Changing My Mindset - Artful Eating

Hello everyone,

It's been a while. I know! I haven't updated on my fitness journal in around about five months, and while I haven't stopped trying to lose weight. My weight has remained at around the same number for months, and it is so frustrating.

If you've seen my previous posts, then you know that I've tried a lot of different tactics to lose weight. I've tried Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Rosemary Collins, Jane Plan, Exante, Detox, Gluten Free, Whole foods, Calorie Counting, 5:2 and so much more that I can't even think of right now. On top of that, I've been a member of a gym in the past, as well as doing various different exercise programs at home.

Despite all of this, today I weighed in at 11st 11 lbs. Which, is pretty much the weight I've been hovering around for a year now.

So, putting the failure of all the diet plans behind me. I'm tackling something new and approaching weight loss from a new angle.

I'm not going to diet.

Yeah, you heard that right. No restrictions, I can eat what I want when I want it and as much as I want. No calorie counting. No judging myself for eating that chocolate or for a Venti drink from Starbucks.

How am I going to do this and still expect to lose weight? Well, I'm going to change my mindset and follow the artful eating principals.

My mum first mentioned this approach to me after reading Artful Eating: The Psychology of Lasting Weight Loss by Karina Melvin and I was skeptical. Throughout all of my dieting, whenever I was fully sticking to any plan, I had one constant. I used MyFitnessPal to track my calories. On some of the plans, I was worried that I'd go over my calorie allowance, whilst on others, I was concerned I was going too low. So, I'd track everything and make sure my calories were looking good, rather than focusing on what those calories were going on. There were times when I'd cut down on my healthy dinner or skip it just so I could fit in a slice of cake! But, I'd eat the cake and track it so I felt like I should still be losing a bunch of weight. I didn't.

So, being the calorie counter that I was. I was nervous to follow a plan that was telling me I could eat anything I wanted, without counting calories, points, syns or anything else. I didn't have to log it anywhere. I just had to eat and enjoy it without attaching a number to it.

It took some convincing, but eventually, I decided to give it a try and then I got sick and couldn't keep any food down. So, today I am restarting properly now that I'm feeling better.

What does artful eating involve?

Well, I'm new to the idea and still learning, but the basics as I know them right now is that you can eat and enjoy the food you love. You don't count calories but you do need to follow some basic rules. Listen to your body, eat what you fancy and only eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full. This has also been an issue for me.

I got myself in the headspace where it would reach between midday and one thirty and I'd tell myself, it's lunchtime so it's time to eat and I'd make something and eat it, even if I wasn't hungry. I also, especially when it was a meal I particularly love (Indian Takeout) wouldn't stop eating when I was full. I didn't want to waste it so I'd cram myself full to the point of feeling unwell. But, recently I've been listening to my body more, and when I had Indian Takeout the other day, I genuinely felt full after eating about half, so I put the rest in the fridge and I had lunch for the next day sorted.

My focus now is going to be on nourishing my body with food that will make me feel good, but not restricting myself and telling myself I can't have something if I really want it. I just need to be mindful of how much of it my body really needs.

The only restrictions I have now, are gluten which I found I have a problem with so I've cut out completely, and dairy which affects my eczema so I have to limit my consumption of that. Beyond that, I'm going to eat and enjoy what I want and see where it takes me.

If you want to check out more about artful eating, there's more information on KarinaMelvin.com

Harissa Baked Feta | Recipe

Hi all,

This month I've been trying to add a little variety to my diet and experiment with some new things, and I wanted to share one of the recipes I threw together.

It's a super simple, healthy and tasty meal. Perfect for a quick lunch.

I love feta, but previously I've not really done anything to it. I have it cubed or crumbled over salads or sometimes pasta dishes and that's it. But, I wanted to try something new, so I was browsing Pintrest and I came across a baked feta recipe. I'd never thought to bake it before, so I was interested. The recipe I saw was for breaded baked feta, but I didn't want to do that since I'm currently gluten free, so I started looking around my kitchen for other things to try and I came up with this and I was so happy with the result. It was slightly gooey and tasted amazing! So, I wanted to share the recipe.

Harissa & Lime Baked Feta

& Salad

Ingredients

• 60g Feta 
• 2tsps Harissa Spices
• Juice of half a lime
• Salt and Pepper

For the salad

• Red onion
• Avocado
• Cucumber
• Spinach
• Cherry Tomatoes

*I added a gluten-free oatcake as well, but you can use any kind of cracker or leave this out.

Method

Cube the feta into small pieces. In a bowl, add the harissa spices and lime juice and mix to thoroughly coat each cube.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Line a baking tray with baking paper or foil and add the feta to the tray. Place in the center of the oven on gas mark 5 for 15 minutes.

While it bakes, chop your salad veggies and arrange (or toss) them into a bowl.

After the 15 minutes, take out the feta and serve!

Enjoy.

Until next time,

H.

Weekly Weigh In | January 17th

Hi all,

Another weigh-in came around and I had kind of high hopes. I was aiming to reach a loss of 2.2lbs, which I thought could be possible, considering everything I've been doing this past week.

I went gluten-free. I've been doing more pilates and I even got outside for a short walk, which wound up getting me sick again, but at least I burnt some calories doing it. I stayed within my calorie allowance every day and I've been doing the teatox.

If I was going to achieve a good loss, this was the week I felt sure I'd get it. Mid-week, I felt really good. Not health wise, but weight loss wise. I felt less bloated, more toned and I looked slimmer. I felt lighter and I thought my target was well within reach.

Then, a day before my weigh-in, I got my period. I started feeling so bloated again as well as other symptoms, which resulted in me getting on the scales today and being left disappointed.

I did lose, but I only lost 0.8lbs. Not what I was aiming for, but at least it's a loss. Still, I was disappointed, so I took to the internet to do some research and it turns out that during your period, you can gain anywhere between a pound and ten. So, the 0.8 loss seems better.

Here's hoping I can get it all off.

I'm switching my weigh in day to a Friday, so I'll check in then.

Until next time,

H.

Giving Up Gluten

Hi all,

I wanted to talk today about something new I've been trying for about a week now. I started suffering from a really bad virus a couple of weeks back. Intense headaches, stomach pains, rib pain, chest pain, nausea, and vomiting. It was bad and I'm still not feeling totally over it.

While I was feeling really unwell, I was finding that eating was making me feel so much worse. I'd be hungry, really hungry, but whenever I ate something it would make me feel terrible.

My mum, who's a trained nurse practitioner, suggested that I come off of gluten. She has a lot of health problems and food intolerances as well and she always sees benefits when she gives up gluten.

So, I've been giving it a go.

Giving up gluten is tough for me, a lot of my favorite foods are packed full of it. Like pizza, cakes, pasta, and bread. Now, these are mostly foods I'm supposed to be cutting out or limiting on my whole foods diet anyway, but on treat days these things would be my go-to. There are gluten-free options for all of these items, but I'm trying to go for more foods that are simply naturally gluten-free. Having said that, I am getting a gluten-free pizza today, but I'm going to try and limit the number of times I do things like that.

So far, it's hard to say if there have been any benefits. I haven't had my first weigh-in yet, so weight loss linked to it is yet to be seen. As for health benefits. I've just come down with a possible chest infection and I'm still getting intense headaches, but at this stage, it could be withdrawal from Gluten causing my headaches to be worse.

My first weigh-in is tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes and I'll keep you all posted on any health benefits I've been seeing.

Have you ever given up gluten? How did you find it? Let me know in the comments and please share and subscribe if you like this post.

Until next time,

H.

BooTea 14 Day TeaTox

Hi all,

Today I wanted to talk to you about a product I recently purchased. I've been hearing so much about tea tox's that I decided it was worth giving it a go. 

I picked out the Bootea 14-day teatox. I'm starting today and I'll be doing a week one update within my weigh in post next week and then a final thoughts post after the two weeks.

Now, I know that this isn't going to be some weight-loss wonder product, but what the website says is that I should feel more energized and motivated, which would be fantastic. I've also heard that it helps a lot with bloating, which I could use.

Above all else, I picked this up because I feel like I needed the cleansing. So, the plan is to follow this for the two weeks, coupled with sticking to calories, giving up gluten, hydrating a lot and doing some exercise. All of that together, I'm hoping will leave me feeling more energized and of course get me some weight loss.

Here's what you get in the 14-day box. I paid £9.99 at Boots and this was on a half-price sale. Other retailers have it at different prices.

For your money, you get 14-day time teas and 7 bedtime teas, one every other day. Which, I felt was pretty good for the price, considering I'd happily spend £3 or more on a tea at Starbucks.

I'm optimistic about how the two weeks will go and I'll check in soon.

Until next time,

H.

Weekly Weigh-In | January 10th

Hi all,

I had another week of feeling unwell, so the exercise hasn't been happening. The only day I've managed to get out was last Saturday, when I went for a bit of a walk and did some shopping and regretted it soon after. Not only because I felt so unwell once I got home, but also because while I was out I was feeling bad and needed a rest, so my sister and I decided to get some lunch.

I'd decided a couple of days before that I was going to give up gluten (I'll post about this soon), so I had to be careful when ordering, because my go-to at the cafe we were at, would be the American style pancakes with bacon and maple syrup! Not ideal.

So, trying to be healthier in a cafe where the bulk of their menu is paninis and baguettes. I opted to have an all-day breakfast. The virus/flu thing I have has been making me crave salt like crazy and the idea of sausages and bacon was so appealing. What I hadn't thought about was that the breakfast came with a slice of toast and the sausages probably weren't gluten free either.

It was also, a lot of calories! I basically ended up eating back all of the calories I'd burned by walking there and then ended up going 44 over for the whole day!

Monday I wound up going 71 calories over, whilst on Sunday I ate a large Indian meal which I couldn't even bring myself to track. The rest of the week, however, I'd been within my calorie budget, so I wasn't really sure what to expect this week.

I ended up losing weight, which is great! I lost 1.4 lbs and I couldn't be happier. I'd expected no more than half a pound, so seeing that number made me so happy.

The goals for this upcoming week is to completely eliminate gluten from my diet. Stick to my calories every day and try to get a little exercise in, even though I'm still not over this virus. I'm also going to be starting a teatox tomorrow, so check back for my initial post about that.

Until next time,

H.

Working Out In Winter

Hi all,

When it comes to losing weight, we all know that exercise plays a part and for me, it can be tough. I discussed in a previous post, that working out with my health condition is hard. One of the things that I do to keep fit is walking and I live in a beautiful area near the beach and countryside, but in winter, it's not always possible to go out and walk. Not unless I want to end up soaked through and freezing cold.

Keeping up a fitness routine in winter is hard, I don't want to be outside trekking through the wind and rain just to get a calorie burn. Which is why it's times like these that I really miss my treadmill.

For me personally, a treadmill was a great tool that helped me lose a lot of weight. It just wasn't practical to have one in my house, not when there are five adults trying to compete for space.

However, if you have the space then it's an incredible tool to have. It's the perfect place to walk and run inside and there are so many options to choose from.

Treadmills, which could seem monotonous to some, now offer so many different features. Some let you check your email, run along the French Rivera, plan a marathon, and claim a celebrity trainer as your personal running coach. 

But, with all of these features available and so many machines to choose from, where do you start?

Recently I was contacted by a member of Reviews.com, who have spent months evaluating dozens of machines currently on the market.

After scouring expert and buyer reviews, their team personally tested nine top contenders. In the end, they arrived at four top picks. 

• Best for runners.
• Best for walkers.
• Best for training.
• Best for entertainment features.

You can check out their list here.

Do you use a treadmill? If you do, let me know in the comments what you think of it and please share and subscribe if you like this post.

Until next time,

H.

Weekly Weigh In | January 3rd

Hi all,

I wasn't sure what to expect this week. I've had a little bit of an all over the place week where my diet is concerned. I've only tracked about half of what I've eaten and I know that one or two days I would have been over my points/calories. In fact, just with the items, I did manage to track on weight watchers, I was -24 weekly points!

I've also been unwell, not just with my P.O.T.S, but I've had some kind of virus which I'm still battling with. It's been making me feel so tired and my muscles hurting so much that I haven't been able to exercise and the headaches have been so bad that all I've really wanted to do is sleep. I've been pushing myself to keep up to date with all of my blogs and trying as best I can to eat healthily.

The highlight of the week decision wise was last night when I had the option of buying Chinese take-out for dinner, but despite feeling unwell, I opted to cook a roast chicken dinner. Much healthier.

The low point was probably the two times I binged on crackers, which admittedly aren't the worst thing I could have binged on. Only 1 point each and less than 50 calories, but I just ate so many of them and I did it twice in one week. 

Besides that, I had a couple of slip-ups which you can read more about in my Eating on the Go post.

So, after a week full of mixed experiences, I was incredibly happy to lose 2.4lbs. I hadn't been expecting that much because although I felt a little lighter, I thought I'd only manage about half a pound.

Let me know what your week was like in the comments below and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

H.

Eating On The Go

Hi all,

I don't run into the problem of eating out a lot. Usually, I'm at home, so I don't have to worry about sticking to my diet while out and about, but recently I was out shopping with my sister and parents and it was lunchtime. I got a serious case of 'I need food now' and defaulted to my instant setting of grabbing whatever was closest, which on that particular day, just so happened to be KFC.

So, I wanted to talk a little about damage control and what I failed to do, which I wished I had done at the time.

We live in a technology-driven world. I don't leave the house without my phone which has enough data for me to look things up. So, why when I had that capability didn't I look up the weight watchers points value and calories of items at KFC, before picking something out and guessing the values. Only, to look them up later and be shocked and upset but just how far off I was.

I wound up going over my points and calories that day, because not only did I underestimate my lunch, but also my order at Starbucks.

It would have been so easy to check the calories & points and avoid making bad decisions. I've proved before that I can have a treat out and still stay within my limits, but I can't do it if I'm trying to guess at what the points and calories will be.

I'm still learning. Sometimes it's much easier and more appealing to think I'll just deal with the damage later, but if I'm going to reach my goal weight by October, I need to start thinking and eating smarter and using the tools I have.

Let me know what your biggest hurdle is when trying to control your diet on the go, and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

H.