teach

Ushas,
Wow 3 and a half stone. That is fab, keep at it. I love seeing people I haven't seen for ages too. I hadn't seen my mum for aout 8 weeks because we were away then she was away, her reaction was amazing. It does give you a massive boost. Keep at it, only a few to go. Good luck.
Sarah

teach

Sounds like you are doing great keep at it.
Sarah

Ushas

I haven't seen my mum for about 18 months. Lol. That's what keeps me on the straight and narrow, when I feel like over indulging. I cannot wait to walk through those gates at Perth airport and see the look on my mum and dad's faces.
Hubby was over there a few weeks and warned them they may not actually recognise me!

wombat42

Keep up the good work. We don't want any more fat women immigrating to O Z.

anya4oz

Fat women are far better to have around than fat-headed men.

Anya.

scanny

Fantastic!! Great admiration, I know how hard it is-let myself slip with mine after 3 yrs-regretting it now. Keep up the good work your a star- little in size now but I bet your glowing brighter than ever. I'd be interested to know about some of the things that have made such a difference to your life since losing weight. A simple one of mine was being able to dry my bits without having to cock my leg up on the side of the bath to reach them. (Gross image but true). Sort of things that people don't understand cause you distress when your big. Often it is those simple things that make you feel so much better when your slim. Don't let anyone ever say it's all about vanity-they should live the big life for a week. Keep it up (not the leg!) Scanny.

markeh

Hiya teach,

I lost 5 stone for my medical.

Tried normal dieting and found that the atkins was ok for me.
If I was hungry, meat or cheese!
Ok, you do feel tired and sleep dosen't help. You just lack the get up & go.

On the toilet front I found that codliver oil tablets helps to keep things moving!!!
Corn on the cob has a similar affect but with gusto
(corn is a high carbohydrates before you say it, but it takes the express elevator!)


Atkins seams tgo work for men more than women.

Bye
Mark

Ushas

One of the things for me is the fact that my confidence is soaring.
Hubby bought me a WHSmith experience for Xmas a couple of years ago. I kept putting off going. I was excited about it but hate being in situations where I am with strangers (especially without someone to cling to). It was a fab experience...a day with Antony Worral Thompson in his restaurant. He did a demo and then we had a meal. He was lovely and there were about 40 people there all up.
Thing is... normally I'd have stood in a corner praying no one noticed me wondering how fat I looked in whatever 'fat' outfil I'd managed to squeeze into.
Not once the whole day did I feel self-conscious. In fact I didn't even realise how much I was enjoying myself chatting to people and such until we were having the meal. The man opposite me said something about phones and mobiles and I was extolling the virtues of texting as I HATE talking to people on the phone (apart from my mum and dad and best friend). He laughed and said yeah right. And this prompted a discussion on how I hated talking to strangers. It wasn't until He laughed and said 'but you haven't shut up since you got here...' (Said in the nicest possible way) that I realised what a fantastic time I was having.
I don't really remember ever feeling that amazing. I grinned from ear to ear all the way home.

scanny

Keep that smile-you've earned it. I was a bit different, even though I felt self-concious it didn't stop me chatting. Problem was I used to over compensate and ended up being the loud mouth. I sometimes used to ask freinds and family if I'd made a fool of myself and they would always say no but I was convinced they were just being kind. In actual fact they weren't lying-all the insecurities were my own. I'd lay in bed relive situations and feel so totally embarrased I'd cry. There are lots of people out there who don't care what size you are and there are some who are so jealous of the nice personality you've got they can only attack you about your size. Eventually I realised this and some of the pressure to become slim eased. It was then that I found the strength to do it for me and no-one else. Failure wasn't a pressure because I wasn't letting anyone else down but me and if I went off the rails abit one day it didn't matter because I was in control and didn't have to apologise just get back on with it. I don't think I'd ever felt so positive in all my life-which shows you it's a state of mind. I lost 56 pounds in a year-it wasn't just dieting I was very active 2 jobs both physical (hard cleaning) and a 1 mile walk up hill with gusto. Two distinct things stick in my mind, 1. I was aked at work why I always ran upstairs (I Hadn't realised I did) I thought about it for a while and the only explanation I could give was "because I can"
2. after I'd got to target I returned a month later to the slimming club to keep a check on my weight and they had to ask me if I was looking for someone?-they didn,t even recognise me! I understand the absolute thrill anyone gets from instances like that and it really makes me feel good to listen to other peoples stories. I'd like to thank you for posting your progress your a real inspiration!! Oops gotta go now hubby wants to put his bets on. keep posting or email if you fancy a chat. Scanny

scanny

All you others out there keep it going!! I'm really gonna try and get those positive feelings back and try again. As you may have noticed the gain in weight hasn' t stopped me chatting. Sos for going on a bit Scanny

teach

Hiya Scanny,
If chatting about things is what makes you feel positive again, keep at it. The hardest bit for me was watching someone else on atkins losing massive amounts of weight each week and me only losing a lb or sometimes nothing at all. I think the thing that really kept me going is the fact that I'm in a loving relationship where the girl in work is not. She was only working part time and spent about 4 hours a day at the gym. She regularly says that she doesn't love her partner the way she should and doesn't like spending time with him. That's so not true for me, I'd rather plod along and lose only a little bit each week and have as much time as work allows to be with Andrew. The other thing that has been keeping me going is the fact that I'm in control of food now and not the other way around. She is still stuffing her face, with the right things of course but never the less still stuffing her face. She looks worn out all the time and doesn't look that healthy. In fact I feel quite sorry for her. Now I'm on You Are What You Eat, I'm glowing. My skin looks good, my hair and nails have improved in such a short space of time and I can't wait to shed those extra fews lbs. If anyone wants to get in touch, please e-mail me. We could set up an e-mail slimming support group. Keep at it peeps, it will be so worth it.
Sarah xxx

brissie bound

Hi

I think you have done brilliantly, its really hard to lose weight and you must have been very focused.

Well done and I hope you treating yourself to a new wardworbe!

mlbonner

I love that - I was in the UK for 6 months sorting out my visa earlier this year. With a boyf in Aus and trying to save the Pound I spent a lot more time than usual in the gym... the comments when I came back here were great And as Michaela has already said, the clothing here is 'slightly' (though I'd like to tell myself its the same ) larger, just helps with that confidence kick even more..... Working on my boyf now though as our time apart seemed to have encouraged him to go out on the beers with the boys, rather than workout on the benches

Congrats btw Sarah (and everyone else) sounds like you're doing a great job!!

Ushas

Lol! It made me laught when you describe Oz clothes as being slightly larger. I guess half of my problem coming to the UK was telling myself here that the clothes sizes were smaller therefore I hadn't banged on as much as I really had! Woohooo by the time I get to Oz I'll be in a smaller size still then!

scanny

I thought exactly the same thing about a group yesterday! It doesn't have to be intense just a general update every now and then, few tips, good moan etc could be used as often as liked.
Loosing weight slowly is supposed to be the best for keeping it off long term so keep at it. If your able to spend time with Andrew thats great-anything that gets the adrenalin going will stimulate your metabolism-so keep things passionate I'm lucky too, got Paul who supports me in everything I do (or don't do that I should) and generally keeps me from losing it when I'm streed out. Have been married before to someone less supportive and felt so unconfident and stuck in a rut, low self esteem/unconfident that I never thought I would find anyone that understood me. I didn't deserve it anyway!! -Your work collegue sounds very unhappy and I'm sure if your looking so healthy she will have noticed too. Some people are that busy striving for the weight loss that they neglect to realise that being slim is'nt the solution to all your problems. Slim or not what pee's you off when your big will pee you off when your slim. I know that for a fact. However being overweight often makes you feel tired not by just dragging the weight around but big people don't always get good quality sleep (particularly those with large chests) as breathing patterns are altered by any pressure surrounding the diaphragm and the body tosses and turns in sleep to gain a position to make breathing easier. Weight that shifts up towards the throat area can cause breathing problems/snoring etc. I have experienced when laying on my side foetal position that my buzzies squash together and cause constriction to my throat and have woken up in a panic because I can't breath properly-and I am not enormous. Any way the point was before I went on a ramble was that if your tired you don't cope with any stress very well so if you have lost weight the stresses may be the same but you can cope better and it appears problems are resolved. It sounds like your collegue may have some subconcious belief that if she were slim she may feel more confident to deal better with her relationship problems and maybe get out of something that she is no longer happy in. You are doing so well-don't compare to other people do it for you and your life. There will always be people who are stuffing there faces and staying or getting slim. Oh by the way have you checked out the competition in a gym (I know you wouldn't be interested in them) maybe shes got her eye on someone? well done with your efforts keep in touch
Scanny