Until the age of 25, I was fat, gargantuan, over six feet tall in heels with a cup size that flowed over an E cup and into an F and beyond. At 15 stone, I tried every diet over a decade; the Cambrige Diet, Slim Fast, Cabbage Soup, the Palm Beach Diet, the French Stick diet, the Jockey Diet, Herbalife, the Carrot Diet, the Eat Your Fill Toffees (pure Harry Potter, eat two magic toffees and you will be unable to eat your meal). The list goes on and on.
These diets all shared a similar pattern; a couple of days success because of that illusive promise of magical weightloss, a couple of days of youthful determination overcoming the hunger pains, a couple of days of maintenance as the intitial water and muscle loss showed on the scales. And then by the end of the week, disaster, and a ravenous hunger that overtook all reason so that in 30 minutes flat I could eat everything in the fridge/bread bin/ biscuit tin.
By my twenties life was more interesting and food lost its mystique, I ate very little and exercised daily, but my weight stuck resolutely around 11 stone.
In my 30s I ate more, better quality food, stopped the exercise and my weight maintained a range of 10- 10 and a half stone.
In my forties my life has changed completely and I have both the time and inclination to focus on getting into the best possible shape. It has been an interesting learning experience and to date fairly successful.
I started by building up a proper, structured fitness routine; Monday-Friday work outs a mix of weights, aerobic, stretch, core training, tennis and swimming. I do a mix of these for a minimum of one hour each day and if possible at least twice a week two hours.
Initially my muscles were exhausted after years of inactivity and the only way that it was maintainable was by alternating aerobic/muscle building days with stretch days.
This has completely changed my body shape, in my twenties, when I did exercise, I had bulky legs and shoulders, a thick waist and fat on my torso regardless of the hours and hours that I put in on the aerobics floor. By focusing on the stretch as well as the strength training I have a longer waist, less body fat and less bulk around my back and shoulders.
I have lost around a stone and a half without feeling any deprivation or hunger. My jeans are getting looser, although the scales are starting to go up, but I am not really interested in the weight other than as a general guide. My diet it quite specific, but this is going on a bit so more later.
Some celebs who you could never imagine getting fat.....
Michelle Pfeiffer is still beautiful, that bone structure....
