I have written fully in reply to the topic “Women of a certain Age”.

I want to talk a little about the “darker” side of slimming – Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa.

If you have read my posts, you will know that I am not a fan of excessive weighing on scales. I am 57 and in my early 20’s had a real battle with Bulimia. I have written in a former post about what I believe led me to suffer but I was totally addicted to weighing myself often up to 5 times a day.

Amazingly, I managed to be a good teacher after qualifying teaching Sport and Music to 11 to 18 year olds but I am very proud that I managed to recover, no help around really in the late 70’s, but it has left me with a real insight into how the line between dedication and becoming fanatical is a real fine line.

Incidentally, if any of you know you have an eating disorder, there is far more help around these days. I went on to have three healthy children and have been married for 35 years. You can recover but it has completely transformed my views on dieting.

I used to do an exercise and slimming class in the 80s and always put great emphasis on keeping an eating diary for 2 weeks and seeing how your calories average out over a whole week. This plan is really putting this idea into practise.

We are not really meant to eat the same every day. It is dieting which has sort of put a figure in our mind. When I am really busy I often forget to eat, but if having a “slob” day feel hungry all day!

I used to insist my class members were measured once a month but leave it up to them whether they wanted to be weighed each week.

It was a very successful class, with many pupils dropping 2 dress sizes in 6 weeks, as they were exercising along with a healthy diet. I used to talk then about weekdays being lower than weekend and saving up calories etc.

I think this plan is so healthy. It is not a diet to me just a healthy way of life which takes away the worry of bothering every day about what I eat.

It is really the way I have eaten ever since my recovery and the only reason for doing this plan to the letter since January, has been to lose my thickening waist and hips post menopause which this plan has helped me do.

One other point I would make, particularly in post menopausal women, I think it takes at least 6 weeks to “kick in”. Another reason for not being too “scale based”. Whether it just takes time to regulate hormones and speed up your metabolism, I am not sure, but it was definitely from 6 weeks onwards that I could see and feel results starting to show.

If you think about it 6 weeks is only 12 low days, which is not even 2 whole weeks of sacrifice so to speak. You need to get into the “zone”. Make it as easy as possible, I use pre- counted calorie foods on my low days.

I wish everyone great success but remember to stay dedicated not addicted!