How I Lost 20lbs

Today is a bit of a personal post but something I thought I would finally write about - weight loss! I lost 17lbs from September-December 2011, and I have kept my weight between 8.7-9 stone ever since. It took me forever to work out a long term solution to weight loss (I was overweight for something like two years) but I've finally managed to keep it off for six months now and I'm so much more confident. I know that might sound a bit silly to some people that my weight affected me so much, but beauty is the way you feel and extra weight really shows up on my 5"2 frame. Since losing weight I don't feel constantly bloated and lethargic too and health wise I'm a lot better. I actually eat a lot more now and never have to count calories or follow any fads... After all if fad diets really worked long term we'd all be really slim!

This is me now (I'm the blonde one on the right). I'm by no means "skinny", still being on the higher end of the BMI scale, but I feel happy here and that's what it's all about.

So onto how I did it... the first thing is you have to take responsibility and work out where you are going wrong. For me I did two things all the time. Either I wouldn't eat a proper meal all day (these were my "diet days") and would just rely on snacks which I would eat every 2-3 hours. I never felt anywhere near full up, but I was eating a million calories in snacks with no nutritional value. The other thing I would do was go really long periods of time without eating. This was an awful tactic too because I'd get so hungry I wouldn't be able to resist the pizza and chips my boyfriend was eating. Now I always try to eat three meals and if I'm getting too hungry in between I'll have a small snack so I'm still in the mood for a healthy tea. Everyone's different and if you aren't sure where you are going wrong, get an app on your phone or write down everything that touches your sides over a week period. Do you drink a lot of high calorie drinks? Are you always getting pre-packaged high calorie sandwiches at places like Greggs? Or are you eating a few chocolate bars a day? Be objective and see what habits need breaking.

 

My ultimate tip is instead of focusing on food as an enjoyable activity, think about what you will gain nutritionally since that is the main point of eating. It makes sense in that case to eat something like salmon and vegetables rather than cheesy chips. Whilst you should still enjoy your food by all means (I love my food), the prime focus should be eating to make your body as healthy as can be. Of course you should still treat yourself, just do it in moderation. For example last night I had salmon, vegetables and salad, and for dessert I had a sticky toffee pudding relatively guilt free. I wouldn't get a dessert every time but every once in a while wont hurt anything. Even if you begin by eating a piece of fruit or a few veg at every meal alongside your normal stuff that's an excellent start to healthy eating.

Meal idea: diced tuna fillet with mayo and mixed vegetables with cheese. Lots of nutrition!

Another thing I did was cut out takeaways. This wasn't initially to lose weight; I'd split up with my boyfriend (who had a car), and the delivery in my area is naff. That only left the bus, but by the time I got back it was cold so I just didn't bother. I lost quite a lot of weight doing this and even now I only have a takeaway once every few months.

If you're eating out somewhere like a pub where there are no decent healthy options, just let yourself have what you want. If you're anything like me, you'll be miserable if you end up not getting anything and everyone else is eating around you. If you're somewhere a bit more classy there are usually some really nice healthy options for you to have though. A favourite dish for me is something fishy like salmon or tuna, and I have it with potatoes, salad or veg. These are usually more expensive but completely worth it as they taste amazing and are so good for you.

Tuna obsession continues (I do work in a fish shop after all!) this time fillet rubbed with a range of herbs for flavour, then shallow fried and placed on a bed of rocket. Potatoes are roasted and put with peppercorn sauce. Literally tastes amazing!

Another tip I have is not to buy multi-bags. I am completely unable to resist snacks like crisps and chocolate. If I know I have it in the house I have to hunt it out and will eat the lot. If I had a pack of thirteen crisps right in front of me now, I would eat them in a day. A family size pack of haribo would be gone in half an hour without a doubt! I might spend £1 on four chocolate bars, but I would rather spend 60p on one and know I wont end up eating a ridiculous amount of crap.

Whatever you do, don't beat yourself up for bad eating habits. These are really hard to break and we are all only human after all. I still have days where I end up eating crisps for breakfast and crap like that all day long, I just keep those days to a minimum!

Hope this helped, please let me know if you have any questions I'd be more than happy to answer!

xxxx

* Update video nearly a year on: