AbiGirl: How I lost three stone in two months

Friday, 2 November 2012

How I lost three stone in two months

How I Lost Weight Really Quickly

*Disclaimer* I am not a nutritionist, I do not advocate losing weight this quickly deliberately as a healthy thing to do. Always consult a doctor before attempting a dramatic weight loss.

Background information: With a daily calorie intake of 1800 calories a day and exercising for 30 minutes five times a week, I maintain a UK size 10 (US 6) dress size. I'm 5ft 9 and weigh 135 pounds (just over 9.5 stone). I've been this way since I was 13.

Before (I'm sucking in here) and after

I used to live in Australia and towards the end of my stay, I gained a considerable amount of weight. This was due to not doing any exercise and eating far more than I was burning. I would buy cooked chickens and strip bits off to dip in mayonnaise quite frequently, ate pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches all the time... I'd make a huge batch of risotto intending to spread it over a few meals for two, I'd end up eating gigantic portions, having seconds and finishing it two days. I was also drinking quite a lot of beer (the national beverage of our friends down under)

My parents came to visit me and were outspokenly shocked about my weight, and so they should have been: I was living an extremely unhealthy lifestyle. I reached the grand old weight of 12 and 1/4 stone (171 pounds). Because of my height, I feel like I got away with it a little bit. Unfortunately I literally have no photographic record of myself at this point because I was, to be frank, embarrassed.

Approaching maximum weight

Apparently I was greedy enough to eat my friends

I arrived back in England with quite a bad case of acne and a lot of weight to lose. I immediately joined a gym, downloaded the calorie count app (highly recommended) and started a strict diet.

My diet was pretty much the same every day: I found this incredibly helpful; the element of choice was a contributor to my Australian greed...

Breakfast: sachet of porridge oats with water. I then added a table spoon of home made unsweetened apple sauce and a sprinkle of cinnamon

Lunch: A gigantic bowl of spinnach leaves, x1 tinned mackerel fillet, some mixed beans, 1/4 avocado, a tomato, a few chopped sundried tomatoes with a sprinking of mixed seeds and a dash of apple cider vinegar

Snack: As many raw carrots as I wanted with a side of as many strange looks from my colleagues as they could muster

Supper: A grilled chicken breast/salmon fillet with a baked sweet potato. Broccoli, peas and carrots

Drinks: a gallon of water a day. Very occasional gin and tonic.

I must say that the main reason for choosing this diet was to cure my skin, my weight loss was desired but the motivation behind the 'caveman diet' was to heal my acne.

I absolutely had no dairy and no other 'proper' carbs than oats and a sweet potato, no take aways, I made everything myself.

An actual mixing bowl full of this!

Exercise: I was going to the gym around five times a week. I would do 30 minutes power walking on maximum incline on the treadmill, then 120 sit ups, 5 minuets of planks, 45 minuets of resistance training then 30 minutes on the cross trainer. I was also using the power plate a lot which 100% rid me of cellulite. They are magic!

Since I wasn't with my family on Christmas day, I went to not one, not two but THREE christmas celebrations of my friend's families. I therefore had three giant sized christmas meals. Oh dear...

As a result I got down to 9 stone (126 pounds) within two months. I maintained this weight for around three months simply by cutting down my exercise, however, two factors caused me to ditch this extreme diet:

1. I met my partner. Doesn't being in love make you not care about being thin so much?!

2. My skin didn't get any better so I decided to stop being so obsessed with my diet and start enjoying the occasional pizza now and then.

This was at my very thinnest. Alas, my arms will never be sticks, the weight loss was most noticeable on my legs and stomach.

CalorieCount: I found this website and app SO helpful in keeping healthy during my weight loss. I was able to track what vitamins, minerals and food groups I was too high or too low on, how my weight loss was progressing and how many calories I was burning when exercising. I really really recommend this to anyone trying to lose weight or maintain weight. It also helps to record what you're eating because the act of having to write down your consumption makes you not really want to eat that Dairy Milk then write about it...

Emotional: Feeling fat made me feel really really unhappy with myself. I know that as a slim lady, I should not be allowed to say "I am proud of my body", but I really was and I am now.

On the other side of things, being very thin gave me a bit of a smug attitude. And I was obsessed, I never went out for meals and if I did, I downloaded the menu before hand to check the calorie content of the meals. Weird and very time consuming.

I started to just not enjoy food at all, eating was a motion to go through rather than something to be creative with and something to bond with friends and family over.

Summary: I'm not back at my normal 9 3/4 stone, I still eat the same breakfast and a salad for lunch but I'm back to eating pasta, bread and all the other delicious carbs that I was forbidden before. I also eat the occasional chocolate bar and packet of crisps, however, I'm a firm believer in taking control of my own health. It's no one else's responsibility or problem as to what I eat. If I gain a bit of weight, I cut down on the treats, if I want to put a little more on, I actually up my exercise regime (it always makes me gain weight!)

I know that this is a very obvious thing to say but taking care of your body is REALLY important. You only live once so make the most of the body you have. Obviously genetics plays a part in our body types but if you're healthy and exercising regularly, I guarantee that you'll be happier and feel the benefits quickly.