Profile – Fross

AKA "Fross" on Weight Loss Resources

Dieting History

Like Mindy, I have tried all the 'quick fix' and well known diets, ie. WeightWatchers, Slimming World, Dr Atkins, Cambridge Diet, Egg Diet, Rosemary Conley's Low-Fat Diet, Zenical and counting calories. I have lost weight on all these diets, but put it all back on and a little more each time. The majority were too restrictive. One of them just encouraged me to have bigger portions of certain foods. The most successful diet for me was calorie counting when I lost 4 stone in six months – I strictly adhered to 1000 a day and the weight dropped off (I didn't change my eating habits, I just ate all the same fat filled foods, but very small amounts of them and didn't exercise either). As soon as I reached my goal my portion sizes of the same fat-filled foods grew bigger – hence I got fat again.

On Being Overweight…

To be brutally honest, I hate being overweight. I hate me, the way I look, the way people treat me and the way it makes me feel. I am so disappointed in myself. I hate my lack of confidence, how I hide in tents instead of shapely clothes. I have allowed being overweight stop me from participating in the activities I once enjoyed, such as socialising, swimming, shopping, jet-skiing, scuba diving, step aerobics, keeping in touch with old friends (just because they knew me when I was "slimmer"). Most of all it has stopped me from taking my little boy swimming and doing things with him … and, of course, I stopped LIVING! All because of embarrassment at what I look like and what people will think. This has just kept me fat, and helped me get fatter.

Finding the Motivation

The only person that can really do something about this is ME! I managed to keep my weight at around 15st 10lbs for about a year, without dieting and exercise. My husband was no motivation because he would say "he loved me the way I was", but he had to tread carefully as I also suffered from post-natal depression. I knew he wanted me slimmer again because of the way he talked about what I WAS like. A few things definitely kicked me into the right frame of mind:

A photograph was taken of me at a barbeque last Summer. It was a side view of me. I was taking a big bite out of a large hot dog – triple chins for all to see. I looked 9 months pregnant , except I had given birth 2½ years ago! I've seen a lot of 'fat' photos of me before, but I had thought I didn't look too bad – this photograph shocked me so much I actually wanted to cry when I saw it. I was totally devastated.

I started getting palpitations which frightened me. I went to the doctor and he said that I needed to lose weight. He put me on Zenical, but this did not work for me, but the 7lbs I lost to get on the tablets and the 4lbs I lost once on them (over 5 months) was enough to ease the palpitations a little and reduce my blood pressure slightly. I didn't lose any weight for three months on Zenical, so my doctor took me off them – but he didn't give up on me. He insists that I go and see him every month to get weighed. I regained 8lbs and the palpitations got worse again. I knew it was up to me to sort it out, and I wanted to start losing the pounds to prove to my GP that I could do it. I'm seeing him in August – he'll be pleased with me!

I'm 40 this month and my husband asked me what I would like. I said I want my life back! I want to wear nice clothes, I want him to fancy me again, I'd even like to feel attractive in the company of other men! I also want to like myself again. AND do all the things I have stopped doing because of my weight.

My husband told me to jump up and down in front of a mirror naked and see what wobbles (bless him). I did, and it was horrific – nothing stayed still! This was the last straw as I was so incredibly upset and miserable – at last he really understood how being overweight was destroying me. He is helping me now and is dieting with me – to a certain degree!

Discovering WLR

I decided the best way to lose weight was to count calories, but I didn't want the hassle of finding out how many calories were in all the foods I ate. I decided to try the Internet, typed in "slimming" and, hey presto, Weight Loss Resources website – what would I do without you? I had a quick look, signed up for the free three-day trial and was hooked!  

How WLR Helps

The Food Diary is invaluable: I cannot envisage me ever being able to count calories without it. It works out the calories, protein, fat, fibre and carbohydrates in every morsel of food and drink you have. It indicates how many calories you have left for the day, or how many you have gone over. It even adds exercise calories for you to use up or save. I can now change my bad eating habits by eating more nutritious foods instead of sticking to small quantities of fat-filled ones.

You choose your weekly weight loss rate (such as 1lb, 1½lbs…) and a target weight loss, or date you want to lose the weight by, and how active you are – and it tells you how many calories you can have a day, and when you can lose it by. You can also change your mind about the targets you choose so you aren't stuck with your first decision.   

The Nutrition Reports are also fantastic as you can see how you are doing on the percentage fat, carbs, fibre and protein. You can print these reports so you can go through them later and look at how your eating habits are changing as the weeks go by.

The Best of WLR

The Message Boards are invaluable as the encouragement, support and enthusiasm from WLR members is such an essential part of success.

Fross' Tips

My tips (learnt from other members of WLR and from my own experience) are:

Use the Food Diary at least once every day if you can. Don't cheat on what you put in your food diary, be honest – you are only cheating yourself.

Drink a glass or two of water with every meal and if possible drink a couple of glasses between meals. Cut down on your caffeine intake too.

When you are feeling low or about to binge, post a message – your supporters are there waiting to help, encourage or stop you from sabotage!

Try to change your bad eating habits. If I stick to my old habits of scoffing at weekends and eating the fatty foods I've always eaten then I'm not changing my bad eating habits. I am already changing the way I am eating by including at least 8 portions of fruit and veg a day – unheard of for me. I feel I will have a greater chance of maintaining my weight once I reach my target if I seriously change the way I eat and the way I think about food and drink.

Write down the reasons why you want to lose weight – such as a holiday, wedding, want to be slim for you; how you feel as a fat person now; how you think you will feel as a slim person; and what difference you think it will make to your life. Write down how great you feel now you are doing something about it. How ecstatic you felt when you lost your first few pounds on your weigh in day –  I wanted to jump around like Tigger – ALL DAY! When you start to feel demotivated, read your list and think about what you've written down, and motivate yourself again. I am already feeling so much happier with myself because I am, at last, doing something PROPERLY.

If you slip up (everyone does) write everything in the diary and continue with the plan the next day – don't delay. One meal won't destroy your diet, but doing it on a regular basis will. Post us for our help. We will help you get back on track.

Use targets of 7lbs at a time. You'll feel great and successful as you reach each individual target and tell us about it!

Start NOW – don't delay – even if you've got some 'bash' to go to! Don't say you'll start tomorrow. Until you make a start it ain't gonna happen!

Don't lose the weight too fast. It will be harder to keep it off when you have the occasional celebration (see my message on boards for 08/08/02 "I died and went to heaven…")

Remember you are not alone. When all else fails and you get a chance to go online, post, post, post, post, post! The boards are very busy, but they're great. I haven't stopped since I've joined, you must all be a bit sick of me by now! (Sorry!)

Finally…

I agreed to do a Members Profile because… what better motivation than that – I've GOT to get the weight off now, haven't I, or you lot will let me have it! 

ps. When I've lost 2 stone I'll let WLR have that awful photo of me (oh no!)

 

Fross' Vital Statistics

	Before	Now
Weight	15st 2½lbs	14st 3lbs