Less of a Person

It's been a while since I have blogged!  Life has been pootling along in a nice rhythm of school runs, football, swimming and housework... Nothing has really been exercising me or getting me riled up enough to blog. And I am not blogging today because I am riled up, but because I am inspired...

 I just got back from a Slimming World meeting in Stillorgan.  The usual stuff was going on: women queuing happily to pay for the week and handing fruit into the basket to be given to the slimmer of the week. 

Then everyone joins the queue for being weighed.  This queue is noticably less chatty and relaxed.  People start stripping off as much as they can get away with before they have to get on the scales, so the side of the queue looks like a jumble sale: boots, scarves, jumpers...  I have seen women take jewellry off.  If your jewellry is going to make a difference to your weigh in, it might be time to de-bling somewhat... Just a thought!

Sighs of relief or grimaces of disappointment follow the weigh in and people find a seat and congratulate or commiserate with each other. Then the awards go out: people get a round of applause and a certificate for reaching certain milestones, like a half stone loss, or 10% of their body weight. This evening Rachael, the group consultant, called forward a lady and told us she had reached her target weight.

A very slim, very nervous lady came to the front.  She looked really slender and pretty and I immediately assumed she had probably lost a couple of stone and used to be a bit plumper.  But no, she had lost over 8 stone. I think it was 8 stone 2.  EIGHT STONE TWO!!!  That is 114 pounds, about 57 kilos. That is just phenomenal! At first I thought she was telling us her current weight, but thought she was a bit tall for that to be her final target.  I was very shocked to realise that was her total loss - amazing!

Yet she had no loose skin or anything like that as she had exercised once she lost enough weight to do so. She told the group that she had gone from a size 22/24 to size 10 and can get both her legs into one of the legs of her old jeans!  She spoke about how different her life was now and how much healthier she has become since she started this in May 2011.

It was really inspirational to see her and there was a palpable sense of awe in the room at her tremendous achievement. It was especially encouraging when she talked about the weeks she had gained weight or the month when she plateaued and was stuck at the same weight. Yet she stuck with it...

So, I am feeling motivated and am continuing to enjoy the Slimming World journey!  I have my own jeans story too: Andrew bought me jeans in America last March, which was brave!  I could barely get them over my knees, never mind do up the button.  Last week I tried them on again and they fit! I was very very pleased! Maybe he should buy me the next size down for continued motivation? Maybe not...