Been there done it!
So I have done them all the “count all your points”, “count all your syns”, “just eat lots of meat no veg”, don’t eat at all and yes they all worked every time! That 2 and sometimes 3 stone came flying off, the lovely consultant said you don’t even need to exercise! I was strong I resisted that booze – I ordered the salad or the burger with no bun when out for dinner its not that hard!
Got to goal weight and yippee no more deprivation. Ordered the burger ate the cheese board and yes back on went the weight every time, and every time back I would go again to the points or syns or other negative label for food that has found its way into my vocabulary. This works when you are young, then when I reached late 30’s it no longer worked.
I can remember counting every syn and eating lots of “free food” as instructed and scales didn’t move, not only that, weight was now all around my stomach somewhere that despite being over weight all my life I never carried. Needless to say I have ended up 20 years later still over weight feeling guilty if I eat cake and thoroughly miserable.
Making the step to do exercise
In 2017 I thought I would try and add a bit of exercise in to see if that would help, relatively new to Ongar area I found a local Clubbercise class, run by a lady called Michelle it clashed with my weigh in night but took the plunge and decided to join.
I loved the class dancing around in the dark with glow sticks was really good fun and the other women attending were “normal” all different shapes sizes and ages and so friendly! I carried on doing a bit of dieting here and there, the class made me feel good but still no real change on the scales or to my shape. I didn’t take much notice of Michelle’s “brand” Maximizefitness that seemed to be slowly developing, all I knew was that she was lovely a good laugh so motivated and left each Tuesday night on a high.
That class became a go to every week. One week Michelle mentioned that if anyone needed support with weight management, be it to put on or lose weight then she was offering support. This sounded a good idea especially as I could no longer get to the Tuesday night weigh in group so thought I would give it a go. Being completely honest it did become a bit similar to all the other diet groups, I downloaded an app added my food instead of points or syns did the one class a week, some weeks I lost weight and some I didn’t.
Michelle remained positive with me, over a period of time I lost just over a stone. Then Coronavirus landed and we went into Lockdown and I started eating and drinking like it was Christmas- anything to get me through this difficult time. I enjoyed eating like biscuits were going out of fashion but I really missed the Clubbercise class. Michelle stayed in touch and offered the class on Facebook. I thought i would give it a go from my lounge it was great. She also suggested giving other classes a go and considering I was home a lot more and not commuting I had more time on my hands I did! I managed to add in a Friday Madness session and a strength and stretch session so 3 classes a week I was however still eating and drinking excessively but the classes were great.
Time to focus on my diet too
When Christmas came and went and the food kept getting more and more, my friends were all the same and we all justified it because after all “we are in a pandemic and we need some pleasure” problem was I was now huge again, so tired all of the time and my neck and shoulders ached from sitting at a desk all day.
I asked her If I could try and do the weight management with her again she was of course her lovely nonjudgmental self and said of course. So at the beginning of February I rejoined. I was a bit worried that it was going to be so tough especially as I had got into such bad habits but I was determined to feel better. I was also starting to get more concerned about my health Obesity being a key vulnerability with Coronavirus I started to think less about how I looked and more about being healthy and wanting to stop feeling tried all of the time.
By now Michelle’s classes had moved to zoom so I decided to join the weight management and add in more exercise. I had really liked the Strength and Stretch class on Facebook so thought I would give Piyo a try and continue with 3 classes a week. Can honestly say that combining the weight management and exercise has been brilliant.
The education about the way we think about food, it’s nutritional value and what we need to fuel our bodies has been so interesting. Allowing myself to have the things I love, balancing them each day and learning about what works for me. There have been weeks when the scales have hardly moved but Michelle is teaching me to worry less about the scales and focus more on how I feel and what the the tape measure and photographs show.
In just 9 weeks I have lost over 10 inches and so much of that from the huge belly that didn’t move before. I actually don’t know how much weight as its no longer a thing, I think its about 11 pound. In the old days I could have lost that in 3 weeks but this is slower on the scales, more manageable, no more feeling guilty. I just had 2 days of eating more than usual over Easter had all that I wanted to have. I feel so much better for it not just better about my body but a greater sense of wellbeing in every aspect.
I am no longer tired all the time, no longer aching sitting at my desk and I can feel my posture is so much better. Consistency has clearly been the key. I cant thank Michelle enough for her continuous daily support motivational quotes and realistic expectations. I have made new habits that I am so proud of.
Thank you Michelle.
Want to find out more!
Message me Michelle and let me help you achieve your goals.