When I look at my history with my weightloss journey escapades, and also my history with mental illness - these two do not live in a harmonious relationship. In fact, I'd say they should probably get a divorce. One should move to the Caribbean and the other to ... I dunno. Somewhere not as nice? (I'm looking at you, mental health issues.) We seem to get really judgy towards people when it comes to anyone announcing that they're planning on losing weight. Which sucks, because at the exact time where we want the most encouragement - it ends up getting flung back in our face.
Luckily, this hasn't actually been the case this time around. I started working on re-assessing where my brain was at after a visit to my psychologist. She mentioned that I was most likely in what they call "The Circle of Depression." aka - Because I wasn't doing anything active, (#CouchPotatoLife) or eating right, (Hello McDonald's) I was just getting myself further and further into a depressive streak. My doctor also identified that my knee pain that's been a consistent ouch in my life over the last twelve months, was most likely being caused by the extra weight I had going on.
So for my own health and wellbeing - I had to start doing something to get out of bed and get moving.
This isn't my first weightloss journey
If you've been following me for a little while, you'll know that the name Short Girl Walking was an optimistic approach to my original blog intent: Being a weight loss and fitness blogger. (I still laugh at the thought.) I wrote about my weight loss journey here and here, and there have been a number of other posts that have gone through a spring clean in recent months.
The best I've ever achieved and was almost happy with was getting down to 71kgs in 2017 - so that's my goal. To get back down to there, whilst still maintaining an increasingly active lifestyle.
feat. 2017 me, loving upon the gym (obviously) also - are we all glad my eyebrow routine has been modified since then? #thingsthatdidntagewell
So what's the plan?
Great question.
So as this is a weightloss journey for mental health, as well as a weightloss journey for mental health - I'm going to try and take a semi different approach.
1. If you've been following along on Twitter, you'll know that I have a potential diagnosis of ADD/ADHD. Whilst waiting on the next step of proceeding to a confirmed diagnosis, I'm reading more material on it. (I really like Taking Charge of Adult ADHD and also the website ADDitude magazine)
One of the things that I've read is that people with ADHD struggle with long term goals, as they're the type of people who need to see an immediate reward, or result, or will get bored. When I look back at the last however many attempts, and with my personal trainers telling me that it'll be worth it in six months - yeah Nah. Hasn't worked.
Instead, I've started making myself go for a short walk in the morning to collect my coffee from one of our local coffee shops. Walking + Coffee = Win! I'll start to increase this over the next few weeks to longer walks, but as long as I can keep hitting my daily walking goal - I'm pretty okay with this.
2. I'm already aware I'm lactose intolerant, and my body doesn't appreciate carbs. I've previously undertaken Keto - but fuck that's hard. Instead, I'll be looking to eliminate most dairy (minus a tiny bit of feta) and keep an eye on the carb intake. Now I don't mean all of the carbs, as I get carbs are good for you - but I'm more looking at our friends in the bread, rice, and pasta ranges.
3. Further on the food, (and on doctor approval) I'm aiming to have a low-calorie intake. It's important to check with your GP before starting any new or massive changes.
4. I always struggle with water intake every time I do anything like this. But I've bought a massive jug of water and put it in the fridge, and also bought a heap of teas to infuse it with. I'm hoping that this will be enough to start up the 2L mark.
Wrap Up Time
I'm always a believer that you should try and love your body, no matter what size or shape you are. This particular new mindset isn't changing that at all. I still love me, and my poor body puts up with a lot of BS - however, if your bones are creaking, and your brain is being sad - maybe that's the signs you need to listen to what it needs. At this stage - that's what's going on. So we'll see how we go.
Friday || 17th July || Day One
Weigh in weight || 94.5kg
Let me know in the comments below if you've had any successes with lifestyle changes, or weight loss (or gains!) - or struggles you face with your body image. Feel free to reach out on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter - or in my Contact Page if you're interested in joining a squad of likeminded people to motivate and/or bitch about the progress!
I'm hoping to do a weekly update on Wednesdays - so hit that subscribe button down below if you'd like to receive updates. Until next time,
Michelle
Hey Claire! Thanks for the super honest post and for sharing your journey with us. I, too, have battled with weight for much of my life, especially in my teens and twenties. Over the last few years, it started to creep up on me again. I lost 15 pounds last year, then gained about half of it back. I started this year determined to lose the rest. Got off to a slow start. Now, I have started a new kick butt exercise program to hopefully jump start my progress, along with tracking my food intake. I look forward to reading your weekly updates. Michelle ❤️
Claire OBeirne
Thank you Michelle ❤️
I did a similar thing last year but ended up gaining it all back and THEN some (eep!) I’m still going okay this week which is good, hopefully it keeps up. I hope your routine is sticking, too!