LighterLife’s CBT work has helped me understand the “why” of my weight
Overweight nearly all my adult life, I’d seen my health starting to deteriorate as I got older. At 61, I wanted to make a positive impact on my health and general wellbeing. And that meant losing a lot of weight.
I’ve dieted weekly since I was about 16 – trying everything on the market, from slimming clubs and Calorie counting to intermittent fasting and keto. The only thing I’d ever done that gave me consistent weight loss was LighterLife in 2009, when I lost five stone.
However, over the intervening years, I didn’t prioritise myself – instead, I’d put my children and work first. That, plus life’s distractions and the menopause, saw the weight creep back on. I eventually realised I needed to revisit the CBT work that LighterLife offers in its groups to gain a greater understanding of my weight “why”, not just lose weight and then continue struggling with the same old issues. Because I’d seen that wasn’t sustainable in the long term.
Loads of energy
The first three days on TotalFast were difficult due to hunger pangs and the reduction in food intake – four Foodpacks a day and nothing else. However, once I was in ketosis, I didn’t look back. I had loads of energy, and the visible weight loss was my biggest motivation. My only challenge – and I use the word loosely – was that I kept on dreaming of cheese on toast. That had been my go-to food on all occasions, when I was happy, sad, stressed, angry or just bored. Those dreams lasted for a couple of weeks, but nothing more serious than that!
I’m now in Management, and a Vanilla shake with added coffee and ice to make an iced café latte is still my regular lunchtime treat. I also like making a “bread” with the Blueberry Pancake Foodpack and a chocolate “toast” with the Chocolate Mug Cake. And I love the Chocolate Raisin bar!
“I love my weekly group”
The group support has been vital. I love my weekly group and am continuing to attend to support my weight-loss maintenance after losing 9 stone on TotalFast.
The people in my group understand if I’m having a bad day. There’s no judgement, just great tips on how to survive the difficult times. My family and work colleagues have been enormously supportive too, encouraging me all the way. I’m also an avid contributor to our WhatsApp chat room, as I feel that my thoughts, one-liners or questions may also give support to others in the group.
Creating a healthy relationship with food
My Mentor, Louise, the group CBT work and the programme books have helped me to identify that a lack of regular meals in childhood led me to create a very dysfunctional relationship with food. My “all or nothing” approach had seen my weight fluctuate dramatically throughout my adult life.
My challenge now in Management is to develop a healthy relationship with food. I’m working on seeing it as something to be enjoyed as fuel for my body, rather than a means of depriving myself or managing my emotional state. Through what I’ve explored and learned with Louise in my group, I now have the tools, mindset and motivation to conquer this.
More confident, more active
I have a new zest for life, wanting to try new experiences and live my life to the fullest. Since starting my weight-loss journey, I’ve gained so much confidence in my personal and social life – I’m more outgoing and no longer the wallflower in the background that I once was. It also feels like people treat me with a little more respect in my professional life. They appear to listen to me and take my comments more credibly than they did when I was significantly overweight.
I’m far more active now than I have been since my 20s. I have a newfound love for swimming and swim a mile four times a week before work, while I try to make that a mile and a half if it’s a non-working day. Housework is much less tiring, and my sleep pattern is far more healthy.
“Now I’m front and centre”
I take more pride in my appearance now, putting on nice clothes and make-up every day – things you don’t do when you don’t like how you look.
I love shopping and buying clothes that I wouldn’t have considered before due to my size, like skirts, shorts and dresses – this wouldn’t have even happened on holiday in previous years. I’m also rediscovering a new style that suits my new shape and brighter colours so I can be seen – not black or dark shades to hide behind. Now I’m front and centre!
If the ring fits…
One of the most wonderful things about losing the weight is that my eternity ring fits again – it had been getting so tight that I’d had to stop wearing it or risk it needing to be cut off. I can also paint my own toenails without getting breathless and turning blue! And I’ve gone down a shoe size – weird, I know, but you can’t always tell where you will lose the weight from. I also like looking at myself in the mirror now, as I don’t have four chins clogging up my neck.
Being more mindful
The mindfulness techniques I’ve gained from the group work are the key. They enable you to ask yourself if you’re eating for an emotional reason rather than physical hunger – because if you’re eating your emotions, the problem will remain once you’ve finished eating. And then you have the guilt to contend with as well.
On my journey, I have become an avid journal-keeper, detailing what I’ve eaten and why so that I can look back to see what I did in a good week and what I did differently when the result was not what I was expecting.
My advice? Just do it!
I would say just go for it. Immerse yourself in the programme and use all the materials – there is so much good advice, tips and support on those pages. Use your Mentor, the weekly group meetings and your group’s WhatsApp chat room, because that group support is vital for sustaining you if you’re struggling.
Stop thinking about it and just do it – your future self will be forever grateful.
