I ate 10,00 calories on Christmas Day!
After gorging on seasonal sweet treats, Liza Pepper made a New Year’s Resolution to lose 7st – and she did!
As I cleared away the Christmas dinner plates, my stomach groaned. Me, my daughter Ellie and my partner Chris Woodcock had just indulged in a huge Christmas dinner. A baked Camembert and garlic bread to start, turkey, roasties, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings… and that’s not to mention the two bagels with cream cheese and salmon we’d had for breakfast.
But my stuffed stomach wasn’t going to hold me back. ‘Anyone for Christmas pudding and cream?’ I called from the kitchen.
After all, it was the festive season and surely that was all about spoiling yourself?
The problem was, I didn’t wait until Christmas to treat myself. It was all the time – and that was why I was a size 20. I hadn’t always been big, though. No, all through my teens and Twenties, at 6ft, I was slim, almost verging on skinny. I could eat whatever I wanted, and didn’t need to exercise to be able to slip on my size 10 jeans.
Then, at 27, everything changed, and I’ve never been able to pinpoint why. Maybe my metabolism slowed down, or maybe my job as a rep, driving round all day and eating sugary snacks from garages, finally had an impact. Whatever it was, I slowly went up to a size 12, a size 14… until I eventually had to pick out size 20 clothes.
I hated it. While outwardly, I remained the confident woman I’d always been, my self-esteem took a real dive. Suddenly aware of how slim my friends were, I made sure I was always covered, head to toe, in baggy clothes. I hated going out, and shopping became a nightmare. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to buy clothes for a size 20, 6ft woman, but believe me, it’s not easy.
Yet when I met Chris, now 61, in 2004 through work, he didn’t seem to see my weight at all. He was the kindest, loveliest person I’d ever met – as well as being extremely handsome – and we quickly became a couple.
But I never confided in him, or indeed Ellie, 30, just how much my weight bothered me. I did lose some weight when we first met but it didn’t stay off. I just loved my food too much.
I’d felt bad about myself for months, years probably, but it was a vicious circle. The worse I felt, the more I ate…
But now, on 25 December 2018, wasn’t the time to be worrying about my weight. ‘Christmas is a time for festivities – and food,’ I told myself, as I brought out the cheese platter, along with turkey sandwiches and mince pies that night.
The next day, I still felt full from the previous day’s decadence, so I pulled out my baggiest jumper to snuggle up in and I was horrified when it was stretched tight across my bulging belly and boobs. I felt sick with shame. ‘How have I let myself get to this?’ I wondered miserably.
I had to change something. After all, soon it would be the start of a new year – could it possibly signal a new me too?
I’d known there was a Slimming World group that met just around the corner from my house, so on 3 January 2019, I walked into my first meeting without a clue what to expect. But everyone was so welcoming – even when I burst into tears when I weighed in at 19st 2lbs – that I felt instantly at ease.
‘Is 7st too much to say
I’ll lose?’ I asked the leader, tentatively. A man behind me piped up. ‘I’ve lost 8st,’ he said, reassuringly. ‘Go for it!’
I gaped. 8st! Well, if he could lose that, so could I!
When I got back home, I thought back to Christmas Day and everything I’d eaten. When I worked it out, I realised I’d eaten 10,000 calories – five times the recommended daily amount for women!
‘But that’s done now, it’s in the past,’ I told myself. ‘All you can change is the future.’
‘I had to change something, the new year could signal a new me’
So Chris helped me go through all of the chocolates, crackers and cheese left over from the festive season and donate everything we could to a food bank.
And, as I examined the plan, I realised that although I’d always loved cooking, I hadn’t been making the best choices – adding butter and cream to curries, and making pasta bakes with sauces.
Straight away, I changed everything. I started eating breakfast, something I’d always avoided, cut out the bars of chocolate and bags of crisps I used to munch on continuously, and started making my own packed lunch.
And I didn’t stop with my diet. Every night, Chris and I went out for a 45-minute power walk, whatever the weather. He, along with Ellie and Chris’s sons, Chris, 31, and Andrew, 29, were incredibly supportive.
Whenever the children came over for dinner, I’d warn them it would be a Slimming World recipe, but they didn’t care. In fact, I bet if I hadn’t mentioned it, they wouldn’t have even known.
By April, I’d lost 3st 7lbs and, although I was only halfway through my journey, the difference was incredible. My hair and nails were in better condition, I was sleeping better, I had more energy and I was less anxious.
Plus, I felt confident enough to increase my walks to runs. By the time Christmas came, I’d lost the 7st I’d promised myself and was ready to enjoy a Slimming World-friendly Christmas dinner – lots of turkey, veg, even roast potatoes and gravy.
Since then, I’ve lost even more weight and now, at 50, I’m 11st 10lbs and happier than I’ve been… well, forever! Making such a big resolution and sticking to it feels like such an achievement.
And starting 2021 as the woman I want to be fills me with joy!