WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT???
What's it all about?
I started petecohen.tv back in January 2009 and managed to shift four stones. Today, I've now put fours stone back on and feeling really gutted. How can anyone lose four stone in six months and put it back on within another six months. My battle with the bulge has been a life long struggle and is something I want to break free from. I have given it my best shot and still I end up in a worse place than when I started.
I used to eat lots of ready meals but have stopped doing that now. I enrolled on several cookery courses and can now make my own delicious meals. I don't want to spend the whole of my life struggling with my addiction (for the want of a better word) to food. Last summer I felt great and didn't think I could feel the way I did after being unfit, unhealthy and over weight for so long. I was walking everyday, swimming and going to the gym. I even got a place through the ballot box for the Great North Run '09. I didn't make it to the start line unfortunately because I slipped two and a half weeks before the race and fractured a bone in my foot.
That was last September, my foot is OK now but I feel too unfit and self conscious to start exercising in public again. In fact I very rarely go out because I get so tired when I walk for ten minutes into town. This time last year I used to be up and out by 6.30am walking through the countryside and loving every minute of it. Is it possible to break old habits when they've been so deeply ingrained in to your brain? I would like to believe you can but after using food as a crutch for thirty-eight years I'm starting to have my doubts and running around like a headless chicken trying to find some sort of quick fix – AGAIN!. My back, bones and joints have been painful over the last few weeks and now I know it's because I've managed to put a large amount of weight on over a short period of time.
Libertas
A song came to mind .... pick yourself up, dust yourself down and start all over again.
But - the main thing is that you are back blogging. It seems like you have already got foundations laid to move forward by taking cooking courses so that you can make lovely delicious meals. It can be hard to get back into the habit of exercising again. I pulled my knee last August and was told that I had to rest it for a minimum of 6 weeks. Even when it was better, I found that I didn't really want to exercise. I started again about 4 weeks ago and am up to 4 exercise sessions a week and find that I am loving it now. I built my exercise up slowly - started with the wii fit and then kept adding in different types of exercise.
You know you can do it and we are all supporting you.
If you are outdoors - people only get the chance to look at you as you or they go by. That isn't a long time if you are on a bike or running or they are in a car.
Why let what you think other people might be thinking ( remember you have NO proof of what most people think ) stop you for doing what you want to and need to do. ( and if you are thinking about white van man I have run outside for 3 years no and only had one disparaging comment in all that time - actually it came as quite a shock! - maybe I'm lucky)
Don't be too hard on yourself - if your foot was hurt it took time to heal and it stopped you from moving. Take some time to review some of the basics - your portion size and eating slowly look like a good place to start from here but in the end that's your choice.
It is hard at times- I'm not much further along the way according to my scales but if you take into account the changes in body shape and the way I feel and what I have accomplished I'm miles ahead of where I was. Just keep going - you are worth it.
Great to hear from you and well done for coming back. If you want my help then I am happy to arrange a personal session with you sometime. We could do this in person or over the internet.
Have a look at this http://www.weightlossguru.com/index.cfm/2010/1/30/...
Take care and I think you would benefit from blogging as often as possible and recording your progress. You've done it before and I am sure you can do it again.
It's amazing that you write a journal entry and the support you get so please don't be hard on yourself as you deserve better than that.
Take care and stay in touch
Pete
You haven’t completely blown it. The cookery courses have given you the skills to cook healthy, tasty food – are you still getting those veg boxes? And you are back on here. If you read some of Sue’s blogs from last August/September time you will see that she too had initially lost about 4 stone and then regained it by going back to eating big portions. She had a ‘eureka’ moment (I think September time) and has since lost that weight again plus another stone. Although she did manage to lose that first 4 stone, her head wasn’t quite in the right place to maintain and continue. It is now – boy, is it now. There is no stopping her!
In answer to your question “Is it possible to break old habits when they've been so deeply ingrained in to your brain?” YES. With the right attitude and support you can.
All the best Lib. I look forward to hearing how your first steps go.
Oh my word i could so relate to your blogg and as Wendy so rightly said, i lost a lot of weight initially with the programme and lost almost 5 stone quite quickly... then the bigger plates came back out, the portions grew and it all went back on, well 4 stone of it went on... so i wobbled and wibbled all over the place, and stayed going up and down, then something clicked with me during last years online course, and it hit me like a bolt, i am 2 years of 60, I am over 26 stone AGAIN, what more reason do i need to do thIs amazing programme, and see food differently, i stopped hankering after the big roast dinners, the crusty bread, the sausage rolls, the cheese and crackers, because all that has ever done for me is make me fatter and fatter and fatter. and during that period Pete done a session on being Exceptional and seeing food as the most important thing we will ever do for ourselves, nourishing our body to keep us well. I have always known and valued the nutrition for health as i totally believe i have stayed cancer free due to my healthy whole diet, but i always ate too much , far too much !!!! and it dawned on me, if i am going to follow the programme and become slimmer fitter and healther, and stop myself having a major heart attack any day, i have to be EXCEPTIONAL at it, so ............... since Sept 38th i have lost exactly 5stone, and its 6stone loss since joining the programme, the difference this time is i am not fantasizing about what i cant have, i am fantasizing about what i can have to keep this momentum going !!! and how i will feel and look a year down the road, i have been morbidly obese for the past goodness knows how many years, all my 50s and i am sure as sure not going to go into my 60s the same way..... that would be a miracle if i got to 60!!!!
I hope this has helped a little, i really do, you know you can do it, like i did, its just keeping on doing it , thats the difference that makes the difference,
wouldnt life be much easier if we could lose it with the ease and speed we gain it ?????
I really hope you keep blogging and keep doing what is right for you, to get you back on track and becoming Exceptional at this , after all we have certainly had enough practice to know what makes if perfect.
A huge hug to you Libertas,
Sue xxxxxx
i think my body expected me to be fat and was fighting to get back to its normal state.
start again - you can do it xx
PS thank you for your reply to my blog :)
Enjoy your new journey...
Katfrin is right - nobody pays any attention when you're exercising. I started running late last year and at first was really worried that people would be laughing at me....but really nobody gives me a second glance, and actually now I couldn't care less even if they did as I'm really enjoying what I'm doing. Mind you I do joke about being caught up and passed by pensioners....as I'm sure many people can walk faster than I run. But of course that isn't the point - the point is actually getting out there and doing it.
You've recognised what has gone wrong and you've come back to blogging about it - it's a huge first step to getting back on track....and we're with you all the way.
Bx
That will help you reach your goal again.
I too lost 6 stone, years ago, then gradually put it all on again, so I do undertand how you feel.
Good luck, as Ash says, you can do it.
Beth