Here I go again!

What happened, Karen?

Thanks for asking! ;)

THIS has happened!

Ta da! Amazing eh?

Well, of course, this weight gain didn't just happen. I actively MADE it happen. Like Oprah tell us to - I'm 'owning' this one ;)

Of course this wasn't a deliberate sabotage effort, and I really didn't think I would be in this position again; not after all my work, effort and commitment of getting to my goal weight.

Looking at the chart above, I spent 9 months losing 50 lbs. I stayed at/under my goal weight for 4 months and have spent about 10 months putting it on 40lbs.

I stopped tracking by not weighing myself - I can't do this weight loss thing instinctively. It needs facts and figures.

I introduced processed/junk food, bit by bit, ('Oh, this little bite won't hurt'), and it was enough to get my taste buds accustomed to those flavours again, whereas previously I had lost any cravings for processed food.

Why am I blogging out it again?

I guess you could say the 4th 'secret' to my weight loss was this blog. I dedicated a post about how this blog has helped support my weight loss goals and how I helped a few people along the way.

I know that there are people who are trying really, really hard to lose weight. When I wrote about my weight loss it resonated with a lot of people who were in a similar position.

My goal is to get to where I was before - under 140lbs. This blog and my readers and twitter friends and followers supported that goal, and so that's what I'm going to do again. You use the tools that you know will work and get the job done. I know writing about it helped other people and there was some behind the scenes mutual support going on too, and that's something I really appreciated.

Getting to goal and staying there isn't something I'm going to give up on. I'm not a quitter! I will not be defeated.

Reaching my goal weight didn't happen overnight, and neither did putting on weight either. I'm not sure why I allowed this to happen. There's nothing I can (nor would) blame for it, and I'm not going to spend too much time dwelling on it. I just want to get back on track again and feel the benefits of being free of extra weight again! I deserve it. I did it before and I can do it again!

My weight loss journey didn't finish when I got to goal. It's continues with maintaining, and actually never finishes! With whatever goals we all have, there will be things that go astray, things that might change our mindset, things that can get in our way. That's life I guess! We've just got to keep on doing our best.

I want to live the best life that I can. If that means swerving off course, but getting back on track 100 times, then that's what I've got to do.

What was the 'secret' to my weight loss success? 

There are 3 things that were key to my weight loss:

• I cut out processed/junk food - roughly 90% of my food intake was from non-processed food.

• I introduced TONS of fruit and veg - each meal would consist of at least 50% fruit and/or veg. 

• Eventually I introduced exercise. And of course blogged about that and sometimes the struggles over mind and body!

Why do I want to get back to my goal weight?

Health - diabetes is enough to scare me on it's own. Not to mention all the other health risks; high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

It felt great! I had so much more energy (you don't realise it until you lose it, how much extra weight physically weighs you down). I had an great sense of achievement and personal pride that stayed with me and not only that, carried through to other areas of my life and my work. I had big boost to my confidence levels. Oh, and I loved how much easier it was to shop for clothes and rock new frocks!

What am I going to do now?

I've made a start by writing about it today, and I will update this blog with my weight loss at least once a month (that's manageable and of course there's lots of other things I like to write about!).

My fridge is well stocked with these colourful beauties that are essential to my weight loss.

Last week I picked up the exercise again and walked 5 miles, and did various workouts with my dumb bells (after I had dusted them off!).

Join me!

If you are ready for your weight loss challenge, then I would welcome your company! Feel free to send me a tweet or an email, or leave a comment. Let's start, now! :)