I'm so vain, I probably think this blog is about me

If there's one thing I can't stand it's vanity. I find it particularly repugnant when men spend way too much time on their hair, clothes and - the worst - tans (sorry Stef), but I'm also not a big fan of girls who are completely obsessed with the way they look. Or, at least, I used to feel that way. But, now that I'm three stone lighter (OK, 2 stone, 12 lbs lighter, let's not get ahead of ourselves) I'm obsessed with looking at pictures of myself, checking myself out in mirrors, buying clothes and then trying said clothes on several times while checking myself out in mirrors and, yep, possibly even taking pictures of myself doing it and then looking at them. If I wasn't me, I would think I was a total twat.

I had today off work for tedious reasons involving Sky engineers, and this morning I went shopping in Croydon with the intention of buying two, just two, items - some new jeans, as my old ones now all look beyond ridiculous, and a dress for the Bauer Awards this Friday. I ended up buying the jeans... plus a skirt, some shoes, a necklace, some tights and FOUR dresses. I've also got two dresses on the way from ASOS, and another one from somewhere in America. I think somebody should probably take my debit card away (Dad?) before this gets any more out of control. To be fair, though, the jeans were a tenner from New Look and a lot of the other stuff was from Primark, so I didn't spend a huge amount... but probably more than I should have done considering some of these items will be too big for me quite quickly. I used to hate shopping, but now that I'm thinner, I have to confess that I rather like it. Suddenly changing rooms aren't evil and Topshop isn't a no-go zone. I've still got a way to go, as at the moment I'm a size 14 in everything but jeans, thanks to my sticky-outy, size 16 bum, but just a few months ago that bum sometimes struggled to get into 18s, so it's progress. I also have a ridiculous new bra size, as I've lost a lot off my back, but not too much cuppage - so I'm now a 34GG, when I used to be a 36GG or 38G. Perhaps I should do porn.

Speaking of which (boobs, not porn - this isn't that kind of website), I had to buy a hideous sports bra yesterday because... wait for it... I've joined the gym! On my last blog post, an anonymous reader (ooh, mysterious...) asked if I was doing any exercise so I can now answer this. I've been going swimming at South Norwood Leisure Centre a couple of times a week since July, but now that I'm lighter and feel more confident, I decided to sign up to their gym as well. It's cheap and really modern, and never appears to be very busy. I've just got back from my induction and it was surprisingly OK. The instructor was nice and I explained the diet and everything to her, so I've got a programme which will mainly focus on toning, as obviously this is a big concern when I'm losing a lot of weight very quickly. I discovered that I'm actually stronger and fitter than I thought I was, but then last time I had a gym induction was in 2003 when I was a lot heavier (I lost a couple of stone on Weightwatchers in 2004, and kept most of it off before starting Lighter Life). We've also been given a stretchy exercise band thing, a Swiss ball and a couple of DVDs at our Lighter Life meetings, but it's tricky for me to use these at home as my flat is very small, and Delilah (my cat) thinks it's a fun game and tries to join in. Anyway, people who witter on about exercise are really, really dull so I won't expand further, other than to say yes, I'm exercising, and I plan to step it up as my calorie intake rises - on only 500 a day, I need to be careful I don't overdo it.

I've got about four weeks to go until the initial 100 days of Lighter Life is over and I hope to lose around 18 more pounds in that time. I then have a choice: if I'm happy where I am, I can move into "Route To Management" which is where food starts to be re-introduced. Or if I want to lose a bit more weight, I can go into "Development" which means I'd carry on with the no-food, no-booze, no-life (not true) thing until I reach my goal. I'd imagine I'll carry on for three or four weeks, and then start RTM around Christmas - which will be interesting, to say the least.

Any questions? If you ask me stuff, I might actually update this more often...