From Fat To Fit - My Story

Have you started to notice that it’s getting harder to lose weight and keep it off as the years go by? Do you often feel tired and lacking in energy and is it affecting your enjoyment of life? Don’t worry, I feel the same way, or at least I do when I’m not looking after my body as well as I should!

I’ve had years of fending off the bulge one way or another, always looking for the secret of how to keep it off without food cravings, or the secret of how to eat relatively indulgently and not put it all back on!

I was a fat and overweight child. I’ve always been an avid food lover, especially chocolate and rich, fatty foods. My first word was ‘codick’ – translation: chocolate! Already, at school at the age of five, I noticed how I was shunned because of my weight. I felt fat, ugly, rejected.

When I was in my teens, I was teased by my school friends because I was heavier than they were and clumsy at sports. And so began the lengthy battle with dieting, temporary weight loss, weight gain, low self esteem and yet more dieting.

I tried starving myself, drinking lots of coffee to get rid of my appetite, only eating yogurt, the hotdog and ice cream diet (!), weighing everything, going along to public humiliation weigh-ins and lots of other harebrained diet plans.

As the years went by, I noticed that keeping the weight and fat off was getting even harder! At least when I was younger I used to see fairly quick, (but temporary) results from my dieting.

I started to feel lethargic - lacking in motivation and energy. I was exercising and dieting but seeing fewer results, sometimes even no results. I was fighting an uphill battle. What on earth was happening to me?

If you can relate to this, then you’ve probably also thought about giving up and accepting that you’re getting older. It’s inevitable that you’re going to end up buying larger clothes and hiding yourself away eventually, isn’t it?

After all, you’re not sixteen any more. The media and society’s perception of the ‘older woman’ can affect the way you see yourself, if you allow it to. It could be tempting to succumb to society’s rhetoric that once you’re over a certain age, you’re past it, over the hill and all washed up. I must admit, the thought of ‘letting things go’ has crossed my mind a few times, as often it seems so hard to keep on top of it all!

But there’s always that little voice inside. The voice that whispers that I don’t really want to accept this as my fate.

I know I have a choice about how I feel and act. I can either get down in the dumps about it, resign myself to getting older and fatter….or I can turn it around completely and decide that I’m going to be in the best shape of my life in the coming years.

And so I changed my attitude about getting older. I changed my exercise and eating habits for good and I feel so much better. I have much more energy to enjoy the things I want to do!