Thanks for the suggestion to look for clothes at op shops, I hadn’t really gone down that road. I tend to look there for retro/vintage stuff… it didn’t occur to me to look for work clothes! I’ll have to find some places near me and dedicate a day to it – it’s just a shame that you have to dig through so much junk to find anything decent!

As for weight loss, I made a few big changes initially that I’ve since made habit. I took a month off chocolate altogether, gradually reduced salt and sugar, and thought long and hard about carbs. While I don’t believe in cutting them out completely, I found that I was often just eating them out of habit. Plan every meal around veggies first, then add protein, and then a small amount of carbs. I think I had that upside down until I re-examined things.

Most days I’ll have a sandwich with 2 pieces of bread, OR toast for breakfast – never both. I eat a lot of steamed veggies and salads, upped the legumes and eat a variety of nuts and fruit for snacks. Although most nuts are high in fat, it’s the good kind!

Remember to keep up your calcium, as that seems to be a commonly missed ingredient when we diet. It’s too important to ignore.

As for exercise, do as much as you can – whenever you have time! Before I was working fulltime I set myself a challenge to walk to the city and home a few times a week, and that really kickstarted things for me. Once my general fitness improved a little (it doesn’t take long to notice a difference) I began the “Couch to 5k” running program at Coolrunning. I plan to write a post about it soon, so look out for it. Aside from that I also use my basic little stepper machine in front of the TV, and am beginning strength exercises.

I know it’s nothing revolutionary, but I hope these tips help!

I will be hoping to lose weight in time for my wedding next May…..but will be aiming to keep the weight off too also!

Any hints on how to go about it??

Congratulations again!