In the beginning

Now I know that there are many weight loss blogs out there, but I personally don't believe that we are over saturated because they are inspiring and give a real sense of community to those who are dealing with the same issues. Having a weight problem can be extremely ostracizing, even though there are millions of those with the same affliction (so statistics would have us believe). The Internet gives an inspiring voice (and a kick up the arse) for those (like me) who want to change.

I am not into "fat shaming", if you are happy with yourself and feel beautiful then feel free to work it no matter what your size is. But my truth is that I'm not happy and feel far from beautiful. Now before I start to sound like I'm throwing a full scale pity party, the other areas of my life are amazing; I'm confident and healthy, I have a stunning and supportive husband, a great career and a seriously fantastic shoe collection. The only gap is not being able to look like the person I am outside that I feel I am on the inside.

Now I didn't just wake up at age 10 and *boom* size 22! It took a good few years to pile on the pounds. Truth is I'm pretty lazy on the exercise, during P.E I was usually found smoking behind the math block (a habit I have long since replaced with bread) and I never really felt the love for team sports, it just took too much effort.

I also have a completely foodie family, we celebrate over it, we commiserate with it and most of all we like the pile it into our gobs. For us food isn't about fuel, it's about the pleasure that goes with it and unfortunately when pleasure is combined with an inactive lifestyle you are on route to a serious problem.

I have pretty much been on some kind of diet since the age of eleven, it wasn't that the diets didn't work; the problems lie with my lack of control. Fast forward to now and I'm teetering on the edge of a serious health problem.

They say you have a moment and my wake up call came when I started getting tingles in my hands, headaches and a constant feeling of fatigue. After weeks of blood tests and many doctors appointments it turned out that I had seriously low iron and foliate levels, all related to my yoyo dieting. I have a pattern of feast or famine when it comes to my eating habits. Quite simply my body was pissed off and it had a right to be. I now have to take such strong supplements everyday that can make me sick and make visiting the bathroom after me an extremely unpleasant experience, I also have to have blood tests every four weeks to make sure that I don't keel over from anemia.

It isn't all bad though, around the same time I found out that there was actually a physical activity I enjoyed! I had been seduced by all the very cute and uber stylish retro bikes that had been popping up around where I work in East London. When I decided to buy one, I did in the back of my mind half believe that it would be a passing phase and would end up rusting in the shed or on eBay but when I actually started pedaling I completely fell in love. So in love in fact that when I hooked up my heart monitor, it showed I was going further than I thought and really burning up the calories! That was my light bulb moment, maybe I could lose the lard and still really enjoy myself.

So That takes us back to why I am writing this blog, I not only want to document the process but also to prove that being healthy doesn't have to be about spandex and counting points. I might regret writing this, but maybe it could actually be...fun?