Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to the Anything is Possible FAQ. During the past year I have lost what my doctor described as "a considerable amount of weight". I have done it without surgery, medication or any weight loss products. People ask me a lot of questions about how I did it so I thought a FAQ blog might be a good idea … and here it is!
About me: My name is Liz Ross-Collier. I am married with two daughters. I live in Auckland, New Zealand with my husband, my youngest daughter and our two little dogs, Sid and Honey. I am a teacher at a local High School, teaching literacy and numeracy to Year 9 and 10 students. I like to write, I read when I have the time, I am a fitness junkie and I love running. I am also, in one way at least, half the person that I used to be.
I made a decision to do something about my weight in April
of 2012. After a small amount of progress over the following few months, in
August I made a commitment to myself to take my health issues and my weight
loss goals seriously and started on a journey that would change my life. It
wasn’t an easy road, but looking back, I know it has been worth it.
I started my facebook page “Anything is Possible” in the
hope that I might be able to help others realise that it is possible to make
positive changes to their lives and that if I can do something like this, that
anyone can.
The most common questions I have been asked are listed below
with answers. People ask these questions all the time and I love answering them
in the hope that it might help others on their own journey. I hope you find
them useful.
What made you decide to lose the weight?
I have carried a lot of weight for a long time. I had
struggled with a gain-lose yoyo-dieting pattern for many years and then just
became resigned to the fact that I would always be overweight. One day,
something clicked in my head. It wasn’t one particular moment but rather a
series of events. I had been through a personal and professional crisis at the
very beginning of 2012 that left me standing at a crossroads in my life. Things
could have gone either way. I chose the path to personal improvement.
How did you do it?
First of all, I made the decision to make some positive
changes in my life. One of the changes I wanted to make was in my weight. I had
reached my all time heaviest weight and my health was starting to suffer, not
to mention my relationships and ultimately, my sense of self-worth.
I had tried to lose weight many times in the past and had
tried many different methods … I had tried diets that restrict certain foods
and I had starved myself. I had wrapped myself in magical heat wraps and sweated
in saunas, hoping that the weight would just somehow melt off! I had tried
Weight Watchers (more times than I can remember) and Jenny Craig (twice).
The reason that these things had not worked or had worked
only in the short term was that these ideas were all temporary. I was in ‘diet’
mentality, where I would go on a diet, lose weight and then stop and go back to
‘normal’ eating.
For the record, as far as I am concerned, “diet’ is a dirty
word and should be eliminated from your vocabulary. Make healthy life-choices
or don’t bother. It’s as simple as that.
I knew that this time had to be different and that this
time, I wasn’t going to be on a ‘diet’ but that I would need to make healthy,
positive changes in my life and that it was going to have to be permanent.
The three things I needed to do was a) change my eating
habits b) start getting active and working out and c) change the way I thought
about food and exercise. I had to change my mindset.
First of all, I started out by setting goals. I wanted to
lose 50 kilos by the time I reached 50 years old. I set some short-term goals
too.
a) I downloaded an app called “My Fitness Pal” that
calculates calories. It is simple to use and it’s free. You set up a profile
and add your current weight, desired weight, height, gender, age etc and how
much you want to lose each week. You then add the food that you eat throughout
the day and it works out how many you’ve consumed and how many you have left.
If you exercise, you add that too and you can earn calories as you go along. Weight
Watchers works on the same principle and is an effective method for losing
weight. The only reason it didn’t work for me before in the long term is because, once
I had lost the weight, I stopped going!
b) Secondly, I started walking and I joined the gym. I
started working out between 3-5 times a week (at least 30 minutes at a time) I
made time in my day to work out and, as I became fitter and started losing more
and more weight, I started running. It was pretty slow at first but it was
making a difference and I started to really enjoy it.
c) I started thinking in a more positive way. I wasn’t restricting
so-called ‘bad’ foods, I was choosing healthy options! Thinking about things in
a positive way made a big difference. I kept an eye on my goals and started
recording every little step forward. If I reached a goal I would celebrate it
and set new ones. I was determined never to put the weight back on and I found
that setting goals and working hard to achieve them helped me stay motivated. I
was changing the way I thought about nutrition and exercise and I liked the new
me.
I have written a blog about this subject called
“Six Simple Steps to Losing Weight”
How much weight did you lose?
Sixty kilograms
How long did it take?
It took me approximately eleven months to lose fifty kilos
and then three months to lose another ten. As time went on, the weight started to come off slower and
slower.
How do you stay motivated?
In the early days, if I am to be completely honest, I was driven by fear of going back to the way I was, to putting the weight back on. As time went on, my motivation came from the thrill I got from achieving each small goal and making each small step forward.
I would celebrate the shift of the numbers on the scale but I was also motivated by a whole range of other things. People noticed that I had lost weight and said so, my clothes started getting looser, I could do more, lift more, walk further, walk faster … I could even run. Every tiny step was still a step forward.
It wasn't always smiles and rainbows though and there were tough times too. I had periods of time where my weight reached a plateau,
sometimes up to four weeks where it stayed the same. I learned to be
patient. I practised positive thinking and got pretty good at it! Something that helped me during this time was staying focused on my
fitness goals and enjoying non-scale victories like fitting into smaller sized
jeans and running further or longer. I started to lift heavier weights and was feeling stronger, not just physically but mentally as well.
Positive thinking is an integral part of making it. Don't underestimate its power over you. It can mean the difference between being successful and not. I found that I needed to work on being positive and build my skills in it like I was working out a muscle group. Sometimes it was hard work!
I forced myself to be positive even when I wasn't feeling it. It works.
Looking for signs of progress other than
the number on the scales
was a positive motivating factor. Reaching my goals
and setting new ones helped a lot too.
Do you have any loose skin?
This is a question that people ask me all the time. The
short answer is yes. I do. The reality is that you don’t lose a considerable
amount of weight without facing this issue. I have done quite a lot of research
about this subject and there are a few factors that will effect whether or not
you will have loose skin after losing weight.
- How much weight you need to lose.
- How long you have been overweight
- Your age
- How much you exercise before, during and after losing the weight
- How long it takes you to lose it.
- How much weight you need to lose.
- How long you have been overweight
- Your age
- How much you exercise before, during and after losing the weight
- How long it takes you to lose it.
I lost a lot of weight quite quickly so it is inevitable
that there will be some excess skin. To be honest, it isn’t as bad as you might
think and it is better than I thought it would be. I have worked hard to
minimize it in that I do a lot of resistance work with weights and with body
weight exercises such as push-ups, crunches, planks etc. I do resistance work four
times a week on top of my cardio work.
I think that this has made a positive difference to this problem. Having
said all that, I would much rather risk having a little bit of loose skin than
putting up with all that weight!How do you cope in social situations?
The best way to cope in social situations is to plan ahead.
If I want to have a drink, I drink low cal wine or I mix vodka with a
low-cal drink. I eat before I go so that I’m not tempted with the foods that I
would rather not eat and during the meal, I choose salads, vegetables and lean
meat. If I’m going out to a restaurant, I have a look at the menu on the
website if I can and think about the healthy options and then look at the
healthy options when I get there. I also ask for half-sized servings if that is
an option. I try not to make food the focus of the social situation and focus
on my friends and family instead … they are what really matter after all.
These questions are ones that I am asked all the time and
might help you if you are either on a weight loss journey or considering
starting one. If there is any way I can help you, please let me know. It is a
rewarding journey and one that I feel I can help others with. All you need to
do is ask.
Regards, Liz
