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. 


my current weight


Does anyone else have any weight loss stories to share? I'd love to hear them. 



38 comments:

  1. Amazingly inspirational! I pretty much have the same body story as you! Was a 5ft 8 size 8/10 happy young lady.....went to university...ate so so so much rubbish, junk food literally every day...Mcdonalds every single day (not even exaggerating!) went to a size 14...:( I am now at my heaviest ever at 12.5st...I feel so unhappy with my weight. I dont even recognise myself in the mirror anymore!

    I'm starting your diet and exercise routine now!!! Knowing that someone else did this is true inspiration! ;) xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. your blog is great it really helps xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. this is absolutely amazing and inspirational im going to give it a go! is this really all you ate every single day for a full month ? If so you must have some willpower! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Impressive!!!
    Husband is away on deployment for three months as of next week.. Consider this page bookmarked and followed!! I'm 23, 5ft3 and back up to 12 stone thanks to 3 music festivals in Germany with plenty of beer to hand.. With any luck I'll get down to 10 or even 9 stone while he's away...

    Wish me luck!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. congrats to those amazing results and your willpower? but may i ask why you didn't eat any diary? x

    ReplyDelete
  6. congrats on your amazing results this has truly inspired me to do the same and be happy again thank you! x

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am only 5'2 and this does not help when piling on weight! I have a stone to lose and am going to be strict with myself for at least a month (if I can!) Like many people, I have tried every diet going over the years, but last year I joined a boot camp-it's the latest fad, and it worked! However the money every month to attend was hard to find so I had to leave :( Anyway, I still have some good eating tips from that and now from you, so thank you....day 1 ... again! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. What is a "power plate?"

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very inspirational, I have been trying to loose 24 pounds for my wedding for over 4 months now and keep yoyo-ing back up. I now have just over 4 months and am totally back on it after reading about your story.
    I don't think i'd be able to do quite that long at the gym but walking to and from work should help.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You look better with the weight on

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ok, it is February now and I am going to America in May which is about 3 months away, I am going to try what you did, especially with the food, but I will go swimming instead of gym and I will go for walks outside as I prefer those to the gym, I don't know how much I will lose, but I hope to lose something. Thanks for the inspiration

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I've truly enjoyed surfing around your

    blog posts. In any case I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!
    apple cider vinegar weight loss.
    green tea and weight loss.
    walking for weight loss.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I feel really inspired by this blog! I'm 5ft 4 and have put on extream amounts of weight due to depression, having children and a destructive realtionship! I need to lose around 3 stone and I will do it. Reading thisa has made me feel confident I'm on the right path! Thank you Abi, and well done xxx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Highly energetic article, I loved that a lot. Will there be a part 2?



    Also visit my homepage :: webpage

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi which calorie count àpp did u download hun?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great Post! I lost 3 stones by switching to good fats.


    How to lose 3 stones

    ReplyDelete
  17. I learned from the Swedish How to lose 3 stones. See here How to lose a stone

    ReplyDelete
  18. Do as the Swedish and you will be thinner. See here how to lose 3 stones

    ReplyDelete
  19. hiya, thankyou so much for this post its really inspired to get on with my weight thankyou-Exx

    ReplyDelete
  20. I've been following your blog for a few days. Your blog is really awesome.
    Your every post are informative.

    kimera

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi, It's awesome article. Very effective for us. Thank you...carry on

    looking for morefast weight loss tips

    ReplyDelete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I have to admit that Agarwal Packers and Movers Indis is one of the best packers and movers. This is what makes the transfer process very easy. I advise everyone that if they are looking for packers and movers, then definitely take the services of Agarwal Packers and Movers.

    If you want to share your Reviews, Feedback, and Complaints about packers and movers companies then visit our website

    Agarwal Packers Feedback
    Agarwal Packers Reviews

    ReplyDelete

Please leave me a comment and subscribe! I'd love to hear from you :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...