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The Unexpected Side of Weight Loss

March 17, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

I would say that 99% of the time my weight loss is fantastic but I have noticed a few “side effects” of weight loss so I thought I would share a bit about that side of my “journey”.

  1. Being cold – I used to have a whole lot of insulation so now when the temperature drops I feel it! A plus side of that side effect is also that when it is hot I don’t feel the heat quite so badly!
  2. Perception – this goes in hand with number 5 below a bit. I know I am “smaller” and weigh less but I still get a surprise when I see how I look sometimes.
  3. Weight plateaus – these are very frustrating. You are working hard, eating well, exercising had and yet you aren’t loosing weight. I had this for a while before starting to work with Felicity Neale and with her hard work and assistance I got through that one. Now we take everything on a week by week basis and adjust as and when required. We have also discovered that stress, lack or not enough sleep all plays a big impact on my weight losses/gains and so now I work hard to keep them in check.
  4. Loose skin – this is probably the biggest side effect of them all! I have lost a lot of weight and probably have toned up as much as I can / will but there is still obvious loose skin on my arms, legs, stomach and back. I am working on having surgery to remove the excess skin but I am still quite conscious of it and how it looks to me at least and trying to hide it so it isn’t obvious. I have seen some people say that if they knew about the loose skin, they may not have lost weight. I never would say that. The benefits outweigh this “problem” and I can work on fixing the problem with weight loss surgery which is on the agenda.
  5. Shopping – you would think that shopping now would be great and on the most part it is. Before I lost weight I would be able to shop in only a few shops and even if I went to buy clothes I would have to go to a small section of the shop and would have very few options so would buy what was available and not necessarily what I liked. Now when I go shopping I can pretty much shop everywhere and know that as long as the clothes are in my current size they will fit and probably look ok and that is actually a bit overwhelming! I have gone in to shops before and had to walk out quite quickly because of the variety. I am sure I will get over it but it is a very strange feeling!

As I said at the start, I wouldn’t change the fact that I have lost weight but I think that it is good to reflect upon the unexpected side effects.

I have lost an Octopus!

October 17, 2018 by Vicky Leave a Comment

As you may recall, I am on a long term plan to loose weight and to get fit, healthy and strong. This started on 2 February 2016 and a few weeks ago I FINALLY FINALLY hit the 50kg weight loss mark. Hooray!!!

In the run up to loosing 50kg I did a google search of “how heavy is 50kg” and was not disappointed by the results on the Blue Bull Projects website.

Apparently 50kg is the equivalent of:

* An average Giant Pacific Octopus
* One-and-one-fifth times as heavy as a Toilet
* One-and-seven-tenths times as heavy as a Dalmatian
* 3/5 as heavy as a Kangaroo
* 1/3 as heavy as a Panda Bear
* 3/10 as heavy as a Reindeer
* 1/4 as heavy as The Heart of a Blue Whale

How cool is that!!!!

I also in the same week had a second body scan done using an InBody 570 scanner to see how I was doing and was very excited by the results as my percentage body fat had dropped 2% to 31% (although Felicity thinks it is likely to be lower than that) and normal according to the scan people is 18 to 28% for women.

Also my visceral fat level, which I understand is the fat around my internal organs has dropped from 12 to 9 and under 10 is considered a “normal” level so I was pretty thrilled by that and being healthy and within normal markers.

Overall, according to the scan anyway, my overall measurements have reduced. I don’t know if this is true and correct because helpfully I have not taken my measurements on my weight loss “journey”.

Weight loss plan wise I am currently investigating weight loss surgery (skin removal and liposuction) options and me and Felicity are figuring out what my goals can be / should be / are so we can go into the next few months with a plan of attack. These last few kilograms have not been easy to loose but the work has paid off and is more than worth it. I feel healthier and stronger than ever which is just brilliant.

Where was this guy hidden!?!

Non-Scale Victories

August 5, 2018 by Vicky Leave a Comment

It is easy when you are trying to loose weight / get healthy to be focused solely on the numbers on the scale so when you discover a non – scale victory, besides fitting into smaller sized clothes, it can come as a surprise and is really quite a nice feeling.

Below are a few of what I consider to be my “non-scale victories”. I aim for the victories to continue mounting as my health gets better and better.

1) Being able to see my collar bone – a bit of a vanity one but that was always something I thought, yes when I loose weight I will be able to see my collar bone so the feeling of it being visible does kind of make my day!

2) Being able to walk up multiple flights of stairs without being out of breath – I remember visiting Litchfield National Park and one of the lower water holes from which we had to descend quite a few stairs. Our time in the water hole was lovely but then began the long, painful and somewhat embarrassing walk back up the stairs out of breath, hot and needing to stop several times. I haven’t tried the steps again since I have lost weight but I have noticed when walking up multiple fights of steps / ramps / hills etc that I don’t get so out of breath and it really doesn’t bother me any more.

3) Being able to buckle up my seatbelt on an aeroplane without a seatbelt extender and with room to spare – I have pretty much had to always ask for a seat belt extender whenever I have flown. Whilst the flight attendants have always been great and never made a big deal about it I really wanted that to stop. I had looked forward to the days when I could do up my seat belt without an extender, the first time being when I travelled to Brisbane to move here in May 2017. The comfort level is now even better and I was quite excited about demonstrating this to the Aussie when we flew to Sydney and he was quite amused by my excitement I think.

4) Being able to wrap a hotel sized towel around me so it is practical and can be used. I always liked having the big bath sheets because they would wrap around me. I have noticed over time that the bath sheets had more sheet to spare but when we stayed in our hotel in Sydney I noticed that the towel wrapped around me comfortably and was actually enough post shower. This is quite a nice feeling and means I don’t need to use multiple towels to dry off.

5) No longer being afraid of sitting down on a chair and having the fear it might break. I didn’t ever actually break chair but it was always a fear of mine that it could happen and now I confidently sit down without that fear!

Things I am looking forward to in 2018

December 27, 2017 by Vicky Leave a Comment

2017 has been quite an eventful year what with getting my health into shape, moving to Brisbane and just life in general after qualifying as a Solicitor at the end of 2016.

As we reach the last few days of 2017 I wanted to share a few of the things I/we have planned out, mainly in the beginning of 2018 which I am really looking forward to in 2018.

The “top 5” so far are:

1) My family visiting us in Brisbane! When I told my Mum about the new job in Brisbane she almost immediately said they wanted to visit. I am really looking forward to showing them around Brisbane and to visit Sydney which we have on the agenda!

2) To get to my goal weight before my birthday on 26 November 2018.

3) To participate in the run/walk/events I have already signed up to as I continue to improve my health.

4) Pink! My friends and I have booked tickets to Pink’s world tour when she stops in Brisbane. It was a very frustrating process getting the tickets as I ended up queued up waiting to access the site for hours, but in the end I got through and think we have some pretty great seats as well!

5) The Commonwealth Games – Being British I was quite excited to hear that the Commonwealth Games would be hosted on the Gold Coast which is literally just down the road. We have tickets to go to the Netball and Rugby 7’s. I went to the football with my Dad when the Olympics were held in London (although we saw it at Cardiff) and it was a great atmosphere and I really enjoyed being part of it.

What are you looking forward to in 2018?

About Me!

My name is Vicky and I am a Lawyer from the UK who upped sticks and moved to the Northern Territory in Australia in August 2013!

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