Philip lost 10kg over the 12 week course
Start weight 123.8kg – End weight 113.9kg
Where did your journey with Live Lighter Sheffield begin?
I had had an issue with a gallstone and as part of follow up with my GP the live lighter program was mentioned. I agreed to give it a try.
What was your motivation to attend each week?
The main motivator for me was to see the success I was having led to further success. The programme helped me to get into a routine, and once I was in the routine I generally felt bad if I had to deviate from it. More strategically I’ve struggled with weight for my entire life except for a brief period in my 20s when I was walking everywhere as a student.
I had tried weight loss before via a commercial organisation, and whilst that was successful, maintenance was very difficult; I remember them trying to sell things at every opportunity too. Not long afterwards I moved to another part of the city, and had some big changes in my life, but as I got older things tended to slide, and I got back into comfort eating.
I found the group helpful to share experience with, and also to learn from. The programme covers mental health and motivations (both positive and negative), without being nagging or guilt inducing.
I also felt that Donna the course leader was “a real person”, who I could relate to, rather than being a salesperson or a preacher/lecturer.
For me I think everything seemed to come together well, and thus attending group was never an issue unless I had something else on that I couldn’t rearrange.
How did the programme enable you to make small changes to your lifestyle?
The BIG take a ways for me:
* It’s what you east MOST of the time.
* Brown Bread over white bread
* Add tons of veg to everything
* Eat more fruit
* Notice when you are eating (I have a habit to nibble when making cups of tea!)
The brown bread change feels very successful to me. I’m still eating bread much as I was before the program – but it’s all granary now. Adding veg, eating more fruit has been okay. If anything I am maybe eating more now than I did before, which seems paradoxical but it goes to show that a lot of it is about what you eat.
“What you eat most of the time” has helped me too, if only to accept that I will have days when the rulebook needs to be thrown away somewhat (typically social occasions); but at least on those occasions I can try to make some better choices than perhaps I would have before.
Did you find the staff supportive?
Donna was very approachable, organised and a good motivator. She’d always provide constructive feedback which was sensitive and took a much wider view than I had anticipated on certain topics. (for example considering alternative diets and a massive range of medical conditions).
I never felt that she nagged, preached, tried to sell or engaged in any other negative behaviours I’ve seen before when it comes to people talking about weight loss.
I thought I would dread weighing in and sending my weight in, but it became something I did on a Tuesday as part of a routine, and I think Donna’s approach was instrumental in that.
What were the key lifestyle changes that contributed to your weight loss?
- Brown bread instead of white. (I included the local baker in this, and he’s been saving me a brown bread cake each day)
- Eat more fruit
- Eat more veg
- Cut out treats to a large degree (Another one I included the baker in, I won’t buy caramel slices for myself now)
- Try to walk some more
Which aspects of the programme did you most enjoy?
The conversation. The whole mental health side was good too. I’d need to review the content because I think I would have liked it to have gone deeper (comfort eating in more detail). In the past I’ve not seen this covered, which I think is a shame, as in my experience doing this requires a fair bit of willpower, and often that side is neglected.