Body image and celebrity magazines...

The other day, I was reading my magazine and came across an article regarding a well-known actress who is now apparently 9 stone and a size 10... yet the photos shown of her were easily a size 12/14 and she looked like she weighed 2 stone more than me, not less. It got me thinking, do magazines always tell the truth about weight?

We're often told about celebrities who have 'ballooned' up to 10 stone. I would love to shrink down to 10 stone. They moan about being unhealthy at a size 12 and yearn for the day that they were 8 stone again. Now, maybe I'm a medical marvel but, I find it very hard to believe that anybody could be enormous when they weigh 10 stone. Unless, of course, they were 4 feet tall.

Kerry Katona, at least, is one of the few honest celebrities [about weight] out there. Many magazines reported that, at her heaviest, she was 10.5 stone. She spoke out and said that her true weight was nearer to 14 and has since slimmed down to a toned size 8-10.

(Kerry at 14 stone and a size 12/14)

(Kerry now, a size 8-10)

Refreshing, I'm sure you'll agree.

So why do magazines continue to tell us, impressionable women, that 10 stone is enormous and a size 12 is obese. It's not. Marilyn Monroe, one of the sexiest film stars ever, was a size 12 (not a 16, sorry ladies - that's all hearsay) 

(Marilyn Monroe was a sex goddess, at a UK size 12)

So, why is it that we celebrate Marilyn as a goddess, but yet we see a size 12 as obese now?

I would like to think that I'm not that impressionable and have a mind of my own. Yet, this blog says otherwise. I see myself, as a size 10-12, as large.

Nevertheless, I'm still dieting. I'm a woman, I probably always will. I don't want to be a size 8 anymore, I don't think it's possible without me making myself ill. But, a nice, small size 10 will make me the happiest girl in the world. Or will it? By the time I reach a perfect 10, more magazines will probably highlight how that's enormous. It's just the way we work, it's what sells magazines. 

I am a little bit in love with Frankie Sandford from the Saturdays. I even had the same haircut. I thought she was the most beautiful girl with an amazing figure. Yet, my boyfriend disagrees. He'd much rather have some alone time with Holly Willoughby (who, ironically is a 'proud size 12')

Looking at these photos, I'd be inclined to agree. Sorry, Fankie.

 (Frankie Sandford is an idol to many women and young girls)

(Is Holly Willoughby our modern-day answer to Marilyn Monroe?)

Feel free to comment - how much do celebrity magazines influence you? Do you believe the weights that are reported?

Week 2 weigh-in

-2lb.

Not exactly ground-breaking, but we're heading in the right direction.

Back in action...

Ok so I've slacked with the blogging. Sorry about that.


As it stands, I'm still 4lb lighter than when I first started - but I've been up and down ever since. I've been diagnosed with a hormone imbalance that's causing problems with my moods (ok, technically it's depression... but I don't really want to go into that right now.) so it's time to well and truly kick myself up the bottom.

I'm off to see Claire again today, with just over 7 weeks until my holiday to go. I'd love to aim for 1.5 stone, but that's near impossible at the moment - so let's say 2lb a week, that would be nice.

I'd lost 6lb up until this weekend, and then a fairly boozy weekend and fish and chips at the seaside didn't help. 2lb on. Woops.

Luckilly, I know now that the diet I am on is right. It does work. Protein is key, carb is the enemy etc.

To quote my favourite, The Only Way Is Essex; "No carbs before Marbs." - except by Marbs, I mean Egypt.

We fly on the 7th of June, which is also my 18th birthday. Or similar. Let's stick with 18. By that time I'd like very much to weigh *cough* stone and 5lbs. So, a stone, maybe a tad more.

I have the house to myself for a couple of weeks, which will hopefully mean that I stick to it - as there will be no other temptation. Besides Easter. Oh no.

Mind you, I've not had chocolate in ages - so why start now??

So, my new rules are:

* No carbohydrates. Not even croutons on my salad. None, nada, zilch.

* Take 2x Hoodia tablets with every meal. Hoodia has saved my life - if you haven't tried it, you should. It's a natural appetite suppressant that Arabs use when crossing the desert. It comes from a cactus or something and it swells in your stomach to conquer hunger pangs. Mind you, it's not cheap - a month's supply is about £50. That's cheaper than a month's supply of crappy snacks though, eh?

* NO MORE WINE. Or sugary drinks. Or beer. Vodka and diet coke or g&t only from now on.

* No more cheese. Except the 15g on my salads - nothing. None.

* I now must weigh my protein. No more than 60g of chicken on my salad. And then my 15g of feta cheese. That's all. No sneaking in a chunk of chicken whilst making a salad.

* NO takeaways. No matter how drunk I get or how convinced I am that the kebab won't even exist the next day - NO. There are more calories in the average kebab than I allow my daily intake.

* Diet coke = win. It's my new snack.

* I will exercise. Since I was diagnosed with depression, I've decided it's the only way out. I've turned down the tablets for a bit, just to see if exercise works. Hopefully I'll be referred onto an exercise scheme as well.

So - there we have it.

I've also made myself a chart that I will fill in each week on the 7th day, tracking my weight. I'll try not to weigh myself in between times but you know what it's like!

Fingers crossed, wish me luck. Please keep pushing me - you lot have helped me so much.

Victoria xx

Oops. Remember me?

Sorry, I've been a pretty rubbish blogger recently haven't I?

Without going into too much detail - things have been a bit hectic recently.

The stress of that situation led to me eating like a pig. In fact, shamefully I found 2 Rocky Bar wrappers stashed in my drawer the other night - in case anyone saw them and pointed it out. How embarrassing.

Anyway, I'm back on track now. 1 x scrambled egg and 2 turkey rashers for breakfast, sometimes with toast, sometimes followed by an apple. Salad for lunch, again, the usual. Then salad or some sort of meat for tea.

It's dropping off again - I'm back to my lowest. I did go up to just 1lb under where I'd started. Hence not blogging for a while. Which, I know, totally defeats the point. I get it.

Anyway, please keep nudging me for blogs etc - it keeps me focussed.

See you soon xxx

Guest Blog: Claire Taylor (Claire Taylor Therapy)

Remember the fab lady Claire I told you about? She does exist, here is her side of the journey so far!

"Hi everyone.  The first thing to say here is that blogging isn't natural to a therapist – client confidentiality and all that.  But, as Vic is being so open about her journey, I’m very happy to contribute.

I think most people who know Vic would agree with me when I say that in no way does she look overweight. And I know many have passed that comment.  However, I congratulate her on recognising the fact that she has put weight on and has become unhappy with her body image at such an early stage. It’s all about how we feel inside isn't it?

Now, I appreciate there are the extremes, you know people who see themselves as fat when they are super skinny already and allowing that unrealistic body image to drive them to develop an eating disorder.  But how much happier would a large percentage of the population be if they'd taken action as quickly as Vic and just how incredible is it that she's achieved the weight loss she has so far??  I’m so proud of her.

I may be a clinically trained therapist, but it’s down to my clients to make the changes they require.

Session 1:

When I first met Vic and we went through her eating habits in detail, I have to admit it was such a healthy diet already I had my doubts how quickly we would see success.  It’s so much easier when a client's addicted to sugar!!!  But, by Vic exploring with me what the correct foods are to eat at each point in the day we managed to tweak her diet – and what a success that's proven to be.

I reinforced the messages we'd discussed, along with a few additional ones, using hypnosis.  (For anyone who doesn't understand hypnosis there's a really useful video on my website of me interviewing one of my clients. It really is me; I just decided to go brunette recently!)

Don't eat breakfast?

Now, Vic always eats breakfast but for any of you out there who don't here's a new way to look at it.  You wouldn't expect to get into a car with no petrol or oil in it, turn the key and drive around for hours would you?  It simply wouldn't run and you'd do a fair amount of damage to the engine just trying.  Right well, your body is your engine.  How do you expect it to get you through your day without the right type and amount of fuel in it???  It’s going to cause you problems.

Session 2:

On our second session it came to light that Vic was having problems giving herself positive affirmations about her body image. Using such affirmations can make all the difference to any goal you wish to achieve in life but I won't go into that here.  Gradually, as we were discussing this, Vic opened up to me about 2010, and just how many traumatic incidents she had gone through. No wonder this girl is finding it difficult; she has had SO much to deal with, and on top of that her nature is to support everyone else through such times (including her guinea pigs), and her job is to support and promote her clients. When does she look after herself???

So rather than hypnotherapy, we used CBT during the session. Put very simply; this is about changing the way you think and realising that no one else and nothing else can make you think or feel any differently to how you want to think and feel.  It’s all about stopping those negative and unhelpful thoughts and replacing them with the positive.  Had we had more time I would have used hypnosis to again reinforce all the messages we discussed, but we simply talked our way through the session.

Progress:

Today I hear Vic's lost over 5lbs in weight in just over a week.  I'll let you into a secret too; she's eaten a slice or two of pizza and a mini bag of chocolate buttons. Not to mention her love for gin and slimline! The right, long-term approach to weight loss can really pay dividends!

Victoria is living proof!

www.claire-taylor-therapy.co.uk

You can follow Claire on Twitter: @claireonthewww

-5.5lb. Size 10 jeans are "comfy" and Claire is ace...

Woohoo. 7 days in and I'm 5.5lb lighter.

I might celebrate with a pie.... OK OK I WON'T!

Anyway, I wanted to use this post to Claire Taylor who has, in just a week, changed my life.


Claire is a qualified Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist and Life Coach. She is taking me through a course of Clinical Hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to help me achieve my goals. 


Her technique is clear, concise and personal - she's made me think about things that I had put to the back of my mind; from severe personal grief to worrying about my pet guinea pigs (yep, really!) and it's really changed how I look at things.


Claire is based at the Abbeydale Tennis Centre in Sheffield South and works with individuals or companies - have a look at her website for more information.


Claire is also going to guest-blog on this site to give you a bit more of an insight into what we've done so far.

Tuesday

Woohoo, I'm 2lb lighter than yesterday morning! No point in a food diary - it'll be the same as yesterday. Oh and I had salad for tea, same as lunch but with less chicken.

Ta ta for now xxx