Piglet to Gazelle

A question about : Piglet to Gazelle

After being diagnosed with an underactive thyroid at 19 (I’m now 28) I have struggled to maintain or lose any weight in fact I have been steadily gaining weight. I started at 7st 9lbs and biggest weight 11st 12lbs which was a few weeks ago (weigh-in today 11st 6lbs).
I have decided to give myself new challenges every week that will affect my diet for the better. This way I feel I am more likely to stick with it rather than try and change everything all in one go and have me reaching for the maccy d’s or whatever other junk food I can lay my grubby little paws on.
I will be posting my food diary on here to keep me on the straight and narrow so to speak but I am not going to be so strict that I do not allow the occasional treat as I have learnt from past mistakes that this does not work for me. It also doesn’t reflect reality in my opinion; I will be aiming for the 80/20 breakdown.
I have already been at this for a few weeks and so far I have started the C25K (on week 2 now), vowed to take the stairs at work at least once a day (I work on the 4th floor), drink 2ltrs of water a day, walk to Liverpool Street (2 miles), always eat breakfast, bed before 10pm & no coffee unless decaf after 5pm (as otherwise I cannot sleep at night).

This week my change has been to reduce the amount of added sugar I consume so no sugar in hot drinks, on food etc..

I have decided that no longer will I allow myself to be the one that is holding me back. This is my Piglet to Gazelle Programme.

Best answers:

• Todays food:
  B: Smoked salmon & scrambled Egg + Coffee with whole milk
  MS: Apple & 4 Brazil Nuts
  L: 1 and half sausages, Mixed Veg & HM onion gravy
  AS: 5 almonds & 1tbsp of dried cranberries
  Dinner as of yet undecided as out for a friend's birthday drinks
• Great idea to do the changes slowly! Good luck to you and I hope you get lots of support and motivation from this forum!
• Thanks MMM. It did take me a few weeks to build up the courage to make my own post but this is the best place to get support so I figured just go for it. Love the name by the way.
  Well this evening was a bit of a mixture. Had a team meeting so ended up having:
  A biscuit
  A handful of crisps
  A 200ml glass of juice
  A plum
  A handful of grapes
  Didn't have my afternoon snack of nuts and cranberries.
  Then went down the pub and had:
  Lager shandy
  2 x water
  All in all not great start but better than I would usually do in the same circumstances. Proud of myself for having water in the pub rather than being tempted into further alcoholic drinks. I'm not a big drinker but feel almost pressured into drinking sometimes.
  Not hungry for dinner but definitely ready for bed!
• Well done for taking control! I find changing things gradually helps and am moving towards 'eating clean'. i have drastically reduced my carb intake, almost never drank alcohol anyway, have increased protein intake, cut sugar by more tha n 50%, cut caffeine by more than 50% and feel so much better than before! I am exercising regularly and the weight is dropping off and underneath are some new, shiny muscles!!! Almost never feel hungry and if I do, I actively prefer the healthy snacks (especially greek yoghurt with fruit and almonds) now! Cakes etc just don't do it for me anymore.
  I am not so fussed about my overall size even though it's big, it was the fact that it all wobbled that bugged me. I can cope with being big if it's muscle. As it happens I am a dress size down and still decreasing.
  Good luck and keep going, it will soon become habit to eat well and then you are set for life.
• On reflection yesterday wasn't as bad as I made it out in my head.
  I am gradually adding exercise into my day thought this would be the best way to go as I injured my ankle a few years ago but the joint has never properly healed (most likely due to my weight on it) and want it to adjust and get stronger. Doing physio exercises on it too to help strengthen the joint. I can almost wear low heels now. Yeah!!
  Breakfast today was poached egg with smoked salmon & avocado plus a small coffee.
  S: 4 brazil nuts, 5 almonds, 1 tbsp dried cranberries, a plum & handful of grapes
• Good luck with your weight loss goals. If you don't use it already, you might be interested in myfitnesspal, a nice tool to keep track of your daily calorie intake and macronutrient breakdown. They have an app as well.
• I've recently started using "Monitor Your Weight" app on android. You set your starting details which can be backdated of weight, height etc also set target weight and date. Enter weight easily whenever you measure it in stones/kilos/pounds and it shows % progress/time, how much you've lost, graphs and it's free for the bits you need. I've set a long term target of 31 March 16 to lose 3st 10lbs. My progress is 11% and 15% time has gone by, so I'm a bit behind. I find it a good motivator.
• L: butternut squash & Feta Quiche with salad.
  Very yummy indeed.
  My next challenges are going to be attending a wedding tomorrow and staying at the in-laws where I don't have full control over meals.
  Take each meal as it comes I reckon.
• When I am in a situation where there is limited choice or I have to eat what is provided, I will usually leave the carbs on my plate or give them to someone who wants them if I can. When at a restaurant I will ask for no potatoes but more vegetables instead.
  However if someone has been kind enough to cook me a meal I will eat it, no matter what it is. Don't want my choices to complicate other people's lives.
  For me the exercise has been the most important thing. if you are recovering from injury you need to listen to your physio, but after a couple of months I was able to go back to recovery training following a slipped disc (not done in the gym) and I have seen a lady at the gym training following an operation on her achilles tendon in one of those surgical boot things! There's always something you can do and it really makes a HUGE difference to how you feel (or at least it has for me).
  The other thing is to be careful not to eat too little as this 'scares' your body into storing fat. I am bad about this, I will go way too long without eating, because I am too busy and it is the next small change I need to make to improve this bad habit.
• That's what I mean about taking each meal as it comes appreciate not having to cook but don't want to just have a massive blow out
  Dinner last night was shephards pie and also had two slices of oven baked pizza and a lemonade
• Today's food has been
  B: red grapefruit and a coffee
  L: 1/2 tin spaghetti hoops & 1 slice wm bread
  D: lamp chump steak & two mini corn on cobs
  S: tbsp dried cranberries, a plum, 5 almonds, 30g cheddar cheese, 4 Brazil nuts & an apple
  E: took stairs twice, 2 mile walk and 30 day abs, squats &push ups day one
• My challenge this week is to have my recommended calcium intake as I am terrible at not eating dairy. Note to self must pick up some tasty yoghurt to snack on.
  If anyone has any advice on how I can achieve this weeks challenge would be very grateful.
• That's a good idea thanks. Maybe I could make some healthy granola to go with that too
• I hope you don't mind me saying that, but I think it's a pity that you see yourself as a piglet, starting from such a negative place is not gonna help you reach your goals. Your goals should be about your health and wellbeing, and not self-worth. If you don't exercise and eat well you are still the same great person, if you do you'll also achieve your goals and improve your wellbeing. That's the way I see it, I love myself no matter what weight/fitness level I am, but going to the gym and eating well makes me feel even better about myself. It's a happy place.