Weight was a bit of an issue for me growing up. It probably had something to do with the microwave meals and the sausage/chicken nuggets/fish fingers, chips and beans I’d eat every night after school. The pot noodles, the sweet and sour chicken and love of all things chocolate (Penguin Bars, Wagon Wheels, Kit Kats – you name it, I ate it lolz). It was just all so good, dammit.
I’ve always wanted to be healthy, but I just didn’t know how. And I think that’s half the problem these days, with so much shit food on offer it’s really hard to see the wood through the trees. But a year and a half ago I got a PT and actually became a bit more educated on what was good for me.
So I thought I’d share my top tips as people seem to ask me quite a bit, like there’s some secret formula. There isn’t by the way, but I’ve learnt it’s easier than any fad diet, that’s for sure. I know there are plenty of posts like this out there and I don’t claim to be an expert in weight loss/health in any way. And please bear in mind that everyone is different – what works for me might not work for you. But hey, here goes:
1. Eat eggs. All day everyday. No, just kidding, but seriously I swapped my crappy cereal for eggs every morning and it made such a difference in my daily eating habits. I used to eat sugary bowls of Coco Pops and Cookie Crunch for breakfast and was always hungry again by 10am. I just didn’t get it – how could a cartoon so happy be promoting something that was so bad for me?
Fast forward a year and a half and I’m now an egg eating maniac. It helps me stay full until lunch, with a little snack in between. Eggs are my go-to. Simples.
2. Get a Lewis. I know not everyone can afford a Personal Trainer, but mine has literally changed my life. Wow, that is deep. I’m freaking useless at the gym on my own. I wander around like a lost lamb, half heartedly working out before getting tempted to the sauna. The way I justified the spend was like this; I stopped buying lunches from M&S everyday (weep) and started making packed lunches. This saved me money which I now use for one PT session a week. And guess what? I walk out the gym feeling marvellous. Oh did I say walk? I mean crawl. I crawl out the gym in sheer pain, but with a huge smile on my face.
3. The world is your gym. You can get some exercise anywhere. Forget walking up the stairs, turn them into stair runs. Got a garden? Do a mini circuit on a Saturday morning for half hour. In the words of Tesco’s, ‘Every little helps’.
4. Don’t eat white food. If it’s white/yellow and processed, don’t eat it. Yes, that’s right, put down that Greggs steak bake, and don’t even think about buying that loaf of crusty tiger bread. It’s all out. I know it can seem like a SERIOUSLY scary concept. The idea of giving up bread sent shivers down my spine. I used to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and I wondered why I was holding that extra timber lolz). But honestly, cut it out for four weeks and you won’t crave it anymore. Banish it. BE GONE.
5. Go H2O crazy. Before I made any changes to my lifestyle, I could go nearly a whole day without drinking anything and not even realise. I look back at that now and I’m pretty horrified. Make sure you’re drinking a good amount of water throughout the day. It will make you feel more awake and you’ll be less likely to snack.
6. Don’t eat less, eat more (of the right thing). When I used to yo-yo diet before, I ended up just not eating, mainly because I didn’t know what was safe to eat. For obvious reasons, this didn’t work. I’d get really hungry and end up eating a whole host of things that weren’t good for me. Literally, stuffing everything and anything in my gob. I’m so attractive NAAWT. Nowadays, I eat a hell of a lot more than I used to. But it tends to be good stuff, rather than the bad stuff.
7. Be a caveman. Keep all your food fresh. Eat like a caveman (fresh veg, fruit & meat). I’m lucky, ’cause I do love to cook from scratch. But instead of whipping up homemade pies and hefty curries, I now tend to cook lighter foods. Don’t use sauces in jars. Don’t use packet anything. Just cook simple food from scratch. It doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming. I’m slowly making my way through Hemsley&Hemsley, a cookbook that focuses on easy recipes for clean eating. I can highly recommend this book.
8. Start with the 80/20 lifestyle. I’m slowly trying to ween myself off of this, but it’s a good way to get started. Generally, I will be really strict with my diet and exercise Monday-Friday. Saturday and Sunday I might be a little less strict. And I dont mean I fall completely off the wagon, eating pizza for breakfast, curry for lunch and pie for dinner. I just mean I will have a few drinks and maybe one cheat meal on one of those days. It’s okay to cheat sometimes, life would be boring if you didn’t. Don’t beat yourself up.
9. Find good foods that you love. Try new things. All the time. Be adventurous with your tastes, look for new fruit and veg to sample and find recipes to transform your food.
10. And train yourself to like foods you didn’t. I hated salads. With a passion. It’s one of the sole reasons I said I’d never be able to lose weight, because I couldn’t stomach them. But now I crave a salad. (I sound like such a twat, dont I?) But the reason I didn’t like salads were because all the salads I’d tried to eat were yucky. I didn’t like iceberg lettuce (and still don’t), but I found I liked leafy salads instead. And slowly, I’ve trained myself to think differently about the whole salad family.
11. Motivate yourself with a new gym outfit. If the thought of dragging your bottom to the gym fills you with dread then here’s some advice; buy some new work out gear and I can guarantee you’ll feel much more excited about hitting that treadmill. And buy stuff you feel good in. Like really good. Helps me anyway. Or maybe it’s an excuse to shop, I don’t know.
12. Get a spiraliser. LITERALLY THE BEST THING EVER. I picked one up from my local cookshop, and it turns my vegetables into lovely spirals/noodles. Which you may be thinking, ‘and what?’ But honestly, it makes such a good substitute for pasta. It takes to sauces really well, and it makes your dinner less of a salad.
13. Simple swaps. It’s all about the really small changes. Swap your white potato for sweet potato. Swap your crisps for nuts and seeds. Swap your microwave ‘uncle bens’ rice for fresh jasmine rice. It’s not a diet it’s a lifestyle change. I sound like a wally but seriously, it’s true. This isn’t a quick fix, but a continual alteration of diet and lifestyle. And it does work, trust me.
14. Find exercise that you love. I knew that I wanted to be a bit more active, so I sought out a netball team that would give me some extra exercise every week. Little did I know I would also find an awesome group of friends too. Bonus! Running round the court with this bunch of crazy cats is not only fun, but helps me burn some energy after work. Find friends to sweat with – so much better than sweating on your own.
15. Don’t compare yourself to others. The amount of times I’ve scanned through instagram enviously looking at uploaded photos of tanned, toned women who all claim to be eating nothing but mangos – I’d be like ‘WTF? How the hell are they doing that?’ Forget everyone else. In the famous words of Mary Schmich “…the race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.”
The most important thing is that you’re happy and healthy. FULLSTOP.
I could go on and on about this subject. It fascinates me that all it took to lose the weight I wanted was a little knowledge about the subject.
Get empowered. Get knowledge. Get fit. Get healthy.
Good one Jade ???
Thanks Karen ?