Hi everyone and welcome to my first blog as Brand Ambassador for Weightwatchers. Since my journey began over 7 weeks ago, I’ve been working hard at getting to grips with the ethos and ethics that is Weightwatchers and I have to say I love it! I have struggled with my weight all my life, I may have been a stone over, sometimes two, but, I could never seem to get the balance right and it has bothered me for years. I suppose I have been a ‘foodie’ all my life, loved eating it when both happy or sad, appreciating it, eating out all the time, buying it no matter what the occasion, rarely cooking it, therein, probably lies the problem. I’ve been classically trained to ‘eat on the run’ and would rather stuff something quick and easy down the hatch rather than plan, think or take time over my food and what I’d actually like to eat. Like most, I give into myself a lot. If my body craves it, then I’ll find it.
Over the years and especially after my mother passed away I began to evaluate what it was I wanted from my body, my shape and how I felt in my own skin. Mostly, average to okay but sometimes not. Sometimes I loathed what I saw in the reflection, I’d be embarrassed and disgruntled and that unhappy veil can come over you. Body image and body health, mind and spirit are of course interlinked and to be honest when I eat cleaner I feel better in every way. Simple!
Since embarking on the brand ambassador role for Weightwatchers, I’ve come to understand things about myself and my eating habits. Since my Sept 2015 wedding, my weight has gone up and down. It was very low for my wedding, but I hardly ate. As soon as I was on my honeymoon I enjoyed every morsel, no dress to get into, no stress, no madcap late-night planning of speeches and flying to Florence. No nothing. I took a deep breath in when we landed in the Seychelles and I never or actually couldn’t actually breathe back out! My dress I wore the night after my wedding didn’t fit me by the end of my honeymoon two weeks later. I couldn’t even zip it up! Okay so that might be the norm as you’re eating out every night on holidays and enjoying your newfound love and marriage but when you’re rattling on the weight with wines and cheeseboards celebrating with everyone when you get home too, the realisation sets in…you’re back to square one!
Square one stayed at square one until Christmas and then went right down the elevator shaft. By Christmas, I was a size 14 and a good one at that. Remember I have a 36E chest and I am only 5ft 4, if that! Now, obviously you can be perfectly happy at size 14 but at 5.4 it wasn’t right for me. Even after my solemn promise on New Year’s Eve to ‘get it down’ I never could. A bit here and bit there, a dry January has always kick-started it and then back onto the merry-go-round of eating on the run, flying, being incredibly busy, being incredibly good, no time to cook, not saying no to people or things, eating dodgy food before a red carpet, bloated bellies, not eating breakfast, surviving on coffees and the classic ‘wine o clock’ which let’s be honest is a good idea at the time but has lasting effects! To be fair at 38 my body was saying NO, you can’t get away with it anymore. It wasn’t shifting and I was baffled! I blamed my genes, even saw a doctor for bloating, drank live bacteria, read books and still the same, a few pounds either way but no major results. Annoyed, frustrated, upset, sad and not feeling good about myself was the tip of the iceberg. I wore black from February until nearly November and was very adept at hiding it – not many people could see how I felt underneath.
I’m being honest here when I say I DO know how to eat healthy, of course I do, I’m not stupid and for the most part I was, but now having been on the plan for Weightwatchers and lost a whopping 10lbs in 7 weeks, I’ve learned that it’s not just WHAT I was eating but HOW I was eating! It’s so important to educate yourself on nourishing your body and giving yourself enough fuel to get you through the day. It’s so simple but effective. You can eat anything you like but you SmartPoint it. Even with my busy life, I’m starting to cook and it’s fantastic, I’m really loving it and enjoying the therapy behind making my own meals and saving a few pennies too, it’s super!
