Y'know when you start out on a journey to a 'new you' - or even just pick up where you left off on an old one - it's hard to imagine failing. You're resolute. You're determined. You're totally going to kick ass and achieve your goals, because you are awesome. Heck, once you're finished, you'll proba[...]

Back in the day, I'd say I wasn't a very strong person. I wasn't necessarily weak, but I just kinda let things happen. I stayed in relationships too long because leaving them would be too hard; I stayed in education too long because I didn't think I'd be able to find a job; I comforted myself with p[...]

It's my birthday! Well, not mine. But it's a whole year since I found myself sitting in my bedroom, writing my very first post, in my slippers and hat, at 10pm at night. I'd written the post, but I couldn't think of what to call the blog itself. I'd come up with a couple of bad puns, the odd play[...]

Healthy livin'. It's something I'm meant to be all about. And I am, most of the time - or rather, I was, until, say, early December - back when I had my knee operated on for the 4th (and hopefully final) time; when I had a birthday that involved a lot of cake; when I was job-hunting and interview[...]

In the last 48 hours, I've had no less than three - three - people tell me that they've been upset by the number on the scales at some point this week. Ladies: the hell. The hell? Are you kidding me? Seriously? This state of affairs leaves me with no choice, because I've put my head in [...]

Since I (briefly) mentioned I was inclined to binge eat here, I've been inundated with questions about it - questions which it's taking me a while to answer, because frankly, I'm not sure how. See, when I try to talk about things like my tendency to binge eat... I just don't want to. Yes, [...]

You'll notice things have gone a bit quiet around these parts since my last post - because it's been something of a whirlwind since I upped sticks and moved to the big smoke. Honestly, I have not stopped for long enough to even think, let alone write - but I've been lucky enough to have met some rea[...]

Well, it's done. I've made it to London, and I'm writing this post from my lovely new house in Islington. As it happens, I have something of a fuzzy head after a welcome night out with my new housemates - which was ridiculously fun, but my God, I am tired. You may have to excuse any parts of this po[...]

I know, I know - I've kept you guys waiting on this one. But finally - I've finished the meal plan. Finally. It's been a labour of love, but one that I hope you guys will find really helpful in getting healthy and happy - so I really hope you like it! It's designed to be used alongside the exerci[...]

As you probably know, yesterday was a big day for me, because I was getting a whole hunk of nasty metal removed from my knee. I needed it, back in the days when I was 290lbs - that stuff was the structure that was holding me up. But as time's gone on, and I've grown ever fitter (whilst reducing the [...]

I was so, ridiculously cheerful earlier this week that it was almost embarrassing. Honestly, even pre-coffee, I'm pretty sure I had Disney-style bluebirds flying around, singing happy songs about how beautiful the weather is. Even though it's been raining. Yes, that cheery. I know. It's gross.[...]

It's been an exciting week for me, because I finally hit the 160lbs I'd been aiming for for the last two years. Now I'm here, I realise I've still got some work to do, and my target weight has shifted a bit now I'm here - but when I started out, at 290lbs, it seemed like an impossible dream, so to f[...]

I have a very cool, albeit slightly double-edged, thing to tell you guys today. You might already know that I've had a lot of knee surgery - three rounds, in fact - to repair them after I had an accident in 2007 that brought on something called patellofemoral dysplasia - in English, that means yo[...]

I've said before how evil the scales can be. Repeatedly. I swear to God, they are put on this earth just to toy with my emotions, because whenever I feel like I've had a really good week, boom! I can guarantee you I will have apparently gained a few pounds. Never fails. There are so many variable[...]

I have a confession to make: I've always been a little intimidated by feminism. Not because I didn't agree with it, of course - I've just always been a bit afraid to engage in discussions about it, because most of the encounters I'd had with 'proper' feminists had seemed just a tad... Angry. I re[...]

Because I’m super-cool (that’s a lie) and super-popular (another lie), I’ve had a very busy few weeks. I’ve been to Global Gathering, and I’ve been to leaving parties, birthday parties and just plain old regular parties. And you know what all these things have in common? Booze. Lots of it. [...]

If there's one question I get asked a lot (second only to 'How did you do it?') it's this - 'do you feel different?' Usually the people asking that question are referring to the physical side of it - and yes, I feel completely different. I'm less tired. It doesn't hurt to get out of bed or the ba[...]

I’m so uncomfortable. Three years of hard work, and I’m stuck here, sweating, trying not to breathe so I don’t bust a shirt button under my graduation robes. This ought to be one of the best days of my life, and I just want to get out of here, get into my pyjamas, and eat until I fall asleep. [...]

My suspicions have been confirmed - I need to bin gluten from my diet. This isn't a big surprise - I've noticed over the last couple of months that I've been getting sick after I eat wheat, or things containing it. I've always thought that I've had a sort of abnormally bloated feeling after meals, b[...]

Yesterday, I made an exciting decision. In 7 weeks, I'm doing the Race for Life with my Mum and sister! We did it once before, years and years ago when I was still at school, and I huffed and puffed my way through walking the 5k - I wasn't exactly at my physical peak, let's put it that way. Now I[...]

Don't get me wrong - when I first took those footsteps into the gym, it was all about weight loss. I was never a depressed, shy, or insecure fat girl, and I didn't want to lose weight because I hated myself, or how I looked. I thought I looked good - I just thought I'd look even better in a small[...]

My name's Katie. I'm 24 years old. I'm attempting to do a Literature PhD on top of a full-time job (because let's face it - a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.) Fortunately it's a job I love, so I'm very lucky in that respect. But above and beyond all this, I've always been a "fat girl" - n[...]