I have been consciously attempting to eat more healthily recently in preperation for my upcoming summer holiday to Portugal. I find that I always put on weight over christmas, partly because I think our bodies naturally store more fat over the colder months but also because I am less careful about what I eat during the christmas holidays. It doesn't really bother me because everyone wraps up in layers of clothes anyway so putting on a few pounds is hardly noticeable but as the weather gets warmer and everyone starts wearing skimpier outfits I always become more body conscious and try to eat more healthily.
I wouldn't say I particularly have a bad diet even when I just eat whatever I want when I want but when I'm at uni and over my summer last year I did go to the gym about 4 times a week so I could be quite flexible with what I ate. Sadly due to my internship I just won't have enough time to make it worth me getting a gym membership for three months over the summer so instead I am eating more healthily. I am trying to walk to and from work when the weathers nice (this has only occured twice over the first two weeks of my internship thanks to the rain) which takes about 35 minutes each way at a brisk walking pace. I have also been going out running with my dad at the weekends.
I am not one to agree with 'fad' diets like those that 'celebrities' such as Lauren Goodger from TOWIE use to lose weight. I think they are quite an irresponsible way of losing weight and that as soon as they go back to eating normal food they will just pile the pounds back on quickly. Instead, I think it is better to make subtle changes to your diet but ones that can be sustained so that you lose weight gradually and don't feel like you are depriving yourself.
Therefore, I have made some amendments to my everyday food consumption in an attempt to lose a few pounds for the summer and feel more body confident. One of the hardest changes I have made is to cut out my family's weekly saturday night chinese takeaway mainly because they still have it but instead I cook myself a home made chinese dish. It really did take a lot of will power at the beginning but now I really look forward to having my healthier chinese meal and even prefer it to the takeaway! This is the only drastic change I would say I have made to my diet as I haven't cut any other food out completely as I think it is too unrealistic.
Normally I make my own salad in the morning for lunch before I go to work so then I don't have to spend an outrageous amount of money buying one from a shop during my lunch break and I know exactly what is going into my salad. Typically my salad has around 250 calories in it but is really yummy and I feel really full after it.
Being at uni has made me realise how much I enjoy cooking and love food so most evenings I will come home from my internship and cook my family's evening meal. This is also partly so that my mum gets a rest in the evenings after a busy day of work. Typical meals I cook include a variety of stirfrys, currys, salmon with pesto, lasagne, shepherds pie and sometimes fajitas as a treat.
Other changes I have made include cutting down on the amount of bread and potatoes I eat. This has partly been helped by having salads rather than sandwiches or jacket potatoes for lunch. Also when we have a sunday roast I will either have a small amount of mashed potato or sweet potato rather than a pile of roast potatoes. When I go for meals out now I always tend to check online at the restaurant's website before I go as most of them nowadays have their calories listed for each meal which allows me to see which are the healthier options on the menu. We only go out for special occassions so I will often just choose whatever I want without even considering the healthiness of the meal but having started looking at the calories for each sometimes I don't think it is worth having a really calorific meal when I would enjoy one much lower in calories just as much. The amount of calories in some of the meals that restaurants serve up does really shock me as they contain over 1000 calories in just one main course!
My main problem area was snacking. I found it really hard to snack healthily and I am not one of those people that can go for 4 or 5 hours between meals without eating anything. Snacks that I eat now include apples, grapes, yoghurts and cereal bars. I have also replaced crisps with salt and vinegar snack-a-jacks because they are much healthier and I prefer the taste of them. Finally, I have reduced the amount of chocolate/cake/puddings/sweet things that I eat which was really hard as I would naturally go to our 'treat' cupboard if I was ever hungry or once I'd finished my meal. I have now trained myself not to do this instinctively but do still have the occassional treat if I am really craving one.
This post was really just to highlight that people can still lose weight without going on one of these fitness bootcamps or crash diets and in a way which is much more sympathetic to your body as it does not cause it serious damage. Since I have been eating more healthily I have managed to lose just under half a stone and I really don't feel like I am missing out on anything as if I really want something then I will go ahead and have it!
