Scales are sometimes said to be a girl's best friend. I beg to differ.
I find I have an obsessive compulsion to weigh myself every day at the gym and I have to fight my alter ego to not get on those damn things.
Who in their right mind invented scales anyway?
Please do not get on those dreaded things, it honestly not only increases your stress but is not a true measure of your hard work and weight loss.
A person's body weight actually changes every day, not only because of when and what you eat and drink, but also what types of exercise you do that day.
Honestly, the best thing to do is find some clothes that are tight and try them on every two to three weeks - that is how I get my buzz from seeing my weight loss.
This past week has been hilarious from rushing to pull up my trousers to find my button pop off and fly across the room, then trying to find a safety pin, to not eating properly and feeling faint.
I believe that my eating has been a bit haphazard this week as lunch is usually 11.45am and there is no afternoon tea break so it's been 4pm before I can eat again.
This week I met my goal of losing 12kg, yet I am still not happy with what I look like.
I have learnt that what I thought I could lose in 12 weeks is not what I actually want. I am a typical woman I guess and I definitely want to lose more.
For some reason I had a vision that I would be this skinny woman, size 10 legs with no cellulite.
Who was I kidding?
Hindsight is a wondrous thing and I wish that I could take back time and say I would get a bikini body in six months.
I do not feel ready to wear a bikini and please do not expect to be seeing an Elle Macpherson, as I'm not.
I do not get paid to do this column, or to go to the gym.
My incentive for blurting out my personal experiences is in the hope that I can make a difference to at least one person's life, plus put the pressure on me having to get photos each week so that I change my body shape to get the bubbly, bright, happy Vanessa back.
I am very proud of my achievements to date and I am now a size 10, which is amazing in nine weeks.
I know I have been brave to put myself out there each week to be judged but I am going to be honest: I am so scared to have my bikini photo taken in three weeks.
Moral of the story this week is eat properly, do not skip meals, drink lots of water and have a good night's sleep.