Weight Loss Guru

Well Done Gem!
You are April's Member of the Month!

There are so many great success stories on PCTV  at the moment and there are many worthy winners. This month one of our regular bloggers has caught my eye. Her name is Gem and she is our member of the month...

She has lost 12lbs. 8.5 inches from Hips, Waist & bust.

This is her testimonial in her own words:

I can remember my brothers challenging me to beat them in the "Who can eat more Weetabix" competition when I was a little girl..... I won of course! and my prize?? well now I realise my prize was bitter sweet because I have now pin pointed that as the starting point in my life's struggle with overeating. 
 
I was such a skinny little thing but by the time I was 10 years old I was like a squashy little ball all curly hair and rolls of puppy fat.  By the time I was 16 I was 5ft 3" and 12.5 stone.  My brothers called me their "Circular Sister" and kids in school used to sing "Return to Slender" & shout "Is it a bird? is it a plane? Nooooo it's Germaine" ...... taunts which I laughed off in great spirit outwardly whilst I sobbed inside.
 
Ay 16 I decided enough was enough, I joined a slimming club with my mum & Dad and with strict calorie counting and my eyes firmly on the prize "A Boyfriend" I shed 3.5 stone from May to September. GREAT!
 
I kept at a healthy weight until I was in my mid 20's when due to a crazy social life the weight started to creep back on.  I got married to my husband in 2000 and walked down the isle having panic shed 2 stone in about 8 weeks (not very healthy)  I put on over half a stone in the first week of my honeymoon, I just dived head first into that great trough of mindless eating. 
 
Just after our wedding I was diagnosed with a prolactinoma (an imbalance of the Pituitary Glad) ... I'm still not sure if the condition itself caused my weight to shoot up OR more likely I used it as an excuse to feel sorry for myself and seek comfort in food Hmmm???  Following a short course of treatment I found I was pregnant with our first son Reuben (now 5) having a bit of an obsession with the scales, (you might find it odd that I insisted on getting weighed every day), I weight in at 15st 4lbs, just before he was born weighing a tiny weeny 5lbs 6 oz!! ..  Three years later (May 07) I gave birth to our youngest son Gabriel, again I hauled myself onto the scales, my eyes nearly popped out when I saw that I weighed 16st 3lbs!!! WOW!  Gabe was born weighing 7lbs, 8oz.
 
I spent a lot of last year asking myself questions and thinking about a solution. I looked into every diet under the sun, dismissing them one by one for the simple reason I LOVE FOOD and I didn't want to give up eating what I wanted.
 
I can't remember what I was doing on my computer but On Friday the 13th of Feb 09 (Always been a lucky number for me) I was googling something and up popped a link for Pete Cohen, head cocked to one side I thought hang on a minute this looks like it could be what I've been searching for.  Half an hour later without a seconds hesitation I bypassed the free trial and signed up there and then for six months worth of 21 day cycles.
 
Three hours later and a mountain of ironing lighter (PHEW) I clicked on the activate button.  Every day I wake up and the first thing I do is go to my emails where I know an email will be sitting waiting for me from Pete, I click on the link which takes my to my members area where I will spend about 5 to 10 mins watching the video of the day, followed by the Brilliant Relaxation & Transformation MP3 either straight after or later in the day (depending on time) I spent the 1st Cycle ....... more to follow

Here's Gem's entries on the weightlossjournals at petecohen.tv

To be in with a chance of winning next month - all you need to do is to keep blogging and I'll be looking out for people who are making progress and positive changes in thier lives.

Take Care,
Pete

I am often asked by people who want to lose weight the best ways to measure their progress. The most popular measure is of course using the scales. I sometimes tell people that weigh themselves often that scales are for fish rather than weighing.

It’s important to remember that the scales don’t always give an accurate reflection of how you are doing. When you get on the scales, you’re not just measuring fat loss, you’re weighing everything else as well: muscle, bone, skin and water. Fat loss needs to be your primary focus and it should be a priority to actually increase your muscle and bone density. There’s a lot more to slimming than shedding fat. If you just shed fat, it’s very likely to creep back on again. If you want to be permanently slimmer you’ll have to replace some of that fat with energy-burning muscle.

Fat takes up to five times more space on your body than muscle, but muscle weighs a lot more so the scales won’t show that rapid reduction you’ve been hoping for. Remember that your weight can fluctuate from day to day for many biological reasons – and women, in particular, retain more fluid at some times of the month than at others. More important, even with modern scales it’s hard to be exact about your muscle mass and tone, or work out exactly what proportion of your weight is made up of fat, muscle or bone.

Over the years, I have seen hundreds of people, who have followed my weight loss programme, who couldn’t understand why their jeans were getting baggier when the scales didn’t register any change for, three, four, or even six weeks. The reason, of course, was that as they were losing fat they were gaining muscle, and the muscle they gained was heavier than the fat, it also took up much less body space.

When some people follow my programme they find that their weight can fluctuate a bit to begin with, especially if they have been yo-yo dieting. Some people start to lose around 2 pounds a week steadily right from the first week. While others will be two or three weeks into the programme before they see a consistent loss. This is absolutely fine – it took you a long time to gain the weight, so give your self time to lose it.

Check out my guidelines for measuring your weight loss success:

• I suggest you weigh yourself no more than once a week.
• Weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything.
• Weigh yourself no more than once a week to give your body time to respond.
• Get yourself a good pair of scales.
• Remember, the scale weighs everything! Just because your scale weight hasn't changed doesn't mean you aren't making progress.

Take Your Measurements

This is one of my favorite ways of tracking progress because it doesn't require any fancy equipment and anyone can do it. Taking your measurements at certain areas can give you an idea of where you're losing fat, which is important since we all lose fat in different areas and in a different order. Taking your measurements can help reassure you that things are happening - even if you're not losing fat exactly where you want just yet. Start by wearing tight fitting clothing (or no clothing) and make a note of what you're wearing so you know to wear the same clothes the next time you measure. Here's how to do it:

• Bust: Measure around the chest right at the nipple line, but don't pull the tape too tight.
• Chest: Measure just under your bust
• Waist: Measure a half-inch above your belly button or at the smallest part of your waist
• Hips: Place tape measure around the biggest part of your hips
• Thighs: Measure around the biggest part of each thigh
• Calves: Measure around the largest part of each calf
• Upper arm: Measure around the largest part of each arm above the elbow
• Forearm: Measure around the largest part of the arm below the elbow.

Record your measurements and take them once a week or once a month to see if you're losing inches.

Eyeball It

It may seem obvious, but don't overlook one of the simplest ways to track progress - how you look and how your clothes fit. You may want to take a picture of yourself wearing a bathing suit and keep it in your weight loss journal. Each month, take a new picture... you'll be surprised at how many changes you notice in a picture as opposed to just seeing yourself in the mirror. You can also use your clothes to keep track of your progress.

Use one or all of the methods above to keep track of how you're doing, keeping in mind that realistic goals are essential for your success. And don't forget, it takes time to lose weight so don't panic if you don't drop 10 pounds in a week. Most people don't see significant results for weeks or even months. If you're losing weight the right way, your progress will be slow and steady and your actual fat loss should be around 1-2 pounds in a week.