Long rambling introduction ahead!
I'm Stella, I'm 47, 5' 8" tall and now weigh 15st 9 lbs (I started out at 18st 4lbs in January), so I have a way to go, but I'm getting there.
I'm a Technical Writer and part-time Motorsports Journalist and live near Silverstone, in Northamptonshire.
I've always had problems with my weight, mostly for the very simple reason that while my diet is very healthy in terms of content, it hasn't been in terms of quantity.
10 years living and working abroad (in France, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands) did nothing at all for my waistline (all those airline meals, restaurants and hotels were very enjoyable indeed, but I'm paying for them now). I moved back to the UK at the end of 2004 and decided that I really ought to do something about getting fitter/slimmer. It's taken a year for me to get my head to the right place to actually take action, and on January 16th this year I started my new regime. My resolve was bolstered by the practice nurse at my new GP's surgery, who has been checking my blood pressure and was threatening to put me on medication if it didn't start to improve. As of 17th March this year, she decided that it might not be necessary.
To my surprise, it's been plain sailing so far, though it still remains to be seen how easy it's going to be now the motor racing season has started for the category I'm involved with. Again, there's a lot of travelling and hotels, but I think I can make this work, so long as I keep up the training regime, and stick to counting calories properly. I hired a personal trainer to help me too, and have rediscovered my love of exercise, especially swimming. I've also (foolishly perhaps) recently taken up running.
