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Links from Episode  1

Beth on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/weightloss_beth/

Beth on Tik Tok – https://www.tiktok.com/@weightloss_beth?

TTDE Calculator – https://tdeecalculator.net/

My Fitness Pal – https://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Diet Chef – https://www.dietchef.co.uk/

Atkins – https://uk.atkins.com/

Roberto 0:00
Welcome to the secrets of weight loss podcast. I’m Roberto, your host and a once morbidly obese man, I used to weigh 23 and a half stone nearly twice as much as two average guys, I’d struggled with my weight all my life. I lost 10 Stone after eventually finding something that worked for me, and I’ve managed to keep that weight off for over 10 years. I always get asked, How did I do it? And when I tell people, their reaction is usually Oh, wow, that’s amazing. I don’t think I could ever do it. And it got me thinking how do others lose weight successfully and keep it off? So here we are the secrets of weight loss podcast. Thank you for joining me. Every one of the weight loss stories you’ll hear is inspirational and motivational. If they can do it, then so can you in this first episode, I’m chatting with Beth, who is 25 years old and a hairdresser from Devin. Beth has lost an incredible amount of weight and what is when you think about it a very simple way. There were however many false starts with failed attempts, she’ll tell you all about those, along with what eventually worked. If you look at your screen right now you should be able to see before and after a bet I think you’ll agree. And incredible transformation. The views expressed by Beth are from her own personal experience, and not those of the secrets of weight loss podcast or myself. On the website the secrets of weight loss calm, you’ll be able to find a fully transcribed version of this episode, along with links to other websites and apps mentioned by Beth along with her own social media links. So without further ado, let’s meet there. The secrets of weight loss podcast. So Beth, let’s start with the figures. What did you weigh? Before you lost all your weight or your heaviest?

Beth 1:35
Dead on 16 stone!

Roberto 1:37
Okay, and what do you weigh now?

Beth 1:40
So I’m now 10 Stone like three four.

Roberto 1:43
All right, so you’ve done six stone then, do you know what that was in dress size, by any chance?

Beth 1:47
Yeah, so I was, it depends on what obviously shop you dress in, but I was, I would probably say a size 18. And if I wanted it to be baggy, a size 20.

Roberto 1:55
Wow, that’s incredible.

Beth 1:59
I know, I still buy it and do the whole you know, you pull it out and you think that’s not gonna fit me. And then you think oh, my God it fits.

Roberto 2:05
It’s a great feeling when it fits, though, isn’t it?

Beth 2:06
Yeah, it’s amazing.

Roberto 2:08
So how long did it take you to lose that six stone then?

Beth 2:11
So altogether? It was one year but I did plateau a few times in that year.

Roberto 2:15
That’s really good in a year.

Beth 2:16
Yeah, is I think I lost a lot because I was bigger. I lost a lot very quickly. And then it kind of plateaued out when I was the same for a couple of months. I was happy at that weight. And then the lockdown came into play. And I was just at home, I thought you know what, I’m going to get into bad habits or routines. I really need to watch what I’m doing. And then I lost another two stone by really focusing on what I was eating for a lockdown.

Roberto 2:40
So how do you feel having lost all that weight?

Beth 2:44
Um, it’s a strange one. I obviously I feel amazing. And myself. And my mental health has definitely improved, but I was really depressed beforehand. And yes, my body image is a lot better now. And my confidence has skyrocketed. Because before it was like fake confidence, you know, you just put it on a show. And now it’s like real I actually do feel good.

Roberto 3:03
I had that fat confidence whenever I was out and about I was always the fat jolly guy.

Beth 3:06
Oh, yeah, I put it as ‘fat and fabulous’!

Roberto 3:08
Hey, there you go. Fat and Fabulous. I love it. Why was it depressing then? If you don’t mind me asking? if you don’t want to go into that, by all means say.

Beth 3:15
No, I didn’t mind at all. I think it was looking in the mirror it was just horrible. You think I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to look like this. You know, all those foods would bring me down. And I would find myself go into foods, whether it be any emotion. And then I just look at myself and think honestly, I’d look and I think you’re a pig. What are you doing? It sounds so awful when I say it out loud. But that’s what went through my mind. And I would just think I don’t want to be that one anymore. I don’t want to be this, that friend or the fat girlfriend. In my family, they’re all slim as well. So I was the fat sister. And they were like God, you know, your mom so small. And I was like, Yeah,

Roberto 3:53
I know. Thanks for pointing that out.

Beth 3:55
Yeah, putting up a thought why don’t you so

Roberto 3:57
How did you get big to start with then?

Beth 3:59
I’ve always been big. I’d come home from school and ask my mom for sweets and she was really good. She said, you know, have some fruit. I would genuinely stuff food down my pants and take it upstairs. And I just wanted food all the time. I didn’t really have much control. Yeah, I don’t know. Everyone else. Like I said, my brother and sister. They were always really good. But I was just completely different.

Roberto 4:21
So what was it then that made you want to lose weight? Was it the fact that you were different from your brother and sister or something else?

Beth 4:28
Oh, no, the pinnacle moment for me was always getting married. And I couldn’t bear the time, so naive, I couldn’t bear to be like the fat bride I just couldn’t. And having all those photos and I know that I would look at them. And while I wouldn’t look at them, they would be stored away somewhere.

Roberto 4:44
You’d be that embarrassed to look at them. Because the size you were

Beth 4:47
Yeah. Yeah, not to show people but I would just look at them and think, Oh, you know, that’s me and I didn’t do anything about it and I was still miserable.

Roberto 4:55
So when did you get married?

Beth 4:56
In September 2019.

Roberto 4:58
And prior to that, had you tried to lose weight before?

Beth 5:00
oh yeah, I’ve been the biggest yo yo dieter. I lost then gained it lost it gained it like up and down so I’d say from the age of 18 until I finally lost the weight and kept it off until now when I’m 25.

Roberto 5:15
And you say you yo yo, what what kind of stuff did you try to lose the weight then?

Beth 5:18
Oh my god, Slimming World for one. cutting out carbs, the two five diet, Atkins, cling film in my stomach. Everything.

Roberto 5:30
Cling film in your stomach? I’ve never heard that.

Beth 5:33
You can find this cream, it was on a very popular clothing website, which makes it worse. I bought this cream. You rub it into your belly. You put cling flim around it and supposedly makes you sweat. You only lose some water weight. I didn’t know that back then.

Roberto 5:49
Of all the things I’ve heard, that is just incredible.

Beth 5:51
It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?

Roberto 5:53
Of all the things you tried? Why didn’t they work? Like, you said you did Slimming World? Why didn’t Slimming World work for you?

Beth 6:00
Oh God, theres loads of points. Why didn’t work for me? So personally, from my point of view, I found the environment quite toxic. As in, you know, some weeks you would go in and if you had lost weight, it was all you’ve done brilliant. In some days, you didn’t lose weight, and it was what you done wrong. And there was no real teaching about women can gain weight through water through their periods. You just automatically felt discouraged. And you thought, well, I can’t do that. I’m a failure. But there was there was no positive you know, you can do this. It was done wrong. And I just didn’t agree with it. Yeah, I remember leaving crying and I was like, my God, I’m gonna get loads of food

Roberto 6:37
Really emotional eating, then that’s not what you want.

Beth 6:40
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also things like there’s a thing called Swimmer of the week. And so if you’ve lost two weeks in a row, and it’s been considerable amounts, you would win them over the week. But say I’ve lost one pound one week another one pounds another week, you would never win it because these people who were a lot bigger than you would lose weight a lot quicker. So they would always win it and you just felt like I’m never going to get that

Roberto 7:02
and that will lead you to more emotional eating.

Beth 7:05
Exactly. And I actually gained weight

No!

Yeah, yeah!

With Slimming World, is that the one where you get points for food?

So, point is Weight Watchers. And then Slimming World is the sins and the plus A’s and the B’s

Roberto 7:18
So when you’re doing Slimming World with your your sins and your plus A’s and your b’s, are you actually getting educated in what food you’re eating?

Beth 7:25
Oh, no. Well, they do in a sense because the foods that you have to sin you get 15 a day and you sin foods that are basically you know, chocolate bars, your takeaways and then they call speed foods which you should have with all your meals as veg and fruit, but it’s so complicated, doesn’t need to be that complicated. They need to be teaching in a calorie deficit.

Roberto 7:46
So you tried Slimming World? You did the Atkins diet how was that for you?

Beth 7:50
I tried it for like a week and it was I couldn’t do it. I was so I was getting headaches. I was lethargic and being a hairdresser I need energy.

Roberto 7:56
Hmm, Atkins diet for anyone doesn’t know is is where you cut out carbs isn’t it? And you’re just full on protein?

Beth 8:04
Yeah. And I did as well with something chef Oh my God, urm, diet cheif. They send you food packages.

Roberto 8:15
I’ve not heard of diet chef is that literally just pre made food that gets sent to you and that’s your meal

Beth 8:20
pre made food? Yeah. A bit like Cambridge so it’s pre made food packaging. You know you get a nice soup, but the food wasn’t very nice and you couldn’t eat anything apart from those packaging things. Yeah, I didn’t like it.

Roberto 8:33
So whilst you were trying all these diets that failed, were you doing any exercise as well?

Beth 8:37
No.

Roberto 8:38
Right okay.

Beth 8:38
I wanted the quick fix. You know, that was my my mind frame was I don’t want to do anything, really, but I want to lose the weight.

Roberto 8:45
So with all this yo yo dieting, did you find that you put more weight on after you tried the fad diets for example like the Atkins diet or Slimming World?

Beth 8:53
Yes, when I did Slimming World, I lost some weight but then gained three back. I was so miserable after doing it.

Roberto 9:01
I’m not surprised, because you pay for Slimming World as well, don’t you?

Beth 9:05
Yeah, you pay a joining fee and then you pay five pounds a week and you get like penalties. So like if you think it might change now but you get two weeks a year well, you don’t have to go your holiday. And then if you miss a week after that you fill out the pain you got like fine. That’s very weird.

Roberto 9:22
So after trying all those things, and not getting anywhere, what was it in the end that worked for you?

Beth 9:27
It’s one of those I can’t even remember what when it happened was a it happened. I was just sat around and I was like what are you doing? Like I thought you know what, I’m not going to Google how to lose weight, lose weight fast. I’m going to Google How can I lose weight safely and healthily it was the mindset just switched. I was like, I need to be healthy. I need to be doing this the right way to maintain it. And I started Googling. I didn’t even know about calorie deficit. I didn’t even know the term. And then I was like, right here you go. I need to eat less than I’m burning. And then I was like, right so what can I eat? What can I have? And then I was like, oh my god volume foods. I can eat all these foods that can fill me up and they’re low calorie. It was just yeah, it was a massive culture shock change in my life

Roberto 10:09
it’s mind blowing because it’s so simple, isn’t it? I mean, eat less than you’re burning Simple as that.

Beth 10:14
Oh, yeah.

Roberto 10:14
And they don’t teach you this in school.

Beth 10:16
I never got taught about calorie deficit when I was at school. I wish things like that was in schools and I know it can be a bit of a, you know, taboo subjects about weight and children. But I wish from my point of view growing up it was about nutrients taught in school, I really didn’t have any knowledge on it apart from five day eat five a day, you know,

Roberto 10:35
everyone gets drummed into them doesn’t have five fruit and veg today, you’ll be fine. We’ll talk more about calorie deficit a little bit later on. We’ll go into a bit more detail. Right now there. Tell me what was it you would eat in a day before you lost all your weight?

Beth 10:46
Right. Okay. I wouldn’t have breakfast, I wouldn’t really drink water. I’d get maybe two three cups of tea. And then I would maybe snack at work. I might have like a meal deal from Sainsbury’s. Maybe a chocolate bar that was in the cupboard. And then sometimes they won’t even eat anything. And then I’d go home. And that’s when the binge started. So I’d walk into the kitchen, maybe grab a sausage roll. If I wasn’t getting a takeaway, I’d be getting something full of carbs. That would be a big pasta dish with you know, a big get on the side, covered in a really high calorie source. And then I’d have a chocolate bar whilst that was cooking. And then maybe about three cans of coke, full fat.

Roberto 11:30
Wow, you ate well, didn’t you? But I suppose back then you didn’t know what that food was doing to you? What calories were in it?

Beth 11:36
No, I didn’t even know about calories. No, I think it was a sandwich. Not too bad. Not that bad can of Coke. It can’t be that bad.

Roberto 11:44
It’s amazing how it all adds up, though, isn’t it? And it’s only till you really start looking into it that you realise things like that. So that’s what you used to eat in a day. What do you eat now?

Beth 11:52
So now sometimes I don’t have breakfast. I’m not one of those where I canmake myself eat in the morning very often. If I do. So let’s say on a good day, I wake up maybe have some porridge or coco pops, usually a cereal base with skim milk. Always have a cup of tea. And I have skim milk now. And then go to work. I have like snack boxes that I pre make and they’ll have like little snacks in that I’ve cooked over the weekend. So low calorie, low fats with rose little egg muffins, like a pack of cheese passper only 69 calories. And I’ll take them to work. And I’ll have that for my lunch. I can eat it really quickly or like little bits throughout the day. And then I’ll come home. And I’ll just have like loads of different dinners. I can have like a spag bowl that I’ve cooked from scratch from like, four different ingredients really good ingredients, or steak and chips again, cooks differently so I can have it and it’s healthier. And then I usually have like some kind of desserts, I make homemade blueberry muffins with chocolate and banana muffins. And then another cup of tea and then I’m done and lots of lots of water.

Roberto 12:55
Water is very important.

Beth 12:56
Oh my god. Yeah. And I can I get headaches when I don’t drink it. Now I need water.

Roberto 13:01
I used to drink like a pint of water before a meal. So it would fill me up a bit.

Beth 13:04
Yeah, yeah, I did that when I was losing the weight.

Roberto 13:07
So how did you learn all about this food then? And what was good and bad for you? Was it literally just you googled it?

Beth 13:12
Yeah, researching, googling, like I was on there for hours, like just scrolling through. And it was things like when I was making different recipes. I was like, Well, what can I use? Instead of using golden syrup? What can I use instead of that, and it was like teaching myself different things. And my blueberry muffins and my banana muffins that I make, instead of using, you know, all the sugars and the butter, it was changing that for like yoghurt, and sweeteners will have so

Roberto 13:37
you’re not a chef or anything, man, because I have seen the pictures on your Instagram, and they look amazing. Your food looks brilliant.

Beth 13:43
Oh, no. I’ve always loved cooking. But I just used you know, pre made jars. And you know, you think you’re a chef when you doing that anyway,

Roberto 13:51
yeah, using dolmio to make a spag bol.

Beth 13:55
Things like that. They’re really high in sugars. And I was like, Well, what can I use instead of a dolmio source that’s like, well, I never even heard of posatta, I didn’t know what that was. And it’s like a tomato sauce. And I was using that instead. And you know, it’s just little things like that.

Roberto 14:06
So when did you start this new way of eating then?

Beth 14:09
March 2019 was the kind of pinnacle moment for me that I changed.

Roberto 14:13
And from that moment on, you gave up on all the fad diets, and you just started basically eating healthily and researching what food you were eating. Did you stick to it religiously?

Beth 14:24
Yes and no. So I stuck to that. Overall, I was eating really good food. But it wasn’t because I had to in the end, I enjoyed doing it.

Roberto 14:31
That’s interesting.

Beth 14:33
There wasn’t a sense of yeah, it wasn’t a sense of like, I need to do this I need to lose weight I need to keep eating like this. So it became second nature and that’s just how my life was I like eating those foods. It didnt feel like I was changing. I dont know, it’s really strange to explain, but I just felt so good all the time for me in these good foods and I was feeling really full. I just felt amazing thinking you know what, I can have these really filling good meals and I’m losing weight at the same time.

Roberto 14:59
So were you doing any exercise?

Beth 15:05
No. I think becuase I’m a hairdresser, you know, I am on my feet all day, but I can honestly say I didn’t work out once

Roberto 15:12
but I suppose Yeah, being the size you were 16 stone and the way you change what you ate so drastically that’s going to have an effect as well though the weight is literally just gonna drop off.

Beth 15:21
Yeah. So I think in the beginning, it dropped very quickly. Such a change my body and my system and my body was like, what’s going on? You know, she’s doing it the right way for once you know, it was actually gonna work. When I did plateau. I plateaued at 11 and a half stone. But I still felt great at that way.

Roberto 15:36
How did you get over that plateau then? Because it’s a point A lot of people reach and they just hit a brick wall, basically. And they can’t go any further, no matter what they try, what did you do?

Beth 15:45
For me, I went back up to maintenance calories, so upped my calories, so I wasn’t calorie deficit anymore. I was at the calories I needed to be to maintain my weight, just my body could get used to having a bit more food. And then after a few weeks, I brought it back down to calorie deficit, I started eating more like lean protein, lots more basic vegetables, really good green veggies, and it just dropped really quickly again,

Roberto 16:09
and at this stage, you still weren’t going to the gym or anything?

Beth 16:12
No!

Roberto 16:13
That’s just brilliant. I mean just a tweak to your food and you’re losing weight proof that you don’t need to spend hours in the gym to lose weight. I have noticed from your Instagram at the start of the year you have been in a gym.

Beth 16:22
but that’s because I want to get fit, like I’m happy at the way I am now. I don’t want to lose any more weight. I really just want to get fit and toned.

Roberto 16:28
Okay, and what kind of stuff are you gonna be doing in the gym then to get fit and toned

Beth 16:31
Everything cardio, I’ve been doing weights. I think it was getting myself in the gym was the biggest hurdle and the biggest barrier, now I’ve done it literally in that week of going, I was obsessed. I was loving life. I left feeling so good. And I was like, Oh my god, this is gonna be a game changer.

Roberto 16:45
Once you get those endorphins pumping, you just fall in love with it. You said there that going to the gym or getting into the gym was the biggest barrier to going, why?

Beth 16:55
I think it’s the judgement side of it, I think. Yeah if I’m being honest with myself. I walk in, I think everyone’s looking at me, and they’re not. And it’s also like wearing gym clothes. never worn it before. Am I using this machine correctly, are people watching me? Am I going too slow, that people are gonna look at me. I’m sweating. I’m red. I’m out of breath.

Roberto 17:13
I totally get it. I felt the same way when I was 23 and a half stone, I dreaded going on that gym floor. I think the thing to remember though, in that situation that is a lot of people feel the same way. And also, you’ll know from when you’re doing a workout yourself. You’re so focused on your own workout that you don’t notice what else is going on around you.

Beth 17:29
Exactly, exactly. So it’s getting my mind over that hurdle. Truthfully and honestly speaking I think it was easier for me now because I’m not overweight.

Roberto 17:37
Would you ever thought of going to the gym then? When you were 16 stone?

Beth 17:41
I thought I did once and then I didn’t go again. And then I joined like a body combat group once and then I didnt go again. And it was also nobody would go with me. And I couldn’t go, I just couldn’t go on my own. I don’t know why. I think a lot of people are like that.

Roberto 17:56
So why did you only do them once then and give up? Did you feel self conscious about doing that?

Beth 17:59
Yeah, subconscious and I think also it was making myself go again like I would make so many excuses. Like oh, actually I can’t go today because I’ve got work late or I can’t go tomorrow because I’m seeing my dad or and I would just constantly be making excuses.

Roberto 18:14
But now you’re happy with the way you look and the way you’re at you’re okay with going to the gym or doing a workout.

Beth 18:20
Yeah and it’s it’s stupid really because I wish I had felt like this when I was bigger, I would have probably lost the weight a lot quicker, I would have been, you know, built muscle at the same time, but I just couldn’t get my brain over that hurdle. I couldn’t do it, which is a shame really. But now I’m so confident and I want it so badly that I know I’ll do it. I think that’s also my mindset changing, it wasn’t just losing weight, it was my whole life changing, my lifestyle, everything, my outlook on life.

Roberto 18:47
That’s really interesting. Okay, so it wasn’t just about the food for you, your whole life changed because of the the weight loss or…

Beth 18:55
becuase of the weight loss, because of the foods that I was eating, like because I also taught myself about gut health. And now looking back I now realise that a lot of the foods that I ate were the reasons that I was depressed and I was low so I was eating good foods that made me feel good. It triggered like IBS and then I was just, I’m always always bloated and you know now, now I feel so good and I feel healthy.

Roberto 19:17
Tell me about gut health and this is something I haven’t explored

Beth 19:20
so gut health is just eating good foods that you know trigger certain parts of your body to feel endorphins released in good energy so like like what what

Roberto 19:29
what foods are good for your gut and what foods are bad then

Beth 19:33
I think it’s dependent on the person but for me it was things like, things that high in oils, high in sugars, I can have it every now and again I can enjoy it I can still eat it but when I eat to an excess and when I binge out on it and have too much I get flare ups you know my skin breaks out I feel miserable. I’m really moody to want to get out but in the mornings, and then when I stopped insidey and things so you know like, sounds silly but like broccoli loves a green, dark green veggies, good proteins, again, drinking lots of water, things, foods that naturally help you detox. I think that’s what then makes you feel good.

Roberto 20:10
It makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? Because the food you’re putting in your body is your fuel. And that will of course, affects every part of your body, won’t it?

Beth 20:17
Yeah, because I also think when I first started my calorie deficit journey, I think the first three weeks, I had, I had the headaches and I was, and I had the, you know, you feeling like rubbish, and I wasn’t eating enough, because I was eating the wrong foods. And I was eating the same foods, they’re always having less of it. And then that’s when I was like, what, I’m doing this wrong, let’s Google calorie deficit properly. And that’s what I then realised. But in all these different fields, you can have so much more, and really fuel your body with the best you can. And you know, it’s completely changed everything.

Roberto 20:51
So, you said then you’d have the same foods, but put smaller portions. So there was a stage in your, in your, in your journey that you’re thinking, right? I’m gonna have fish and chips tonight, but I’m just gonna have a small portion of fish and chips. And that’ll be fine. And that that didn’t work for you

Beth 21:05
No, it would it it was balanced throughout the rest of the time, I was doing it. I was doing that every day. So now, in the case of fish and chips. Great, I’m going to have chips in the air fryer, I’m going to have cod thats not battered, and I’m going to have some nice peas, you know, in low fat, ketchup and mayo. Rather than going to the chippy and having about 2000 calories worth of chips and fish.

Roberto 21:28
I love that you’ve just done all this on your own just through your own research.

Beth 21:32
Hmm, yeah. And when people say to me, I get it a lot. Like how have you done it? Like, if you can I get a lot of assumptions, you know, gastric band of you taking diet pills. I don’t know why they think that. And I’m like, No, all I’ve done is calorie deficit and taught myself better food methods, cooking methods and ingredients. And it works.

Roberto 21:50
Would you say it was hard teaching yourself about calorie deficit?

Beth 21:55
Um, you know, yeah, in the, in the beginning, it was I was like, oh, what’s going on that maintenance calorie deficit calories, that’s too little calories. But it only took a short period of time for it to click, I think once you know, you know, and I’ve, I did a video on it and explaining it in a kind of a dummy proof way. And people were like, Oh, that’s what it is. And I was like, yeah, that’s all it is.

Roberto 22:19
Because it is actually really simple, isn’t it?

Beth 22:21
Very simple. But when you’re looking online, I think they like to make it complicated. I don’t know why. But once you find the right person to explain it to you. It’s like, Oh, that’s it. You know,

Roberto 22:31
You know what I’m gonna ask now, don’t you? In 30 seconds, tell us about calorie deficit…

Beth 22:36
Right, so I’m gonna use the average woman for an example. The average woman can lay in bed all day all night and her body will still burn 2000 calories. To be within calorie deficit, you need to be consuming, eating less calories than that, making sure you’re doing it the healthy and safe way, coz under eating is going to cause you know, worse long term effects.

Roberto 22:56
That is brilliant. 30 seconds done. That was quite good. It made sense to me. I get to eat less calories, and you’ll lose weight.

Beth 23:04
Yeah.

Roberto 23:05
Do you find that you calorie count now? Or do you just naturally know? What, what what calories are in something?

Beth 23:12
I naturally Yeah, naturally, know. Because some people don’t like the fact that people calorie counting. It can be triggering to some people. And I understand that. But for me, it i’ve you know, learned how to calorie count and over the space of the year. By the end of that year, I knew how much pasta to have, a handful, and knew how much I was eating, I knew that a can of coke was 139 calories. I just yeah, you retain all the information, then you don’t need to recount almost like you’re used to the portion sizes, you know that you can have that little chocolate bar and it becomes second nature. And that’s what I loved about it. Now I don’t have to sit on my phone, typing it all in and prepare and lots of things I know, did you

Roberto 23:50
ever use an app to calorie count like My Fitness Pal, for example?

Beth 23:54
Yeah. But I didn’t use I didn’t use the calorie requirement. So when you type it when you set up in My Fitness Pal, when you type in your information, it will give you different options on how much weight you want to lose. And so in the beginning, I selected two pounds, and that brought my calories right down to 1200 calories. And, I personally, and I think factually as well, thats what a toddler needs, like it’s way too low, you need to be aware of all of that. So what I did is I went online like googled the TDEE calculator, and you type in your information, your weight, your height, your sex, and opening up you know your maintenance calories, how many calories you should be consuming. If you have like, if you’re likely active if you’re moderately active, and if you’re highly active, and then I selected what I was and what I needed, and then I used that calorie goal, but use it in my fitness pal, you know and start all my food and track it.

Roberto 24:46
So what was that TDEE calculator?

Beth 24:48
So you type in, I dont know what the word stands for, thats really bad, isnt it?

Roberto 24:53
I was hoping you were gonna enlighten me here because I’ve never heard of it. Okay, Wait two seconds. I’m gonna google it really quickly. TDEE calculator.

total daily energy expenditure.

Beth 25:10
Oh, there we go.

Roberto 25:15
So you use the TDEE calculator to find out how many calories you need. And then you put that into My Fitness Pal.

Beth 25:21
Yeah, so it can give you well, and also you can just select one pound a week, rather than two pounds we can it will bring your calories up. But I wanted more of a factual, a better knowledge of my body. And I felt like the one that it gave me online was a bit more reasonable. So I went by that

Roberto 25:37
If someone had said to me before I lost all my weight, calorie counting is the way forward, I would have said, that sounds so boring.

Beth 25:43
Yeah.

Roberto 25:44
Yeah. Would you have said something similar? or?

Beth 25:47
Yeah, cuz I’ve been taught about, you know, calorie count. And I was looking into my phone and looking at all the packaging when I’m working on the shortlist will take me hours. But yeah, I do think it is actually quite interesting learning and knowing about all different foods, and when I go into a restaurant, and my friends would order food I’m like, ooh thats quite high in calories, or thats low in calories, I’m never gonna voice that because I would never shame anyone.

Roberto 26:13
You must bet he worst person to go out for a meal with if you’re sat next to your friends saying, oh, thats got lots of calories, luv, you don’t wanna have that . I’d tell you to go and sit on your own!! What was it that made you feel you’ve reached your goal now then, and you’re okay with it, and you’re maintaining?

Beth 26:30
I think just feeling happy. And not constantly looking and thinking, Oh, that needs to change. I don’t feel like I just feel Yeah, just happy.

Roberto 26:38
Did you have a goal in mind when you started this thing? Of how much weight

Beth 26:42
no, I never did? You know?

Roberto 26:44
Really, you’re just like, right? I’m gonna go on this journey and see what happens.

Beth 26:48
Yeah, and I think that’s what I did wrong. Before, I would always set myself goals and go ‘I’m gonna lose two stone in one month, or I’m gonna do this, or I’m gonna do that’. I just said to myself and my husband, I said, I just want to feel good and confident in my body and my skin and then my clothes

Roberto 27:01
two stone in one month, you now know that that is a ridiculous goal to set.

Beth 27:05
Yeah, now I do.

Roberto 27:07
But back then you think it’s totally achievable? Because you didn’t know anything about weight loss or what your body was capable of?

Beth 27:13
Yeah, I would actually Google things like that, like, how can I lose a stone in two weeks? And it would come up with, you know, ways to do it?

Roberto 27:20
And of course, that would be the fad diets that you try for two weeks, lose some weight? Think Yeah, this is great. Come off the diet and then put on more weight than your last. What is your one guilty pleasure? Do you still have treats? Or have you stopped them completely?

Beth 27:31
Oh, god yeah. So my treat per se is probably a Greggs pizza slice

Roberto 27:39
Is that your go to?

Beth 27:41
The pepperoni. Oh, yeah. had three the other day. That was that was that was that was my hangover.

Roberto 27:46
Three. Wow. Yeah. Do you then have less the next day because you went big one day, for example.

Beth 27:52
So I never did that. I was trying to get myself out of the mindset of punishing myself if I did overeat or when I binged out, because it would lead me to do it again. So I was like, You know what, you’ve eaten a bit too much today, and that’s okay. You know, you can’t be perfect. You’ve got to enjoy your life. And then the next day, I would just go back to normal and get back to the, you know, the drawing board because one day is not gonna affect my week.

Roberto 28:14
The thing to do is not stress over it. If you do, if you do have three pieces of Gregg’s, I’ve never had Greggs pizza slice, I’m dying to try it now, but if you do have three pieces in one day, don’t stress over it. It’s not the end of the world.

Beth 28:27
No. And you know what, those three slices is definitely better than a whole Domino’s Pizza, so I’m compromising there.

Roberto 28:33
I like the positive spin you put on that, I like it. So give me one piece of advice for someone who wants to lose weight.

Beth 28:40
Are you doing it for the right reasons? Are you doing it, you know, you’re going to be healthy, you’re going to be doing it safely, and you need to learn. You need to learn properly about you know, the methods you’re gonna choose to lose that weight.

Roberto 28:52
I couldn’t agree more doing it for the right reasons. When I was fat. I had people badgering me to lose weight. They did it from a point of love, obviously. But trying to lose weight for someone else never works. You’ve got to do it for yourself. Beth, it’s been so good talking to you today. Thank you for sharing your weight loss journey with us. People can find you on Instagram Of course you got loads stuff on there. What are you on Instagram?

Beth 29:12
I’m weight loss underscore bath

Roberto 29:14
and your Instagrams, as I say, is fabulous. All the foods you put on there look absolutely amazing. I highly recommend people go and check it out because because you put a load of healthy for stuff that looks really tasty but it’s healthy. Like what was the one I was looking at earlier on? triple chocolate tray bake brownies.

Beth 29:31
Yeah, 131 calories each.

Roberto 29:34
Hey, look at you, you know you’re gonna do a food. You can you can do a recipe book or something?

Beth 29:37
You know, that’s my next goal. You know, you got to set yourself goals in life and I’m gonna manifest I’m gonna have

Roberto 29:43
a recipe book. I love it. Well, look, keep us posted. Yeah, definitely. And Beth Once again, congratulations on your weight loss. It’s an absolutely brilliant achievement. And thank you for being part of the secrets of weight loss.

Beth 29:53
Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

Roberto 29:55
Thank you for listening as well. I really hope you enjoyed that wasn’t Beth brilliant. rubato make sure you hit subscribe and join us next week where I’ll be talking to another weight loss champion, who again change what they ate in order to lose weight like Beth did, but in a very different way. Thanks for listening. Find out more the secrets of weight loss.com