Life Before Weight Watchers

My parent's were on at me to get a stomach bypass. They were worried that I would have a heart attack or stroke and my kid's would grow up without a mother. To be really honest, so was I!!

With Troy away a lot in the fishing season I would sometimes worry that something would happen to me overnight and I wouldn't wake up. I was scared for my kids that they wouldn't know what to do if this did happen. In the winter my asthma would start, especially at night when I went to bed. I assume it was because all my fat around my tummy was pushing up against my lungs. Sometimes I would wake in the night coughing and not being able to breathe. Last year was a wake up call and I didn't want to go through that again. I used to get diahaorra 3 or 4 times a week and even thought I might have Bowel Cancer. I was sick quite often with repeated throat and ear infections and looking after the kid's by myself most of the time I couldn't afford to be like this. I am all they have in the fishing season and it was not much fun for them if I am sick all the time.

I had become really lazy, doing basic housework had become a major effort. I would often fall asleep on the couch in the afternoon with no energy. I couldn't be bothered cooking decent meals for us, so we spent a lot of time at the drive through at McDonald's. Even playing games with the kids was an effort. A lot of the time I would tell them I'm too tired. If we had a hot day (which luckily, wasn't that often down here) I would sit inside because I couldn't handle the heat, instead of playing outside with the kid's. Being 'fat' stopped me from doing so much with my kid's. I would alway's be scared that I would fall over and not be able to get back up.

I have always worn skirts as my 'tree trunk' legs looked too revolting in pants. I remember Kyle having a school trip to the beach. I didn't go as it was a really windy day and I knew I would be the only parent wearing a skirt, so made some excuse about why I couldn't go. My kid's deserve a much better life than this. They need a mother who can do everything with them, not someone who just sits back and watches because she's too fat to move.

Even Christmas time had become boring for them. Everyone we knew goes away at this time of year and the last couple of years we have stayed home because I was too fat to do anything. This year is going to be totally different. With 50kg's down I am looking forward to having our best holiday ever!!

50KG Milestone Reached Today

I have finally lost 50kg!! Gone, forever! 23.1kg to go!!

My Kid's are so proud!!

This photo was taken before the school disco and the kid's wanted me to get dressed up too so I did. I danced the night away with them and I didn't even get puffed. At last years disco I only managed one dance and was hot and sweaty!! It's amazing how much energy I have now.

My biggest milestone is that, I TOOK PARIS SWIMMING!! I have NEVER, EVER, gone in a public swimming pool. I have lost enough weight to feel comfortable exposing my top half but not my bottom half. So, I wore 3/4 board shorts and a swimming top. This was a really big deal doing this and you know what, it didn't bother me. I made sure I went on a day when it was meant to be quiet, first thing in the morning on a school day. I made Troy come and sit at the sideline with a towel. We got there and the car park was full. I thought 'Oh my God, there's so many people', but I couldn't back out because Paris was so excited. There happend to be a school there doing swimming lessons. But I got in and it was great. Paris was so happy and proud that she could finally go in the water with her Mum!! And I have gone again, this time on a public holiday so I could take Kyle as well and there were lots of people. One of my main reasons for losing weight was to take the kid's swimming and I have done it and I'm not even at goal yet!!

Kyle went to the supermarket with his Dad and brought home a bunch of flowers and gave them to me. When I asked him what they were for he told me they were for 'working hard to lose weight'. Dad phoned up one day and asked Kyle if he thought I had lost weight and Kyle told him 'yes I had lost weight and I look beautiful!!

Paris and I were driving to Ballet, I had lost about 42kg and she blurted out: "Mum your not fat anymore". I replied "yes I am, I still have more weight to lose, but thanks, thats a nice thing to say' Then she said: 'Yeah, your not FAT, UGLY MUM, now! I still laugh to myself when I think about that!

Before & After

The top 'before' photo was taken on Xmas Day. This was my going out 'outfit' and I thought I looked 'slimming' in it. You can see my 'rolls' and the tops of my arm's are 'collossal'. You can even see the 'rolls' on my tummy!!
The bottom photo was taken after I had lost 40kg. I now have so much 'choice' when deciding what to wear, whereas before I only had the choice of one outfit, as nothing else would fit.

Reflecting the last 6 months

34.6 kg's down. My goal at the start of the year was to lose 30kg by Christmas. I NEVER imagined I would stick to the programme so well. Don't get me wrong, I haven't been perfect, but if I have slipped up I have managed to count it into the programme and get back on track. This is probably the BIGGEST CHANGE OF ALL!! Previously on WW if I have blown it, I just kept on eating. I am having really tasty meals and experiment with my cooking, having all my favourites but changing the way I cook it. I do measure and weigh everything though, and count all my points. It is alot of mucking around, but it does pay off, that way I know I can have a treat if I want to. Sometime's you will be surprised at what you are able to have.

Thing's I can do now I couldn't do before:
*can wrap a normal size towel around me
*can bend down to dry the bottom of my legs after a shower
*can fit into a chair that has arm's
*can run around with my kids
*don't have cracked heel's anymore
*can do up a pair of shoes with laces
*asthma has dis-appeared
*have alot more confidence

Getting around is definetly alot easier, I am even walking faster than my kid's and have to stop and wait for them now! I am much happier, energetic and I take more pride in my appearance. I found some really awful photo's after I had Paris and I can't believe how much I let myself go. It is not often that I sit around and do nothing. I seem to be on the go all the time now! If I am feeling like this after losing over 30kg, imagine how I will feel when I have lost another 30. Can't wait!!

Week 24 - Fantastic Loss on Core

First week on Core and I was amazed at how much food I was eating. Looking back on food I was eating on points, doing Core has made me realise I was wasting points on food that wasn't fulling me up. There are pro's and con's for both plans. I enjoyed not having to weigh and measure on Core and if I was still hungry can have second's. I thought I was being strict on myself, but I still ended up using 16 point's. What I did find hard was taking my kid's to McDonald's and not even being able to have a Deli bun. I could have, but I would have wasted my points. I had a Hot Chocolate which was .5 and was sitting there thinking I should be having a Kiwi Burger or Deli bun. I did feel a little deprived. One moment I did feel proud of was when I bought some hot chips for the kid's and didn't even have one. This week on Core I had alot of stir-fries, rice and pasta. I probably has twice as many fruit and veges than I was having on Points. Doing Core really paid off I lost an amazing 3kg. Don't know if it was from doing Core or if it was the last two week's catching up!!

Week 23 - Very Dis-appointing Loss

Had a great week done alot of excercise. One day I increased the treadmill to 45 minutes and increased my intensity. But won't be going that again in a hurry. My heart rate was up to 162 and I felt really sick afterwards. Took me over an hour to come right. It was obviously too much for me. Took the kids to Kid Zone and even made our own lunch. Being good hasn't reflected on the scales though. Only lost a piddly .300. Was expecting a big loss, since I had a small loss last week. Don't know what is going on, I am toning up though. Next week I think I will change to the Core Plan to give my body a kick start.

Week 22

Had a good week on programme and exercised 5 days, 2 day's over an hour. By Thursday was feeling really burnt out and weak. Thought it was from the exercise, but took Paris to the doctor on Friday and got him to check me out as well. Turned out I had an ear infection, so that explain's the tiredness. Took the kid's to Dance your Sox off and even packed our own lunch. Keagan's birthday party on Sunday and I make a smoked salmon dip with Pita Bread chips so I was really good. Didn't show on the scales though, only lost .200g. I lost big last week though and that seem's to be my pattern, big loss one week small loss the next. So am expecting a decent loss next week.

DONE IT - 31.1 KG'S DOWN - Week 21

Congratulation's on the big 30! We're proud of you. Love Mum and Dad.

It must be an amazing feeling being at goal - THIS WEEK I FEEL LIKE I AM AT GOAL!! Especially when I received the flowers from my parents. They have been so supportive. Dad ring's up every week, even from the boat when he is away fishing to see how much weight I have lost and Mum is alway's giving me lot's of encouragement.

Had a great week on WW. This week's mini challenge is to track and weigh everything we eat, which I do anyway, so that won't be a problem. Kept up the exercise and water challenge. Saving point's for Sumaria's baby shower on Saturday. Kyle's school production was on Thursday and that was a stressed out busy day. I exercised alot that day and was rushing around. Only had 19 points and felt weak, sick and fainty. Feel like all the exercise is getting too much! Had a day off the exercise the next day and felt much better.

The weather turned really bad at the weekend, hail, sleet and snow. Didn't go to Sumaria's party as we had a snow storm as I was getting ready to leave. Wasn't confidant on driving to Bluff incase it got worse. So, I had all these points saved and no plan's. Ended up having 2 slice's of the pizza I had cooked for the party and some chocolate I bought for the kid's. Felt guilty about eating the chocolate so ended up exercising for 1 1/2 hours that day to make up for it and having no tea! Which was good. Previously on WW I just would have kept on eating thinking I had blown it!!

Mum arrived down from Queenstown and got a shock when she seen me. She could really notice that I had lost alot of weight from when she last saw me 2 week's ago. She noticed it from my hips, where as before she was just noticing it from my top.

I woke up on Monday morning and felt like I had a good loss. My legs, and stomach felt tighter and my clothes felt looser. So, I couldn't resist, I had to jump on the scales before my weigh in on Tuesday and I had finally reached 30kg!! Next day at WW I had lost 2kg for the week!! Was really pleased with that, and now I have lost 31.1kg. I think the exercise is really starting to pay off now!

When I first started my DOWNSIZE I told myself I would be happy to lose 30kg, but now I have done that I just want to keep going. LET THE DOWNSIZE CONTINUE!!

The 'Muncher' is changing

Wow! Can't believe the change already! People are noticing that I have lost weight. Even people that don't know I am on Weight Watchers. Sometimes I still think of myself as looking the same. It is not until I look at my 'before' photo's and compare them that I can see the difference. Because I have got a long way to go I still don't think that I have lost that much. Once I get past 30 kilo's I will feel I have achieved more. I am still not down to the weight I was before I had Kyle, which was over 7 years ago! Can't wait to get there!!

Down 8kg - The First Four Weeks

The first two day's I had the worst head ache ever. My head ached from the front right around to the back. Must have been withdrawing from the 'coke'. I was going to go off it gradually but went cold turkey from day 1, and I haven't had a coke since.

Lost 4 kilo's in my first week. Really pleased! Have never lost that much before in a week! Great for my motivation!

Week 2 - Went to Cob N Co for Troy's birthday. Ordered Cajun Chicken with salad and baked potato. Drunk water. The kid's ordered garlic bread but left 1/2 of it. In the old day's I would have polished it off, but I didn't touch it. Felt like it was a waste though. Lost 1.7kg.

Week 4 - Went to Dunedin for my cousin's 21st. I saved my points for the week and was lucky with the food on offer. Had a meal at the restaurant in our hotel and it was all healthy food. Couldn't help but be good. Wasn't much that I liked so ordered a salmon fillet (which wasn't that nice) and the veges were steamed brocolli, cauli and carrots. They had chunky potatoes on my plate but I only had 2 and gave the rest to Troy.

The food at the 21st was healthy as well, alot of anti pasto platters, sushi, and croissanti's with healthy toppings. Didn't have the pizza when it came around, as I knew it was high in point's. I was drinking water and decided to have 1 drink and as I was only having one I made it a good one. It was a red corvette cocktail and it cost me $14.00 but my god it was nice!! After that I waited until 1/2 price coctail hour and had a Blue Lagoon, but it wasn't that nice.

We done alot of walking that night, and the hotel we were staying in was up a steep hill, which took me ages to get up!

The next day we went to the Meridian for lunch and it took ALL MY WILL POWER not to have butter chicken. I nearly thought what the hell, but then remembered how good I was the night before and I ended up getting a Turkish Wrap instead and a bottle of water. It paid off cause my next weigh in was 2.5kg off!!

The first four week's I lost 8.5 kilo's. Enjoying my food. Cooking really nice meals. Don't know why I never ate like this before. I get up before the kid's to make myself a nice breakfast as I am always hungry in the morning.

I am trying to eat as normal as possible but changing the way I cook my food. I am changing my favourite recipies to a low fat version and if I don't enjoy it I won't have it again. This seem's to be working.

So by dining out and going away for a night you can still stay on track if you plan for it!

The 'Downsize' begins

January 30 2007. Weigh Day! The day I saw the light!

A whopping XXX.3 kilo's. That's 'Colossal' my father (Round Man) would say. (And he's dying to know what I weigh but I won't tell him).

Breaking the Cycle

I have alway's been 'chubby' and I remember when I was pregnant with Kyle I said to Troy "all I can do is eat" and since then for 7 years that is all I done!

I was drinking up to 2 litres of coke a day. I would often skip breakfast, take Kyle to school then come home and grab whatever was in the cupboard. It was often a handful of biscuits or bags of chips.

If I had no coke, after school Kyle, Paris and I would call into the Dairy for some more and they would have an ice-cream or chocolate and I would get coke, large bag of Twisties and 2 Caramel Chews!!

Grocery day I would demolish a large bag of Twisties, large bottle of coke and sometimes a whole packet of chocolate biscuits. Grocery day was often more than once a week!!

Weekend's (even weeknight's) Troy and I would watch a DVD with a big bag of chips (each), dip and large cake of chocolate and of course COKE!! After tea one of us would go back to the supermarket for the snacks!!

Writing this I can now see why I am so fat!! This is sounding really bad!!

Takeaway's would often be at least twice a week, maybe more. I cooked my food with lot's of butter and oil, love rich creamy sauces and LOVE TO EAT!!

Last but not least NO EXERCISE!! A heart attack waiting to happen!!

Time to BREAK THE CYCLE!!

'Muncher' Photo's

These photo's were taken before Christmas. I never thought I looked 'that fat' at the time. I did decided to hire an
exercycle from Mr Rental's and try and lose weight at home by myself. I used it a couple of times and tried to eat healthy but kept falling off the 'wagon'.

My mother phoned and said "Your father and I want to do something for you. Now don't go mad". I thought this sounds good they must want to give me something. What she said next did not surprise me though. I think anyone else would be horrified. They wanted to pay for a STOMACH BYPASS!! They were so worried that I was going to have a heart attack or stroke and die. "You have 2 young kid's to think about and they need their mother around". I knew they were right though, but honestly didn't think I was that bad!!

After weeks of trying to avoid the conversation and constantly telling them I wasn't that fat that I didn't need it done, I decided to join 'Weight Watchers' for the last time in my life!!

Kids - My Motivation

My two lovely children are my motivation for losing weight.
I want to be a more active and happier Mum. My biggest goal
is to take them both swimming without worrying what I look
like. I am also doing this for myself to look and feel better!!