Ann's Diet Success Story

Ann, Age 51

Start Weight	83.2kg (13st)
Current Weight	59.4kg (9st 5lbs)
Goal Weight	52.5kg (8st 4.5lbs)
Weight Lost	23.8kg (3st 10.5lbs)
Working to Rate of Loss	1kg per week

Dieting History

What haven’t I tried! Grapefruit; Weight Watchers; various diets from magazines; Atkins – 2 weeks only: couldn’t give up fruit and veg; Mars Bar diet - from doctor; Not strictly a diet but I did try hypnotism and followed a self-hypnotism regime for about 6 months - don’t think I lost weight! & Lots of books and things promising easy solutions.

Have you lost weight before and regained the weight?

YES!!

"I’ve been trying to lose weight since I was 10, when the school medical service told my mother I was overweight."

Childhood obesity is not a new thing. Actually that made me very conscious of my weight and was probably counter-productive.

First big weight loss in 1975. I was down to 8 and a half stone and lost a little more in ’76. The initial weight loss in 75 wasn’t due to conscious dieting but more because of things that were happening in my emotional life.

I was still 8 and half stone when I got married in 78 but then it crept up. I must have been about 10 stone by late 81 and lost a lot of weight then by dieting – back down to 8 and a half stone but by the time I was 9 months pregnant with my first child in 82 I was over 12 stone.

I lost weight after that – I was down to under 8 and a half stone- that was the Mars Bar diet! But I’ve really yo-yo’d. There are only 15 months between my second and third sons so I didn’t lose much weight after number 2. But I did after number 3 – with the help of the midwives at our cottage hospital. That was in 87/88. By early 91 I’d put weight back on again and I did Weightwatchers and came back down to about 8 and a half stone. I got to goal just before I went on holiday and never managed to take off what I put on.

In late 95 I had difficulties at work and home and I started to really binge eat and my weight just soared. My doctor referred me to the Eating Disorders Service and I went for about a year. By that time I was over 12 stone. I got comfortable with that weight. I wasn’t over-eating but nothing I seemed to do made me lose weight.

At the beginning of last year my husband was working away from home and my weight started to go up again and that is when I found WLR.

On Being Overweight…

It has been the main thing that I think about. It has only occasionally stopped me doing things – couple of times I remember not going out because I felt too fat.

"It’s stopped me enjoying being me. I am a confident successful person but I used to think I would be a completely different person, a real person, if I was thin."

That feeling stopped when I went to Eating Disorders and I became more accepting of me but I hate not being able to buy clothes and look good. I am only 5 foot and little and fat is not a good combination.

I don’t how my weight has affected people’s perceptions of me when I’ve been fat. They probably think I’m happy but I’ve never been happy fat – there is definitely always a thin person screaming to get out. My husband doesn’t nag if I’m fat. People’s perceptions are interesting. I have only lost about half a stone since the start of the year but it is only relatively recently since I got a new wardrobe and out of winter clothes that people have noticed. Their reaction is that I look good – but in many ways I felt OK before.

"You are definitely judged on how you look especially if you are a woman and I don’t like that."

I don’t get depressed going shopping now. I used to avoid it like the plague and I used to get really stressed if I had to shop for particular occasions – like weddings – in fact I’ve become a bit of a clothes shopaholic.

Motivation to Lose Weight

Health really and also ability to be part of ‘normal’ society when it comes to things like buying clothes. I had got used to being 12+ stone but I was beginning to find it was affecting my health. Some days I was struggling to walk up the slight hill from the bottom of our road. Then one day my husband said I was breathless when I was bending down gardening. I really knew then I had to do something about it. The other motivation was booking to go on an activity holiday with my teenage son last year; I knew I’d have to lose weight if I wanted to participate fully and enjoy myself.

"The excitement of being able to lose weight was a great motivator and to see the weight coming off."

It’s more difficult now and I’ve really plateau'd since the beginning of the year. It hasn’t been helped by people noticing I’ve lost weight and saying things like ‘you don’t need to lose anymore’ when I know I still have to lose just to be a recommended weight for my height – 9.5 stone was maximum when I had a health screen at work.

I have bought a bikini (first time since 82!) for hols in July and I had hoped I would be at least 8 st something to wear it. I don’t think I’m going to reach that but I do want to keep going until I am below 9 stone.

My husband was working away from home last year so it was relatively easy to keep on plan when he was away at week-ends. Now he’s away during the week and home at week-ends so I find it difficult to stick to my programme when he’s home and to be honest it’s becoming a bit of a chore. I should have got to goal by now.

Discovering Weight Loss Resources

The Open Doors section in Sunday Times – which I don’t normally read. I do normally read the diet advice in Style but had missed the previous write up in that. I read about it just at the right time.

How Weight Loss Resources Helps

I think the graphs and charts are great – I really like that immediate feedback. I’m in education so I know that feedback is important for effective learning. Unfortunately our PC is playing up at present so accessing them isn’t easy just now.

Seeing calories mount up (mayonnaise!) and decrease with exercise.

I like how you can see that different eating patterns affect your weight. I am much more aware of the effect bread etc has on me and also eating later at night.

I’m much more conscious about how little I need to eat to stay within my allowance and also about making positive, informed choices – I will have a glass of wine but knowing how many calories that is.

I haven’t used the message boards a lot but I have had support messages which is great and I like the new facility to see members and find out more about them – make’s it more personal.

"The help from WLR is good too – the helpteam are real people."

The Best of Weight Loss Resources

Food diary – I try to use every day but lately I’ve been slipping and using it less often which isn’t good. I use the charts and graphs all the time, when I can. I use the exercise diary too. That is really good – seeing how many calories you use and really linking exercise to eating.

"I enter my measurements too and wish I’d taken them when I started – it is great seeing the centimetres come off too!"

Ann's Tips for Losing Weight

I have recommended WLR to loads of folk – I don’t know if they use it. My husband has signed up but he doesn’t use it unfortunately. I always tell folk that it is great because you are in control – and you can see you are in control – it’s not someone external telling you what to eat or not to eat – it is between you and the PC.

I suppose my advice is use it, be honest, and stick with it. I’d also recommend people be realistic about goals. At Christmas I just didn’t record what I ate and because of that just stopped really being in control. I would have been better changing my goal to maintenance over that time and sticking more to the limit. The facility to change goals even for a short time does mean you can be realistic at times when you know you can’t stick to your normal limit. However, it was good after Christmas knowing that if I just went back to calorie balance I would lose weight – and I did albeit slowly!

Exercise is another tip. I went back swimming with a vengeance when I started last year and still go about 4 times a week. That has really toned me up and as well as feeling a lot healthier I look a lot better.

"Keep lots of healthy snacks on hand - I'm eating loads of strawberries at present - easy to pick at."

I have porridge every morning for breakfast with our locally milled oatmeal! A low GI food.

I am really looking forward to getting to a goal I am happy with and going on maintenance – I have NEVER managed to get to that stage with any diet I’ve been on before - I'm sure I will this time.