Eschewing the fat: The blame game

 

I’ve had a long hard think about it and decided that my putting on weight…. is all my husband’s fault.

Only joking.

But don’t we all like to make excuses about why we’re heavy?

“I’m big-boned.”

“I’ve got a medical condition.”

“I’ve had children – and they’ve ruined my figure.”

While there’s a smidgen of reality in the last one, the harsh truth is that most of us are eating too much, and not moving around enough.

Yes, my husband likes his food. A lot. And he would happily serve up the same portion-size for me as he eats himself – even though he’s a foot taller than I am and never seems to put on weight.

If I ask him whether I’m getting fat, he always says: “You look fine to me.”

So if I was looking for someone to take the fall for my expanding figure….it would have to be him.

But I need to take responsibility for myself.

I was thinking of this when watching a documentary a few nights ago, about Claire Richards from Steps.

We all know she’s currently in Celebrity Big Brother – and she’s one big mother.

But the documentary was filmed a couple of years ago, showing her slimming down to a size 10-12 for the cover of a magazine which had previously featured her posing in a bikini as her larger self.

A punishing regime of working out with a personal trainer (contracted to the magazine to get her thin) and eating dry chicken and broccoli ended in her hitting her target of 10st 4lbs for her photoshoot.

 

 

And then she started flailing about, like many of us do.

The personal trainer left. No-one was watching her weight for her.

She went to see her GP, convinced something was medically wrong to make her gain weight. She cried when the doctor said she just needed to get herself under control.

Then she read about some crazy celebrity diet tip, and started sprinkling coal on her food (yes coal!)

I switched off. I didn’t need to watch the end to see what happened.

Even if Claire couldn’t be found lumbering around the Big Brother house, I’d have guessed how she ended up.

 

 

Because I’ve done it all.

The extreme diet, which I gave up as soon as I reached my goal.

The bizarre fads when I realised the lbs were piling back on.

The search for something/someone to blame.

Every diet out there will work – if you do it for the rest of your life.

That’s the small print none of us bother to look at.

Existing on cabbage soup alone, or milkshakes, or a punishing regime of bootcamp exercises will get us to where we want to be.

But it won’t keep us there once we go back to normal life.

*Steps down off high horse*

 

 

 

So my new normal life is now going to the gym 5 times a week, and doing a 30-minute circuit.

It’s eating 3 balanced meals a day, and trying to keep the calorie count below 1500 (although nobody’s perfect, I’m bound to slip sometimes).

In my second week, I’m pleased to report another 2lbs off – making 4lbs in a fortnight.

I’m chuffed with the result, considering we went to a wedding reception last weekend.

Being the designated driver helped a lot. I only got to drink one glass of wine.

And I ate dinner before we went, so I wasn’t too hungry when the hot buffet was rolled out. I just had a couple of pieces of salmon, in a tasty tomato sauce.

Then I hit the dancefloor as the desserts came out.

Ditching the bottle (or two) of wine I have at weekends has been a major help, I think.

Instead of burying my head in a large trough of Pinot Grigio (and you think I’m joking?!) I’ve been buying a couple of ready-mixed cans of gin and slimline tonic to have in the fridge.

A lot less calories when I fancy a tipple, and I don’t get the munchies afterwards.

My next aim is to cut down on the coffee drinking and have more water instead.

 

 

 

By the way, I’m now also a diet diarist for UKMums.tv. Would be very grateful if you could pop over there and leave some messages of support.

 

 

And if you want to check out some fellow bloggers who are on their own weight-loss journey, I highly recommend The Musing Housewife and Autism Mumma.