Rachael Lost 3 Stone Working from Home

Rachael, Age 46, Height 5'3"

	Weight	Dress Size
Start	11 stone 9 lb	14 - 16
Current	8 stone 6lb	8
Rachael's Lost	3 stone 3 lb	4 dress sizes
Time Taken	9 months

A bit about me and my lifestyle...

I work as a Senior Manager in an Irish children’s charity. I love my job but it doesn’t lend itself to a healthy lifestyle without a lot of effort.

Pre-COVID My commute took up 2 hours each day and it was too easy to not bring in lunch or to grab a takeaway on the way home. I also used my commuting time as an excuse not to exercise.

I lived alone until March 2020 when I moved back home to live with my parents during lockdown. COVID-19 has changed the way I work as now I work from home at regular hours.

Even though there are still evening meetings and weekend work, it’s all from home, so no commute and regular meal times!

How I've tried to lose weight in the past...

I tried Weight Watchers but it didn’t work at all for me.

I previously tried WLR and lost 3 stone so I knew that it did work. However, after that weight loss circumstances changed for me and I slipped back into old habits.

I believed that I’d never lose the excess weight again and could not find the motivation to start again. I’d made a few half-hearted attempts but always found excuses for giving up... like not having the time.

How my weight affected me...

I hate being overweight and remembering what it was like to be healthy previously was even harder.

I remember packing away my ‘thin’ clothes and secretly thinking that I’d never get to wear them again. I hated shopping and refused to buy clothes in bigger sizes unless absolutely necessary.

Work wear went from nice dresses to baggy tops and black trousers. Jeans and hoodies were the casual look.

I also stopped taking care of my appearance in general. I hated having my photograph taken so there aren’t that many ‘before’ pictures of me.

I found the more weight I gained the less I felt like exercising or eating healthily. I had noticed that I had started to ‘oof’ when getting up or sitting down and I was avoiding doing anything strenuous.

My motivation to lose weight...

My main motivation was to get healthy. During the first couple of months of lockdown I did the usual baking (and eating!). But I had started daily ‘mental health’ walks. This was after work (luckily I’m able to work from home) and was not only something to do but marked the end of the working day.

I didn’t start walking to lose weight but I noticed that despite the baking I wasn’t gaining weight and in fact had lost a few pounds.

So, in May, I decided to try WLR once again! My parents were aware of what I was trying to do and were really supportive. It also meant that I couldn’t really cheat!

I realised that I couldn’t use work as an excuse, living in the country meant no access to prepared food, all meals were home cooked and I had a window of opportunity to take control of my eating and exercise.

How wlr helped me reach my goal...

I love WLR because it enables me to cook my own food and calorie count it meaning that there are no special foods or forbidden foods.

The simplicity of the rule of staying within calories enables me to make choices about what I eat. When I want chocolate I can have it – as long as it’s within calories. There is no sense of cutting out anything or giving up anything, instead it becomes about choices.

WLR is up to me – it provides the tools and the structure but what I do with it is my choice.

I am responsible for my own weight, health and lifestyle. There’s no point in cheating as it’s like cheating on yourself. It’s slow and steady but it works.

Also, the fact that you can add your exercise and increase the daily allowance is a real motivator to get out and exercise.

The wlr tools that helped me the most...

I use the web app on my phone which makes it easy to use. I log pretty much everything – food and exercise.

I weigh everyday but only log my weight on the site on a Tuesday – this allows me to ignore fluctuations and see progress over time.

I do lurk on the forums – particularly when I stay the same! It really helps to see what others are experiencing and that you aren’t alone.

The thing I use most is ‘My Recipes’. Being able to add recipes is a life saver. I weigh the whole thing once it’s cooked (e.g. 2,500 grams) and then put that amount in as the number of portions (e.g. 2500 portions).

When I then add it to my diary, I can weigh what I eat and put in that as the number of portions (e.g 300 portions = 300 grams).

This means that I can eat what everyone else is eating. It also works extremely well for cakes/biscuits/desserts!

How I kept motivated...

I hit a blip after about 3 months. I think I’d lost over a stone but it wasn’t really making much difference to my clothes or shape. I stopped logging what I was eating.

After a 2 week holiday in the summer where I did a lot of walking and realised I hadn’t gained any weight I decided to go back to logging everything. And another lockdown was announced so it gave me something to do!

How my life has changed since losing weight...

Not a huge amount has changed due to the times we are in. My ‘thin’ clothes are out of storage and I have a whole new (old) wardrobe.

I feel a lot better both about myself and within myself, and have a lot more energy.

How exercise has helped my weight loss...

Walking has helped a lot. I started off slowly but now whizz around!

I try to walk 5km about 4 times a week and then slower, shorter walks on the other three days.

I’ve gotten a whole new interest in plants, flowers and birds from my walks and now hate to miss a day.

So much so, that I have the rain gear so even horrible weather can’t stop me.

My personal weight loss benefits...

I love the fact that I just feel overall better about myself – more energy, more confidence, better sleep, less out of breath and less out of sorts.

Walking has really helped my mental health during lockdown and losing weight was an added bonus outcome

My top 5 weight loss tips:

My top 3 tips for getting the most out of wlr:

• Use it everyday to log everything you eat/drink.
• Use the My Recipes and the Food Plans. Logging food gets quicker the more often you use it.
• Also, when you’re feeling stuck, look at the Goals and Results report to see what you have achieved and keep going!