Nearly 20% off? Bargain!

Hello, Lola II here.

Back in 2006 I had booked a New Year’s holiday to Lapland for a week. I would be doing snowshoe walks, husky sledging, cross-country skiing and more. When I told friends, they said “Oh, you’ve got to be really fit to do cross-country skiing". So to ensure that I got the most out of my holiday, I joined the gym at my place of work. The experience was not an awful lot of fun, although it did give me a chance to listen to the radio whilst pounding the cross-trainer, looking out of the 22nd floor window onto the London ants below.

I went on holiday, had a wonderful time, loved the cross-country skiing and also found I could fit into my clothes better, and I felt great. My exercise regime lasted until the work gym moved to a windowless concrete room in the basement that smelt of damp.

Five years later I visited my GP for a poorly wrist. When my appointment was approaching its end, what does the foolish Dr Lady do? She asks “is there anything else I can help with?”. Well, she was asking for trouble, wasn’t she?? In my view, you should never ask a question if you don’t want to hear the answer.

What was my answer? Well I remember that my rambling moan about my excessive weight was accompanied by a liberal sprinkling of crying, and generously handed to her with a hint of desperation. Dr Lady did exactly what I would do in the same situation; she ran out of the room.

She did come back, however, and when she did, I saw wings and a halo…. “Here are vouchers for your first twelve sessions at WeightWatchers”, she said. That day I emerged from my doctor’s surgery with a very handy wrist support and a booklet of hope.

Before...

My Body Mass Index (BMI) starting point was on the fine line between overweight and obese. Although I may have looked ‘cuddly’ on the outside, I think my internal organs were getting some heavy-duty hugging of their own from my excess, unnecessary and dangerous fat.

...and after

Eleven months later I’ve reached my goal of a healthy BMI [insert clapping and cheering here]! I've lost one fifth of my original weight (hence the blog title). That's almost a leg!

My experience of losing weight has almost been enjoyable. Sticking to the WeightWatchers' plan, and seeing it work, felt like a miracle most of the time. Lola I has certainly made it a lot nicer by being very enthusiastic at every turn, and seemingly delighted to discuss weight and all things associated with it at the drop of a hat (or pound).

I set myself some SMART goals at the start:

• What was I aiming for? - to fit into my clothes comfortably, for there to be less weight on my knees, for my ankles to stop aching, and to like the way I look.
• How would I know when I got there? – this goal went through a variety of ideas including being able to fit into Mr M’s clothes so that I would never have to shop for clothes again. I’m still not ruling that one out. I ended up deciding that I wanted to be able to fit into a dress I bought in Seattle eight years ago. It was a little tight when I bought it, and it would be great to finally wear the beauty.
• What would I do when I got there? – this one was tough. My reward was not supposed to be food-related. My fantasy goal was a cheeseburger and chips. My real goal was to go clothes shopping. And guess what? I did both! One ended up giving me indigestion and a very uncomfortable night. The other gave me two pairs of trousers, two tops and a skirt. I know which one I’ll be repeating.

With thanks and love:-

Here’s my moment on the podium where I can publicly thank those who have helped me reach my goal. I would like to extend my thanks to:

Lola I - Lola, you’re my inspiration. You worked hard to lose all that weight, to the point where Mr M and I didn’t immediately recognise you the other weekend, you looked so smart, slim and younger. You’ve been supportive the whole time, saying just the right thing when I lost pounds, gained a few and, best of all, you celebrated with me one week when I lost just 200g. It never came to it but I feel sure, had I contemplated losing a limb in order to reach my goal weight, you would have come up with the perfect reason not to.

Mum & Dad – Your enthusiasm has been lovely, telling me how proud you are of me.

Mr M - When people have commented on how well you’ve been supporting me through all this, you say that you contributed to my weight at the start of this experience. Though that has a hint of truth about it, I defy anyone to be more supportive than you. For eleven months you have calculated the points in the food you’ve cooked for me, you’ve asked me if I want to share things (apparently I don't have to eat the entire plate of food!). You maintained the perfect balance of keeping all the chocolate and snacks away from me, with not commenting when I go and retrieve items when it's an emergency. You’ve been so supportive and helped me to reach my goal, I’m telling EVERYBODY!

Where is she? Hiding behind the lamp post!