50 pounds lost

Like I do every year, I made the new year’s resolution to lose some weight, but unlike most other years I have managed to actually stick to it and I’m still going strong today for a total loss of 50 pounds.

I've gone from a dress size 14-16 (UK) to a 10, losing 6 inches on my waist, 8 inches on my hips, 6 inches off my chest (which is the only downside!) 5.5 inches from each leg and 1.5 inches from my arms.

I originally started by joining Weight Watchers, then over the months after reading lots of different sites I educated myself and started cooking all my own meals and trying out lots of different workouts until I had found the ones I am happiest with.

After lots of trial and error I pretty much just follow the clean eating lifestyle, with a few naughty treats thrown in there as I find this the most sustainable and successful. The weight loss has been slow but it’s been consistent, I have lots of friends who have tried fad diets with great success at the start, but they just aren’t easy to keep up and the weight is put straight back on again.

I now feel a lot healthier and confident in my own skin, although I have to admit I don’t think I will ever be completely happy with the way I look, and I’m sure most girls can relate.
I’m also so happy that I’ve learnt how to cook myself delicious and nutritious food, I could cook before but wasn’t particularly good or creative and quite often resorted to ready meals.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Left, taken in January, Right, taken at the end of August[/caption]

I’m also incredibly happy I have found workouts that I love, and genuinely can’t imagine my life without running or pole dancing in it. Both have made me great new friends, and running especially has really helped with my mental state. If I have a bad day at work all I need to do is go for a nice run and I feel like I’m stomping out all my pent up rage and by the end of it I’m happy and relaxed with a clear mind.
It’s also nice to have something to focus on outside of work, I’m sure a lot of people can relate, in a typical job you don’t get promoted every day so it’s often quite hard to feel a sense of achievement, but getting a new PB at running or nailing a move you have been working on for ages makes me feel like a superstar and happens a lot more regularly than a promotion.
Let’s not forget about the races and the shows, you spend weeks training for them, get incredibly nervous beforehand, have a fabulous time during and feel such a sense of accomplishment afterwards, not to mention the admiration from others, that never fails to boost my ego a bit.

My aim is to lose another 7 pounds (the goal I set at the start of the year) and see where I want to go from there. I will probably want to be slimmer but I think it will definitely be time to give my body a bit of a break, maybe I’ll even start eating at a calories surplus for a while in a attempt to build muscle, but I will do more research into this before starting anything.

I know this post is quite narcasstic, but 50 pounds is a lot (to me) and I have worked so hard to lose the weight that I just want to share it with people and hopefully encourage people who think they can’t do it. You can, I promise you just need to make slow gradual changes, don’t just starve yourself, cut out carbs, live off liquids or whatever other faddy diet is in. Also take it slow with the workouts too, you may have the best of intentions running 5 times a week or going to the gym every day but chances are you will either get a injury from doing to much too soon or get bored very quickly and give it all up.
Try out loads of classes and activities and decide which one you like best, you may find you are a gym bunny, or you prefer running outdoors, or you’re even an adventurer who gets into hiking and rock climbing, you will never know unless you give it a go!

Please feel free to ask me any questions, if I get enough I might actually do a blog post on them, although chances are I won’t so I’ll just reply individually....