The decision to start Lighter Life.

On Tuesday 12th June I made the decision to start the Lighter Life Plan.

I was interested in starting this plan back in March, when a colleague of mine lost three stone on it. She was highly praising of the plan and told me all about it. What put me off was the cost and the fact it is a meal replacement plan. I said to myself I would give me a year, and if I didn't lose the three stone I wanted to, then I would join up next year.

Fast forward three months and I am about half a stone heavier than I was then, and my eating habits are just as bad as they were.

My dieting career started in November 1997 when, aged 22, I weighed 11st 5lbs at 5'4" with quite an athletic build, and I successfully lost 9lbs in 6 weeks. Ever since then I have yo-yoed between 9st 13lbs (I weighed that for one day in January 2000) and 13st 13lbs (what I weigh now, and the heaviest I have ever been)

Between then and now I have been on a permanant "on a diet, off a diet" diet. The cycle goes like this. I binge eat - then go join Weightwatchers - fall off the wagon and binge eat again - then I start calorie counting from home - then I get bored and binge eat again - then I'll go off and join Slimming World - have a bad week then binge eat again. I think the only reason that I don't weigh ten stones more than I do is because I will go on a diet and lose 7lbs in a month, then when I fall off the wagon, I will go and put 9lbs back on in two months so although I put more weight on than I lose, it goes on quite slowly. However two years ago when I started the job I am in now, I have gained 38lbs in those 24 months.

I'm at the stage now where I want to just eat normally. I need counselling to help me achieve this but you simply cannot get cognitive behaviour therapy on the NHS where I live unless you are bulimic or anorexic. With Lighter Life you get a 2hr Cognitive Behaviour Therapy session in with the plan. Transactional Analysis is also involved. If they can get my eating habits back to normal I will be over the moon - any weight loss will just be an added bonus.

My friend H is also doing this diet. She just scraped onto it as her BMI is 29.5 (lowest it can be is 29) and she only weighed 12st 1lbs and has lost 13lbs in two weeks, so she has spurred me on, and H at work said if I need to talk to her, or need any advice she is there for me.