Fat to fit in Paris

Ok, so I’m 31 and have been living in Paris for the last 14 months with my fiancé.  Our wedding date is September 7, 2013. I’m 4 foot 11 inches and a half (yes, half an inch does matter ;) ) and I weigh 17 stone 5 lbs / 243lbs / 110.5 kilos. And, of course, I want to lose weight for our wedding. To be honest though, the wedding isn’t my main reason for wanting to lose weight. On our way home from watching the footy with friends at our ‘local’ the husband to be (h2b) and I were talking about when we have kids and for the first time it struck me that I don’t want to be fat and unfit when I have children.  I want to be a good role model. I have lots of friends, a good sense of humour, I’m kind and fun, which are all good personality traits I believe, but if I’m honest I haven’t taken care of my body. I’m overweight, but I don’t sit and scoff cakes and pies and chocolate all day, I probably have a slow metabolism and obviously take in more calories than I burn off – or I wouldn’t be in this situation. 

In the last few years I have done several diets to lose weight, all were successful to a point but I lost motivation or found the diets too difficult and life restricting to stick to. Three years ago I lost almost four stone following the Cambridge Diet which is a (disgusting) meal replacement plan and totally unrealistic to follow over a long period when you have a lot of weight to lose like I do. The minute I stopped drinking the shakes and trying to maintain the weight loss, even when I was eating just salads, the weight started to creep back on, and slowly over 18 months I was back to where I started. 

French women are tiny. In the shops you’re hard pushed to find anything over a UK size 14. Also, people here in Paris really stare at you when they see someone who is overweight. They look at you as though you’re a cross between a massive dog shit/alien from another planet (disgust and curiosity all rolled into one). Also lots of French African men seem to find the combination of a blonde with a big arse incredibly exotic and I often get unwanted attention on the Metro, street or on my way to work. 

Since moving to Paris in all honesty my diet has improved a lot. I very rarely snack like I did in the UK.  Paris is a carbohydrate wet dream, but, I rarely indulge in croissants, pain au chocolat or even a baguette. Each week, 6 out of 7 of our main evening meals are home-made, no frozen (no freezer to put it in) no convenience, processed or fried foods and for lunch I eat sushi, salad or leftovers. I walk much more here than I did at home. I would rather walk than take the Metro when I have the time. 

A couple of weeks ago I was on the train going to work (hung-over like never before) when a French African man got on the train. The carriage was empty apart from me and the obligatory drunk tramp.  Immediately, he clocked me and sat down right beside me. Great, just what I need when I can barely open my mouth for fear of vomming all over myself. He starts up with the old “Bonjour Mademoiselle”. I nodded just to be polite – as I said, I’m a nice person and find it hard to be rude to people. I explained “Desole, je ne parlais Francais” and he continues with “Ah, so you’re English” and then hit me with a barrage of questions like where are you going, where do you live, do you live alone, and then he comes out with the mother of all chat up lines – “You are nice girl, you are very fat. I like you a lot, you are very fat” with arm actions to illustrate his point that I am fat. What a way to sweep a girl off her feet. 

You might be wondering where this is going but I am getting to the point now – I just wanted to share some of me with you first.  I was reading a Slimming World support group page on Facebook when someone mentioned the ‘Couch to 5k’ app for smartphones and also a link to Fatgirlrunning’s blog.  After reading her story I was awe-inspired to see that someone with the same problems as I had really decided to do something about her situation and take control.  So that is what I’m doing, I am taking control.  I’m going to start the c25k challenge and write about it after each and every run and also chart my life and wedding plans in Paris on this blog.  If I write about it and put it out there I have to keep doing it.  I need to remember I am doing this for my future children and to be fit and healthy.

Don’t get me wrong I am not going to say I hate my body, I don’t, it’s the only one I have and my h2b adores me and my body exactly the way we are. Yes I’m fat but I am genuinely also very happy and I like being me. I don’t want to sound like the stereotypical fat and funny and bubbly girl, I’m not, but I know my body will eventually rebel against me if I don’t start to take care of it properly.

So this is my journey and I will tell the truth, warts and all but (hopefully) with a positive and humorous slant, mixed in with some fun and hijinx of my life in Paris.  C’est la vie…