Since January 2013, I have lost 2st 9 and a half lbs and all the time I get questions about how I did it and whether I feel confident in myself now, so I thought I would write a blog post about it instead of going over and over it to people! :)
Ok, so what made you want to lose weight?
Basically, I didn't particularly like the way I looked.. I have never been 100% bothered, because I just got on with it, but realistically, I would've liked to be a bit smaller. But I got to the point where I was completely sick of being the size i was. I was sick of trying things on and having to buy the size up. I was sick of feeling like people were looking at me for the wrong reasons.
What diet do you do?
I do the diet 'Slimming World' on the Extra Easy plan. When I mention the fact I do Slimming World a lot of people ask me what it is, and all I can really describe it as is a diet plan, but a lot less strict. First of all, Slimming World is a CLUB. To obtain the books (which tell you the diet plan) you have to join find your nearest club and join up.
Why do you do Slimming World?
My Grandma had been doing Slimming World, and losing weight, which I thought was amazing, so when she had finished, she let me borrow her books. At first I read through the book and didn't understand it but after sticking by it and not giving in, it's really easy.
What do you have to do?
You have a thing called 'syns', which is bad things, and you have 'free foods' which are fine to eat. Every single food comes under one of these categories. For example, a lot of meats are free foods, but things like chocolate are syns. Everyday you have to eat 5-15 syns, and a healthy option A and B. I don't want to give too much away, as to gain the full plan, you will need to sign up to Slimming World.
Where do you get the motivation?
I have tried SO many diets over the past few years, and none of them worked, and if they did, I would just get bored and give up. But because I wanted to lose the weight, and was sick of looking the way I was, I found a lot of motivation. To be honest, motivation is all in your mind and if you want to do something bad enough, you will. I think that's why none of my other diets worked, because I didn't want it bad enough. And honestly, once you lose your first 1-2lbs, you stick to it because you want to see how much more you can do!
Do you excersize?
Yes and no. I used to go to the gym for 1 hour every week, not a lot, I know, but it seemed to work. But after a while I didn't want to do that anymore and I lost all motivation in going to the gym, and my diet still seemed to work without the excersize (just not as well). But I guess walking around school everyday is enough excersize just to lose little bits. Some nights I do go on my excersize bike, and set myself small goals of like 300 calories. And recently (in the past 3 days), I have started to jog. I don't do huge runs, but I do 1-3 mile every now and then. I really hope that's worth it when it comes to my weigh in!
How much do you weigh?
When people ask me this and I reply with "I have no idea", most the time they think I'm just ashamed to tell them my weight, but seriously, I have no idea. I weigh myself every Saturday on Wii Fit, and just look at the 'change' section where it tells you how much you've lost/put on. I think if I knew my weight it would just depress me, haha!
I don't want to do Slimming World, but want to lose weight, any tips?
I don't have many tips, because diets I have done in the past using 'tips' have just failed, but I have learnt to cut down on bread, and things which contain bread, cut down on sauces (it's better to have just 1table spoon of mayo/ketchup etc than a huge dollop), cut down on sugary items, and cut down on sausages. Those things happen to make you put a lot of weight on.
Do you feel more confident in yourself?
I still wouldn't say I am 100% confident in myself, but I am a LOT more confident. Especially in front of people who know me and know what I used to look like. Although, it does feel nice for people who don't know me to see me as more normal than before. Compliments from people telling me, "you look amazing", "you must feel so good!" really do help me, which boosts my confidence a little bit more. To be honest, I do notice a bit more self confidence in myself, as I am starting to wear clothes I wouldn't even dream of wearing before, for example, yesterday for 6th form I wore a dress, tights and a blazer, which I would've NEVER worn before my diet!!
Another thing which feels REALLY good, is when people from school etc who used to make me feel uncomfortable, ask me how I lost my weight, or tell me I'm doing well and I just think, "ha".
I hope I answered all of your questions, if not, don't hesitate to ask, I don't bite (unless you're one of the people who used to make me feel unconfident, then ha ;P)
Beth - mwah x
