Sudden weight gain. How can I be slim again?

Hey Tabitha,

Well, this is both very easy and very hard... so that's a helpful start isn't it?!

The easy stuff. To lose weight and tone up you just need to manage your food and drink intake, and exercise. Now the hard stuff - how to actually do that. Well first, it doesn't mean stop eating, or eat only lettuce, but it does mean try to make healthy choices, stop snacking except for maybe one treat a day, and remember what you drink is just as important as what you eat so don't load up on fizzy drinks and suchlike. Part of the key to improving your diet is not to try to be too extreme - just try to be sensible and stop yourself lazily picking away at things when you're really not hungry at all.

Now, the other part of the deal is exercise. I know you're going to hate this but you really need to start to try to run. Crazy you think... unfit, big boobs, nightmare. Well, I agree it's not an easy option. But - it's free, it doesn't take much time, it is by FAR the quickest and most effective exercise for burning body fat and toning up, and it's actually good for your boobs even if they do complain because the movement works the supporting ligaments and so minimises the risk of sagging. And as you lose body fat they'll get smaller anyway, so it gets easier. You may feel you just can't run - but you can. The secret is to start little and build up slowly - and NOT to get disheartened after the first couple of trys. Just get your trainers on, wear a dark baggy top if you're shy about your chest (even run after dark if you like - my ex used to insist we did!), and get out there and try it. Run for as long as you can, then walk, then run a bit more, walk a bit more, you get the idea. Even if you can only run for 2 minutes at a time now that's fine - next week it will be 3, then 4, then before long you'll be able to run for 20 minutes without stopping - and that is going to be enough to get where you need to be.

Which brings me to my final point. You have a great figure - and it's excellent that you're not obsessed with weighing yourself, it's just a number. Don't get bogged down in numbers - you're doing this to make yourself proud, to tone up a few wobbly bits you're not happy with, and to improve your health and fitness. You don't need to be 8 stone - you don't need to be any number - you just need to be happy with yourself. So just start, keep going, and see how you get along. Being small but curvy is a fantastic way to be - you already have a figure you should be proud of, and you reeeeally don't want to aim to be some uninteresting skinny chick! But every time you turn down a snack or run another minute you're getting another step closer to the perfect figure - stick with it, you can do it! :)

Go to the Tacoria.