Why Diets Suck

We've all been there.

"That's it! My jeans are too tight, I'm going on a diet!"

"I've booked my holiday, now I just have to follow Davina's ultimate bikini body diet and I will look glorious by the time I go away!" 

"I'm sick of my muffin top, I'll go on a diet for a little while to get rid of it."

Diets are Stupid. There I said it. They are! Everything about a diet implies that it's okay to temporarily (key word) deny ourselves the things we secretly want to gorge on in order to lose a bit of weight. 

I've done diets. Not many, because you mostly hear bad things about them (and I didn't get to the size I am by dieting, ha). I've tried and tested Slimming World, and BooTea. I've written a list of reasons I don't like diets;

• Diets imply that once you've achieved what you want, you can go back to your old habits. 
• Diets are all about restriction. Don't eat this, don't eat that. Making you give up the things you love will only make you hate your 'diet' even more. 
• Every expert will tell you something different. Eat as much as you want/starve yourself, don't have olive oil/ switch to olive oil etc etc. How is anyone supposed to know what to do?
• They are not always healthy. Have you ever read the top 10 diets suggested by the NHS? Have you seen the number of negatives on each diet!? Even the NHS can't give you something coherent.
• Everyone is different, our bodies are different. What works for me might not work for you. 
• Calorie counting- If you drink a SlimFast then eat a packet of crisps, you're not being healthy. You're slowly destroying your body.
• Exercise- So many diets don't mention exercise! Why? It makes you feel a lot better than sitting wishing you had a cupcake.
•  Diets are temporary. No one is on a diet for life. A healthy lifestyle requires a complete change in attitude. You shouldn't be doing it 'until I come off my diet'.  

Living a healthy lifestyle is a big thing, and if you do it well you will lose weight and feel better. If you want to have something bad, have something bad. You're allowed! If you want to have a week of to binge, maybe that's not such a good idea (ha). 

Did I mention I'm doing a diet? I'm 4 days into Juice Plus. I hate diets, but I couldn't resist giving this a go. More will be explained when I'm done... And the pounds are already slipping off. I will keep you posted. 

Welcome back!

Hey there. 

It’s been a while.

I’m sorry I haven’t written for a while. This time, it’s not because I’ve fallen off the band wagon. It’s because I’ve just been so damn busy, I have barely had time to contemplate, collect my thoughts, and write something down.

Once or twice I started writing something down, but I couldn’t seem to finish anything, or make it sound like thought had been put into it. If truth be told, I think the problem was more that I had too much going on inside my head to focus.

My energy didn’t stop focusing on what I was eating, and how I was exercising though. In fact, for the past week I have been doing a kind of ‘detox’ in preparation for my latest weigh loss adventure. 

The detox is basically eating clean. For those of you who know nothing about eating clean, you should read this wonderful blog by someone I discovered through Instagram, @Yakatharina. 

It’s a great way to get rid of all the rubbish from your body, and also allow your body to start craving good food rather than bad. For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I’ve been taking a couple of pictures of my food. Here’s some of my favourites:

Choc delight! Made from Avocado, unsweetened cacao powder, greek yoghurt, agave nectar, vanilla, and unsweetened almond milk. 

Gluten free oat cakes topped with rocket, tomatoes, feta cheese and a slither of balsamic glaze.

As well as that I am of course hitting the gym as much as I can. I took part in the Parkrun this week for the first time, which is 5k. I thought it was best to start running in a competitive way, because it’s so easy to get lazy when on the treadmill. 

I managed to do it in 33.24 mins. Wasn’t bad, and was better than my run last year (The Great North 5k), but I know I can do better. I’m going to do it every week I can now :)

Today is 7 weeks exactly until the Great Womens' 10k, and so far the most I’ve ran is 7k. I’m building it up each week. 

I stepped on the scales today and I’m 15 Stone.  It’s not great, I know. But to put it in perspective, this time last year I was 19 Stone 8.

The only way is down, baby!

Food Glorious Food

This week is being filled with yummy foods! And why not? I'm trying to find a few new recipes for healthy meals, which are colourful, delicious, and most importantly good for you.

If you have any recipes you think I should try, leave a comment below :)

Here are some of the things I've been making:

 Roasted Sweet potato wedges with salad

Chicken and veg stir fry

Lovely Courgette Tortilla, I had half for breakfast, and then the other half with salad for lunch the following 
day

The possibilities are endless if you believe you CAN. Sounds stupidly corny, but give it a go.



Also, you know how much I love sharing fat photos, and this one is a corker:

Me and the sis. Was I really that huge? 

The Apology Blog

Apologies. 

I didn’t update my blog on Tuesday. I could give a million and one excuses: I’ve been crazy busy with work, I have been out almost every night this week, I haven’t had time, I’ve been working out too much (LOL) etc etc but the truth is, I have no good news this week. 

I was ready to keep going when I ended my 6 week transformation, and for the few days after it, I did keep up the healthiness. I went for a meal at Panis Cafe which was delicious, and although I ate pasta, I didn’t drink. Then the weekend came, and I was going to Glasgow with this bunch:

I had planned this since December, and I wasn’t going to go and be good. But that is fine! We’re allowed some cheat days, especially after 6 weeks for being neigh-on perfect. I had accepted that a blow out weekend was in order. Even before I went, I was worried about spending a weekend boozing and eating grease, I had had a great time over the 6 weeks and before that being good and exercising. 

But all was fine, I was going to come back and get straight back to the gym and the vegetable isle of the supermarket…. Right?  Nope. 

For the past week I have, in all honesty, gorged on rubbish. I’ve still eaten salad most days for lunch, but usually accompanied by some form of chocolate bar. My dinners have been meals out/ takeaways, and I’ve drank like an alcoholic. I still went to the gym, but of course I have put on weight and size since last week. 

Did I feel better for eating chocolate, cookies etc and drinking beer/wine? No, As a matter of fact, I felt awful. Food guilt is such a shitty feeling. It’s taken me a week of ‘I’ll start tomorrow’s to realise if I don’t do it now, I’m going to be back to being a 20 stone unhappy, fat, unfit, ridiculed lump of cells. I’m not prepared to do that.

This morning I did a boot camp session which practically killed me. I was shaking and aching, but I didn’t stop. I had my protein shake and banana when I finished, and I’m off shopping for a list of healthy foods. Next week I’ll post some pictures of the food I made.

I’m going a cake sale this week, as I’m fundraising for a special cause. I’m not even going to sample my stuff. 

Action Plan

1. Make a shopping list, plan meals high in protein/ low in fat.
2. STICK TO THE LIST. No tuck shop visits, no tiffins. 
3. Work out every day- run 6k tomorrow. 
4. Be Social, but don’t drink. It has to be done again. 
5. Lose 14lbs by 1st April. One month to kick ass. 

Giving myself a target, a plan, and realistic goals, I’m going to smash it. If I do this, I will more than make up for the damage I did this week. 

Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

On a final note: Thank you. To everyone who reads my blog, and to all the people who, in passing, have given me a little ‘well done, you look great!’. You have really helped me. This blog is almost like a little diary, and I know sometimes the posts are as boring as this…. But I’m so glad for all your kind and supportive words. I don’t deserve any of it this week, so next week I will post more good news and joy.

6 Week body Transformation

6 weeks.

42 days of training.

6 tins of mackerel. 

30 salads. 
10 blog posts

And a whole barrel of fun later…

I have lost 24lbs in 6 weeks. I’m so proud of myself for not giving up! The changes I have made physically are noticeable, but the changes I’ve made mentally are astounding.

Here are the pics, the blue ones were taken on 7th Jan, the pink ones on 17th Feb.

I’m sleeping better, my skin is less disgusting, I’m calmer. I’m selling a pile of clothes on Ebay which are too big for me, and I’ve bought dresses, jeans, a top and a skirt in a size 16. I’m the lightest & smallest I’ve been in 6 years, at least. I would say that in total, since last March 2013, I’ve lost about 4 stone (25kg).

But the fun doesn’t stop now! My attitude to live has changed. I want to be healthier, I want to be thinner, and best of all, I’m prepared to work for it. I don’t want to reward myself with piles of disgusting food for getting this far. I know that I still have around 4.5 stone to lose. I’m not going to hop off the scales tonight and jump for a Dominos Pizza, but I am going to dive into a grilled steak & salad. And there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s healthy. 

A good friend of mine (who is also the fittest person I know, and knows a lot about sports & nutrition) told me that I will never be happy with my body, because I now know that there’s always room for improvement. I think I agree with him. But for now, that mild disgust at myself is driving me to keep going. 

I need to mention the wonderful people at Elite Physique Fitness. The trainers are inspirational, I have loved working with them. The support they provide is just enough, and they make you aware that it is YOU that has to put the hard work in to get the results you want. The training sessions were so varied and fun, I wish I could do the whole lot again. Here’s links to their Facebook and Website, so if you want to have a peek, or even join them, I would very much recommend it. 

The people I have met while being there have been supportive, friendly and a great bunch. I have had an amazing time, and seen some amazing results from the people around me, too. Thank you to Paul and Chris, and the whole team there. Your motivation and positive attitude is so beneficial. You've literally changed my outlook on life!

Here’s some pics of our training, and my lovely little group. 

Press ups!

Squats!

I would like to point out the steamy mirror- yes this was post-workout. MMMMMM Sweat!

Knee-dle in a haystack

Good news! I lost 2.5lbs this week. Whooooop! I also had to go and buy 2 new pairs of (size 16 ahem) jogging pants, because my normal ones fall down when I jump! 

It's great that these things are happening, I'm planning to sell a few of my bigger dresses just to get them out of the way, so I'm not tempted to ever fit into them again! I can't believe I only got to wear this once: 

I bought this dress from Wallis in 2 sizes, L and XL, and I sent the L back! Wish I hadn't now.  

Can't wait to buy a whole new wardrobe! I'm trying to hold off on spending, until I know I'm at a size I'll be happy with. The day my boobs fit into a 14 will be a happy one :) 

1 Week to go until my first target of 2014, which was to lose 20lbs in 6 weeks, I've got 0.5lbs to go. I'm already planning my next target (and my first glass of red wine of 2014- ha!) and how I'm going to achieve it. 

My bad knee is feeling better, but my good knee is now in agony. I am gutted at how painful it is. I'm going to go easy on the running this week, and now both my knees are srapped up every time I exercise. The advice I've been given is to take Glucosamine to help my joints. 

The eating plan is still going to plan, although I am craving a bit of variety. It's wonderful knowing what you are going to eat every day, but I'm missing my free will a little, even something super healthy like a home made veggie soup would be nice. But no one said it would be easy! 1 more week to go, I can do it! 

Check out this little treat I got for myself! Cookies and Cream flavoured protein, can't wait to finish my shitty strawberry one! 

As a final little remark, I stole this from Facebook the other night... A little bit of runner's pride/ shame:

Thinspiration

This week I was faced with something I hadn't realised before... It was a massive shock to me. 

I'm huge. 

I have known I've been obese for years now, but I have had 'phases' where I've lost weight (at the most, about 3stone) and people told me I looked good. I didn't. I was still obese. I was still huge. How had I not seen this before?  

I went looking through old pictures on Facebook to see if I could find some times in my life when I was a little thinner, but all I found was lots of horrid pictures of me, demonstrating my years of struggling with weight. This blog post is a sort of funeral for my horrible thoughts and my plus size clothing.

March 2013- Probably my heaviest. I had given up and bought plus size clothes and was willing to deal with it.

My year abroad saw lots of drinking, and very little McFit (that was my gym's name)! 

Karneval in Cologne- trying to find costumes was tricky because of my size. Didn't stop me eating Döner and drinking Kölsch & cocktails the entire week :)

June 2011- My 21st Birthday. Just freshly back from my year abroad, I had piled on the weight from eating delicious German food.

June 2012- my 22nd birthday. 6 months into my Slimming World plan, I had lost 3 stone, but I didn't feel healthy. Soon enough I gave up and regained the weight super quickly. 

Graduation. Lighter, slightly thinner than my fattest, but not great. 

November 2012- 6 months into my 9-5 sitting at my desk job was clearly taking it's toll on me. 

Both above and below are March 2013, when I decided I would start running, and stop giving up on life and eating rubbish 

I had very much given up at this point, and this dress was probably the most hideously fat thing I owned. It depressed me so much. 

This photo is just funny. I thought you might like to see it.

Having realised that now is very much the time to move on from all this, I am waving goodbye to this chapter in my life. I've lost 5lbs (!!!!) this week, which means I'm 3lbs from my 1st target of 2014 (which is my 6 week target- 20lbs).

I thought I'd share one last picture with you. This is one I took on Saturday for my cousin's wedding. Goodbye fat pics, hello healthy progress pics. 

I know it's not much, but I'm going in the right direction. I am fully aware of how far I have to go. I think most of the size loss is down to the amazing trainers I have from Elite Physique Fitness and the amazing training/ transformation programme I have been on. 

Onwards and upwards. 

I'm nowhere near done.