Sunday, 19 December 2010

Diet, Fitness, Weight Loss: How do I keep going?

One of the questions I get asked about a lot is how I keep so motivated when it comes to diet and weight loss. If you've followed me for a while you will know that I have struggled with my weight for years. I lost a lot of weight a couple of years ago and felt great. Then with the last year of university stress and numerous other issues that I wont bore you with the details of, I regained most of the weight I lost. Then came the self loathing and constant beating myself up for allowing myself to get to this stage again. I dont really see myself as an inspiration, but lots of people frequently tell me that I am. I see myself as someone who lost a lot of weight, got really fit and healthy, and then threw it all away. But I also see myself as someone who did all of that and still kept going. I didn't give up. I made the decision to lose the weight again and take steps to getting fitter and healthier.

Me at my slimmest. 

I've been reluctant to talk about my efforts this time around, in terms of my blog and more specifically Youtube. Last time around I vlogged and blogged about my ups and downs, which although I helped a lot of people in the process, it became a case that if I messed up I felt like I was letting everybody down, and thats one of the worst things you can do when you're on a health and fitness journey. You have to want to do it for you, and nobody else. So I made the decision that this time around although I would still update about how I was getting on, it would be nowhere near as intense as the first time around.
So I've started to lose the weight again and I'm feeling great, but one of the things I'm guilty of is losing a chunk then losing the plot. So what do I do to overcome that? I just keep on going and take one day at a time. I concentrate on eating healthily most of the time, and increasing the amount of exercise I do. One of the key things that has had a huge effect on my efforts is investing in a treadmill. It allows me to hop on and do a 20 minute power walk whenever I fancy, instead of braving the Arctic weather conditions to run outside or attempt to make it to the gym. I'm slowly working up to my first fitness goal of jogging for 30 minutes straight. Then I'm going to look at signing up for some kind of race next year. The thing here to note is that a couple of weeks ago I could only run for 1 minute, and today I jogged for 10 minutes continuously. You have to keep your eyes on the prize at all times. If you're wanting to lose weight, or get fit, you have to know why you want to do it, and keep that at the front of your mind. For me, its that I want to feel better in myself, be fitter, and be able to wear the clothes I want to wear. I want to be able wear shorts with bare legs without feeling like I want to kill myself, and my ultimate goal is to fit into a pair of skinny jeans and absolutely rock them, not feel like a fat girl wearing a slim girls clothes.
And how do I do it? How do I keep going? I take one day at a time. Some days I'll have eat everything in sight (and love every mouthful) but the next day I'll reign it back in and watch what I eat. I think its important to actually enjoy life, and not be a slave to the gym which believe me I have been there in the past. Everything in moderation, including moderation as the famous Oscar Wilde quote says. As it currently stands my exercise routine consists of the treadmill and various strength exercises I do at home, and in terms of diet, I'm following the Weightwatchers plan and using the new app on my iphone. I'll keep you all updated along the way, lots of people have asked me to do a post about the new Weightwatchers plan, which I will write and upload this week so keep your eyes peeled for that. Let it never be said that you can't be the person you want to be. Because believe me when I say that you can. xxx



  1. Keep going Kelly! Your motivation is inspiring, you've never given up in the time i've known you and it inspires me to keep going with things as well! Love you xxx

  2. I've always struggled with my weight and have always felt like "the fat one" out of all of my friends. I lost 2 and a half stone from the end of last year to the middle of this year and have managed to put about a stone of it back on so I'm definitely working towards getting that bit of weight back off again. Good luck with the weight loss :) xxx

  3. Good luck Kelly. I know I speak for all of your readers when I say that you're a wonderful person and deserve everything that you want.

    I'm glad that you no longer beat yourself up if you 'fall off the wagon', because even if you do you can just pick yourself back up and jump on again (excuse the pun). The best way to go about it, is like you say take one step at a time, and enjoy it! That's the key I think.

    Enjoy the improvement your body is making in it's amazing abilities. Hating yourself is not a good path to go down.

    I'm not normally this soft I promise. I just find that weight is such a big issue with girls, and we need to stop acting like life is one big beauty contest between us all, and we should support each other instead :)

    Just wondering how your friend in the picture feels about your weight journey? xx

  4. Thank you for being an inspiration :)

  5. i think you are a bit of an inspiration! im not someone that diets but your tweets etc about getting on the treadmill for exercise are really good, as are your plans for doing a run.

    it's refreshing to hear about someone going about diet and weight lost the healthy (both mentally and physically) way and i wish you the best of luck in getting to where you want to be :)

  6. It's important not to beat yourself up about your weight, you're only human and some days will be good whilst some will be bad. I have always struggled with my weight and like you I lost alot of weight about a year ago (around 2 stone) but I am struggling to lose that extra bit now to get down to my goal. It's an ongoing process and I know that you have been a huge help/inspiration to loads of people because you are relatable and you are honest about your journey. All the best for your weight loss journey and beyond, we are all rooting for you :) x

  7. Such a lovely post Kelly!!
    I lost 17lbs in 5 weeks on Weight Watchers and then work got a bit mad and I haven't been able to attend a meeting and I've kind of let my diet slide..
    This post has really inspired me to get back on track! x

  8. Aww Kelly, I absolutely love this post.
    I've always found that we're very similar when it comes to this subject & you really are a motivation & inspiration! xxxx

  9. i definitely want you to keep going! i recently started on slimming world, and it's really encouraging to see girls like you & gemma going through the same thing! i agree, maybe you don't have to do it so openly, but it's definitely good to know someone else is doing the same as me (:

  10. I'm so glad I read this post. Like you I've struggled with my weight ever since I can remember. I'm determined to get fit this year and you have just given me the extra push to make sure I do it. So thank you :-) and I wish you every success with your weight loss journey xx


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