Be My Guest: Emma MacAulay

Every Friday on The Real Slim Shandy I invite someone special to write a blog for you and I. This week's guest blogger is very special. I was very fortunate to meet her through Twitter last year, she is someone who has appeared already on this blog with many comments and of course that excellent soup recipe! Like me, she lives in Inverness and she too has been on her own journey to live a healthier lifestyle. She is the very friendly and equally lovely Emma MacAulay:

Emma MacAulay
with her partner Keir

When Jason asked me to be a guest on his blog I happily agreed but at the same time I didn’t have a clue what I was going to talk about.  I guess I’ve been making the same changes in my life as Jason has with the healthy eating.  I started my “diet” at the end of January of this year and 7 months later I have lost almost 2 1/2 stone.

I have to say that it took me quite a while to actually realise that I needed to lose the weight, I’m not convinced I looked like I was carrying as much as I was but looking back on photos etc. and comments that I have been getting from people now, I know that my whole body shape has changed quite a lot.



I never used to have any major issues with my weight when I was younger; I was quite active and always taking part in some sort of team sport at school.  It was when I left school that I started to get a bit lazier!  I think the first time I became bothered with my weight was when my ex boyfriend pointed out to me that I needed to lose a few pounds! Yes, I know what you’re thinking – why did she stick around to listen to that?!  Well at the time I was in love and didn’t think of it as a bad thing.  It turns out that he actually always had an issue with my weight and this made me have an issue with my weight.  There is a comment that stuck out to me more than any....I had bought a swimming costume and I asked him if he thought it looked ok on, his reply was “well put it this way, it’ll look a lot better once you’ve lost a good bit of weight”.

This did upset me but it didn’t kick me into the diet thing, in fact probably pushed me further away from it.  Anyway, after being together for 6 years we broke up for various reasons. Yes, I lost a whole heap of weight, went out and partied for about 6 months and then met my wonderful current partner Keir.  I was looking my best when we met and I was full of confidence.  I guess they always say a sign of being happy and content in a relationship is putting on weight, that’s exactly what happened.  This time was different though, no one to tell me I needed to lose the pounds!

In January this year, Keir and I booked a holiday to Egypt for September, this was when I knew that I didn’t want to look like a beached whale lying by the pool in my bikini!  This time my attempt to lose weight was for me and only me.... this made me more determined than ever!  So I started up at Weight Watchers (WW) – I knew that if I was going to a weekly class and had to stand on those scales each week I didn’t want to be embarrassed by putting on weight.  I didn’t actually follow the WW diet as such – I know what healthy eating is and don’t need a book to tell me!

So September is on it’s way and I’m now really looking forward to lying by the pool in my bikini, I’ve worked hard for the loss I’ve had and I’m delighted. I feel much better for it and for the first time in a long time I can enjoy going shopping for some lovely summer clothes.  I don’t know what “switch went on” in my head but I’m so glad it did.  For anyone that is thinking about starting up some healthy eating, we all know the basics it’s just a matter of sticking with it, as soon as you start seeing some results it’ll just make you more determined.

I’ve rambled quite enough now and probably bored you stupid (well done if you made it to the end!)

A big well done to Jase and his efforts with his blogging the loss, an great inspiration to others. Keep up the good work.

Thank you Emma for being my guest and not only your kind words for me, but also a great insight to your personal motivation to lose weight and be healthy. Your holiday sounds like it will be something to remember for more reasons than one! You can follow Emma on Twitter, like I do!

If you'd like to be a guest blogger here on The Real Slim Shandy then please check out the information on the Be My Guest page. Thanks.