August 22 2006

 

Raina (also known as Marshmallow)

Country: Auckland, New Zealand
Age: 21
Weight before diet: 93kg (this was my highest weight - I started blogging when my weight was 80kg)
Weight now: 76.5kg
Target weight: 65kg

Like many other dieters, health was the major reason for Raina's decision to lose weight. Support and obstacles come from some very unusual places, readers might be surprised to find. Raina talks a bit about the SparkPeople program and gives some practical advice on some aspects of weight loss.

-What finally made you decide to start with a weight loss program?
For a long time, there had been pressure to lose weight from my family because being overweight didn't look good. I didn't realise that what was more of a concern was that I was unhealthy, and because I didn't know this, I didn't see being overweight as a big problem. When I realised that I was behaving in an unhealthy way - both physically and emotionally - then I decided to make an effort to lose weight for myself. There was also the fear that I would get up to 100kg, and it would be 'the land of no return,' where I had gone too far with my unhealthy behaviour to turn around and get back on track.

-What type of weight loss program are you following?
Currently I am counting calories (between 1,200 and 1,500 per day) using SparkPeople. Not only does it count calories, it generates reports on the distribution of my calories (fat, protein, carbs), logs calories burned from exercise, how many glasses of water I've drunk, and gives me daily ratings of how healthy my day has been based on hours of sleep, servings of vegetables and fruit, cups of water, and how much activity I've done.

-Why did you choose this weight loss program?
Honestly? It was free. Every other weight loss program I have been on required some dishing out of cash, but SparkPeople didn't, which is why I use it.

-How long have you been on your weight loss program?
This is my third month using SparkPeople, and it is within these past three months that I have seen the most progress. That's probably because it's statistical pressure that I find which drives me to succeed, while personal pressure makes me feel upset and inadequate.

-What kinds of physical activities do you like doing to help you lose weight and stay fit?
I admit to being an exercise DVD nut. I have over 60 exercise DVDs that I've ordered off Amazon and I'm always on there looking to see what I can add to my collection. Other than that, I have a Lateral Thigh Trainer which I use to exercise while watching TV, a cricket team which I play for (that was my reward from getting down to 80kg from 90kg a few years ago), and I do like to swim.

-What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome or are still overcoming?
My family. I love them to bits, and I know that they mean well, but their idea of 'support' is whacking me over the head with a rolled up newspaper until I get something done. It is that pressure that has often been my downfall with past weight loss programs that I have tried. Recently I find am itching to tell them about a good weigh in or some small achievement that I've realised (like, running for 5 minutes when before 10 seconds would cause major heart failure), but if I would tell them once, they'd keep wanting more evidence that I'd progressed further. The closest I have come to dealing with this problem is hiding my weight loss endeavours from my family. Only my cousin knows I have a weight loss blog, and my family don't realise that I am logging every calorie that I consume. I have fantasies of suddenly being able to fit into a size 12, waggling the outfit in their face and saying "HAH! Fooled you! I was losing weight all this time, suckers!" - which probably isn't very nice of me, but I've got a great support network of friends that I divulge all of my weight loss triumphs to.

-How do you keep yourself motivated?
I would 'like' to say that I draw inspiration from other people's progress, but honestly, sometimes other people's progress makes me feel a bit depressed. I think "How come they've lost so much weight while I've lost hardly anything?!" I might sound like a strange person for saying this, but what motivates me the most is a graph in Excel that I've created which shows my weight loss. Seeing that graph line get closer and closer to my target is fantastic motivation for me. A bit of a geeky motivational tool, but hey, what works, right?

-Do you have any weight loss tips for our readers?
Firstly, do it for you. Don't do it for anyone else. I have constantly set myself goals to lose weight for someone's wedding or to try and impress someone, but I lost motivation quickly. I thought it wasn't worth it for the little payoff that I would get. When you do it for yourself, you will see changes in your body and your attitude that WILL be worth the hard work.

Secondly, give yourself a break. Don't try to be perfect all the time, since you'll drive yourself mad. You shouldn't be waiting till you are at your goal weight to enjoy that glass of wine or that chocolate biscuit. If you strive to cut out everything you enjoy altogether, where's the fun? There's no point in being miserable while you're on a weight loss journey, since rather than falling off the wagon, you'll jump off out of sheer misery!

And finally, reward yourself. Reward yourself when you've achieved a goal, reward yourself when you haven't. DON'T PUNISH YOURSELF. The payoff for rewarding yourself is much more constructive than punishing yourself is.

-Do you think it will be easy to fall back into your old lifestyle pattern? How do you prevent this from happening?
Some days I do. But most of the time, I think it will take a lot of effort for me to go back to the way I was. For example, this week I couldn't exercise since I had an ankle injury. I have been itching to do some form of activity all week. I have stolen glances at my Lateral Thigh Trainer and thought, "Just a little bit...?" - and the same goes for my treadmill and my exercise DVDs. In the past, I could go for weeks without exercising. My body has become more and more trained towards a healthier lifestyle with a huge amount of work, and it will take that same amount of effort for me to go back to how I was before I began.

I prevent this from happening by telling myself, "This is not temporary." Most diets and weight loss programs are for a set amount of time - be it 12 days, 12 weeks, or 12 years. You can convince yourself to be incredibly strict with your weight loss regime for that period of time, but once it's over you think "YUSSSSSS, I'M FREEEEEEEEE!" and go back to how you were before.

-Do you have a favorite Web site or blog that helps or inspires you to lose weight?
My favourite blog is that by Shauna Reid: The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl. It was one of her posts that prompted me to start a weight loss blog of my own, and I'm very grateful since I know a lot of the progress I have achieved so far is because of how the blog acts as a means of accountability (accountability, but not pressure!).

Other blogs I love:
Fat Bitch
No More Huffin n Puffin
Living To Feel Good
What About Your Hips
Fat Girl, Interrupted

[and so many others, I could honestly write the links of around 70+ blogs that I keep an eye on!]

I have three blogs that work together that help me in my weight loss:
Weight loss blog: Do You Have an Extra Large In This?
Food blog: Are you going to eat that?
Exercise blog: Cardio & Earthquakes

And there are a couple of sites that I visit for weight loss advice:
SparkPeople
Prevention