The right road that is.
It's been a funny year has 2008. Stuck at over 17st for a while and then gained a little more weight which was incredibly depressing. By summer I was getting desperate and needed some kind of help. The water retention was back with a vengeance.
I went to see the doctor before we went on holiday and was given some leg hugging socks to wear to combat it but that didn't help. They were very difficult to put on and squeezed my legs from toe to knee but at the point where the socks ended the swelling began and the result was that the edges of the socks cut deep into my legs and felt like they were cutting off my circulation. After that first day, with deep, blue ridges below my knees and red, swollen knees, I didn't wear them again.
However, before Emma and I went to stay in the caravan I was prescribed a course of tablets by the doctor and also bought some oil to massage into my legs.
We walked quite a lot during those weeks, into Heysham and then into Morecambe. Or we walked along the prom from one end to the other, just enjoying the fresh air. I think that did me a lot of good. One day we even went for an exploring walk and ended up miles from the campsite when the heavens opened and it bucketed down. When we found civilisation we took refuge in a pub porch and phoned a taxi. I determined to walk every day when we got home,whatever the weather.
I also have a monthly apppointment with the nurse at the surgery to be weighed. That is encouraging as it gives me a monthly goal. I was given targets to aim for but haven't lost as much as the target each month, but I have actually been losing which is better than I was doing before.
The thing which seems to have made it easier is that I am now weighing myself in kilos rather than stones and pounds. I used to look at each half stone as a target point and get demoralised when I didn't reach it. Now I set each challenge as a kilo and when I see it go down from 6 to 5 to 4 to 3 I feel encouraged. The scales weigh in tenths of a kilo so I feel like I have acheived something as each tenth of a kilo drops away.
This morning I am 103.1Kg which is equivalent to about 16 stones 3lb, or about a stone and a half less than I was around this time last year. It may not seem like much but as I had gained some too it's not bad. I'm hoping to be 102Kg by the time I go to get weighed next Thursday.
Unfortunately with the weather being bad, it's ice and snow out there, I haven't been going for walks and before Christmas I twisted my knee so I am nowhere near as fit as I could be. Hopefully that will change when the weather improves.
One good think is that the water retention seems to be under control. I don't know if it's the massage oil but it does seem better when I use it, so I'll have toremember to replace that when I run out.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
It fits! It fits!
I was sorting through some clothes and had automatically put aside a sweatshirt which I thought was still too small for me - or to be more accurate that I was still too big for it. I have a pile of things which currently fit and I have given away to charity all those things which are now too big - because I am determined that I will not get to the size again where I need them.
Then I was soooooo cold and realised I had no warm jumper because all the warm things were big things and I had given them away. I looked at the sweatshirt and wondered how tight it would be and if I'd be able to cope - I tried it on and was pleasantly surprised to find that it fits! It now doesn't seem impossible that the other smaller things will not be long before they too fit me. That's given me a bit of a boost.
Then I was soooooo cold and realised I had no warm jumper because all the warm things were big things and I had given them away. I looked at the sweatshirt and wondered how tight it would be and if I'd be able to cope - I tried it on and was pleasantly surprised to find that it fits! It now doesn't seem impossible that the other smaller things will not be long before they too fit me. That's given me a bit of a boost.
Comfort Eating is Uncomfortable!
I was doing really well last month and on target to have reached 17 stone by the 1st March - so what went wrong?
Comfort eating is what. Why is it that food seems to be such a comfort and so soothing when you are feeling bitterly miserable? Then of course you get weighed and find you've gained weight and end up even more miserable! Not much comfort in that.
A difficult fortnight at the end of February beginning of March has been a set back to my diet but I think I'm getting back on track now and hopefully can now aim for the 17 stone target for the end of March. One hitch does not have to mean the whole thing is a disaster. I shall rise above this and ultimately triumph.
Comfort eating is what. Why is it that food seems to be such a comfort and so soothing when you are feeling bitterly miserable? Then of course you get weighed and find you've gained weight and end up even more miserable! Not much comfort in that.
A difficult fortnight at the end of February beginning of March has been a set back to my diet but I think I'm getting back on track now and hopefully can now aim for the 17 stone target for the end of March. One hitch does not have to mean the whole thing is a disaster. I shall rise above this and ultimately triumph.
Friday, February 1, 2008
And so February begins
And now here I am at the beginning of February and I've lost another 5lb+ and weigh in at 17 stone 5lb. I have now got hope that I can reach 15 stone by this summer which will be great. It should make a big difference to how much I am able to do. If we get some nice weather I should be able to go for walks. It had been very difficult walking as my knees would hurt and I'd get cramps and pains down my shins. Since losing some weight that has eased off and I am more active even though I'm still dramatically overweight.
If I can make it to 15 stone for this summer I can actually forsee getting down to 12 and a half stone for next Christmas and then maybe 10 stone for the following summer.
I know at one time I actually weighed 8 and a half stone and I can remember the shock and horror when I realised I'd gone up to 12 and a half. How that managed to get up to 15 I do not know, but I remember I was 15 stone when I met Peter and somehow in the years since then I gained over 5 more stones!
Now the idea of ever getting back to 8 and a half stone seems an impossible dream, especially as I will have lots of loose skin which is bound to weigh heavy too - but if I set myself reachable targets I really think I can get there and watching it go down is so encouraging.
I've set myself mini goals and by the end of February I want to be no more than 17 stone. If I can then lose half a stone a month I can be at 15 stone by the end of June which means I could come back from the summer weighing 14 stone. That gives me a bit of lee-way for Christmas.
Losing is good
New Beginnings
For years I have been trying to lose weight one way or another but getting nowhere fast. I'd tried calorie counting, gimmicky ideas, smaller portions, Paul McKenna - very effective in the short term. But I always seemed to regain everything I lost and then some. At times I wondered if I'd ever get slim again and year after year passed with me yo-yo-ing up and down or giving it up as a bad job. But I hate being fat.
Last Summer I was determined that this could not go on and when I met someone in Blackburn selling Herbalife I thought it was my cue to try again. I knew Herbalife worked, although it was expensive.
As Em also wanted to lose some weight we could support each other during our summer stay in the caravan, with no-one else around to tempt us. We could have our Herbalife for 2 meals a day and that should give us both a kick start during the month of August.
At the beginning of August I weighed in at over 20 stone which for my height of 5'2" was absolutely ludicrous. I knew it was affecting my health. My blood pressure was up and I'd been put on medication but also now detected as diabetic, and on top of that my ankles were permanently swollen and my knees creaked. Everything I did was an effort and I was constantly tired.
Summer Start
It was a bit of a struggle for the first couple of days but then we quickly fell into it, milk shake for breakfast and one for lunch with a cooked meal or a visit to a cafe for tea. The only time we deviated from that was when we went up to Scotland with Geoff and Myrra and for a couple of days we had B&B.
At the end of the summer we were both chuffed to bits to discover we'd lost weight and determined to stick with it once we were home.
The New Routine
Back at home it proved easier to have the milkshake for breakfast and tea because Em couldn't take one to school but she could have her main meal at lunchtime at school so I did it the same way round too.
Melaleuca do a similar meal replacement shake so I began to get those instead as I do a regular monthly order anyway. Unfortunately they only do one flavour, vanilla, but it does actually taste better to me and they have bars too which adds variety. Some of the products are geared up to activating metabolism.
Christmas was a bit of a set back but we didn't go too mad with the eating (no cake, no pudding or anything) so the end of year weigh in wasn't too dreadful. I weighed in at just over 17stone 10lb which was over all a loss of about two and a half stone since the summer. It may not have gone very quickly but at least it has been going down, slowly but steadily.
For years I have been trying to lose weight one way or another but getting nowhere fast. I'd tried calorie counting, gimmicky ideas, smaller portions, Paul McKenna - very effective in the short term. But I always seemed to regain everything I lost and then some. At times I wondered if I'd ever get slim again and year after year passed with me yo-yo-ing up and down or giving it up as a bad job. But I hate being fat.
Last Summer I was determined that this could not go on and when I met someone in Blackburn selling Herbalife I thought it was my cue to try again. I knew Herbalife worked, although it was expensive.
As Em also wanted to lose some weight we could support each other during our summer stay in the caravan, with no-one else around to tempt us. We could have our Herbalife for 2 meals a day and that should give us both a kick start during the month of August.
At the beginning of August I weighed in at over 20 stone which for my height of 5'2" was absolutely ludicrous. I knew it was affecting my health. My blood pressure was up and I'd been put on medication but also now detected as diabetic, and on top of that my ankles were permanently swollen and my knees creaked. Everything I did was an effort and I was constantly tired.
Summer Start
It was a bit of a struggle for the first couple of days but then we quickly fell into it, milk shake for breakfast and one for lunch with a cooked meal or a visit to a cafe for tea. The only time we deviated from that was when we went up to Scotland with Geoff and Myrra and for a couple of days we had B&B.
At the end of the summer we were both chuffed to bits to discover we'd lost weight and determined to stick with it once we were home.
The New Routine
Back at home it proved easier to have the milkshake for breakfast and tea because Em couldn't take one to school but she could have her main meal at lunchtime at school so I did it the same way round too.
Melaleuca do a similar meal replacement shake so I began to get those instead as I do a regular monthly order anyway. Unfortunately they only do one flavour, vanilla, but it does actually taste better to me and they have bars too which adds variety. Some of the products are geared up to activating metabolism.
Christmas was a bit of a set back but we didn't go too mad with the eating (no cake, no pudding or anything) so the end of year weigh in wasn't too dreadful. I weighed in at just over 17stone 10lb which was over all a loss of about two and a half stone since the summer. It may not have gone very quickly but at least it has been going down, slowly but steadily.
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