my weightloss/ fitness log.

Bigfatme

Deep Breath…. Here goes!

I am a 37 year old mammy and I need to lose 2 ½ stone! I’m only 5ft 2 but weigh a whopping 11 ½ stone. There I’ve said it.. it should get easier now. Yuk! I can’t blame the babies as I had got down to 9 ½ stone after the second one but in the past year and a half have put on a whopping 2 stone. Inspired by others on this forum (especially frequent) I have decided it’s time to stop complaining and feeling sorry for myself and get off my fat arsh and do something about it!

I have had a gym assessment (not half as embarrassing as I thought it would be) and workout plan set out. Realistically I can probably only get to the gym twice a week max but the old rusty exercise bike has been taken in from the shed. I have also “ordered” a real bike for Christmas/ birthday.

I won’t post up my diet (yet) as I know exactly where I’m going wrong i.e I cannot leave a shop without buying a bag of crisps and I am a serial snacker.
I eat a lot which also includes a lot of fruit which I suppose isn’t a bad thing. I don’t tend to overdo the chocolate/ biscuits thing and actually tend not to have them in the house. It really is the crisps and continuous snacking when the kids have gone to bed… cereal/ toast/ yogurts etc. In the past couple of years the extent of my exercise has been the short walk to and from the car. If things don’t go according to my plan I’ll post up my food intake then to see where I’m going wrong.

So I’ve some questions for you experienced gym bunnies/ weight loss experts.

1.My exercise bike is pretty old and the tension is really hard to control… it’s either really loose or really tight… I pretty much have to leave it at the same setting throughout. What’s the best approach… longer time and faster at low tension?

2. Cycling was my “thing” when I was younger (yes I was a fit chick once!) and I know from experience that my legs and bum will tone up fairly quickly but really my problem is my belly! I’ve always had a bit of a belly, never flat tummed even when I was thin but it is out of control now!
The gym guy did not include any abs in my workout plan but said we would add them in later…. surely I should be doing something?!

3. I did injure my knee once and I do have some dodgy joints.. advice for injury prevention?

So far I’m on day 3, the first night I did 12 mins on the bike (fairly fast- sweat breaking pace) and on the second I did 15 mins. It has to be night otherwise I’ve kids climbing all over me. I’ve also done spontaneous bursts of dancing with the kids of about 5- 10 minutes each:D . I plan to get to the gym tomorrow morning and do my full workout.

I’ve been good with the snacking, the only food I’ve had after 6pm is an apple and a low fat yogurt. I’ve been drinking lots of water.



My promises

1. I will not buy crisps every time I go to the shop. Keep repeating to self “ I hate crisps, they make me sick” and I will eventually believe it.
2. I will do some exercise every day even if it’s only 10 mins on the bike.
3. Lots of dancing with the kids!
4. I will eat everything I want on Christmas day and not feel bad about it but I will return to diet on St Stephen’s day.

Now a serious question. When you guys see a fat auld one in the gym do you:

a)Laugh and think “look at the state of that, I give her one week and we’ll never see her again”
b)Think “ fair play to her for trying I hope she does well”.

Honest answers please.

Thanks for reading this epic. I’m not expecting regular feedback but the occasional pat on the back might help!

PS. I may as well own up to this one now... the gym assessment actually took place a few months ago so those of you who would have thought (a) to the above question would have been right

justsomebloke

truthfully I would generally go with A) but after a couple of weeks in the gym then it would generally be , but I don't discriminate I think about everyone one like that.
Ok the key it losing weight is diet, yes exercise will help but your diet is going to be where the big weight loss will come from, so if you hae any questions on your diet and what you should include and get rid of ask, generally put up what your currecnt diet is.
Other then that good luck but remember you are have to be doing this for yourself so don't worry if other people are reading your journal or not

Frequent

The best of luck to you!

Right now you are 161 lbs, and the correct weight range for your height is between 101 and 136 lbs. While you are overweight, you are definitely not big and fat. So pick your ideal weight somewhere in there (taking your frame into consideration) and work towards it! You can definitely do it, there is nothing to stop you. Let's say you've got three stone to lose - if you work on losing it at 1lb a week, by this time next year you will be slim and happy!

The main thing definitely is diet - I have lost a stone in under a month with very little exercise. Exercise (beyond walking) is something I intend to introduce on a regular basis after I've shifted a bit more. But the exercise will get you all nicely toned. The main thing is - don't give up.

I can't see that your mantra regarding crisps is going to work - you're lying to yourself! There will come a time when a packet of crisps occasionally will have no impact on your weight, but that time is not right now. If you are desperate for them, you can get Treble Crunch which are 99calories a bag, but only have them once a week, after you've had all your main meals, as you don't want to be encouraging your palate to eat junk when you're hungry.

Do you have an idea of a good diet for yourself?

Bigfatme

Thanks for the feedback jsb and frequent.

Logging in again to give myself a big pat on the back! nearly one week in and not one crisp has been eaten! i'll weigh myself in the morning but I expect to have lost 3-4 lbs. I can actually feel a difference already!

So foodwise I have been very good indeed. Ok I haven't been keeping a diary as I'm trying to just stick to the meals I cook for the family without analysing it all too much! Though I can be (used to be) a pig myself I do actually really take care of what the kids eat. If and when that stops working I will start a food diary to see what I can change. With the regard to the crisps I truly do have to give them up altogether. This may sound stupid but it really is like an addiction to me, like if I eat one bag of crisps I'll be "back on the crisps again" and in no time at all I'll be scoffing whole tubes of pringles! So crisps of any variety are strictly off limits!

Exercise hasn't been quite so good. My one chance of getting to the gym was Saturday morning and off I went bright and early and determined, thinking I'd get an hours workout done before heading in to town. It was closed!
The best I could do was to park at the furthest end of the furthest car park and keep a good spring in my step , returning to the car a couple of times to drop off shopping even when I didn't really need to.
I do have some dodgy joints, have had since my teens and unfortunately the Saturday all day long shopping expedition left me with a very sore lower back and hip. So I didn't do any extra exercise on Sunday, just some stretches. Monday was a long exhausting work day and by the time the kids went to bed I just flopped!
I'll be back in action and on the bike tonight though.

Psychologically though something has changed. Instead of feeling depressed walking past trendy clothes shops I found myself thinking "in a few months I'll be able to try on those jeans etc without getting depressed" instead of my ususal mopey " oh I'm so fat I can't wear those" thoughts.

So all in all I'm very pleased with myself. Exercise could be better but the effect the Saturday shopping spree had on my joints has made me more determined to get into shape.

I'll update tomorrow with my weight result.

Frequent

No matter what the scales say tomorrow, you have had a brilliant first week and are truly being good to yourself. The best of luck with the weigh-in - but more importantly, congratulations on the shift in your mindset. I can confirm that if you stick at it, the sense of expectation that you're feeling won't wear off. Let us know how you get on!

Bigfatme

Hooray for me!

I lost 3.5lbs in my first week and I hope to have lost another 3 lbs this week (weigh on Wednesday).

There's been plenty of tempatation but you know what I haven't even really been tempted. I really don't know what it is this time, maybe it's the fact that I've written it on here but something has really clicked and I truly believe it's going to work.
Exercise wise I could be doing a lot better but hubby is so impressed with me that we've agreed that after Christmas we'll get some kind of routine going together like we did in the old pre marriage and babies days! (how romantic:p ). He did a lot of weights at one stage but they're all hidden away in the shed now so they may get resurrected.

Weight update to follow on Wednesday.

Frequent

Congratulations! Good for you!