You know how in the relationship space on social media sites, people often type “It’s complicated”…  well that’s the way I feel about food, and despite losing 13 stone – I think I always will.

I was so angry with myself this week

In November and December last year, I ate my way through the stress of starting up a new business (www.teenagates.com), I ate my way through the sadness of saying goodbye to old colleagues, and I ate my way through the celebration of spending Christmas with my family and the excitement of my new start.  Happiness or sadness, I turned to food. Result?  I put on TWENTY pounds in two months (over 9kilograms).

It wasn’t really about being lazy or inactive either.  I was tearing around the place and doing lots of cycling and swimming; although I probably wasn’t putting as much effort into it as I usually would.  Looking back at the last few months, it was definitely food that was the problem.  I easily returned to my old 23-stone lifestyle of skipping breakfast, not bothering to plan my day’s food, grabbing a roll at lunch, eating out, trying to starve for a couple of hours as guilt set in, and then caving into food cravings and ordering a take-away just before bed – the worse time of the day to be eating.

Amazingly I didn’t notice the weight-gain for a while.  It’s incredible how easy it is to slip back into denial.  I noticed a couple of tops and dresses getting tighter, but thought they’d shrunk in the wash!

Before losing weight in 2010

It wasn’t until I went kayaking before Christmas and had to get my mate Fiona to prise me into my buoyancy aid, that I noticed something was wrong.  Even then, I stayed off the scales for a couple of weeks, telling myself I’d get the weight off first before taking the acid test.  How dumb is that?  Of course that didn’t happen, and I didn’t brave the scales until December 28th to measure the shocking extent of the damage done. I reached that point once before, on my way to morbid obesity.  Back then I put my head down, right into a chicken snackbox and munched my way to oblivion.  At least this time I’m facing the truth.

I’ve reintroduced the word ‘diet’ into my vocabulary.

In today’s world, it’s not polite to say ‘diet’ and it’s virtually unforgivable to say ‘fat’. But for me, I need to face both words and deal with them. The alternative is to slip back into the void that leads to obesity, depression, diabetes, fatty liver, high cholesterol, heart disease, increased risk of cancer and stroke, and inevitably, if I don’t put the brakes on, death.  Being badly overweight really is that serious. I’ve been there before, I’ve faced death in the face and walked away from it, taking a different road that brought me to a whole new journey of adventure of discovery, and I’m not giving that up.  I’m not giving up my mountains either, and the particularly large one that I plan to climb later this year… (Mount Elbrus in Russia with Irish Adventurer Pat Falvey of ‘The Summit’ film and book.) 

After losing weight in 2010

The anger came when I went back running with my athletic club.  In 2013 I started the Le Chéile ‘Couch to 5K’ programme and went on to run 10k and take part in adventure races in Wicklow and Killarney.  Now here I was on a dark, rainy, winter night – back where I started – huffing and puffing over my boobs, as I heaved my way around the track, gasping for breath and limping over my sore knees.  There was embarrassment too, as everyone else streaked ahead of me.  I hated every second of it.  The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that next week will be easier, and the week after will be easier still.   Not easy, just easier!

I was angry too over all my pretty dresses.  It is not the washing machine that is to blame, I just don’t fit into a size 12 anymore, and no matter how I rant at the designers, it’s not their fault.  I used to fit into dresses that I don’t fit into now.  How the heck did that happen?  Subconsciously I must have been grabbing the stretchy, looser stuff, without noticing what was happening to my waistline.

The DIET is back – because I am FAT

No more denial.  I’ve bagged up all my pretty dresses and tailored suits and stashed them up in the attic until I’m fit to wear them again.  In the meantime, I’m looking at empty hangers as a reminder of where I want to be – and I am NOT buying new, bigger clothes.  So apologies in advance if I turn up at your event in running pants!

Since January 1st I have been eating well.  Porridge, chicken, eggs, brown rice, brown pasta, a little olive and coconut oil, some oily fish, nuts, fruit and lots of vegetables and salad.  I have also been drinking at least 2 litres of water each day.  Most importantly, I am facing up to the fact that I need to eat slightly less than my body requires, because I have a storehouse of energy stored around my belly that needs to be unleashed! That means I don’t give in to cravings, and sometimes it’s ok to feel a little hungry.

I’m back in the gym, back on the hill, swimming, cycling, and hiking to my heart’s content. I’m back running with Parkrun on Saturdays, I’ve rejoined Le Chéile AC, and I’ve joined up with a global event on Facebook to run ‘100 days of miles’ in 2014.

There are absolutely no food ‘treats’ in my diet, instead I’ve set targets with much better treats in store.  I collect the first tomorrow.  I promised myself that if I lost 10lb across January I’d get a mountain bike.  Well I’ve lost 9lb in 9 days – so tomorrow I’m off to the Giant Bike Store to pick up my new baby; and my new baby will help improve my fitness as I work to target number two…

I’ve realised writing this, that I’m not angry with myself any more.  I am determined….I’m getting back on track, healthy and fit,  and I’m looking forward to the road ahead.