Pounds for Pounds

Extract from Activate July / September 2003

Hi, my name is Elaine Anderson and I am a member of Leeds 18 Plus. I am also an obese and unfit person.

When a leaflet for my local Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Class dropped through the door, my husband, Glen (you may know him, short, always has a friendly word and is good at telling (bad) jokes! and of course, he is a member of Leeds 18 Plus.) Well he said he would pay for me to attend for ten weeks and see how it goes. Well, we've both lost pounds.

I decided that to give me some extra incentive I would get sponsored for the first eight weeks (don't ask me why I chose eight weeks and not the ten weeks that I'd committed myself to, I'm a woman, I don't have to be logical!, or so I'm told). I decided that the money would go to Diabetes U.K. as Glen and his mother both suffer from the condition and hopefully we can get an article in their bi-monthly magazine, Balance.

To help me I kept a diary, and here is some extracts from it.

The Start - Thursday, 16th May 2003

Started diet. It was very strange attending the class for the first time as after all these years of being in 18 Plus (12 years) I had some idea of how a new member felt. Got weighed in, and result, I didn't break the scales! You don't think I'm going to tell you how much I weighed now do you, well I'm not, I want to be a woman of mystery.

Week 1 - Thursday, 22nd May 2003

Lost 4lb. Not bad for my first week, hey! I have invested in some hand weights, ankle weights and (gulp) a skipping rope. I haven't skipped for a very very long time and feel I could very well regret this purchase. A woman impulse buying, never!

Week 2 - Thursday, 29th May 2003

No movement this week (and I'm not talking about my bowels!) despite sticking to diet and weighing almost everything that passed my lips. Feeling very pissed off, try the skipping, still feeling very pissed off.

Week 3 - Thursday, 5th June 2003

Lost 7lb Yippee! (my god that's half a stone). I got a certificate for Slimmer of the Week. Certainly made up for last week. Feeling great, try more skipping, I think I will persevere with this.

Week 4 - Thursday, 12th June 2003

Lost 1lb. Not brilliant, but it's in the right direction.

Week 5 - Thursday, 19th June 2003

Lost 1/2lb. I hate those bloody 1/2lbs, another 1/2lb and I will have lost a stone. I feel like things are slowing up now, I will never get Slimmer of the Week again.

Week 6 - Thursday, 26th June 2003 Lost 1lb. Well I've made it past the stone (1 stone 1/2lb to be precise). I got presented with a certificate for losing One Stone. I feel good that I have reached over a stone within the sponsored period. Unfortunately, alcohol is high in calories, so I'm not getting stoned to celebrate.

Week 7 - Thursday, 3rd July 2003

Lost 1/2lb. Yeah, I am finally rid of that bloody 1/2lb. Incidentally, I've stuck to the skipping and am getting pretty good, I feel the neighbours are wondering why there is an elephant skipping in our garden, but what the hell, I'm getting thinner, lighter and fitter.

Sponsored diet ends, but diet does not.

Total lost 1 stone, 2lb (16lb), a total of £252.80 was raised.

I would like to thank all those people who have supported me and apologise for boring you to death with progress reports. Special thanks go to all the members of Leeds and Rothwell 18 Plus Groups and all those who attended the Northern Area Conference in May, especially the National Chairman, Bekki Randall.

I have still been attending and up to press have since lost a further stone, now 2 stone, 1,1/2lb (29,1/2lb) in seven weeks and have won Slimmer of the Week three more times (4lb, 4lb and 3lb respectively). The last two were in succession so another half stone in two weeks.

As you can see I'm back to the bloody 1/2lb. I just know that when I finish this diet and embark on my healthy new lifestyle (with new wardrobe, as I keep reminding my husband!) and maintain all my hard work I will weigh ? stone ?,1/2lb. The 1/2lb will become my new companion; I may even have to come up with a name for it. But then again, maybe it will just stay there reminding me that 1/2lb can soon grow into 1lb and so on and so on, so maybe it isn't so bad.

The one thing I have learned is that the body is a funny thing, well people certainly laugh at mine.

For more information about the Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Classes please call 01509 620222, or visit their web site at www.rosemary-conley.co.uk. For more information about Diabetes U.K. please call 020 7720 6680, or visit their web site at www.diabetes.org.uk.

Elaine Anderson
Leeds 18 Plus Group

Extract from Activate July / September 2003

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