Eek I don't know how to start these things!
A short disclaimer before I get into it, (although I'm sure it will be obvious), I have never written a blog before.
I'm also not sure if this is going to be of any interest to anyone, but I know that when I initially took the momentous and terrifying step of asking for and beginning to take this medication, I would read through these blogs for just a little bit of hope. Every success story, no matter how small, or slow, no matter how obstacle-ridden for the writer, gave me a little seed of hope, that maybe I could have a little success too.
So now, at the end of twelve weeks, and before I embark on the next twelve weeks prescription, I just thought I would add my two cents in case there is someone else out there reading through these blogs, and maybe looking for a little bit of hope, just like I used to. Maybe this blog can contribute, along with the many others out there, in providing that crucial and elusive commodity.
My story is a familiar one I'm sure, and boring in its predictability, so I'll be brief. I was a healthy weight all through my childhood and adolescence, but unfortunately eight years of tunnel minded focus on academics and career led to a slow and remorseless upward trend on the scale. I dieted frequently, exercised routinely, and had varying levels of success, but never really won my weight battle. And certainly psychologically, never acquired the confidence that I would be able to either get to my goal weight, or once there, maintain it.
And now, I am ridiculously excited to say, I feel like I have finally (I'm now 27) gained traction. I no longer feel like I'm locked in a futile struggle against the inevitable. This little 30 mg pill, even though I only take it 2-3 times a week, gives me a confidence that I can and will get there.
In the beginning, I was very nervous to begin the course of pills, as I have never taken any medication like this before. The odd paracetamol twice a year and an annual LemSip was about as medicated as I ever got. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and weighing in at 96.6 kg, at the diminutive height of 5'1, I knew I was at least 15 kg past the desperate mark.
The first few days were as rough as promised, insomnia, dry mouth, splitting headaches and constant irritability all had me worried. But I'm tenacious to a fault when I commit to something, and I was determined to see this out if that was as bad as it got. I was willing to take pretty much any temporary misery if it meant reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other, permanent miseries that I knew could be mine in the future if I didn't take steps. Luckily, after a week these side effects calmed down. Nowadays, the only symptoms I get are a propensity for headaches, a reduced appetite, and the much desired obliteration of cravings.
In conjunction with taking the pill 2-3 times a week, I also do a number of other things to lose weight. This is partly because I don't think I could be very successful if I just took the pill, but mainly because I am trying to build lasting habits and overhaul my lifestyle. The pill is really only a helping hand- and I am very anxious that it does not become more than that for me, as it cannot be taken long term. This is also why I don't take it every day, I need to be sure that I am learning self control and discipline without it. This way when I taper off it, I will not be reliant on it and things will not be such an adjustment.
So here are the other things that I do. Some of it may sound too extreme or obsessive, or maybe not extreme enough, but this is just what works for me. Everyone is different
In a few months, I might be doing things differently again, who knows! So I'm not saying this is how to do it, or advocating anything in particular. We all just stumble our way through as we figure things out, and this is my ongoing attempt
So that being said, I also do the following:
1) I record all food eaten in a food journal every day, with the calorie count. (I average 1000 calories a day).
2) I record all exercise completed in the journal as well every day.
3) I only eat breakfast, lunch and dinner- no snacks ever.
4) I do 3-5 two hour walks every week.
5) I go to the gym at least six times a week. ( I do four 1-hr cycle classes, and two 1-hr Zumba classes).
6) I drink buckets of green tea, herbal tea, fruit tea, basically any tea I can get my hands on
7) If I have a lapse of self control, I just start fresh. I won't let it define my next move.
8) I also weigh my self every Tuesday, and graph my progress. (It's really motivating).
9) I take my measurements every fortnight, this is also really motivating!
10) I have a list in my phone of new healthy habits that I've formed, and I like to add to this whenever I can so I can see the permanent changes I'm making to my lifestyle.
In terms of the scale, these are my results so far ... (and sorry about the wonky columns)
...........................Start Weight:......Final Weight:....Weight Lost:.....Total Loss to Date:
Week One:..............96.6 kg...............90.5 kg...................6.1 kg........................6.1 kg
Week Two:..............90.5 kg...............90.2 kg...................300 g.........................6.4 kg
Week Three:...........90.2 kg...............87.9 kg...................2.3 kg........................8.7 kg
Week Four:..............87.9 kg...............86.9 kg...................1.0 kg........................9.7 kg
Week Five:..............86.9 kg...............85.4 kg...................1.5 kg........................11.2 kg
Week Six:................85.4 kg...............84.5 kg....................900 g........................12.1 kg
Week Seven:...........84.5 kg..............81.6 kg....................2.9 kg........................15.0 kg
Week Eight:.............81.6 kg...............81.9 kg...................+300 g.......................14.7 kg
Week Nine:..............81.9 kg...............81.0 kg....................900 g........................15.6 kg
Week Ten:...............81.0 kg...............79.1 kg....................1.9 kg........................17.5 kg
Week Eleven:..........79.1 kg...............78.5 kg....................600 g........................18.1 kg
Week Twelve:..........78.5 kg...............76.9 kg....................1.6 kg.......................19.7 kg
A total of 19.7 kg in twelve weeks! I could not be happier! (Well, it would have been amazing to get to an even 20 kg by three months, but I'm open minded hehe and will make do
Moving forwards, I need to get under 61 kg to be at a healthy weight for my height. So that is what I will be working towards for the next twelve weeks. (And then I will repost). Eek wish me success! Another 16 kg to go, but I'm on my way
Good luck to all out there on the same health mish, you can all do it! And I hope this blog was helpful to you, or at least not too long and boring!
A short disclaimer before I get into it, (although I'm sure it will be obvious), I have never written a blog before.
I'm also not sure if this is going to be of any interest to anyone, but I know that when I initially took the momentous and terrifying step of asking for and beginning to take this medication, I would read through these blogs for just a little bit of hope. Every success story, no matter how small, or slow, no matter how obstacle-ridden for the writer, gave me a little seed of hope, that maybe I could have a little success too.
So now, at the end of twelve weeks, and before I embark on the next twelve weeks prescription, I just thought I would add my two cents in case there is someone else out there reading through these blogs, and maybe looking for a little bit of hope, just like I used to. Maybe this blog can contribute, along with the many others out there, in providing that crucial and elusive commodity.
My story is a familiar one I'm sure, and boring in its predictability, so I'll be brief. I was a healthy weight all through my childhood and adolescence, but unfortunately eight years of tunnel minded focus on academics and career led to a slow and remorseless upward trend on the scale. I dieted frequently, exercised routinely, and had varying levels of success, but never really won my weight battle. And certainly psychologically, never acquired the confidence that I would be able to either get to my goal weight, or once there, maintain it.
And now, I am ridiculously excited to say, I feel like I have finally (I'm now 27) gained traction. I no longer feel like I'm locked in a futile struggle against the inevitable. This little 30 mg pill, even though I only take it 2-3 times a week, gives me a confidence that I can and will get there.
In the beginning, I was very nervous to begin the course of pills, as I have never taken any medication like this before. The odd paracetamol twice a year and an annual LemSip was about as medicated as I ever got. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and weighing in at 96.6 kg, at the diminutive height of 5'1, I knew I was at least 15 kg past the desperate mark.
The first few days were as rough as promised, insomnia, dry mouth, splitting headaches and constant irritability all had me worried. But I'm tenacious to a fault when I commit to something, and I was determined to see this out if that was as bad as it got. I was willing to take pretty much any temporary misery if it meant reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other, permanent miseries that I knew could be mine in the future if I didn't take steps. Luckily, after a week these side effects calmed down. Nowadays, the only symptoms I get are a propensity for headaches, a reduced appetite, and the much desired obliteration of cravings.
In conjunction with taking the pill 2-3 times a week, I also do a number of other things to lose weight. This is partly because I don't think I could be very successful if I just took the pill, but mainly because I am trying to build lasting habits and overhaul my lifestyle. The pill is really only a helping hand- and I am very anxious that it does not become more than that for me, as it cannot be taken long term. This is also why I don't take it every day, I need to be sure that I am learning self control and discipline without it. This way when I taper off it, I will not be reliant on it and things will not be such an adjustment.
So here are the other things that I do. Some of it may sound too extreme or obsessive, or maybe not extreme enough, but this is just what works for me. Everyone is different
In a few months, I might be doing things differently again, who knows! So I'm not saying this is how to do it, or advocating anything in particular. We all just stumble our way through as we figure things out, and this is my ongoing attempt So that being said, I also do the following:
1) I record all food eaten in a food journal every day, with the calorie count. (I average 1000 calories a day).
2) I record all exercise completed in the journal as well every day.
3) I only eat breakfast, lunch and dinner- no snacks ever.
4) I do 3-5 two hour walks every week.
5) I go to the gym at least six times a week. ( I do four 1-hr cycle classes, and two 1-hr Zumba classes).
6) I drink buckets of green tea, herbal tea, fruit tea, basically any tea I can get my hands on
7) If I have a lapse of self control, I just start fresh. I won't let it define my next move.
8) I also weigh my self every Tuesday, and graph my progress. (It's really motivating).
9) I take my measurements every fortnight, this is also really motivating!
10) I have a list in my phone of new healthy habits that I've formed, and I like to add to this whenever I can so I can see the permanent changes I'm making to my lifestyle.
In terms of the scale, these are my results so far ... (and sorry about the wonky columns)
...........................Start Weight:......Final Weight:....Weight Lost:.....Total Loss to Date:
Week One:..............96.6 kg...............90.5 kg...................6.1 kg........................6.1 kg
Week Two:..............90.5 kg...............90.2 kg...................300 g.........................6.4 kg
Week Three:...........90.2 kg...............87.9 kg...................2.3 kg........................8.7 kg
Week Four:..............87.9 kg...............86.9 kg...................1.0 kg........................9.7 kg
Week Five:..............86.9 kg...............85.4 kg...................1.5 kg........................11.2 kg
Week Six:................85.4 kg...............84.5 kg....................900 g........................12.1 kg
Week Seven:...........84.5 kg..............81.6 kg....................2.9 kg........................15.0 kg
Week Eight:.............81.6 kg...............81.9 kg...................+300 g.......................14.7 kg
Week Nine:..............81.9 kg...............81.0 kg....................900 g........................15.6 kg
Week Ten:...............81.0 kg...............79.1 kg....................1.9 kg........................17.5 kg
Week Eleven:..........79.1 kg...............78.5 kg....................600 g........................18.1 kg
Week Twelve:..........78.5 kg...............76.9 kg....................1.6 kg.......................19.7 kg
A total of 19.7 kg in twelve weeks! I could not be happier! (Well, it would have been amazing to get to an even 20 kg by three months, but I'm open minded hehe and will make do
Moving forwards, I need to get under 61 kg to be at a healthy weight for my height. So that is what I will be working towards for the next twelve weeks. (And then I will repost). Eek wish me success! Another 16 kg to go, but I'm on my way
Good luck to all out there on the same health mish, you can all do it! And I hope this blog was helpful to you, or at least not too long and boring!
