Hi. I have been viewing these forums for a while now, but have never got round to telling my story! So.. here goes.
On 7th Novemeber 2009 it will be exactly a year since I decided to do something about my weight. Id just celebrated my one year anniversary with my boyfriend, and I couldnt have been happier with him, my friends and my social life. We're both students and so had just gone back to university after the long summer break. We both now refer to this as "the summer of eating!" because thats what we did! Tubs of ice cream each in an evening, birthday cake just because we liked the taste, pizzas and chips and potato wedges from the local takeout, etc!
I wasn't massive - at 11 stone 3 (157lbs) but I felt A LOT bigger than my friends, and I felt that I was embarrased to show of what figure I did have with nice clothes, etc.

Since then I have lost approximately a stone and a half and I am now around 9 stone 9 (134lbs). I have done this by eating healthier and enrolling at the gym in which I attend classes regularly. I still feel quite big in the stomache and thigh areas in particular and so am looking to loose another 6lbs. So i will have lost exactly 2 stone! Id ideally like to do this by 7th November when it will be mine and my boyfriends 2nd year anniversary! Id also like to be a bit more toned!

I have got to the stage where I am lagging, I am caving into birthday cake and sweets again, and believe that this forum could help me conquer this! If i write on this every day or two to say whether or not I have had these kind of slips.
How do you guys persuade yourselfs to not overdo it on your favourite treats?

Thank you for reading. If you have any motivating stories/experiences that you think might help me then please comment.
Dani

Hey - congrats on the weight you've already lost. That's an accomplishment you should be proud of!

It's hard, I'll be honest. There are some things that I simply can't have around because I don't have self control around them. Potato chips of any kind are my big weakness and I simply cannot buy them and cannot have them in the house because I'll eat them. I'll sit there and tell myself "you don't want these" and I'll eat them anyway.

Anything else I can walk away from or eat something else ... but not chips.

I think part of learning not to overdo on treats is learning about yourself to know the things you have control of and the things you don't. Then, just like an alcoholic, you don't put yourself in situations where you are tempted.

It's not always easy, and sometimes you just can't avoid being exposed to your trigger foods, but you do your best, right?

Wow Kara...I am exactly the same with chips. So like you say, I just can't have them in the house and that is the best way to avoid eating them. It sounds funny to admit that something like chips has so much power over a human being but for me THEY ARE like a drug!! Feels kinda good to let out the sins! lol Good luck Dani, take Kara's advise and know what you are going through is real and you are not alone!!

I'll admit, I have days where I end up eating things I told myself I wouldn't eat. I keep track of EVERYTHING and I make sure to balance the equation as I can through exercise and monitoring (not severely cutting) my calories in subsequent days. The biggest thing is to not beat yourself up if you slip. Just get back in the swing of things!

Thanx for your responses guys.

How often do you weigh yourselfs?

I went through a phase of being a bit obsessive and sometimes would weigh myself more than once a day, which I know is ridiculous.
I think I am going to aim for once a week.
The last time I weighed myself was Thursday morning last week, and I was 9 stone 9lbs. Friday was my boyfriends birthday and I ate 3 slices of cake! Another 2 slices on Saturday and 1 more on Sunday! Oops! I went to the gym monday, tuesday and wednesday to try and make up for this slip.. But now im afraid to get back on the scales! I may weigh myself in the morning.

I weigh myself daily. ONE TIME.

I weigh every morning right after I get out of the shower and dry off. I haven't eaten, I haven't had anything to drink, no clothes, no nuthin'!

I like weighing daily because it helps me to know what's going on with my body - I know how salt affects me, I know what to expect around my period, I know how exercise or lack thereof will affect me, etc.

I don't recommend it if you're the type to become obsessed or to get depressed over the number. For me the number is a guide - no more, no less. Yes, I get annoyed with it sometimes, but it doesn't guide my emotions or anything .

Obviously YMMV and all that.

Weighing yourself more than once a day is going to frustrate you. You really should do it at most, once a day and at the same time every day (or if you do it more than once a day, do it always at the same times, so at least if you gain a lb between morning and evening, you know that its typical for your body to gain a lb between morning and evening.)

Really, you just need to exert self control on the sweets. If you go overboard you are going to enjoy it less. You don't need to eat those things. Is it just that you get hungry and then eat those things? If its just cravings there reall is nothing you can do but not eat them. Don't buy them. Making it a hassle for when you do get a craving. Its what I do.

I got addicted to cinnamon bun ice cream (ben and jerrys, its almost too good to exist) and the only thing that keeps me from eating it is I refuse to buy it anymore.

Its more a case of when my housemates make/buy buns and cakes, and crisps to share! Its a nightmare having them round the house because I dont buy them and im not used to them being there.. when theyre there, and my friends are eating them I end up eating one or two.. but dont know when to stop!!
I know I shouldnt eat any, because thats the only way to stop me eating them all!!
This morning I weighed in at 9 stone 8.5lbs. Which is neither a loss or gain really - this means I have worked off the cake at the gym and by eating healthier for the rest of the week.
Clean slate this week. Hopefully I will loose 2lbs by this time next week .

Soemthing that helps me - when you decide you're going to eat these things, measure out ONE serving (or a half a bun or whatever you're going to eat), put it on a plate and eat it. Don't take a whole bun or eat it from the serving tray or whatever.

I find that there is a psychological advantage to taking my one serving and eating it separately. When I've finished the one serving, I feel more satisfied than if I eat out of the bag or the tray or whatever.

dani,

Congrats on the weight you have already lost you have done very good.

I know is hard when you live with other people that either don't or choose not to watch what they eat, my girlfriend has 2 house mates and both just don't care about what they eat or keep around the house and should because one is 350+ the other is 220+ and both are diabetic as are my girlfriend and I.

I stay over there most weeks Thursday - Sunday she says it's easy when I am there with her because she just eats about the samething I do.

Hell one day last week one of them fixed a big pan of brownies and then got mad because we would not eat any.

My stay away from food is pasta I just don't make it any longer.

I just have to get in the will power mode when I am tempted.

Good Luck

Thanx for your motivation guys.. a week on and I weighed in at 9 stone 6.5 this morning - which is the exact loss of 2lbs that I was hoping for!

Here are some pictures to go with my story..
In picture one I am around 11 stone 3.
In pictures 2 I am around 9 stone 10.
I am current around 9 stone 6 and feel I have just about lost the weight I want to and need to focus on "toning up".

Attached Images

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Your pics are inspirational Dani!
I just joined this forum today, so I am looking for motivation and support. I am going to have to start off a bit slow as I had major back surgery a month ago, tomorrow! Keep up the good work...and thanks for you inspiration!

Misty

Here's something I tell myself to keep from eating bad foods. "Which is better, feeling and looking great 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or the 10 seconds it's going to take me to eat this cookie?" The fitness one generally wins.

Here's what you do..
Take all the foods you can't resist, keep them in the freezer, don't look at them.
Don't buy them again.

I haven't bought a new scale yet, so I weigh myself whenever I go to the supermarket.. they have free scales there. Hehe.