Weight Lost | 4st 7lbs - Wow! |
Working to Rate of Loss | 1½lbs per week |
About Jane
I am currently a stay at home mum, but I have developed my own range of cosmetics (lipsticks, eyeshadows, etc).
They are all handmade top quality products. I am a professional cosmetic chemist (I developed the whole Molton Brown make up range) and have always wanted to develop my own range.
They are high functioning, luxurious products. Enhanced with trusted ingredients, vitamin E, Jojoba butter and other more traditional moisturisers.
Married with 3 young children. Although my children do eat a varied healthy diet, I do not forbid chocolates and crisps, so it's a constant temptation in the house just to grab a 'quick' snack.
My husband works a long way from home and often doesn’t get in until late.
I like to eat with him, so often eat late. But this means I get really hungry at the kids tea time and often finish their leftovers, or worse cook a bit extra to see me through until my dinner time. All those calories!
Dieting History
I have used many 'fad' diets in the past - 1000 calorie diets, lose 7lb in 7days diets, starvation diets, fruit and water diets.
I have always used some sort of calorie restriction plan. But when I was younger I was not really overweight, just needed to lose a few pounds, so these diets were only ever-used short term.
How Being Overweight has Affected you…
My weight started piling on in pregnancy and affected my pregnancies quite badly.
I piled on 4 stone with my second child, lost two stone but fell pregnant with my third child and piled it all back on again plus even more weight.
"It had bad consequences on my back and legs. I couldn't walk more than a few hundred yards without stopping for a rest."
After the birth I had difficulty carrying them for any length of time and used to get quite hot and flustered.
I also gave up smoking, which was hard for me, and I gained another stone.
"Because I had always been slim my self-esteem plummeted."
I hated going out in public and would walk with my head down wherever I went. On occasion if I bumped into anyone I knew from before my weight gain, I would be mortified.
I became depressed and thought everyone was judging me for my weight.
"I found I was always justifying my weight gain to people. Talking about it to people constantly as if it wasn't my fault."
I'm not sure if I was looking for sympathy or for someone to tell me how stupid I sounded. Of course it was all my fault.
I lost the bubbly person I used to be and turned into a shy blob sitting in the corner hoping no-one would notice me.
My parents were highly critical and would make comment whenever they saw me which actually didn't affect me that much.
"The worst comments were from my friends. I think they were trying to make out I wasn't much bigger than I was originally."
They would say, "oh, I didn't notice you had put weight on" and other comments like that. It just made me feel worse knowing they thought I had put so much weight on they had to lie about it.
Motivation to Diet
The health benefits are very important to me.
My sister had a heart attack at age 41, and my Dad and 5 out of his 7 brothers all have/had heart disease.
I also have PCOS, which increases the risk factors for heart disease.
"Anything I can do to reduce that risk and not put my children through what I have been through with both my Dad and sister is essential."
I would be lying if I didn't want to be able to walk out in the street and have my old confidence back.
To not use my handbag to hide a bulging tummy when I sit down, and to dance again without everything wobbling.
The kick-start though was when I had to borrow a black suit for a funeral and it was a size 22.
At this funeral a family member who I hadn't seen for a few years said, "what happened to you? You used to be good looking” It was one of those "I have to do something about this moments"
How Weight Loss Resources Helps
This site has been fantastic.
I have learnt about restricting calories in a safe healthy way.
I know my old '1000 cal' diets were just so bad for me, especially as I am short and really can't lose more than 1.5 lbs. a week in a safe manner.
"I can now track my calories and know that if I go over I can recoup them through out the week and earn extra with exercise for treats."
The support from people on here on the message boards is also fantastic.
If you are having a wobble and feel like raiding the cupboards or driving out for a bar of chocolate, there are 50 people on there willing to talk you out of it. It's instant support and behaviour modification therapy all in one.
The Best of Weight Loss Resources
The food diary is an essential tool with the exercise tools and message boards. I don't generally use much else on the site regularly.
If I have a question I know I can get answers from people on the boards and sometimes it can spark interesting debates. I prefer the interaction with people than just reading info from a page.
I also use the recipe section to create new recipes and search for other member’s recipes.
Lifestyle Changes
The biggest change to my life style has to be the reduced amount of calories I take in from fluids.
"I used to drink 3 or 4 cans of coke a day plus share a 2lt bottle with the family in the evening."
I now only drink water and tea. I don't have any fizzy drinks at all, except on an odd occasion and neither does my family.
I haven't cut anything out of my diet though. I still enjoy the odd glass of coke and still enjoy chocolate, cheese and cakes. I just restrict my intake of them.
"If I deny myself any food then I tend to crave it and will binge at some point."
The other huge change is exercise. I recently took up running. When I first started I nearly collapsed after running for just 1 min and walking for 2 in a circuit 8 times.
8 weeks later I was running 30 mins non-stop and am feeling great for doing it. I never thought I would ever say this, but I have become addicted to running. I'm hoping to enter a few races later in the year.
Why do you think WLR has helped you lose weight where other diets have failed?
Before when I have dieted, I’ve restricted foods, got to goal and then gone back to eating exactly as I did before.
Going on a 'diet' meant eating lettuce leaves and enduring a food regime for a while.
"WLR is not an endurance test; it's a lifestyle change. It doesn't tell you you must eat this, or mustn’t eat that."
It helps you to formulate your own food plan including all your favourite foods in a way that still allows you to lose weight. And it's for life.
You are still able to enjoy living a normal life just restricting the highly calorific foods for a while.
Once at goal you don't revert back to old habits, you just amend the foods that you have already been eating to include a few more treats or allow yourself to indulge in richer foods more often.
But in the knowledge that you can do this along side a healthy eating plan, which will balance out any calories and help you maintain.
Jane's Calorie Counting Tips
Don't think of it as a diet, think of it as a change in eating habits.
Make sure you fill in your diary honestly.
Use the boards, it's full of supportive people who are going through exactly what you are.
Enjoy your food, don't endure it.
Start a Free Trial Today
Lots of people have achieved their weight loss success using the tools, information and support that WLR has to offer. But don't take our word for it – take free trial and see for yourself.
* Note: The success stories published on Weight Loss Resources are written by WLR members, past and present, telling their own stories in their own words. As you will see if you read more than one or two of them, everyone's story is different and they have reached their success from a variety of starting points and lost weight at varying rates. Individual results may vary.
