gertrude-frump - Tumblr blog

[gertrude-frump]

Sarcasm alert - So it seems that if you lose weight but then start eating crap food and not exercising then you just gain it all back, plus a bit extra for good measure. Who’d have thought that eh!!

Yeah, me but apparently I chose not to listen. So here we are 5 years later and 341lbs (told you that you gain extra). I’d blame Civid Lockdown but the reality is I actually got scared. Yep, I looked in the mirror at 210lbs and still looked like me at 315lbs, and I really couldn’t deal with that.

Fast Forward to February 2023 when I got the Mother of all colds (not Covid, never had that) but I was struggling to walk as I couldn’t breathe through my nose, couldn’t sleep at night and couldn’t see it getting any better. I had that cold for 6 weeks and am still suffering with a stupid cough now at the end of April.

I’m back on VLCD, i I’ve been using Total Food Replacement (TFR) as I really dislike cooking, to be honest I’m not a massive fan of food. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a good meal, but to Danny about on a weekly basis planning and sticking to meal plans and then buggering about cooking it…no thanks. TFR is open a pack, add water and nuke ; ready in 5 mins max.

I’m halfway through Week 3 and already 15lbs down. I’ll probably not weigh weekly and trust the process. I’ve done it once and know it works. I’ve got this!

[gertrude-frump]

[gertrude-frump]

29 weeks and 96lbs later.....I'm still going, I now weigh 220lbs (99.9kg) and I feel like a warrior!!

[gertrude-frump]

[gertrude-frump]

[gertrude-frump]

19 weeks and 61lbs later...

So, I've been doing the vlcd for 19 weeks now and am 61lbs lighter than when I started. I'm finding it ludicrously easy, I keep forgetting I'm now 242lbs and think I'm still 270/280, I've had the odd craving for cr@p food such as pizza, chocolate etc but generally don't mind having the shake/bar/meal packs. According to the company website I am 50% towards my goal of 182lb (in 19 freaking weeks!!!).

After I hit that 182 target I will have a review and see if I want to switch to calorie counting or keep on using the vlcd to see if I can get down to 140lbs, which would probably STILL class me as overweight on the BMI scale but quite frankly after topping out at 315 would be no hardship for me to live with 😊

[gertrude-frump]

Pinch, Punch, first of the month...

Today is March 1st 2018 and it cold as billy-o outside, I was supposed to be doing some volunteer work as part of World Book Day but I'm unable to get my car out of the street to drive the 15 miles.

So I decided to start my VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) today, so for breakfast I had a banana shake whilst my housemate ate my Crunchy Nut Cornflakes followed by jam on toast. Lunch was spicy beef soup, dinner was cottage pie and I've also had a dark chocolate orange bar.

I have deliberately left the brand off this post, I want to see how I get on with it for a week or so before naming it. I will also do a full review of the meals at some point...right now I'm just a little tired after being woken up at 3am by the wind.

[gertrude-frump]

So 2017 wasn't all that great for me, I became disillusioned with my PT at the gym, joined one of the well know diet clubs and got annoyed with the "happy clapping" and a consultant who had her favourites and couldn't be arsed learning anything about me beyond the fact that I hate cooking!! Add to that an ear infection, bronchitis and an eye infection.....yep 2017 was a bit shit! So I'm starting 2018 at 299lbs, with a promise that I'm going to be kinder to myself. In what way? Well I'm going to feed my body with the nutrition it needs; less beige; which will mean more cooking for me but at 44 I think I should probably have some skills like that. I'm also going to move my body more because sitting all day whilst at work then coming home to sit all evening just isn't what my body was designed for. Lastly I'm going to stop being so hard on myself, so instead of having negative thoughts I will try and make them positive.

[gertrude-frump]

Yes

[gertrude-frump]

Overall I need a overhaul...

I need an overhaul of everything, my eating habits, exercise, general lifestyle, clothing, etc I need to organise myself, you'd think that by 44 I'd have some form of organisational skills...but in 3 weeks I'll be 44 and there's no sign of any (unless it's to do with work - weirdly) I weighed and measured myself this morning, and took photos yesterday morning - urgh! Back up to 288lbs and feeling like crap, in fact I've been feeling sick and having really bad acid reflux for over a week now. Plus I've been feeling really tired. Time to start organising my food properly and perhaps start swimming again!

[gertrude-frump]

Feelings in words

[gertrude-frump]

19/02/2017

Yesterday I sent my PT a "Dear John" email...... If you don't know what a "Dear John" letter is then it's essentially a break up letter. Anyway I am a member of the gym nearest to my house, it's quite a ridiculously expensive gym given that it's not that exclusive, but it does have really good facilities and is around 5 minutes drive from my home down country lanes (I live in a village which is 10 miles from the town I work in). As a member I can have a one-to-one with a PT and in October 2016 they changed and upgraded all of the equipment and keys so I HAD to have a one-to-one to show me how the new kit worked.... They also got a full body scale which tells you the % of fat, muscle, water etc I ended up having one-to-one sessions every 3 weeks, now I've a rebellious streak a mile wide and I don't like being told what to do, even if it is good for me and I thought my PT had acknowledged that when he chucked the exercise plan out of the window and told me to just come to the gym and do whatever I wanted to...... So imagine my absolute annoyance when I received a voicemail at 9:30am on Thursday in which he said he'd been looking at my attendance for the last 5 days and I'd not been in! Followed by another call the next day. Honestly that just made me decide to not go, despite having planned on going in on both Thursday and Friday night. Let me just reiterate that I'm single, adult and haven't had to answer to anyone for 7 years, I've owned my own houses for 25 years so to have ANYONE checking up on me is more irritating than sand in your pants.... Plus I've been working until 6:30 each evening and been tasked to buy a leaving present for someone - stressed much? Hence my Dear John email - and boy did I feel less stressed instantly. Now I KNOW he expects me to fail and not attend, but that just makes me more determined!!!!

[gertrude-frump]

When you’re working towards big goals, whether it be fitness, career, or personal goals, there are moments that jump out at you where you become acutely aware of how far you’ve come.

I never thought I could make it to this point. I thought I’d always be the overweight girl with food neophobia, living life one carb filled meal at a time. Feeling sluggish, feeling insecure, feeling stuck. Hiding in the back of photos, constantly adjusting my clothes to make sure everything I wanted to hide was hidden, never wanting to go anywhere or do anything because I was just too tired.

On Sunday I put on a new dress and hat that made me feel gorgeous. I would never have used that word to describe myself before. Not even 6 months ago. This change has been so much more than just losing some weight and inches. I am a completely different person…but still me. Just a better, happier, more confident version of me. When someone asks you about how you did it, or what you ate, these changes are so much more than that. Your outlook on life needs to change. When you have people in your life who have made that change or know how to genuinely help you, it makes that process…that leap of faith so much easier to make.

I don’t know what you’re waiting for, but stop waiting and just reach out to someone. Reach out to me. I have more motivation and positive energy than I know what to do with, so let’s put that towards helping someone like you.

[gertrude-frump]

I’ve found that if I make my goals so incredibly small and easy that they’re almost impossible to not achieve, then I make slow and steady progress. If I get impatient, I remind myself that it took me years to get as overweight as I was, so why would I expect it to not take quite a while to get back down to where I was before?

Source (via motiveweight)

A gentle reminder......

[gertrude-frump]

31/01/17 - a wheel has come off my wagon...

An entire month of 2017 has gone, as has 13.5lbs from my body. I've been mostly LCHF at under 20g net carbs daily....well except for today, I've just literally sat on my backside and worked my way VERY quickly through a tub of Ben & Jerrys. Do I feel guilty - no What I do feel is sick, cold and I've got heartburn! Well at least it's gone, back to the LCHF thang in the morning.

[gertrude-frump]

Okay so I thought I was rocking my Nirvana T-shirt this morning and was going to post this selfie earlier, but then I bought my textbooks and pulled out my ID. It was then I realized how far ive come in my weight loss agenda.

One year ago this January, I began my first semester at my college. I took my photo ID (left). I immediately got it back, and hated it. This photo made me want to change my life. I was once 160 lbs. In the left photo, I was 290lbs.

One year later, and I have gone from a 2XL (3XL for comfort) in both shirts and pants to wearing a large, and once again taking selfies (right).

I still have a long way to go, but Im proud that Ive made it this far. I can sport 36 skinny jeans, and a large shirt, and Im slowly getting my confidence back.

If I can do it, you can do it. I believe in whoever wants to get healthier but gives up too soon. Dont give up, you can do it!

[gertrude-frump]

Never thought I would have a body I was secure about. I earned the body I dreamed of through hard work + dedication. I have found my passion in fitness + nutrition and look forward to creating the same goals for other people. Stay consistent ; results will come 💪🏼👊🏼❤️ #ABPhysiques #cwardfit