This is a typical dieter’s dilemma: I’m trying to lose weight but none of my clothes fit! It seems pointless buying stuff when it probably won’t fit in a few weeks…

Limited Collection Tunic from Yours Clothing

If you’re a regular visitor to Total Chunk, you probably have seen a banner for ‘Yours Clothing’. They’re a fantastic retailer of clothes made especially for women from sizes 14-32. Not only are their clothes cut and designed for bigger women, the prices are excellent. Now is a fantastic time to visit their website as their sale is still on but the spring lines are already out!

I piled weight on a bit over Christmas but sensible eating seems to have levelled everything out even though I’d still like to be firmer. I am a UK size 12-14 on my bottom half (UK size 8-10 up top – I’m a typical British pear-shape) It means that the stuff at Yours Clothing is now too big for me. whilst this IS exciting, it’s frustrating because they stock a lot of fantastic stuff that is the right price for a ‘transition wardrobe’

There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t take pride in your appearance, particularly if you are in the process of trying to lose weight. They’ve got some fantastic items in that will certainly contribute to helping to boost your confidence and get the compliments rolling in!

Take a look and let me know what you think of this ‘find’… just don’t try and stay bigger so you can keep shopping here!

Last pictures of 2009 - Goodbye stomach!

Jonny and I met at the very end of 2008 so technically, even though our relationship blossomed throughout 2009, I accredit my luck at meeting such a sweet and lovely man to 2008.

This is because 2009 was mainly rubbish! I spent half of it unemployed and we almost lost my dad in June as a stupid doctor who I would like to poke in the eye, diagnosed acute appendicitis as wind. He’s ok now luckily but I will never forget the horror of seeing my daddy looking weak and forlorn in a hospital bed with a bile bag attached to a tube coming out of his nose. Cue various car problems and the destruction of our bicycles on a 70mph road on the way to Holland. We had hoped things would start to improve… until Jonny was made redundant just 3 days before Christmas which led to me saying “blow it, I’m going to enjoy Christmas and eat/drink what I want!”

The picture above was taken on New Year’s Eve 2009. As you can see, my waist and hips have expanded massively in the last year. What you can’t see is the thigh fat and that my once lovely bottom is becoming saggier and saggier as the days go by.

These are not the words of a paranoid young woman who is looking for compliments, these are the words of a woman desperate not to let herself go just yet! I don’t want to be one of those women who lament the fact that they hated the way they looked when they were young. I want to enjoy my 20′s and not go through my youth pretending that I don’t care about the belly I am starting to acquire.

Louisa aged 12 in Steel Band

Losing weight and looking good for my own benefit is important to me. I was an ugly and awkward child/teenager who was skinny and clumsy. Continually picked on by the jealous and insecure partly for how I looked and partly for having a mouthy sister, I struggled for years accepting my appearance.

Now I am a grown up, I have absolutely no interest in proving anything to people I used to go to school with. I want to get slim now before I let myself go and find myself needing to lose 100lbs in 2011! When I started blogging, I realised that my desire to lose 14lbs would seem ridiculous! I’ve read so many weight loss stories in the last few months and there are people out there who were desperate – they had to lose weight or they would die long before their time. This is why I changed direction and stopped writing about my diet and started writing dieting tips.

I would love to hear your dieting stories and any unusual diet tips you’ve found to work. Please reply in the comments or on the content page if you would like your achievment to be featured on Total Chunk – just like South Beach Steve

2010 is the year for change, I can just feel it! This is why I am encouraging YOU to take part in the Perfect 10!

Over 10 weeks, we will learn 10 things about each participant and yes, there is a prize but it’s only open to US residents. If you don’t live in America, don’t worry because there is nothing stopping you from getting involved, you just aren’t eligible for the prize but South Beach Steve has kindly said, if you aren’t a US resident, he will try and source an alternative prize, possibly a dvd of his motivational videos. Here are the rules (taken from Log My Loss)

1. The intent is for everyone to start this on January 1st, but as long as you begin by January 7th and post an update on January 8th, you are eligible.
2. Begin by commenting on this post letting me know you are joining the challenge, then post your goals on your blog.  If you don’t have a blog and you want to participate, you will have to post your goals and your updates as a comment on this blog.  Be sure and see rule #1 – I would like to see the goals posted on your blog by the 1st of January, but you have until the 7th.  Come on though, if you know about it now, don’t sit around and wait until the 7th.  By the same token, you don’t have to wait until the 1st to let the world know you are participating.  In fact, I would prefer you tell them right now. 
3. Updates must be done at least weekly.  That means the first update is due on Friday, January 8th.  If you choose to update on Mondays, you will also need to post an update on Monday, January 4th, or Monday, January 11th.
4. You need to post a comment on the weekly reminder posts letting me know you have done your goal updates, preferably with a link to your update post.  The link is not required, but it makes it easier for others to follow you.  Although I will be visiting your blogs and commenting on your posts, I am using the update posts on this blog to help me track the challenge.
5. You have to tell one thing most other bloggers will not know about you weekly in your updates.  For example, telling us that you were a Van Halen groupie in the 80’s or that you spent two years as a nun on a small island off the shore of Greece would do.  Well, either of those or something as simple as your family has a tradition of wearing plaid pajamas to your New Year’s Day  breakfast.  I will give suggestions along the way for this.

Blogging is a fantastic way of staying accountable throughout your weight loss journey. If you want to publicise your blog (and you’re a real person, not a spammer from the far east looking for easy links) get writing and get commenting on other weight loss blogs. After all, everyone appreciates kind and helpful words from a stranger