Melanie's Lost 5.5 Stone and Is Happier in Her Own Skin!

Melanie, Age 41, Height 5ft 7in

Start Weight	16st 2lbs
Current Weight	10st 9lbs
Goal Weight	10st 7lbs
Weight Lost	5st 7lbs
Working to Rate of Loss	2lbs then 1lb per week
Time Taken	10 months

About Melanie

I am a Christian and am very involved with our local church, in fact I even work there! I love singing and my husband and I are in one of the music groups.

Family is a very big part of my life, I love being a mum and all the challenges that entails.

We’ve lived in the beautiful county of East Sussex for the past 11 years and I love being near the sea.

"Recently I have really enjoyed being able to go on long walks and explore the area more."

When I left school I worked in a riding stables and then a dog boarding kennel.

I was physically active and although I ate lots I never gained weight because the work was so physically demanding.

"Then I moved to office work and I guess those bacon sandwiches, Cornish pasties and cakes delivered to the office door daily were the beginning of my downfall."

Up until recently our lifestyles were fairly sedentary doing very little (if any) regular exercise.

I have been very happily married to David for almost 23 years, we have 3 children: Matthew (14) Laura (12) and Hannah (10).

I have always believed in good “old fashioned” home cooking. I always try to cook a meal from scratch most days.

Over the past few months I’ve been encouraging the children about the importance of eating healthily.

"In fact we have always eaten reasonably healthy food but on joining the site I discovered we were just eating way way too much of everything."

The family are all very supportive and encouraging, this would have been much more difficult without their support.

I’ve even managed to drag them out on quite a few walks with me.

I have two part time jobs which equate to 1 full time job, both are office based and I’m often working in the offices on my own so I’m not really affected by parties or lots of birthdays.

The key to a good day for me is planning my food and so I always take my own lunches and snacks.

What diets have you tried in the past?

I’ve always tried the “kick start” diets in the hope that once I’d started losing that would inspire me to continue, which they did for a while but nothing that I’ve been able to sustain beyond a month or two.

Please comment on your experiences of trying these diets

• Cabbage soup – I managed 3 days on this diet before getting sick of the sight of soup.
• Egg Diet – Eat eggs as the main constituent of every meal. I love eggs and managed the 3 days of this diet but really didn’t want to look at eggs for months afterwards.
• I remember trying something called the F-plan – I don’t recall much about it just that you had to eat a lot of fiber!

I’ve looked into weight watchers but never pursued it because it always seems too complicated and I couldn’t get my head around it - but that was probably just an excuse.

My mental attitude to diets was completely wrong – As soon as I told myself I couldn’t have something because I was on a diet I then began to crave it and finally give in and binge on it.
I’d end up putting on more weight that I’d lost on the diets.

Tell us how your weight has affected you

I thought I had stopped my weight gain before it had begun to really affect me but looking at my life now and comparing it to 10 months ago I can see that back then I just wasn’t able to live life to the full, everything had become an effort and just functioning was exhausting.

"I wore baggy clothes that covered everything and didn’t like looking at myself in the mirror. I didn’t want to be noticed by anybody."

My family and friends say that they would love me whatever size or shape I was and I believe them but in a way that didn’t help me because it gave me no incentive to do anything about it.

What has been your main motivation to lose weight?

I was sitting on the sofa one evening watching the Biggest Loser with a bag of crisps in one hand and a chocolate bar in the other – something about that picture didn’t seem quite right to me and then it dawned on me that some of the people on the show were actually lighter than I was and that rang huge alarm bells within me.

"It was at that point I decided I needed to do something so I decided to try to become healthy and to regain control of what I was eating."

My ongoing motivation is to achieve what just 10 months ago I thought was impossible.  

Which tools and resources on WLR do you find most valuable?

• I always use the food and exercise diaries – they are totally brilliant, I’d be lost without them.
• I love the nutrition profile and the history reports.
• I always use the message boards they are a great source of information and encouragement
• I love reading the profiles
• The goals and results page is great for keeping me on track and motivated
• I just love all of it, it has to be the best weight loss tool on the market.

Try WLR's tools for yourself

Just like Melanie, you'll find weight loss is easy with the tools in WLR. You can use the information on Weight Loss Resources to count how many calories you need to consume each day and how many you are actually eating. Try it free for 24 hours.

Have you purchased or used any products/fitness equipment that have helped to reach your goals?

I don’t actually have much, I have a couple of fitness DVD’s, an exercise ball an ab-curler and a set of dumbbells.

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

It’s not a diet it’s a way of life.

"I love that I can eat anything if I want to."

There is so much information and guidance and help on the website there is just about everything there that you need to help you succeed.

Have you struggled at points in your weight loss journey? Experienced a weight loss plateau? What has kept you motivated?

I can honestly say no – I have loved every minute of the journey so far.

I have weighed and logged everything and I have lost weight every week since joining (except the week I went on holiday and Christmas week when I over indulged!)

My motivation is that I hated being overweight and the restrictions that it was putting on me and I love being in control of what I eat. I love being able to exercise and do things with the family.

Since losing weight can you give examples of how your life has changed?

I have energy and ability to do things.  I am much happier in my own skin.

I now see shopping for clothes as something that is fun rather than necessity.

Exercise routines adopted

I do an exercise DVD every morning (for half an hour) and I walk, lots.

Because of the amount of weight I have lost I wanted to do something positive and signed up to do the London Moonwalk in May and so am walking more and more each week in preparation for that.

What do you love about your body now?

I really love that I have visible collar bones and that when I turn sideways I don’t have such a belly poking out at the front! I love that I can wear fitted clothes.

	Before	After
BMI	34.4	23.5
Body Fat	42.2%	28.7%
Chest	47 inches	40 inches
Waist	45 inches	31.5 inches
Hips	50 inches	41 inches

Melanie's hints and tips

I remember on the first day I signed up that when I looked at how long it was going to take me to lose the amount of weight I wanted to it seemed such a daunting task and I really thought I would never make it but I decided to just take one day at a time, not to try and change everything overnight and just to start and see how it went.  

The time really has flown and I keep looking at my profile and I can’t believe what a difference there is.

• I’m convinced that slow and steady is the way to do this, this is about changing my lifestyle for the better for forever it’s not a diet.
• Read the boards and the profiles – you’ll get loads of useful information from them.
• Take pictures and measurements even if you can’t look at them for a while one day you’ll be really pleased to have a record of your achievements.