The Penny Finally Dropped and Trudi Lost 4 Stone

The Penny Finally Dropped and Trudi Lost 4 Stone

WLR Member Classybyrd, Age 47, Height 5ft 6in
  Start Current
Weight 14st 4 10st 4
BMI 31.6 23.6
Body Fat 32.7% 26.7%
Dress Size 22 12 - WOW!
Bust 44" 40.5"
Waist 40" 35.5"
Hips 42.5" 39"

I have worked at WLR on and off for around 10 years. For the majority of that time I have been overweight – in varying degrees.

You’d have thought that working for a weight loss company would have made it easy to lose weight wouldn’t you?

I always knew what I needed to do but the mountain always looked too high to climb. How could I not know what to do? I worked at WLR!

I wanted to lose the weight now, overnight, by next week at the latest! Even though I knew, in my heart of hearts, that really wasn’t possible.

I didn’t want to have to work hard for it. After all, it hadn’t been hard to put it on in the first place!

"I used to joke that I needed to lose the baby weight from having my daughter... She’s 17!"

All of this just proved my head just wasn’t in the right place. But how do you make the changes needed when, ultimately, you’re just too lazy?

How has being overweight affected your life?

To be honest, I didn’t think it did at the time. It’s only with hindsight that I realise the affects it had on me.

I hated having my photo taken when I was out. Mainly because, when I was getting ready to go out, I had in my mind an image of how I looked. The photos never looked the same.

They always had some large woman in them that had taken my place. She was always pulling funny faces to escape the fact that she was large!

My husband would tell me I looked good but the pictures told me another story.

But that’s the problem with loved ones isn’t it? Because they love you, in their eyes you do look good. It’s a double edged sword that helps you keep deluding yourself that you don’t need to lose weight.

"But the fact that I wouldn’t get naked in front of my husband should have rung alarm bells."

My family also told me I looked nice when I made an effort with my hair and make up etc. God love ‘em.

I love shopping (I am a woman after all).

"I would always come home after a shopping trip feeling cheated. The clothes I wanted to be able to wear didn’t look good on me." 

I would always have to settle for something that I considered a little frumpy.

I lost confidence in myself and my abilities. That still isn’t back to where it should be but I am working on it. My self esteem was rock bottom and I felt like a fraud. I worked for a weight loss company but couldn’t put my money where my mouth was!

I got out of breath pretty easily too. I only had to walk up the stairs and I was panting.

"Even brushing my teeth was a nasty experience. The motion of brushing made my tummy sway backwards and forwards – I hated it so much that I bought an electric toothbrush."

What had you tried before?

I have tried all the usual suspects except for Slimming World and Weight Watchers. I don’t really know why I hadn’t tried those. I did try Atkins, starving myself, cutting out meals, following diet plans from magazines, meal replacement shakes.

I even became a rep for a meal replacement company for a short time! But I never tried WLR.

Atkins was probably the most successful for me. I didn’t find cutting carbs too much of an issue and I love meat. I lost 3 stone in four months on that but, of course, as soon as I started eating normally my weight started creeping back up.

What was your motivation to lose weight?

Pokémon Go was at its most popular and my girls were playing it. I wanted to know what it was all about.

I downloaded it and started playing. It wasn’t long before I was hooked and started walking to catch the critters.

Then I was lent a FitBit and continued with the walking. I probably started with about 1k a night but before I knew it I was doing 3, 4, 5k.

Some of my colleagues had FitBits. So we started taking part in the challenges. I like to win so this was perfect for me. If I couldn’t get out and walk, I would walk on my treadmill. I would get the laptop set up with an episode of Arrow and walk watching that.

The weight started to come off slowly. I wasn’t weighing myself – goodness no! But I noticed my clothes getting looser. I think that fact, coupled with finally realising I needed to do something sensible with my weight started me using the food diary on WLR.

WLR and Fitbit Sync

"Seeing results spurred me on. Then, joy of joys, WLR launched FitBit integration. It was brilliant!"

I could do the walking and FitBit would tell WLR so I got extra calories to play with. I could input my food and weight into WLR and it would tell FitBit. Perfection! I loved seeing the stats and information stacking up.

The weight really started to come off. By Christmas, instead of wearing a size 22, I bought a size 14 dress for the Christmas party – I felt AWESOME!

How has WLR helped?

Being able to see what I was eating was a real eye opener. My portions were massive and the food not that healthy. I had been kidding myself about both of those things.

Creating recipes for the foods I ate regularly made logging even quicker and I loved having the web app on my phone. I could log everywhere. I logged religiously. Even now, I log my food, drink and exercise and record my weight.

"I love lattes but was drinking them with full fat milk. Seeing my calorie allowance slip away because of those lattes was heartbreaking."

I swapped full fat for skinny. That was a bit better. Then I started going for a walk if I wanted one. I would walk and earn the extra calories and then treat myself to a lovely skinny latte.

The Walk the Weight Off challenge really got me going too. I loved getting the icons for the places I had virtually visited.

Changes in your life

It wasn’t long before my sister said that I was walking so much I could probably walk the Park Run. She said,

‘It’s okay, you can walk it.’

She fibbed. She had no intention of letting me walk the whole thing and had me running and walking. 

Trudi at the end of her 1st Park Run

"It took me 49 minutes to complete it and I cried as I ran over the finish line. "

(Not sure if that was relief that it was over or the pain I felt in my whole body!)

But, thanks to her, I can now run the whole thing and do it in 35 minutes and 16 seconds. Each week I try to beat last week’s time. 35.16 was last week’s time. Hopefully, by the time you read this, my time will be even better.

If you’d said to me a year ago that I would walk 5k, let alone run it, I would have laughed at you. This body was not built for running.

I love walking and my dog, Dave, also loves that I love walking!

In May this year, I had the most amazing weekend of my life. I, Trudi,did the Action Challenge London to Brighton Walk with a colleague. We did it over two days and raised over £1400 for Muscular Dystrophy UK.

Trudi at the London to Brighton Finish Line

"The couch potato, who would happily tuck into a family bag of peanut M&Ms every night, walked 100k and loved it!"

I couldn’t have done it without the encouragement of my family, friends, Facebook friends and my colleagues. But I’m going to do it again next year. It took me 32 hours this year, I want to do it in 27!

My family have been amazing throughout my journey. Both sisters have encouraged me endlessly. Especially when they clear out their wardrobes and give me beautiful size 12 clothes!

High and lows

Trudi's Amazing Weight Loss Graph

Sometimes the weight loss has been easy and other times incredibly difficult. I have learned to take the rough with the smooth and that, sometimes, life gets in the way.

I won’t lie and say that there haven’t been times when I have wanted to give up and go back to the old me. Because there totally has. Lots of them. But I’m not going back to that person. I don’t particularly like her. I like the new me.

"Each stone threshold filled me with pride and each time I had to replace my wardrobe made me excited."

I am now more or less at my goal weight. I weigh the same now as I did at 18. How cool is that?

What I do know is that I will have to keep a close eye on myself going forward. I never want to be the size I was again and I’m not going to be.

I feel more confident and good about myself. I feel healthier and fitter. What I wasn’t prepared for was the baggy belly button and wrinkles. When my face was fuller, it hid them and my belly button was way too stretched to be baggy.

I know my skin will shrink over time and it’s not a huge amount of skin either. But, I had in my mind what I would look like when I got to goal and the reality isn’t quite the same.

That said, I’m still glad I have shed 4 stone. I look great in clothes and have a huge sense of pride in myself.

Trudi Looking Awesome

Trudi’s tips

  • Log everything and don’t lie to yourself
  • If you don’t have enough calories left for the treat you want, walk and earn them
  • Take each day as it comes. If it’s a bad day, it’s okay. Tomorrow is another day and just make sure it’s not a bad day.

"My favourite saying is: If you drop your phone on the floor and crack the screen, you don’t then smash up the phone – apply that to your weight loss"

  • Life gets in the way sometimes. We have events to celebrate, holidays to enjoy, nights out for fun. Just because you are counting calories doesn’t mean they have to go on hold. Earn some extra calories by getting moving, be as careful as you can without being a party pooper and get straight back on it the very next day. This is a lifestyle change, not a diet.
  • I weigh myself daily but, to begin with, I couldn’t handle the fluctuations from day to day and would get upset. Now I understand them and have got used to them but weighing daily helps keep me focussed.
  • Finally, don't leave it as long as I did, holding out for a miracle 'cure'. It ain't gonna happen. Use WLR to really understand what and why you are eating and start making some small changes - they will add up to stones lost!

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 a free trial and see for yourself.

Take our FREE trial »

* 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.

Lose a Stone for Christmas Challenge

If you enjoyed this article, try our newsletter. It's free.

Receive the latest on what works for weight loss straight to your inbox. We won't share your email address. Privacy policy

Sponsored