Sunday 11 January 2015

My Big Fat Weight Loss Jouney - Part 1

If you read my Liebster Award Post, or if you follow me on twitter you might well know that over the past three years (12 months of which I was pregnant) I have lost 9 stone in weight. Shockingly, despite all that weight loss I'm still not at my goal weight and still have a further 2 stone and 6 lbs to loose. 

My three year journey has been quite a journey so I'm going to split this in to two parts. Part one is the lead up to weight loss, and part two (coming soon) will be about my actual journey, the diets I tried, the hurdles I faced and how I plan to reach that final goal by the end of this year!

I won't be putting my weight on here, but I'm sure you can all guess from the 11.5 stone total loss goal, that I probably weighed more than your average British woman in her 20's. My BMI started at just shy of 50. Which you probably all know is morbidly obese and incredibly unhealthy. I had eaten my feelings for many years, along with a truck load of pizzas, chocolate bars, ice cream and pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I did eat healthy meals the majority of the time, but my snacking habit was ridiculous. 

I knew what I was doing to myself and to my health, but honestly I just didn't care enough to stop eating. I was in a really dark place, throwing the biggest pity party ever, due to non weight related health problems and just added to them by making myself so overweight and unfit that I was always ill. 

Back on NYE 2010 my hubby proposed to me after six months of dating. We had been best friends for 5 years at that point and he had spent the last 18 months seeing me through one of the most difficult times of my life. We'd gone from friends to partners and I'd fallen head over heals for him, so of course I said yes! We spent the next few months wedding planning and discussing things like starting a family. It was at that point I decided something had to be done about my weight. If I was going to be someones wife I needed to commit to them for life, I needed to live longer than 40! If I was going to be someones mum I needed to be able to take care of them, play with them and help them to be happy & healthy individuals. I couldn't do that while I was overweight, unhealthy and unhappy. So I finally decided in July 2011 that this was it. I was going to go on a 'diet' or rather I was going to change my relationship with food forever and I was going to be healthier.

I used things like my wedding dress, the wedding photos and wanting to have children as my incentives and on day one I got my now husband to take a picture of me. A picture of me at the heaviest I'd ever been and at a weight I have vowed I will never ever get close to again. Here are the photos that were taken, please forgive the poor quality, they were taken on my old phone 3 years ago, and weren't intended for blog posts! 







July 2011











I have now lost 9 stone and this is what I currently look like, taken 06/01/2015. Forgive the lack of make up. I realised I didn't have anything from Xmas or NYE that didn't have the baby in. As Hubby and I are undecided on whether or not to share pictures of Baby R on my blog we took an impromptu photo at 11.30pm and frankly you were lucky I wasn't in PJs at that time of night! :)


Find out how I did it, the hurdles I faced and how I plan to drop the final bit of weight in Part 2 (coming soon). As always thanks for reading xoxo

6 comments:

  1. You look amazing, well done you - that is an outstanding achievement!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to leave such a kind comment! :) I still have a way to go, but I'm definitely proud of myself for how far I've come!

      Delete
  2. Rachel, thank you so much for posting this. I am a 'plus size mummy'. I need to lose 6-8 stone to be what is classed as the right weight/BMI.

    I can't identify more with this statement: "I knew what I was doing to myself and to my health, but honestly I just didn't care enough to stop eating." That was me for the last 5 years easily. I am now paying for that attitude and, as I am turning 30 this year, I started my #Drop30 challenge today.

    It's great to see other women be honest about their struggles - so many mummy bloggers look pretty, slim and 'perfect' and it can be so intimidating.

    Well done on your amazing achievement xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow thank you for your incredible response, I'm glad that it has rung true with you!

      It certainly is a statement I think took me a long time to admit to myself. For the longest time I was 'just big boned' or 'my health problems made me fat'. Or the bad break up was to blame. But in the end I had to face facts. I knew the food I was putting in my mouth was bad for me, I knew the calories were more than I would burn off sat on my sofa or at my desk in work. The reality was I didn't care enough.

      Well done for taking the first step, I know how hard that can be! And well done you for being honest with yourself that it's something you want to work towards. It's hard to admit we want to be different sometimes.

      It certainly can be intimidating, I still find myself with the mind of 'the fat one' and I now have new confidence issues. I can't hide behind being fat anymore so now I panic that I'm ugly and won't be good enough. That my blog won't succeed. Three years ago I had the safety blanket of my fat. If I failed I could kid myself people were judging me on my weight. I can't use that excuse anymore. I may not be stick thin or at my goal, but I'm certainly not as big as I was, and that's a huge adjustment in itself.

      I have total faith that you can and will meet your #drop30 goal, keep us all updated :)

      Thanks again for your response, I'm overwhelmed :) xx

      Delete
  3. Hi hun.

    You look amazing, but more importantly you are so amazing for doing this. This post has inspired me to try harder. I had 3 babies in under 3 years, and even though my youngest is coming up to a year old now, I still haven't taken the reigns on getting myself back to how I was before baby number 1.

    I never actually lost the baby weight from baby 1, then add to that baby 2 weight and then baby 3 was huge and overdue and I had a horrific birth with her, and since then have just neglected myself and my body because I can't quite believe this is where I've ended up, so I eat my feelings.

    But reading this has really given me some motivation to take care of myself and get my body back...if not for myself, for these beautiful girls that I've been blessed with. So thank you!

    Sal xxx
    UmmBaby'sBlog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind and amazing comments! I'm grateful for everyone who takes the time to read my blog posts and especially those who leave a little message. It really does make me very happy.

      This was a nerve wracking post to do, to so publicly admit that I didn't take care of myself but if it's provided you with inspiration or encouragement then it was most definitely worth writing.

      Don't be hard on yourself. I've only had one baby and am currently experiencing a definite slow down in my progress so with three babies you have had every right to not be concerned with dieting.

      I know diets/lifestyle changes are difficult but its definitely worth the effort to not just see the results but to feel the higher energy levels and just feel better.

      keep me updated on your progress and I'm here for moral support if you feel you need it! :) thanks again for the comment xxx

      Delete