first post

I've decided to try and keep a blog to help me to stay on track on my weight loss journey.
I have tried to lose weight many, many times, i often lose some weight and then for one reason or another give up and end up putting on more weight than i lose. It's a familiar story i'm sure but really beyond a joke now that i'm heading up towards the dreaded 20 stones again.

I am nervous about posting my weight online but maybe it will make me accountable to it and help me stick to my new eating and fitness plan and hopefully help anyone-else out there who struggles with their weight. So here goes...

I started to gain weight shortly after I met my husband, i was 17 and also just started driving so gave up alot of walking and started driving everywhere instead even to mcdonalds, so i didn't even need to get out my car to have dinner! The weight began to pile on until i am where i am today. I was 20 stones 8lbs at my heaviest and lost 3 stones and vowed never to go above 20 stones again but i sit here today at 19 stones 6lbs so feel dangerously close to that zone again.

I am determined to get fit and healthy. I want to have a family and so feel to do this as safely as possible i need to lose weight. I am only 5ft tall so the top end of my healthy weight range is 9 stones 4lbs so i am extremely overweight for my height. It's a bit cliche but i don't think people really know how awful it feels to be so overweight unless they've been in this situation and believe me i wouldn't wish this on anyone. I write the following not to have anyone feel sorry for me but so that i can look back at this when i'm struggling with my new way of life and see how much i hate being so overweight, how it makes me feel and limits me. Being this overweight brings the following challenges and more:
Feeling self-conscious all the time
Not being able to buy the clothes that i would love to wear
Worrying about travelling anywhere especially on a plane worrying about whether or not the seat belt will fit
Going to a restaurant, worrying about what the chairs will be like, will it be booths etc.
Too self conscious to go to the gym or go swimming and I love swimming!
Worrying about any potential night out that comes along, what will i wear, what will i look like...
Not getting much sleep and feeling tired all the time
Waking up with a sore back every morning
Knee pain
Foot pain
The list goes on and on but the point is i'm not really living my life and just getting by and really,lifes too short to waste it by living like this! Noone-else is to blame for my weight gain, i'm the one who has the damage to myself and i'm the one who needs to fix it.

To get myself started and motivated i will set myself the following targets:

Ultimate weight loss goal: 10 stones 2 lbs taking me to a weight of 9 stones 4lbs
First weight loss goal: 1 stone by 27th May (my brothers wedding day)
Ultimate dress size: 10/12
Interim dress size: 18 by the end of June 2010

I am training with my personal trainer once a week but i aim to do another 3 sessions each week to begin with, this will be a mixture of the work i do with my trainer and exercise dvds and when i build my confidence up a bit hopefully the gym too.

I am planning on sticking to a calorie allowance each day given to me via myfitnesspal.co.uk app on iphone. This is currently set at 1360 calories per day.

So there you have it, that's a bit about me, what my aims are and how i hope to achieve this.
I will keep a blog on my progress, how i'm coping etc. If you have any comments, tips, advice these are all welcome.

Cheers, Louise
xx