Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!

I have been watching “Fat Friends” a TV series from the early “naughties” again as it is on Netflix, while I remember it very well, I forgot how good and hard hitting it was.

Many of the issues covered in the series are ones anyone overweight has experienced, the James Corden character (Jamie) getting bullied for his weight at 15 is something I know very well. Getting changed for PE in the toilet so you didn’t change in front of the others as they would be horrible about your size! Other characters were hiding behind not being bothered about their weight in public, but in private struggling with how they feel about themselves.

After watching it again, it has reminded me about the mantra of the “Super Slimmers” leader, “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. First time hearing it you think “what a load of crap!” But then after a bit I kept thinking about it. So hitting google, it seems that the quote is credited to Kate Moss as she said it in 2009, but Fat Friends was on TV before that, so it must have come from there first.

I have been reflecting on the statement this week as part of my personal weight loss journey. I have been clearing out old clothes and have had to buy in new ones. Last week I ordered two new pairs of jeans, one in the size I thought I needed and the one in the size I wanted it to be, but would be happy to send them back. Anyway, long story short the smaller ones fit and I felt amazing, and then I thought to myself “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!”.

I have said in different blogs, that understanding WHY you want to diet/lose weight/eat healthy is the most important part of your journey. After all if you don’t know why you’re doing it, you don’t have anything to strive for or measure your progress against.

While I’m starting to agree with “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, I think it might be a very dangerous mantra to live by. In the same google search, I learnt that the quote from Kate Moss was picked up by pro anorexia groups using it to justify the eating disorder, which is where I come back to it could be dangerous. Losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle is very important, but the point is HEALTHY and anorexia sure is not healthy, after all being extremely underweight carries a greater health risk than those that are extremely overweight.

So, while I love the quote I have been thinking it over and over, and think it needs a slight adjustment.

“Nothing tastes better, than making progress towards your targets”

Reflecting back on “Fat Friends” people might give the impression of happy, but often they are not, they want to lose weight/get in shape/make a healthy choice, but when the going gets tough, they turn to food! We have all done it, we eat when bored/happy/depressed/anxious/emotional… I could go on, but food doesn’t really make you happy. What makes me happy is moving towards my goal, and hitting my targets seeing where I have come from and where I’m going.

Below you can see my weight loss chart and the key milestones that I worked/working towards. The next target is my Australia weight in 2003, about 22lbs away and I want to get there by the start of the summer. This is what is driving me, that downwards blue line, it has levelled a bit but it is still going in the right direction.

After Australia, I have a couple more targets, with the bottom one being what I “currently” think is realistic for me, but as I get closer, if I think I could go further, than I will add in another one target line.

I have considered many versions of the “mantra” originally I was going to go with “Nothing tastes as good, as feeling happy in your skin”, the problem with that was in 2003 (when I lost my weight the first time) I was happy in my skin! I was able to buy clothes on the high street, I felt and looked good (in my eyes) and then lost the focus. So while I’m happy in my skin right now, I’m not ready to give up. So I keep making new targets to work towards, which drives me to keep the focus and keep going.

As always this is how I feel about it, I have been on this weight loss journey for many years (22 to be exact) but very few of those years have been successful or anywhere near as focused as I am right now.

Please leave a comment about what you think, do you think Skinny feels good? I mean real person skinny, not size zero ill looking skinny.

Now it’s food time.

Beef Madras

I normally include a recipe for you to try in each blog, often family recipes or some I have tried/made up, but as I write this I can smell my Pinch Of Nom Beef Madras cooking away in the slow cooker.

I can’t blag their recipe but I can link to it as it is one that is free on their website Slow Cooked Beef Madras.

Please leave a comment, please share with anyone that you feel might like to read my rambling.