Vivienne in 2008, 20 stone (280lbs / 127kg)
My Weight Loss Story,
by Vivienne
Where to start with my story, a lot of things happened in 2008 that changed my life forever.
Firstly, I was made redundant from my job, and a couple of months later my father died of a massive coronary (he was 67).
You might think that having drastic things happen in your otherwise pretty normal life would lead a fat person to become even fatter, but for me the complete opposite happened.
Two years before my father died he gave up smoking, he put on over two stone [28lbs / 12kg] and all that weight seemed to go straight on to his stomach, which I have learned now is not a good thing, as all that extra weight around his stomach placed a lot of strain on his heart.
I guess I should also tell you now that I too was a smoker. To be honest I never denied myself anything I wanted from cigarettes, drink or food. I am no psychologist but I think I had a very addictive personality (I’m glad I never tried any drugs!!).
Anyhow; after my father died, something in me clicked and I just knew that I had to change my life. I have two children, and I wanted to be around to see them grow up.
So I joined a gym (I hated to exercise, and never did), the gym I joined was fantastic. They listened to what I had to say and what I was hoping to achieve in the long term, and they set me short term goals, but always reminded me to keep the bigger picture in mind.
They talked me through nutrition, but they never called this new eating plan a ‘Diet’, they called it a ‘Lifestyle Change’, basically that my new way of eating was not going to just be for a few months, but that it was going to be for the rest of my life…..
Their theory was low-carb, low GI, high fat and protein.
At the time, the thoughts of taking on these changes were mammoth, and I didn’t think I could do it and even if I did that I could stick to it.
I won’t lie for the first three to four days I felt like life was not worth living and that all the fun had been taken out of life for me.
I was having mood swings and headaches, but I stuck with it and the second week in to the new eating plan it just seemed to be easier, like my brain had cought up to what I was doing.
I think of it like this: food for me now is fuel for my body, if I put bad fuel in the engine won’t work properly. I mean would you deliberity put dirty fuel in to your car that cost you so much to buy? Yet you have no problem putting junk into a vessel that you expect to run for over 80 years!
My exercise plan in the beginning was certainly a shock to my system, 20 mins of cardio, followed by full body resistance training, three times a week in the gym and on my off days I also did my own cardio, just to keep the motivation levels high.
A typical day for me now food wise is:
7am: I have a glass of water (room temp) with multivitamin, glucosamine & super fish oil (Omega 3), half a banana. Workout for about 45minutes, cardio and resistance training.
8.30am: I have a homemade smoothie:
- 150mls fresh sqeezed orange juice.
- Juice of 1 lemon.
- Tbs of milled linseed.
- Handful of blueberries.
- Handful of strawberries.
- Half a banana.
- Scoop of Whey protein.
- 2 tbs of probiotic full fat yogurt.
- Ice.
- Blend together in a smoothie maker…..makes about 1 pint [16oz / 0.5L] of smoothie. It is very filling and tastes really good.
Lunch is:
5oz of either lean turkey, chicken, tuna, with a fresh salad and some full fat cottage cheese.
I mix this up with steamed veg too.
Dinner is:
6oz of lean beef, which can be in the form of lean steak minced, or strips for stirfry. All my food is cooked in Coconut Oil.
For a snack I would have some almonds, brazil nuts, Walnuts or redskin peanuts, and a piece of fruit. I try to minimize my fruit to one or two pieces a day because the natural sugars can trigger food cravings. I drink between 2L and 2.5L of water a day.
Don’t get me wrong, I still have a treat now and then……but thats just what it is, ‘A Treat.’ I have come to realise that if you have a little of what you like every now and then you appreciate it far more!
I lost 9 stone [126lbs / 57kg] in 9 months, and trust me, every day I ate three meals with snacks, no diet pills, no diet shakes, no diet bars….. here’s the secret to weight loss: Diets don’t work, Lifestyle changes do!
4 years later the weight is still off and I feel better now than I did in my 20′s and here is the proof…
Fantastic and congratulations with your great results. Always so great to read stories like that.
Thank you Sunna! ;-)
Sunna,you look great! Thanks for sharing.
Congratulations!!!! Well done. Great success story. :)
Oh thank you Gloria :-)
Wow! You look great! Betcha feel great too! Thank you for sharing your story!
Hi Dawn, yes I do feel great, and I have so much energy now too!
Wow! You simply look fantastic. Gorgeous too. Well done Vivienne!
Hi Andy, thank you for your lovely comment, I am blushing here! :-D
Hard to believe it’s the same person – inspiring!
Awesome, congratulations and keep at it.
Thank you Viv and Ryia!:]
You are simply beautiful! Trying to lose 50 pounds. I was 170 when I got married, now I am 219… I am so tired and miserable. I am not an eater… But when I get hungry the whole world stops! I GOTTA EAT! I have now joined a gym and I’m trying to see just what I have to do to lose this weight! Your story was great thank u so much!
Hi Cynthia, thank you so much for your very flattering comment :-)
I sympathise with how you are feeling and if I could give you one bit of advice that worked for me it would be that if you could cut out sugar in your diet, i.e. cane sugar, fizzy drinks, biscuits, chocolate etc. for at least a month you will find that your food cravings will decrease as sugar is a trigger for food cravings and its just a vicious cycle, but if you can cut it out for month you will find that you no longer want sugar in your diet and you will find that you start to eat healthier too.
Its great that you have joined a gym and I hope they go through what goals you hope to achieve and that they compile programmes to keep you motivated.
If you like please look me up on Facebook so you can keep me posted on how you are doing and if you need a shoulder to vent on on any bad days!
Keep in touch and I hope to read your success story on kris’s site some day soon :-)
Vivienne
Ok looking for u…. What is ur last name?
Hi Cynthia, its Viv Stundon, my profile pic has me wearing a Bazinga t-shirt (I’m a huge Big Bang Theory fan!)
I can’t find you!!! My last name is Henderson….when u get a chance send me a request!!! :0) ( my profile is me and my hubby!!)
Where u r from? I am from California ……I was thinking maybe that’s y I can’t find u… Maybe ur in another country!!!! I don’t know!!!;0)
Hi Cynthia, I think I found you, but I can’t add you. I am from Ireland, but that should not matter I don’t think!
Vivienne, wow what an amazing thing you did. Your a new person. Its an amazing feeling isn’t it? I’m 30 lbs. down and have about 50 to go. Stories like yours and forums like Kris’ are what keeps me motivated. Thanks for sharing yours. See you in the forum.
Thank you so much Janis, great stuff to you on loosing 30lbs!
Its comments like yours that keep me motivated :-)
Regards and the best of luck with the rest of your weight loss.
Vivienne.
Vivienne,
Lovely. Absolutely lovely! Congratulations, you are an inspiration!
Awwwwh thank you Bev! :-)