Suffering with a fluctuating dress size? – The diary of a yo-yo dieter!
Are you one of many women suffering with a fluctuating dress size as a result of yo-yo dieting?
Don’t worry, you are not alone!
It is said that in an average woman’s lifetime she will wear a staggering four different dress sizes all as a result of yo-yo dieting.
Yo-yo dieting can be the cause of losing weight. Once you start your weight loss and lose a little, your eating habits may become complacent and you begin putting back on the weight you lost. You may also be unaware of some of your eating habits, or even be on a diet that does not work or that is not suited to you.
Yo-yo dieting increases the risk of comfort eating as it changes how your body deals with stress.
A study of 2,000 women by the Harley Medical Group revealed that a dieter’s weight fluctuates by a massive two or three stone which dramatically changes the way their body looks.
Alexandra Newbury, a health and social care student from Tamworth, Staffs knows exactly how it feels to yo-yo between four different dress sizes at the tender age of just 29!
“In my wardrobe are clothes from size 10 to 16” Alexandra exclaimed. “I made a diary of my weight and was shocked to discover I had fluctuated a whole four sizes”.
Sharing her reports to the sun, Alexandra tracked her weight fluctuations from age 16 and was astonished by the results.
Age 16 – Size 10
The beginning of Alexandra’s journey…
“I did not weigh myself and had certainly never been on a diet. Weight-watching had never been something I’d thought about as my mum was always slim and had never dieted. I had no idea what body-image was” Alexandra disclosed.
Age 17 – Size 12
Binge drinking nights out.
“When I started going out on nights with mates and drinking calorie-laden boozy drinks like cider, I quickly started gaining weight and put on three stone in 18 months”.
Age 18 – Size 16
Birthday blues!
“On my 18th birthday I knew my weight had ballooned out of control when I couldn’t do up my size 16 trousers. I vowed to do something about my weight as my birthday was spoilt. I had an ice-skating birthday party and spent my time sobbing on the sidelines, feeling miserable”.
Age 18 – Size 14
Elated with Weight Watchers!
“After my party and the humiliation, I joined a Weight Watchers class. Before this I had no real idea about healthy eating and thought cheese was good for you”.
“I lost two stone in eight months and started wearing a size 14. As the weight fell off, I felt jubilant”, declared Alexandra.
Age 20 – Size 16
A change in lifestyle; resulted in a change in weight.
“I moved to France to work for six months in a holiday camp as a rep and the diet went out of the window. I lived next door to a patisserie and lived on a diet of pain au chocolat and white baguettes!”
“I didn’t weigh myself the whole time I was there. I was mortified when I came home and found I had gone up to a size 16 again”, she added.
Age 21 – Size 14
Depression sets in!
“I moved to Jersey for a bank job and there started three years of crazy diets to slim down. I tried the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Cambridge Diet and even slimming pills inadvisably bought from the internet”.
Alexandra expressed further how unhappy she felt during this period of her life.
“I was miserable most of the time and my size fluctuated and hovered between a 14 and a 16”.
“This was a low point and all I could think about was food. My tummy would rumble and I hated myself. I knew this unhappiness couldn’t last but it was hard to stop the weight-loss, weight-gain cycle”.
Age 24 – Size 12
A happy time for Alexandra – meeting a marrying her husband Rick.
“I fell in love with Rick and after only two weeks of dating we moved to Australia for a year, living and working in Sydney”.
“I re-joined Weight Watchers and was over the moon to get down to a size 12. After a month Rick proposed. I made sure I maintained a size 12 for my wedding on the beach on the Whitsunday Islands, just off the central coast of Queensland, one year later”.
“I sashayed down the beach in a strapless white fitted wedding dress and felt the bee’s knees and couldn’t stop smiling. A grin was plastered across my face for weeks after”.
Age 24 – Size 14
Back home and no longer a size 12!
“Rick and I returned to England six weeks after our big day and had a church blessing in our home town. When my size 12 wedding dress no longer fitted my eyes filled with tears and I had to rush and buy a new one in a size 14 the day before”.
“I tried my very hardest to not let it spoil my special day”.
Age 25 –Size 16
Takeaway’s are a no no!
“Being happily married did my weight no favours as nights were often spent in the house drinking wine or eating takeaway meals. I shot up to a size 16”.
“This time I worried about my health and rather than get emotional I decided to break this unhealthy weight-gain, weight-loss cycle. I changed my diet and got to a size 14”.
Age 25-29 – Size 14
Alexandra believes this is the size she is “meant” to be…
“I have maintained a size 14 for years now and have accepted it as my natural size. I walk my dog, Tilly, every day, go swimming three times a week and have a healthy diet with the odd treat”.
“Life is a bit of a roller-coaster and it’s no surprise these emotional and life-changing ups and downs are reflected in our clothes sizes”.
Not happy with your dress size?
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