Hiya, I'm in London and new to 3FC and generally just been reading the posts which I find hugely encouraging and contain so many helpful tips. I will also be posting in the UK FatChicks thread, but thought for now I would introduce myself. I am new to forums, but after reading all the various posts and blogs on 3FC have come to understand it can be quite positive and cathartic to share with others who are going through the same struggle. That’s a real revelation to me.
MY STORY…
I think my big issue is the nutrition side of things, like most people, I have an idea what I should be eating, how much and how often, but not able to stick with it for a prolonged period either because I get fed up or life gets in the way and I use tons of excuses. I lost quite a bit of weight between 2005 and 2006, but because I had such a big issue with using a scale (I didn't want to face how much I actually weighed), I don't quite know how small I got, but I started at 101kgs and ended up somewhere around 85kgs. The reason I stopped and started to gain the weight was because I realised that my main impetus for the weight loss was a MAN. Couldn’t believe it because I am supposedly intelligent and know better…but, basically, he was my first love who met me when I was quite young and slim – I didn’t have any weight issues as a child or teenager. Over the 4 yrs we went out (from about aged 18 – 22) I gradually went from around 135 to 155/160lbs, and of course he commented. It wasn’t favourable. Although my weight gain wasn’t the reason, we split eventually split up but remained in touch off and on over the years (he is based in Florida and I am now in London) We got back in touch about 3 ½ yrs ago and although I really wanted to start losing weight (I was around 220lbs or so by then) I wanted to prove to myself (but mostly him) how much weight I lost and that I could be that slim sexy gal from way back then. The big reunion in July 2006 was a big FLOP. We had both built up such unreasonable expectations, thought we were gonna get married, he would move to London, have kids and live happily ever after. Although I had indeed lost somewhere around 40lbs and the results of my weight loss were clearly visible, it wasn’t enough for him. He told me that although I was very pretty, I could still lose more weight. My response: I worked out constantly for 3 weeks (every day except weekends) surviving on HydroxyCut Hardcore, jerk chicken and salads. I thought “I would show him”. Yes, I did lose another 10lbs or so, but eventually returned to London understanding why my thinking was wrong on so many levels. And that he was SO wrong for me. To cut a long story short, I started to gradually put the weight back on (I was still exercising but nowhere near as intensely), and eat the foods I had worked so hard to eliminate or cut back on.