Why I chose LighterLife
I knew that LighterLife worked because I had lost weight previously on this diet, therefore I knew I could lose it again. The Mentors that I had last time were nice and were very supportive. They never judged me or anyone in the group and that is of vital importance if I was to lose all my weight again. I was also cognizant of how helpful the CBT Mindfulness was and the part that it played in my weight loss 10 years ago. I knew I needed to reaffirm my understanding of the reasons of why I had put my weight on. I was also aware that LighterLife had a Management plan, but I had no experience of this. So, I made a pact with myself to complete the whole journey this time.
I needed to lose weight as I had received dire warnings from my doctor that I was pre-diabetic with a fatty liver, and that I was going to have a very unhealthy old age unless I did something about it. Not long after I started LighterLife, my youngest son announced that he was going to get married the following Summer, so I also had the added incentive of being trim and in shape in time for June 2023.
My First Week
What got me through the first week was the determination to lose the weight and my little pact with myself to succeed. Plus, I could hear my Mentor’s voice saying it was emotional hunger because the plan gave me 100% nutrition and the only thing lacking was the calories and they were being supplied by my body’s fat store. After 3 days on the TotalFast plan, I started to feel reassured that I would be able to cope.
Mentor Support
My Mentor is lovely, kind and supportive. I have landed on my feet with my Mentor, Tracey, she always makes me feel that I am her number one priority. Not only does she do this for me, but you can see by the chatter in our WhatsApp group that we all feel as if she has prioritized each and every one of us.
The CBT Mindfulness Sessions
During my time on the TotalFast plan, I have only missed one CBT Mindfulness session and that was accidental. I make these sessions a priority. Fairly early on in my journey, I caught myself out in a lie. Up until that point my weight problem was solely the fault of an on-going medical issue. I didn’t tell myself something spurious about why I couldn’t have this or that. It was purely the medical issue that was at fault. Then during one of our CBT Mindfulness sessions, my Mentor posed a question to the group and whilst composing a response to answer that question, another group member answered how she felt and reacted, and she was owning up to exactly the justification that I had made in my head. It was a real eye opener for me. I have done a lot of re-evaluations of myself since those early days. Even now that I’m on the Management plan, I still check in on what I’m being asked because there is nothing like you lying to yourself to derail you from your goal. My goal is to lose the weight and keep it off.
Extra Support
For me, I find the timing of the CBT Mindfulness sessions and support calls from my Mentor to be very helpful as they are spread across the week meaning that help, if I should need it, is never very far away. At other times, there is an active WhatsApp group. It feels good to be able to ask my fellow dieters a question or to ask for them to celebrate with me over a diet win. It also feels good to be able to lend my support and encouragement to others who are on the same journey. It also helps to keep me accountable to myself. WhatsApp is instant and takes the worry out of “What should I do about….” I have no end of praise for my WhatsApp group.
My family and friends have been quite supportive this time round. They all know I’ve been through this before.
My new wardrobe
Unfortunately, I’ve reached this stage of my journey in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. I would just love to shop for a whole new wardrobe but cannot for now. However, I have enjoyed altering and updating my outsized clothes into something completely new. I also came across a bag of clothes that I couldn’t bear to get rid of when I outgrew them. It was so nice to try on these old faves that I’d not seen for so long.
Living a lighter life
The loss of so much weight has been a real boon to me. I live in a town house with so many stairs, I can now manage them with ease. In fact, I use the stairs as my specialised exercise routine. Best of all, I can now go up and down without feeling my arthritic pain. I can’t remember when the pain in my back went, only that it used to plague me on a daily basis. Recently, my young granddaughters came for a visit. I was out with them all day long, up and down the sea front doing all the things they wanted to do. It was a completely different story last year. I had so much pain I had to keep sitting down to rest before I could go on. I’m loving the new lease on life that I have.
What would you say to anyone thinking about joining LighterLife?
Do it. You won’t regret it. It is a self-empowering way to lose weight. My advice to anyone considering joining LighterLife is to think very carefully about why you are going to lose the weight. Get a notebook and write down in as much detail as possible, your reasons for doing this diet. There will be times when you wonder “Am I doing the right thing?” “I really need to go off plan, what’s wrong with that?” How you can help yourself is re-read your initial note to yourself about why you started in the first place. You can also keep your notes from your CBT Mindfulness sessions in this one place; it will help enormously and is a resource that everyone should have.
To start your very own journey, locate your personal Mentor by clicking here.