Profile – Ceri

AKA "Ceri" on Weight Loss Resources

Dieting History

I've tried the Cabbage Soup thing for a week but it was just too horrid; Slimfast - ditto; Dr Atkins nonsense diet - was bored silly and not well after 2 weeks! In 1999 I did Slimming World from January to June (for my wedding mainly) and lost 3 stone. But after Slimming World, and a baby, I gained it all back and some more! 

On Being Overweight…

I'm a bit of a control freak naturally and found not being in control of my weight difficult. I hid it well, like most of us, but it did limit what I would do - such as swimming and silly activities with the children. I was very busy, so dealing with a diet seemed yet another thing for me to do! Also, I'm very competitive (against myself - not others) and hate losing or being bad at anything, which made me reluctant to start something at which I might not be successful.

Finding the Motivation

I started because I was sick of shopping for clothes by looking at the size on the hanger and then seeing if I liked the clothes… Before I die I want to know what holds up skirts if you don't have a stomach! Plus, although I mainly worked from home since my son was born, I was starting to do some site work and meeting clients and found I was really not happy doing so because of how I looked. Now I've started I have to succeed and that is the only thing that keeps me going! 

Discovering WLR

After shopping in the January sales and finally realising that I had to buy size 24 jeans (I'd been living in elastic waists for so long to ignore the weight gain), I started looking on the net… and found WLR

How WLR Helps

Having to write down what you eat - I discovered my eating habits changed as soon as I started. I proved to myself that actually I did know what and how to eat - I just wasn't doing it. I never actually needed to check calories before I ate, as I knew what was healthy and low-cal. But the sheer act of recording was a revelation - I was thinking properly about what I was eating and why. I think I'm naturally a rule-follower - and most weeks I followed WLR's profile almost to the letter (slightly obsessively looking back!)

I use calories now like money and the food and exercise diaries like a bank! I don't 'snack' on crisps and chocolate often - I see them as a waste of calories, I prefer to eat real food as I feel I'm getting more for my calories! If I fancy something like that, I'll think of what else I could spend my calories on. I would rather save 100 kcal a day during the week and have a proper blow-out meal, like a takeaway curry than snip away at the calories with crisps.

Huge benefits from other members - I haven't been 'playing' much in the last few weeks due to other pressures, but getting and giving advice on the boards is incredibly helpful. As soon as life is calmer I'll be back on the site with a vengeance!

After first month or so making healthier choices became automatic. If eating out I'll always go for the healthier option, sometimes without even thinking about it. Before I would always choose the worst possible options - I could see a beautiful, crisp salad next to a soggy cooked-an-hour-ago fish and chips, I'd choose the fish and chips every time. Now I finally appreciate healthy food as being good to eat as well as good for me.

Exercise - have gone from nothing to loads! Again it's treating calories like money! Exercise earns me extra calories so it's an extra incentive. Have joined a gym, and am using it!

The Best of WLR

I have always used the food diary every time I ate anything (I work mainly from home so have constant access). I also check out the boards often and (as you might know) always have something to say. Often offering advice to others helps to focus your own mind.  

Ceri's Tips

All these work for me - I only advocate people finding what works for them - we are all so different, and I'm sure some of the tips would make psychologists / nutritionists very cross!

If you think about it, we all know what we should eat less of, and more of - there is so much information out there are so much media attention on food - you can only avoid helpful information for so long!

Above all, use WLR to be honest with yourself - you will get nowhere if you hide what you eat from yourself.

Drink water - makes an amazing difference - I can't stress this enough.  WLR member, Mindy finally convinced me and she is so right!

Use the message boards - I cannot tell you how much I've learnt from other members, and hopefully I've been able to give back some advice.

A little of what you fancy works for some - for me it just turns into a lot of what I fancy!

Measure everything, and input everything - even half a fish finger off your child's plate - it counts.

Sometimes it seems a long, slow slog when you know it will take months and this is why diets have never worked for me in the past - we all want the 'Ground Force' or 'Changing Rooms' 2 day answers! But, if you think of it in terms of your age, or how long you were at school, or how quickly a year goes between each Christmas, for example, a year is not a long time. I joined in January and think I'll be using WLR on-and-off forever!

Be dictatorial in your own home. If you do the shopping, don't buy the things you know will be your downfall. If anybody in the house wants that stuff, they can go and eat if elsewhere - including children and teenagers - I have a 2 year old and a 17 year old (and a 35 year old) and they cope fine! If losing weight is important to you, the support (or, at least, forbearance) of those around you is vital. If friends won't be supportive, or are actually unhelpful (as some members have reported) you need to think seriously about whether they are true friends.

Lots of willpower isn't necessary - I don't have any! What is necessary is avoiding the places/situations that affect you. I now this sounds very pathetic, but in the first few months I used to get nearly tearful just walking past a Gregg's bakers (I'm a cheese addict). Use the database and members' advice to find alternatives to your worst food habits!

Check out the calories used in cleaning windows - mine sparkle for the first time in years.

When I've tried to lose weight before I've been very quiet about it - this time I tell everybody. For the first time ever my husband actually knows what I weigh! Mind you I didn't tell him my starting weight until I'd lost two stone.

It takes ages for other people to notice - this can be disheartening. Train a friend to notice and mention your weight loss continually.

After losing 2 stone, I cut my hair and went blonde as a major treat. This was a bad move - everyone noticed the hair and not the weight loss! And it's costing me £30 a month to keep it blonde!