Hello!
About 20 years ago I lost 4.5 stone. It was completely a mindset thing. I'll tell you the things I thought and what I did.
My weight had been getting out of control, creeping up and up. I remember having this thought: 'I can't fly and I can't time travel, but I can lose weight '. Suddenly I just realised that this was completely within my control. I realised that being slim absolutely was in my future, and the only thing that was holding me back was me not doing what I needed to.
My mum told me that this had to be a lifestyle change and not just a quick fix. At the time I started to calorie count (more on that later) and I decided to have two goals: a long term goal and several short term goals.
The long term goal was the weight I wanted to be (8 and a half stone for my 5 foot 4 height). I imagined what it would look like on the scale and I imagined myself in a lovely outfit at that weight.
The short term goals were half stone milestones. IN my head I just had to lose half a stone. Once I lost it, I would maintain it for a while then start back up again.
When I would weigh myself, I would tell myself that any number that wasn't an increase was good. It was all about the direction (the number going down) that I was interested in. If I lost a quarter of a pound, I felt glad that I was a quarter of a pound closer to my goal and further from my starting weight. I happily took any loss!
At the time, I couldn't cook and would get takeaways at the weekend (I now make fake aways a lot) but this time around I would get the main part of the meal without the chips but with a side salad instead.
Once I realised I was full, I would take the salt shaker and poison any remaining food on my plate with it. I learned to handle a little hunger between meals, and if I was struggling, I would have a coffee and a banana to keep me going.
If there was dessert for after dinner (Sunday dinner for example) I would save it and have it for my supper.
If I was watching a movie and wanted something to munch on, I would make a big bowl of chopped fruit and munch through it. I bought a book by Paul Mc Kenna called 'I can make you thin' and it was great at helping me to visualise a goal and work towards it.
As people started to notice, I began to think that maybe this really was possible! I continued calorie counting and believing in myself to the point where I got to my goal. However, by now my habits were so ingrained that I lost a bonus half stone after that. One day my mum looked at me and said with shock, 'you're actually thin!'.
I bobbed back up a half stone and settled around there until this very day. I had a number on the scale that I absolutely would not go over: I would nip weight gain in the bud by weighing myself regularly. I made sure I never bought anything with an elasticated waist that would lull me into a false state of security. I would never buy anything above a size 8. Not because I had a problem with wearing clothes a size up, but because I didn't want to move up a dress size every year or two and end up where I started.
I haven't bought a size bigger in all that time (except for right after having babies) and am still a size 8.
Now, education about nutrition has increased and I have done Weight Watchers to help me lose weight after I've had my children (had to lose 4 stone again after my first). This involved less counting, and just trying to keep my diet full of fresh fruit and veg as well as lean meat. Weight Watchers is brilliant by the way! I do it online.
I learned to snack on 0 point foods such as boiled eggs, fruit and veg. I'm back on WW again for a recent baby and have about 1 stone to go. I know I can do it.
I'm so glad that I spent my twenties being able to wear the clothes I wanted to and feeling confident in them. Such a contrast to how I covered myself up and looked awful in everything before.
I remember Kate Moss got slated for saying this, but it was my mantra: 'nothing tastes as good as being slim feels'. For me, it was true, and I say that as a total foodie.