Welcome to my world!

It's all about the cliche's tonight!

If anyone is reading, hello! If it's just me, well then I'm talking to myself and they do say it's the first sign of madness. Says rather a lot in my opinion.

So, introductions! My name is Hannah. I am currently 22 years and 9 months old and I have been at my goal weight for almost 6 months. The photo at the top left of my blog is from the Weight Watchers fashion show I took part in this week - more about that later - and the photos at the bottom are my before and after! I have a boyfriend who has been putting up with me for almost four and a half years now, and whose patience and understanding kept me on the wagon and got me to my goal.

Soppy stuff over now. I promise.

I think I should give you a quick overview of my weight loss journey to introduce us properly, so here goes. My "before" photo is from September 2007. I was that size until December when I decided enough was enough and that this time I really was going to lose weight. Yes, it had been said numerous times before, and quite frankly even I didn't believe it. On the 1st of January 2008 I went on a diet. I'd tried Slimming World more times than I care to count so stuck to what I knew and started following their eating plan. Two weeks later I went along to a class with my Mum and got weight. 15st 7.5lb. Given that I'd been following the diet for 2 weeks already this was rather awful.

It took me until March to lose my first stone. I'd stopped going to the classes because I found them less than motivational and felt I was wasting my money, quite frankly. The next few months were periods of following the plan interspersed with nights out and trips away "off plan" (because it's just so hard to stick to the plan when eating out!) and so by September 2008 I'd lost 1st 7lb very slowly. At this point the boyf and I went off to Ibiza for a week, and from here until Christmas I struggled to stick to the plan and regained 7lb.

January came around again and I got back on plan. Still struggling and falling off the wagon rather often I managed to lose the 7lb I'd gained plus another 7lb by July. On the 8th of July 2009 my wonderful Gran died, and I was devastated. I cried and cried and when it didn't make things any better I went to the gym. Between July and September I stuck to plan completely, went to the gym regularly and lost... nothing. The sadness coupled with the frustration of not losing weight forced me into depression and I became so worried about what I was eating that it became easier not to eat than to eat and worry about it. Luckily it didn't take me long to realise that I needed to take control and change things. So on the 8th of October 2009 I joined Weight Watchers.

In my first week I lost 5lb and I cried with relief. That week I promised myself I would never gain, and I didn't. I even lost 2.5lb over Christmas! Counting points gave me control over my eating again and I learned to control my portions whilst treating myself too. I reached my goal weight on the 22nd February 2010 and I have never been happier.

I struggled to lose weight my entire life, and to be honest I never thought I'd get there. Losing weight changed my life completely. It gave me confidence and it made me happy with myself, which makes me a happy person. And this is why I want to share it all with you lovely people! I want you all to know the total change losing weight affected in me and the life it gave me. Although I do have a few wobbly bits ;)

And there we go! That's my story!

I think that's probably enough info to be going on with. I'm off to Tesco to collect my Dad's free Elvis CD from the Mail on Sunday.

Oh, the glamorous life I lead! ;)