After many failed diet and weight-loss attempts, Latisha Butt has the support of her mother Eve and father David to make sure this is one with a successful ending! Here the 22-year-old documents her journey...
Update 1
Saturday
Well, day 1 down, too many to count to go. The Biggest Loser Club Meal Replacements don’t taste bad, quite nice actually, almost as good as a nice fattening milkshake …just not the fattening part. I don’t need a chocolate fix, the Commando Caramel Crunch bars look after that. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.
Sunday
Introduced exercise into my newfound life. Thanks to Theogenes Gym, Launceston, I now have a 3-month free membership, but exercising is so painful. The only thing keeping me going is that the pain has to get better, and the fact that I feel better after my gym session.
Monday
Today was the worst: first day back at work since my life change and it was hard. I can no longer eat out of boredom like I used to do. Even though I didn’t break into the old habits I definitely wanted to.
Tuesday
Tried boot camp with Theogenes, and every muscle sore, every muscle worked, even the muscles I had forgotten about! Walking two flights of stairs at work hurt more than usual.
Thursday
Feeling great. Meal Replacements are great, muscles not hurting as much, but I did have a revelation. In boot camp our instructor said to look straight ahead into the mirror and punch up. This is something I couldn’t do, I couldn’t face what I saw staring back at me. Yes, I did punch up but I looked at where I was punching. Yes, my neck hurt, but I would rather that than seeing myself in the mirror. But that is why I am doing this. It put fire in my belly.
Update 2
Saturday
End of week 1. Weigh-in day. Weighed in 2.4kg lighter than last Saturday. Yay me! What a week it was, ups and downs, mainly ups. Rest day tomorrow, time for muscles to relax :) Cant wait.
Sunday
REST day. Sunday mornings I would normally drop into Maccas for some brekkie. Today didn’t work out that way and it felt like I had to force the car from its usual route. Instead I got some fruit but wasn’t as hungry as I thought I would be. I thought I would have gone over my calorie intake, but instead didn’t even get close.
Monday
Time flew today, 30mins on the treadmill felt only like 5 mins. Exercise seems to be getting easier, but breaking habits is still hard. I have to remind myself its only week 2 and it will only get easier. The muscle pain seems to be more tolerable and there is some definition in some of my muscles.
Tuesday
Thought I'd try some aqua aerobics tonight. It’s just as hard as working out on land. Feeling a lot healthier and more active. Not feeling so tired, and if I do, it’s from exhaustion, which is a nice feeling.
Wednesday
It’s hump day already!! Walked all 5 flights of stairs at work today, instead of 2 flights.
Update 3
Monday
RPM is just not my thing. I thought I’d try it out and see how I went, and my mum and aunt came along for support. I think I should stick to boot camp.
Tuesday
So sick today. Slouched on the couch and relaxed.
Wednesday
I can’t seem to bring myself to eat my full 2100 calories. The 800ish calories I eat in a day feels like a LOT to me – I’m constantly feeling full. I‘m still in recovery mode from being sick yesterday.
Thursday
I‘ve had a bit of a lazy week with exercising, but I hope what I’ve done will be enough to lose some weight. I thought I’d give RPM another shot. I’ll admit I did enjoy it tonight, but I still prefer to be doing different things throughout the hour.
Friday
Doing RPM twice has made cycling on my own easier. I started running, too. I can only do three minutes at a time at the moment, but that’s three minutes more than I could do before! Walking five flights of stairs is also getting easier. My muscles still burn and my breath gets stuck in my lungs, but I know I‘ve worked hard and my body is adjusting.
Update 4
Sunday
Wow, great result – weight loss of 2.7kg!
Monday
My birthday! No cake. No sugar. No fairy bread. Just gym and fruit. What a day! But I’m so proud of myself. Seven kilos lighter in three weeks! What could be a better birthday present than sore muscles to remind me I made it to 23?
Tuesday
Before, when things got on my nerves I would eat to fill the void. Now I exercise it out! I store it, then burst into action at the gym – cycle faster when doing RPM, pump weights harder when doing Body Pump, and run harder on the treadmill. And at the end of my work-out I’m less frustrated, less concerned and less stressed. There are some things I can’t control, but I can control how I react, and this is my new outlet. I feel relaxed and content.
Wednesday
As the days and weeks pass, I wonder when my body will adjust to these changes. When will it stop hurting from exercising, and when will I get used to eating SO MUCH food?
Thursday
Sore from rowing. Rowing’s less fun than RPM, but then I didn’t like RPM to begin with.
Friday
Weigh-in day tomorrow, and all I can think is, ‘This is my week to plateau.’ Could be true, but it could also just be doubt setting in. I need to start believing in myself – I may start surprising myself! But let’s wait till tomorrow.
Latest update
Sunday
Two rest days this week. I felt I needed it – not wanted it or earned it, but needed it. I was falling asleep at work and not feeling like going to the gym. Eating late and trying to live as normal a life as possible is starting to get exhausting. I think this is my wall, the one I have to smash down. Normally when things get hard I give up. This time I won’t.
Monday
Pushed myself on the bike tonight: turned the resistance to as high as I could and sprinted – something I wouldn’t normally do.
Tuesday
So much anger today. But instead of heading to a fast-food outlet or home to the couch and cupboard, I went to the gym with my boxing gloves and hit the punching bag as hard as I could for as long as I could.
Friday
The passion just hasn’t been there this week. All I can hope is that I can pull the numbers on the scales.
Saturday
Not enough time today – no time to eat, no time to sit, no time to think. Fifteen hours on my feet working was fun, but I ran out of time.
But for the first time in a long time, one sandwich was enough to make me full.