Feeling really pleased - weight loss!

Last winter, I decided to give my horse six months off work, mostly because of our finances, but partly because winter is always the worst time of year for my health and I couldn't guarantee that I would feel well enough to ride, so it just seemed easier to save some money and take the pressure off myself by turning him away.

The break did wonders for him, but as Spring came around, I realised all my nice clothes no longer fitted I'd spent the winter feeling unwell, struggling with my depression and comfort eating and had stopped one of the few forms of exercise I could manage and I suddenly found myself at my all-time heaviest. I've spent years battling my weight, so it was an awful feeling to realise that ten years of yo-yo dieting had really caught up with me and my eating habits were just as bad (if not worse) than they always were. One day, it all just seemed to "click" and I decided it was time to stop "dieting" and beating myself up for being overweight and to start just being more careful about what I ate. I have never done well on diets that ban foods, because I start to crave them, so I went on the basis of "if you want that scone with clotted cream, you've got to make up for it with a low calorie meal this evening", and I stuck to a maximum number of calories per day.

It took months, but eventually I had lost almost a stone. With only two pounds to go, I suddenly hit a plateau. By this time I was swimming every week and back to riding, and I was being so careful about what I ate, but after six weeks, I still hadn't shed even a fraction of those last two calories. I was under a lot of stress because of circumstances at home and eventually, I cracked I managed to hang on to some of the healthier habits I had picked up, such as portion sizes, but I was so sick of noting down everything that I ate, and so fed up of having to keep tabs on every calorie. As the weather turned got colder and wetter, and the pain and swelling in my back and joints got worse, I started finding myself comfort eating again, and I had to stop swimming because I would find the pain so bad that I couldn't cope with going to work. I refused to weigh myself, and was convinced that I was piling the pounds back on. I've been so depressed about my weight that I've been seriously considering surgery to help, and last week I saw my doctor to discuss the idea of a gastric balloon alongside cognitive behavioural therapy to help, which it seems that she is actually going to support me with, although I decided that if I did this, I wanted to pay for it myself.

I had to go back in for my annual flu jab on Saturday, and the nurse insisted on weighing me while I was there. I said I didn't want to know what my weight was, but curiosity got the better of me, and I got on the scales at home this morning.

Not only have I kept the weight off that I lost this year, I've got rid of another pound! I'm so pleased that I've managed to maintain my weight, even though I thought I had completely gone back to my old ways, that it's given me the shove that I needed to get back into it. I've decided that I want to try to loose another stone by myself, and if I can then we'll forget the idea of a gastric balloon, and give CBT by itself a go to help work through the emotional triggers that cause me to comfort eat.

I know it's not really a big enough deal to warrant the huge post I've just written, but I'm really pleased and feeling a lot more positive about the possibility of being down to a healthy weight in the foreseeable future

Well done hun!! It does warrant a post because at least you're still losing not going up! and thats one of the best feelings ever! congrats!! xx

Well done, Sez that's an excellent achievement!

Well done Sez, that's a great achievement and you should pat yourself on the back. xx