Comparisons

Hello one and all! Back on track and will update every week or even twice a week as going through challenging but positive times! Well lets see now............I have been hounded for the 'little black outfit' updated photo's so here goes......Now and when I had already reduced my weight by 1.5 stone. This should give a true reflection of my transformation. Enjoy!






It was therefore quite a coincidence that in today's discussion we talked about changing BODY IMAGE! Getting used to a new body can take time! We did a little exercise showing how we perceive ourselves to look like. Taking a very large piece of paper - life size - we were asked to draw what we believed our bodies in reality look like. How scary as only 1 in the group of 4 actually drew a realistic version of herself. The rest of us drew bodies much larger and emphasised problem areas we used to have, but now no longer have. We then lay down on the paper and our actual size what then outlined against our initial drawing. WOW what a difference! Just shows you that our perception about ourselves can be really wrong and so we were obviously very pleased to see that we were actually a lot thinner than we thought we were. It is really difficult in photo's, even these above to really be able to show you the transformation. I look at these pictures and of course I can see a difference but not as much as you would be able to see if you saw me in person. One of my very good friends, who has been most encouraging and supportive the whole way through this experience, actually saw me in person the other day and said how shocked she was at how much I had changed. Even though she reads my blog every week and obviously see the pics, nothing is quite like seeing the actual person. This is similar to the way in which we see ourselves so here is a suggestion........get other people you trust to tell you what they see - honestly - and then describe yourself to them and do the same exercise we did above. You will be very surprised at the outcome!

I am now 13 stone 13 pounds and have just 1 stone and 13 pounds to go until I reach my personal goal of 12 stone or 76 kgs. My total weight reduction thus far is 72.8 pounds or 5 stone 2 pounds in 21 weeks. An average of 3.5 pounds per week. Not bad for someone who took a good 13 years to put it on! The weight is leveling off now but each week it reduces by a little more and therefore moving in the right direction. It takes some getting used to that it isn't falling off me like it did in the first 3 months of the programme and it can be easy to get disappointed, but you have to keep in mind what you have already achieved. Actually even though the weight is what is being measured, what we haven't done is measure ourselves for a while, as I know that I have reduced my inches as my size 16 is getting lose! I have even bought a skirt in a size 14 and had a dress adjusted to a size 14 so watch this space!

This week we are allowed pulses i.e. beans, peas and lentils - Yipeeeee. Not really as I didn't really eat many of them but am happy that I can have baked beans but not on toast or on a potato yet! I might try them on sweet potato as this we are allowed. Actually besides giving you embarrassing wind (not that I need any more windy problems as the food bars are constantly keeping me down wind from anyone!) pulses are rich in protein, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and give you a healthy gut! They are low GI/GL so this is good.

Next week we start our TRIGGER weeks (weeks 8-12). This is when we reintroduce foods that could be the cause of our being overweight, staples, cheese, bread and sweets/chocolates. We will start next week with staples such as pasta, noodles, couscous, potatoes and rice. We have them for 6 days and then on the 7th you don't have any. This is to see how your body copes. It would be great to avoid having them all together, but we need to find out how our bodies react. Also this will be the most challenging time as emotionally these foods normally have all kinds of links. But for now I am dealing with one trigger food - fruit! Really trying to cut down on portion size so wish me luck!