My name is Claire I've been suffering with my weight all my life. When I was younger I got bullied about my weight so when I reached 16 I went on a 10 day diet which I found in the sun newspaper I found that the weight dropped off in those 10 days and everyone told me how good I looked I then got hooked on dieting and the feeling of being in control was so powerful that by the time I got to my twenties I got to under seven stone at one point but still thought I was fat. As I got older and had my 3 beautiful children the weight didn't seem so important anymore as I had something to focus on and whenever I started to put on weight I would just join weight watchers and get back in control. I am now in my forties and over weight I have joined so many slimming clubs but just never seem to stick to it I feel really fat and frumpy and seem to have given up on myself It seems whenever I lose weight i work so hard to get there but always seem to end up gaining the weight again in the last year I have put on nearly two stone and have gone from a size 14 to an 18 i'm only 5'2 so you can imagine any bit of weight gain shows alot. Could anyone please tell me how to get motivated and stay motivated as I'm at the end of my tether. Thanks
Need to start losing weight but seem t... - Weight Loss Support
Need to start losing weight but seem to have given up.
Hi, perhaps you ought to change the focus from "dieting" to becoming healthier. I don't like diets as i don't think they work in the long term. i decided i wanted to be healthier and fitter when my dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes as i knew i would be more prone to it.
I started walking more and then started the C25K running programme. By about week 5 i noticed i was more toned and felt fitter, this made me look a little closer at what i was eating, cos i knew how hard i was working with the running. Portion control and healthier options helped me lose about 4 st but i would still say i am not on a diet, i just changed how i approach food. It is doable just have faith. 
good luck.
Hi thank you I will give it a try. I noticed you said about the CK25 running programme can you tell me a bit more about it please sounds good. You are right maybe if I start with exercise first it will probably make me want to make healthier food choices and have better portion control. Thanks.
Hi if you click on the nhs choices web site at the top of the home page, do a search for c25k and loads of info will appear. There is also a community similar to this...very supportive and informative. Give it a go and if running is too much initially, faster and slower walking would be just as good.
Thank you so much will let you no how I get on.
I agree if the goal is to "be healthier" then it is an easier thing to stick with than thinking of it as just "another diet".
Yep I agree with the above comments. My story is very similar to yours claire. In my late 40's and the weight was piling on relentlessly and I seemed to have no means to control it or take it off. I have been doing this programme for some 10 weeks now - and I have lost a slow 10 pounds - put that is good enough fro me - two stone to go. I am taking the healthy option route and i really feel for the first time in a very long time I have some control and that when I do slip up I have means to take the weight straight off and carry on with the wight loss plan. I too have taken up C25k - -and this has been a big part of keeping me sane and getting some perspective n life.
Good luck on your journey - there are plenty of people here with similar stories finding there own way.
Hi thank you for sharing your story with me it's so good to no that there-are other people in the same boat as myself. I have thought about running before but have felt to embarrassed to go out there as I'm no skinny mini maybe I should buy a pair of dark glasses and a wig lol so i dont get recognised. i feel much more positive after reading people's stories I'm going to give it a go will keep you posted as to how I get on. Once again thank you for taking the time to reply to my story.
Don't forget to buy a decent bra! 
I wear this one - marksandspencer.com/Zip-Fro...
Walking is brilliant exercise in its own right too (also could lead into running) either way the exercise compliments the right nutrition but is no substitute for it!
> 10 weeks now - and I have lost a slow 10 pounds
In the grand scheme of things to be be in control and not be putting weight on is a great result. A pound a week loss is a great way to get to your goal - just knowing you are in control is enough to motivate many people to keep going.
Just seen your post - go to nhs choices c25k site- a nine week programme of building up to 30 mins running - unbelievable but loads of us have done it - just come back from a run now. There is also a very popular blog site similar to this - go to top of page and look under c25k in find communities. You will find loads of us there all at different stages.
too true, you don't have to be slim to be happy. just be well and feel good about yourself. easier said than done? but trying to take control of your weight by doing this program is one way of achieving that. I am losing a slow lb a wek so far (on week 3) but that is ok.I believe if I do the c25k it would be a faster loss, but I accept I will do it in my own good time. I also believe the reason the weight come back is because we don't change the eating habit for good. unfortunately it is for life. I constantly oversoot the calories by 100 to 200, I don't feel hungry. just love snacking, which is the harder thing for me to give up. slowly, I will change this too. I already stopped buying peanuts- my food aaddicition almost!
I have always had weight issues and I am now type 2 diabetic. People used to tell me it is easy to loose wight - you just stop eating when you feel full. Problem is I have never in my life felt full. I can eat a huge meal like Christmas dinner and eat it all again. So - never feel full.
Started C25K a month ago. I also do Strength and Flexibility on alternate days. recently I did my run then had 2 spoons of oats and a yoghurt. At 3.00 had 2 poached eggs on toast. Got invited to go for a curry at 7.30 and set off to walk there at 7.00. Felt SO STUFFED I simply could not face eating a curry and went back home. Last week a very similar story. Went out for supper with my friends to a lovely wine bar. Enjoyed my starter but half way through my mains I just could not eat another forkful. BRILLIANT! This is an entirely new feeling and I am hoping it will continue.
It is very hard if you never feel full.
All power to all of you - it's really all a question of mind over matter!
I too have trouble with that pesky full feeling. My mother, daughter and myself do not seem to have that 'off' switch which tells us that we are full. I too have also changed my way of thinking. I have a kiddie's Miss Kitty plate and bowl for my portion sizes and I always have a bottle of water with me. I keep a little note of the calories I have, I don't not have any food, I just write down the calories.
I also swim four times a week at 6am, 30 lengths in 30 minutes and then do 250 squats. Excellent for toning your bum! lol I have even started taking my two pesky dogs out separately, twice a day to double my exercise lol I also keep putting myself up for challenges, I am doing the Race for Life next week and I am thinking about doing the Swim Challenge.
The one thing you must remember when you are reaching for something that you shouldn't or when you are sat on the couch when you could be out in the fresh air is that you are not alone, never have been and never will be. There are millions of us out there who have been sucked into believing that by eating this particular high salted ready meal and this shake and do very little exercise that we will all be supermodels by next Tuesday. lol not real life. it is a mind set, a change of behaving, get rid of the negatives in your life and start thinking like you are a healthier, fitter, strong woman. good luck x
Lot's of good advice here
claire.I'd just like to share with you my solution to a life-time of struggling with weight.I've tried loads of diets and they would work for a while but then the pounds would return.Finally,I tried The South Beach Diet devised by a doctor for his cardiac patients and patients with diabetes.it is sensible,it works-I;ve lost 5 stone on it.The first two weeks were difficult as I was carb addicted but once you stop the bad carbs and eat more healthily you will feel better.i lost 7lbs in 2 weeks.Because of this diet I finally found out I am starch intolerant so I have given up the foods that were making me ill as well as fat. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to go from a size 26 to a size 12-14! I started riding my bike again which helped tone me as well as providing fresh air and enjoyment of the lovely countryside.Go on line and google The South Beach Diet-they have an on-line forum as well as free recipes .good luck!
Excellent thanks so much will look it up right now. Will let you no how I get on. Once again thanx
Hi Angel
I have just found your blog, you have been through alot. I was bullied for being fat right through school and please anyone reading this, do not try this!! I took laxatives and water tables to make sure that nothing I ate stayed in my body.
It was the threat of hospitals that made me stop, the weight eventually went back on and I ended up going the other way! After choking on some food 7yrs ago the right side of my body went numb.
I begged my gp for gastric band op, but I am not mobile enough for it to work, I had the gastric sleeve op, 3yrs ago. I lost 10 stone in 3yrs. It sounds alot but I was 31st 8lb at my heaviest!!
Now it has platoed, but the dietician gave me a few good tips that I have always stuck to and it is a life plan not a diet. And it is slow but it is working.
Draw a circle the size of a teaplate, draw a line through the middle of the circle deviding it into two equal portions, then draw a line from the middle to the edge deviding it equally into to quatres. You should have 1 half and 2 quarters. If you laminate it, it is reusable and your kids can also learn this easier as it is visual.
The largest portion is for vegetables
Then 1 quatre is for protein, quorn or similar if you don't eat meat. Or if you do eat meat should be lean meat and twice a week should be red meat to help your body produce red blood cells.
The final portion is for carbs, you know it should be wholemeal, wholegrain, brown etc.
Don't drink 40mins before or after a meal
Chew each mouthful at least 20 times and make your meal last 30mins and anything left throw away.
The last tip for you is the most important! Research the blood group diet. It tells you what foods are toxic to your body, what foods are medicine for your body and what foods are normal foods for you to eat.
I'm blood group O negative and I found out I'm wheat and dairy intolerant and I made the few changes it suggested and my psoriasis has nearly all gone off my face and scalp! After only one month and I felt better after only the first week!
I'm a big believer in angels and I have asked them to watch over you and your family and guide you on your journey.
I'm also sending you this special poem that I give to people who are in need of some comfort and support.
When angels sense you need them
And angels always do
They come unseen from everywhere
To help and comfort you
They hover close beside you
Till all your cares are gone
Till they can see you're ready
Once again to carry on
Then some of them fly away
And take their gentle touch
To other hearts that need the love
Of angels very much
But one at least stays with you
As your constant friend and guide
For guardian angels never leave you
They are always by your side.
Good luck and let us know how you get on, take care and angel blessings to you and your family
Have you looked at Walk to Health walkingforhealth.org.uk/get... I'm not a runner but always walked when I had dogs - after my last dog died I stopped walking. After a serious chest infection I found I couldn't even walk a mile. That was very scarey. I built back up slowly and am getting fitter.it helps my breathing and my weight
so need to loose weight
Need to start. . . . 
New to this but would like to share my weight loss this year
