Sunday 26 July 2015

How To Lose Weight: From FatBat to FitBit

Here's the thing about losing weight - you want it gone NOW, or by next Saturday at the latest. But that's just not going to happen, unless you're aiming to lose half a pound, in which case you might just be OK.

I was exactly the same, but as soon as I accepted that the weight had taken years to pile on and wasn't going to be in any rush to leave, I suddenly found that I could get on with it. And you know what? I haven't needed to lose the whole lot anyway to feel better in myself and about myself. In fact, after two stone, people started to notice and I could get into much smaller clothes again (I'm comfortably in a 16 now and can just about squeeze into 14 as long as I don't need to eat, sit or breathe <g> - down from a 22!!!). All good stuff!

If all you want is to look good in that little black dress again, you'll be searching for a quick fix - and they really don't exist. I've tried all kinds of things and none of them work, so save your dosh. If you look at losing weight as being a programme to get you HEALTHIER though, you'll tackle it very differently. So look to be healthy, which will happily also make you look gorgeous eventually.

There's a really simple formula to losing weight. Eat less than you burn off and you will lose weight. Simples. So, EAT LESS AND MOVE MORE. More specifically, eat less in quantity AND try to cut out the cack we all consume. I have ditched all the processed sugar and processed carbs. I'm eating lots of salad and fruit. I try to ensure that my diet is balanced, so I eat a lot of tuna, salmon, chicken and eggs to ensure I'm getting essential protein and fats. I also take a multi vitamin and an Actimel or Yakult, just to be certain that I'm not missing anything. I dumped cordials too and now drink a lot of water. And I drink Ovaltine Options. Those have been a real life-saver - they tick my sweet tooth box and they're quite filling too.

Yes, it's boring, but I feel so much better for it.

I'm finding the food side of things perfectly manageable and I haven't really felt hungry. If I do feel hungry, I go with it and get something healthy to eat. We've had two family birthdays this month and so I've had cake. That was fine. I got straight back on with the diet afterwards. No problem. In fact, once a week I eat a bit more because it's supposed to give the metabolism a bit of a kick.

I needed to lose five stone and so I embarked on my weight loss mission on 1 February 2015 - five months ago. I joined a gym and did lots of exercise, much of which I hated. I've managed to tear something or other that joins my sternum to my ribs while I did some weights, and I have no idea what I've done to a tendon in my thigh, but it bloody hurts. So, I cancelled the gym membership and invested in a FitBit and I have lost as much weight using this as I ever did at the gym.

There are lots of things out there like the FitBit, but that's the one I have and so it's the one I'll tell you about. Specifically, I have the FitBit Flex. The FitBit is a little bracelet you wear that monitors your movement. It counts the number of steps you do in a day and it's surprisingly addictive. I make sure I do at least 12,000 steps a day (10k is what's suggested). This is making me fitter, building muscle and helping me to lose the weight. It's GREAT and it's EASY to do. You can challenge your friends via FitBit too, so that's quite fun if, like me, you CANNOT lose... EVER :D

You can record the food you've consumed on FitBit too, so you can see when you've messed up and you can get out and do some extra walking. You'll often find me pounding the streets late at night desperately trying to burn off any excess calories. The neighbours must think I'm bonkers. Well OK, they already think that, this just confirms their suspicions.

I lost the first stone really quickly. It melted away in about three weeks. The second stone took longer and the third one has been a devil to shift, but I'm nearly there - just two pounds to go. I expect the fourth and fifth stones will be harder still, but I'm up for the challenge. It really helps that I am already feeling so much better about myself - and I look a LOT better too. You really don't need to lose all the weight to feel very much better about yourself, so it doesn't matter if it takes me another six months to lose the next two stone. I want to do it safely and in a way that I will be able to keep it off.

I set myself lots of little targets rather than focussing on the end game. In two pounds, I will have lost three stone. Five pounds after that, I will be 10-stone-something. OK, it'll be 10 stone 13lbs, but a win's a win, right? Three pounds after that, I'll have lost as much weight as my little boy weighs!!! You see? Lots of little targets.

Here are the obligatory then and now pics...




Not perfect, but a hell of a lot better. I even have ankles!


So, just do it. Want to be HEALTHIER. Forget the quick fixes. Every step you take makes you a teeny bit fitter. Every pound you lose makes you a little bit healthier. A pound is actually quite a lot. Go and look at a bag of sugar. That'll weigh about two pounds. See? It's quite a lot, isn't it?

Go for it!

Jane x

PS. Just to be clear, I'm not in any way medically trained and nor am I a nutritionist. I'm just a FatBat who's hoping to become a FitBit ;)

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