I Lost Two Stone Without Dieting: A Case Study

As Lorraine Custis, a 42 year-old primary school teacher from north Norfolk, had been overweight all of her adult life, she’d lost hope that she would ever fit into a pair of size twelve jeans.
Lorraine tried loads of different diets – the cabbage soup diet, the Atkins diet, food combining, the F-plan – and only ever lost a bit of weight and put it all straight back on as soon as she started eating normally, but it was only when she made the decision not to diet any more that she actually lost weight.
Falling Off the Wagon
Lorraine told us, “I just didn’t know how to eat sensibly, so I had a really mixed up relationship with food. When I was on a diet I’d get all fired up, buy all the proper books or ingredients and stick to it for a week or two, then I’d have a party or even to go to and fall off the wagon. Once that happened, I’d think ‘I might as well not bother’ and stuff myself with everything in sight.”The one time that Lorraine did lose weight successfully, she found that it took over her life too much and changed her character. “I went to Weight Watchers meetings for about six months and I did actually lose nearly two stones, but I found that the recipes and point counting didn’t really suit me. I know a few people who’ve found it really easy to follow, but I still felt restricted. All the weight came back on as soon as I stopped going to the meetings. My light bulb moment was when I realised that I wanted to lose weight without dieting. I realised that my attitude was the problem.”