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Introduction Text I have always been overweight, but you know what - it doesn't have to stay that way! I don't know if I actually believe that yet... but I've decided to give it my best shot: I'm going to get back to the weight I was when I left school, 20 years ago. Who knows where this could lead! ______________________________________ About 16 years ago I was at my heaviest (over 200lbs) -- I put on quite a lot of weight quite fast when I moved to London (complicated story; not good). I've been battling to get rid of it ever since. It's been a slowly-slowly kind of thing as I started eating more healthily, made myself do exercise etc. Unfortunately I had a foray into the Atkins Diet, which was a total disaster, and set me back very significantly as I rebounded very badly after the strictness/unnaturalness of the regime. I put on about 15 pounds again, and that was the first time in years that I had gained weight again in a major way. I found that very scary, and I've found it increasingly more difficult to lose the pounds again since then. Then about 2 years ago I started to try running. I NEVER thought I would be a runner (and hey, Paula Radcliffe has nothing to worry about, that's for sure) but it turns out I love it! When I manage to get out there, that is... Unfortunately, I've developed a knee problem which has basically stopped me running. [I was hoping I would get back to it, but my physio has stopped talking about that, so I think my worst fears are coming true...] And this stopping has "unmasked" the fact that I've been eating quite badly still. But: now I've found SparkPeople and all the tools here -- just in the nick of time, I think. ______________________________________ 19 OCT 2007 I've been *gaining* weight since joining SparkPeople which is really not what's meant to happen. I'm a TOTAL emotional eater, and I guess there's been more going on this year than I was willing to recognise. Well, I'm on the case to face this now, so coming clean with an updated ticker and logged weight, and we'll take it from here... ______________________________________ 4 FEB 2008 Another milestone in this journey: I had my knee arthroscopy on Jan 31st. All seems to have gone well, so it's onwards and upwards now! ______________________________________ 31 DEC 2008 Time for a re-boot, a re-start! I've given my knee pretty much a full year to mend and heal, and I don't regret that. In that time I've been able to assimilate some of the concepts in "Shrink Yourself" and I can definitely say that some of the craziness is going. I want to move more now because of the great "side-effects" that this gives me -- happy hormones, better stress-management, better flexibility and strength -- as well as the fantastic improvement it will make to my ability to get dressed in the morning in something I *want* to wear and looks ok. ______________________________________ 18 OCTOBER 2010 Well, I've been quiet here, but it's been hard recently. Unfortunately my mum lost her 2-year battle against myeloma at the end of August, and there's a lot to deal with around that... I lost a bit of weight through the stress of the past few months. It's not a diet I would choose, that's for sure, but now I'm here I'm aiming to maintain through the end of the year and then re-think a bit in January.

For 2011, my big goal is to reduce my body fat percentage. While I have lost a little weight over the past year, my BF % hasn't really changed. And at 35% it's too high. So that means more exercise, and good eating habits. It's the exercise angle that will make the big difference, so I need to move, move, move, plus get some strength training going.

... Three sensible meals a day, plus a planned snack later afternoon (which really seems to be important to stop me getting too hungry before my evening meal, and overeating at that point) ... Remember to incorporate protein every time I eat - this has been an incredibly helpful habit to get into, to help me stabilise blood sugar highs and lows. ... Keep away from wheat 99% of the time, to keep the intolerance symptoms away ... Get to bed at a reasonable time - this is really vital for me, and I'm not good at doing it. ... Move it, move it!!

I'm based in the UK

Something I need to remember: Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain!

Add a Link Time is not infinite, time is now.
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