Well, it’s taken me over a year but I can finally report a weight loss of thirty pounds! It sounds so much, until you see the photos and realise how far I still have to go! No matter. For now I am over the moon to have lost that much. I have another seventy pounds to lose if I am to slip into the weight range the government believes is healthy for me. But I shall not be thinking in terms of seventy pounds – I shudder at that! No, I shall simple concentrate on the next ten pounds. Fancy seeing a photo? I do have one and I can see a slight difference but like last time, it really doesn’t look like a thirty pounds difference! What do you think? Can you see any change? 
I need to start having the photos taken in a similar pose. Gary says he notices it going off my bum, which is weird because I usually lose it from my face and top half first. I can see a slight difference from the first to the last photo: 
I thought I’d interview myself (yes, I know, a bit sad but it’s for posterity!) so I can compare certain facets of the weight loss as I lose each ten pounds:
How long did it take to lose this ten pounds? It has taken about 9 months, although most of it has come off in the last three months or so
What has been the most helpful thing you have done to lose this ten pounds? I have reduced my sugar intake to a very low amount. I have started to listen to what my body is telling me.
What has been the biggest change to yourself? For some reason the time scale of losing weight doesn’t matter anymore. In the past I have always wanted to lose all the weight TODAY or even YESTERDAY if at all possible. This created a feeling of failure even before I began. Now I am happy to wait. I am making small incremental changes, which means the weight loss will probably be small and incremental.
Have you found it hard so far? No, but I am under no illusion that God is likely to ask me to do something at some point that I will find hard. Right now I feel Him supporting me and doing most of the work for me. I have only craved chocolate once in the past three months and I decided to listen to my body and give it what it needed. It was guilt free and felt very sensible. I ate one chocolate bar and the craving completely disappeared. Apart from that one time, I have not felt any need for sugary foods.
Is there anything you have found really helpful? Yes. Large juicy oranges. In the early days I would eat those at night time to replace my late night nibbling. Now I keep them in the fridge and still find them useful if I feel the need for any food outside my meal times, although these days I don’t eat many because I don’t often need any food in between meal times anymore.
Have there been any knock on effects from your weight loss? It is lovely to not feel that too full feeling anymore. I am choosing food for nutrition rather than any other reason and enough is sufficient.
What is the main thing God is doing in your life right now? Funnily enough it has nothing to do with my weight. God is teaching me to let go of my negative beliefs about myself. I am becoming more confident but it has nothing to do with my weight loss and everything to do with God working deeply in my heart. I am still shy, but I am choosing to talk to people I don’t know. I still hate crowds but I am choosing to go to and enjoy church (huge crowd), barbecues, parties, picnics etc which I would have avoided before, or at the very least not enjoyed. Gary says he has noticed a very obvious change in me with regard to this. Isn’t God good?
What are you going to do to lose the next ten pounds? I have very muddled thoughts to do with exercise. I know this is what God wants me to focus on next but I also know it is not as simple as exercising per se. I’m thinking it has more to do with moving my body on a regular basis around the house (house work and gardening), encouraging healthier regimes within the family as well as my normal walking. I will be praying about exactly what it is God expects from me. One thing I do know is it has nothing to do with gyms or exercise classes and more to do with becoming more energetic within the life God has for me at home.
I will be asking myself the same questions after I have lost the next ten pounds. How’s everyone else doing? I know I am not posting on my weight loss on a weekly basis anymore but I would still love to hear about your progress. Tell all in the comments….