5 Focuses for Healthy Weightloss I Need to Stick To*
After my disappointment of maintaining my weight over the last two weeks I have decided I really need to pick myself up and get focused again. I keep telling myself over and over again I can do this, I just need to knuckle down and be strict. I have shed the weight before and I can do it again. As last time I shared very little about my weight loss apart from the occasional update of what I was up to or if I had a big week of loosing, and a few recipes.. this time I’m trying to be a lot more up front with my highs and lows. As I don’t do any particular diet, I thought instead I’d share the five things I focus on when trying to loose weight.
Meal Plan
I love food and spend a great deal of time thinking about what food I’m going to eat. I love food shopping but if I go unprepared I usually come back with a load of rubbish I can’t actually make anything with. The best thing i’ve found in aiding weight loss is to meal plan. I have a lot of cookbooks and I enjoy nothing more than going through them on a Sunday night and planning what I’m going to make for the week and the ingredients I need. Most recipe books these days have the calories and fat content marked on the page which really helps me decide what sort of thing I should be going for.
Hand in hand with this one is cook in advance. One night a week I dedicate it to making homemade sauces, soup, couscous, pasta and potato salad then I either freeze or store in the fridge so I always have something to go to rather than eating rubbish.
Always Choose the Healthy Alternative
If given the choice between lean meat and standard, I always go for lean. Same goes for fat free, low calorie, low sugar and skimmed milk. I always always pick the healthier option. I know sometimes this is slightly more expensive but as far as my weight loss goes, it’s for the best. That way if i know I’m going to have something containing cream, it’s half fat, I can continue to drink my weight in iced coffee because the milk is skimmed. There is usually a healthier version of everything these days, especially when it comes to things I love like yoghurts and cheese.
Stock Snacks
As i’ve mentioned before, my biggest vice when it comes to food is the dreaded snacking. I find the times I don’t have anything to snack on always result in me binging when I get near a shop. If I keep low calorie/fat snacks, or chopped up cucumber and carrot so if I need to snack I can which reduces the need to buy a chocolate bar every time I step into a store!
Exercise Exercise Exercise
Urgh, the exercise. I won’t lie, since hitting puberty I haven’t been able to think of anything worse than exercise. I think I’ve joined a gym once and maybe attended twice. I buy loads of fad work out dvds, stick at them for a week then sell them on eBay. I don’t own a sports bra and the closest thing i have to trainers are my Converse high tops. I couldn’t tell you how to do a press up, or a sit up, or a crunch whatever the hell those are. But if you’re trying to loose weight, exercise has to be up there with giving up alcohol and chocolate. So for me, going for a walk with Little Miss every single day is my exercise. Avoiding the bus, regardless of the weather and always going the long way. Also house work, especially if you put on a massive Disney playlist and dance while you do it, I burn loads of calories this way and it does feel like a real work out!
Finally, Be Kind To Yourself
A lot of weight loss is about the mentality. I find the more I berate and deprive myself, the more I want all the worst kind of foods. If you treat yourself every so often you’ll feel more inclined to try harder. This past week I allowed myself to scoff practically a whole jar of raspberry jam on toast because that’s what I felt like I needed. Yeah, I regret it now but if I’d deprived myself of that I probably would have gone on to buy a few bars of Dairy Milk and order take out. Everyone falls off the band wagon now and then but it’s normal and don’t hate yourself too much for it. Just get up the next day and eat your bowl of fruit and green tea for breakfast and pretend it never happened!
Lets face it, there is no real quick fix to loosing weight but there are definitely ways to make it easier on youself. The NHS has some wonderful weight loss tips if you really are struggling to diet, it’s always best to do some reading up, and you never know what you might find that could be beneficial. But above all, the most important thing is to loose weight in the healthiest way you possibly can! At least that’s what I’m trying to do. Nobody likes a Moany Myrtle because you cut out all the goodies from your diet!
3 Comments
Kelly Lelly
Loosing weight is so difficult, I’ve managed to shift over a stone now but it seems to be slowing down alot.
Its really difficult to find motivation to exercise! It must be difficult with Liv & everything else you have to worry about sweetie so don’t be hard on yourself! I definitely support the Be Kind to Yourself focus!
These links are also super helpful, having a look at them both now! 🙂
Kelly from | DayDreams & DaisyChains
Stephanie
Fab post! I’m the worst at not sticking to my meal plan! I’m definitely someone who is swayed by what I fancy eating, rather than what is in the fridge!
Stephanie
http://missstephanieusher.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3436251
xxxx
Samsam Cherie
Great post! I definitely think depriving yourself is NOT the way to go (umm…been there, done that, unsuccessful). Just be careful though with the low fat/non fat/light options – they can be 0 fat but have tons of added sugar (I’m not talking about carbs – I’m talking about Aspartame and other awful chemicals). Maybe opt for organic soy or almond milk instead of skim (Starbucks iced coffee with a tinch of soy milk = absolutely incredible!) Plus then you’re not depriving yourself of protein that normally comes with the small amount of fat in some foods. And beans! Beans, beans everywhere – Black, Kidney, even Chick Peas (umm carrots and hummous for snack? YES). SO GOOD and so healthy. NOMS
~ Samantha