Diary of a Yo-Yo Dieter: Background

How true is it that we are never really happy with the way we look?  There’s always that girl at work who has legs up to her armpits while you walk around on your little stumps, or the guy at the gym who already has an eight pack, even though he’s only been going for four months.  All you’re sporting is a six pack, courtesy of Fosters, waiting for you at home when you get back from the hell you have dreaded every other day for the past two years (not to mention the paunch that undoubtedly accompanies the cold ones you deservedly consume after an epic workout!)  It’s a shame that we are not happy with what we have been blessed with.  Although it is extremely difficult when faced with the daily images of the girl on Page 3 with huge boobs, a minuscule waist and slightly bigger hips that would have no chance of bearing a child compared to the ones you have inherited from your mother.  Or what about the huge billboards throughout town with the Calvin Klein models staring down intimidatingly at you.

Truth be told, we concentrate too much on perfection rather than enjoying what we have.  We pay no attention to the crap TV shows telling us that every single model you see in a photo has been airbrushed and is not really a size 6 (UK) with huge electric blue eyes and perfect blond hair without the dark roots!  She is a normal girl, doing an ordinary photo shoot for a magazine which employs a computer genius to transform her into the higher entity we wish to become.

As much as I have said it is a shame that we do not appreciate what we already have, be it curvaceous thighs, a J-Lo bum or a six pack, I must admit that I am as guilty as all of you.  I have never looked in the mirror and been completely happy, even when I was a size 8, with a toned stomach and arms.  How I long for those days now!

I haven’t always had a problem with my weight.  When I was younger I did loads of sports.  I started swimming lessons when I was two years old and went on to be county champion in 100m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly. Needless to say this took lots of training to achieve- on average 6 days a week.  I also did lots of gymnastics from a young age but soon got tired of this when the instructor’s concentration was solely on the girl who was competing in national competitions.I was on every school sports team imaginable, even the Extreme Frisbee team! As you can imagine, I was tiny.

Unfortunately, age and genetics caught up and the summer before I went to university I gradually put on about a stone over the course of about three months.  Then during my first term of university i put on another stone.  I tried to blame it on the extra alcohol, takeaways to curb the after party munchies, and the late nights.  While I’m sure this had something to do with it, I’m almost positive it was more down to the fact that I was doing literally NO exercise, other than the occasional 15 minute walk into university when I decided it was a good idea to go to this lecture, even though I hated the course i was taking, not to mention the fact that I was tired and severely hungover.  What sane person puts a 9am lecture on the morning after student night at the local club?!

Eventually my weight began to get me down.  I’d look at all the photos my friends and I had taken and would hate the way I looked.  I used to look good in minuscule dresses didn’t I?!  I would spend ages scrutinising every photo on facebook and if I saw one tiny bit of flab anywhere on my body, I would remove the tag that linked the photo to my profile.  It got to the stage where I would be close to tears before going out because I couldn’t find any clothes that looked as good on me as they used to.  I had a wardrobe full of clothes and, in my opinion, nothing looked good on me.  Eventually, I began making excuses not to go out- I had too much work or I didn’t have enough money.  When I missed out on a big night out and all my friends were going on about it for days after, I knew I had to do something.  I had changed from this party animal to a night time recluse.  This was not me and it was time to change back.

So begins the challenge to get back to my former self and enjoy the social life of university once again.  I hope you will join me on what I’m sure will be a roller coaster of emotions.  Please feel free to write any comments or to ask me about any of the diets or exercise plans i will be adopting over the next few months.  If you are embarking on a similar adventure, I would love to hear from you.