Add Weight Loss to Your To-Do List!

by Jen
(Melbourne, Australia)

I used to weight 135lbs with my height of 5”2. I have been carrying this excess weight ever since I gave birth. I gained 25 lbs and never lost it.

I started to mull on the idea of losing weight when my knees started to hurt when I carried my baby Josh for a long time. Add to that, my friends are all thin and they were very supportive of me.

It was not easy at the start so I had to write it down on my schedule as part of my to do list. Writing it down makes me feel I have to scratch it out at the end of the day. This helped a lot.

I started arranging my schedule in order to accommodate increased accommodate increased time to exercise and to prepare my food. I had to wake up an hour and a half earlier to start biking in the park. I had to bike early as I would be too tired if I went there after work. The waking up part was really hard but I tried using my I-pod as my alarm thus motivating songs woke me up. I biked thrice a week and tried doing yoga for relaxation twice a week during my non biking days. I left the weekends free for family and chores.

I then had to alter my diet. Food preparation did not take as long as I thought. There were many readily available pre-cut and mixed salads. All I had to do was prepare the dressing.

It was hard to let go of pastas and meat but I was slowly able to let go because I bought tons of seafood and new cook books too. I concentrated on trying to learn new recipes for seafood.

Whenever we ate out, I would order the soup and salad. If I liked the salad, I will try copying and making the dressing. My family was definitely very supportive as they ate the same food as I did.

In the end, my fitness quest helped to increase my self–control and self–confidence. I was able to lose 20 lbs in six months. I need to lose five more to get to my ideal but I have been trying to keep up my diet by loving what it does for me.