Something to lose: The beginning

It is no secret that I have been unhappy with my weight for a while now. After the first three children, my size 10 figure snapped back. After the fourth, a little extra weight remained. After the fifth, gravity took over. Everything on my body plummeted, except for my weight.

After each pregnancy I get back onto the weight-loss wagon yet come way short of my goal before falling pregnant again. I didn’t make too much of an effort after having Isobel, I admit. Yet throughout this pregnancy my determination to finally do something about it was continuous. Of course, I had to finish being pregnant first.

Over the last few months several things have happened which have made me realise that I have come to the point of no return. My self-confidence has reached a low, I feel ugly and unattractive beyond measure, and my clothes were becoming smaller. Clothes are an issue in themselves; I’ve worn nothing but maternity wear for the best part of ten years, whether I’ve been pregnant or not. I feel frumpy and awful. In short, I’ve had enough.

Towards the end of pregnancy my knees ached terribly – an effect, no doubt, of the extra burden they were carrying. I went to an ante-natal appointment to be asked to ‘pull my leggings’ further down over my belly. I wanted to reply that, ‘These aren’t leggings! These are loose trousers!’ but felt too humiliated to do so. Even in preparation for the c-section, the largest support stockings for theatre were too tight for my far too fat calves. Looking down at my trunk-like legs, I noticed that the creases in my knees formed faces complete with smile lines. Great, I thought. Even my knees are mocking me, laughing at how huge I have become.

‘I’m going to do Weight Watchers when I’ve had this baby,’ I told Mike. ‘Will you do it with me?’ I asked him.

I knew it worked, having done it previously and losing over 40lbs. That was under the old plan. The following year, after the birth of the next baby (I forget who it was), I had re-joined but the Pro-Points had taken over. I struggled with it. The previous plan and its rules were still fresh in my mind and I just couldn’t wipe out everything I had previously heeded, replacing it with something else entirely. Sticking to WW that time was a struggle, and any success was minimal.

So two days after Tim and I arrived home, nine days after his birth, Mike and I signed up to Weight Watchers Online.

We are now two weeks in and all is going extremely well. This is Mike’s first time with Weight Watchers, and my memory is poor enough to have forgotten the previous plan and all it entailed. We have entered this journey with detemination and fresh eyes, and have one another to turn to for competitiveness support, of course.

I have a staggering 70lbs to lose. Thats five stone exactly. I was horrified when I realised that I am lugging around the equivalent of Sid, our muscley, solid eight-year-old who weighs in at 4st 12.

‘How can I be carrying Sid around with me all the time?!’

No wonder my knees hurt.

Monday is our weigh-in day, and we’ll be keeping track of our journey here. We’ll be writing about our progress, sharing recipes we’ve tried and seeing what products are available to help (and how useful we’ve found them). You can join us too, if you want!

Given that we began two weeks ago, here is the story so far. I’m not going to state start and goal weights but will give weekly update on our progress instead, although I’ve already divulged that I have a hefty 70lbs to lose.

So here is our progress so far:

Tania: 

Week 1: Lost 9lbs

Week 2: Lost 3lbs

Total lost to date: 12lbs

Still to lose: 58lbs

Mike: 

Week 1: Lost 3lbs

Week 2: Lost 5lbs

Total lost to date: 8lbs

Combined loss to date: 20lbs

Keep up-to-date and receive our latest news directly to your inbox or RSS reader.  You can also follow us on Twitter with the handle @LargerFamily, or become our friend on Facebook too.