Thin enough to go to the gym - what does that mean?

Now that I have at least 3 or 4 regular readers of my blog, I thought I would tell the story of how I got to this point in my weight loss journey. I will also help me remember what I have achieved in the past two years because I realise that I haven't written it down anywhere.

This will help explain the title of my blog as well.

Let's go way back to the beginning. When I was a child I was skinny and active. A budding ballerina. I loved ballet and was quite good at it. Then came the dreaded puberty. Although I was late in developing [I didn't get my period until I was almost 14] my body changed and became fatter and fatter. By the time I left school I was a big girl.

I can't remember what I weighed but I can remember going on every diet imaginable. I tried the Hollywood diet [lots of pineapple I think!], Atkins [done really badly - just cheese and meat], and a whole lot of others. Nothing worked because I never stuck to it - I would lose weight and then put it straight back on. The most success I had was with Jenny Craig but the weight came back once I stopped eating their pre-packaged food.

By the time I was in my early 20s, and a size 14, I was so sick of dieting that I gave it up for good. I just ate what I wanted when I wanted it and surprisingly I ended up a size 12 without trying for the next 20 odd years. In those days, I didn't really even think about food. I never ate breakfast and my food preferences were carbohydrates over protein. Lunch was normally a sandwich [turkey, cranberry sauce, swiss cheese and mushroom on turkish bread] and dinner was pasta. A few croissants and chocolates along the way but nothing particularly bad.

Part One - Losing the Weight

Fast forward to October 2004 when I turned 40. All of I sudden I realised that I couldn't fit into a size 14 anymore. The last pairs of pants/jeans I had bought were a size 16. I didn't know how much I weighed because I didn't have a scale, but I was overweight and uncomfortable. Now knowing how much I loved Christmas I decided to start my new life on 1 January 2005.

The first thing I did was buy a set of 4kg dumbells and do the exercise program set out in "8 minutes in the morning" 6 days a week. I got up 15 minutes earlier and did 2 weight lifting exercises each day 12 reps x 4 sets. I also started drinking water and watched what I ate. My staple at work lunch was muesli and yoghurt and just a normal dinner. No sweets, no treats, no snacks, no calorie counting.

After two weeks I stood on the scales at the shopping centre and the print-out said 76kg. I assume my starting weight was about 80kg but will never know.

It took me about 6 months to lose 20kgs. I made changes along the way - did more weights, started eating breakfast, started counting calories, walked everwhere. I even went to England to work for 2 weeks and came home lighter. By July 2005 I weighed about 59kg and was wearing a size 8. I was sleeping less, had more energy, had muscles and was very pleased with myself. I went on a holiday to Daydream Island and spent most of my time in the gym or running the bushwalk. When I got home I weighed 57.5 kgs. I was ready for the big time - I joined the gym!

My husband commented that I was the only person he knew who lost weight and worked out before they joined the gym. I had to be thin enough to go to the gym because I wouldn't be seen dead in one when I was overweight!!

You would think that would be the end of the story. Maintained my significant weight loss and lived happily every after ... but of course you know that didn't happen.

Stay tuned for Part Two - struggling to stay thin and then getting fat again ...