A friend of mine has asked for some tips on weight loss motivation so I thought I’d share some ideas on what made me lose weight last year to see if any of it resonates with you.
- Have someone take a full-length photo of you. If you look and think crikey I look like a goddess then no need to worry but if on the other hand, you think who is that fat old trout then this is a really good motivator to lose weight.
Just so you know what made me take a long hard oh my goodness, who is that woman double take – here are a couple of photos (trust me these are not even the worst ones). The first one I had done for an extra agency (as some of you know I do TV and film extra work as a side hustle) and the other picture was a before picture for The Daily Mail MyBody Challenge with Myleene Klass and The Mail Online. I looked at these and wanted to cry because in both pictures – I thought oh no it looks like me but in a fat suit! This is a tough thing to do but you know what, it really does give you the boot up the bum you need to make those little lifestyle changes that can produce sustainable weight loss.
2. Try on some clothes you love to wear and you look great in and if they don’t fit, then this sure is a hell of a motivator. I have a favourite dress and again I had that heart-sinking feeling when I couldn’t even zip it up, let alone wear it. I know this is really hard to do but sometimes giving yourself a reality check is the only way to go. Here’s me back in my favourite dress after losing the weight.
3. Have a health check. There’s nothing like being told that your cholesterol is high and you’re at high risk of diabetes to give you the kick up the behind you need. I had my blood tests done last year because I was getting out of breath walking up one flight of stairs! How bad is that? My blood work basically came back as being at risk of a heart attack. At the time a friend of similar age to me had just had a heart attack and seeing how it can affect your life so dramatically put the wind up me enough to back away from the crisp cupboard (yes we have a cupboard with crisps in!)
Have a go at these three things and I suspect one or all of them might be what tips you over the edge if the menopause middle has hit you hard into thinking how can I get the old me back!
Other than trying to keep on the straight and narrow with maintaining my weight, life, in general, has been interesting over the past week. On Friday, I was asked to be an extra on a Bollywood film (can’t tell you which one as it’s top secret) but it was a fab experience and a very surreal way to spend a Saturday. Made all the better by being asked to come dressed as a guest at a posh party, because it was fun to get out a dress that I used to be able to wear without the zip straining at the seams.
My blog post next week will have some tips on how to make small changes to your lifestyle which ensure the weight comes off and stays that way.
Dr Sue Pearson 