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

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.

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.

2017 | Progress...or Not.

Hi all,

It's been such a long time since I posted anything, but I really want that to change. The year is ending and I'm putting it behind me. What I've had is a year of ups and downs, flitting from one diet to the next and not really getting anywhere. So, I'm leaving that behind and getting refocuses, with my diet, with my blogs, everything!

You've all heard it before, new year, new me! Cliched? Yes. But, it's my current mentality. But first, before the new year starts, I'm going to go back on what happened in 2017.

Start Weight: 11st 10lbs

Highest Weight: 12st 5lbs (November 29th)

Lowest Weight: 11st 1.2lbs (March 6th)

Current Weight: 11st 12lbs 

Basically, I didn't achieve a thing. I've been up and down all year, never getting under 11st and my head has not been focussed at all. Throughout the year I've been tracking on and off with Myfitnesspal. I was on Jane Plan for a while, which I ended up not liking. I exercise on and off, which is difficult for me since my health is a factor but I could have worked harder. 

Looking back at this now, I'm mad at myself for wasting the entire year. I may not have gained a huge amount, but I'm 2lbs heavier now than I was when the year started.

Currently, in an attempt to get myself back on track I've joined Weight Watchers Online. I'm following their new flex plan and so far I'm getting pretty good results.

My first week I lost 8lbs, which is the most I have ever lost in one week before and I did that without much exercise. The second week I lost 1 lb, which was expected after such a good first week. My third week I wound up unwell and reaching for the comfort food. As a result, I gained 2lbs. This past week has been my fourth week on plan and I've followed it a lot better, though perhaps not tracking as accurately as I should have, so I'm a little nervous about my weigh in tomorrow morning.

Looking ahead, I'm feeling like I'm getting myself back into the right head space to lose the weight. I have 47lbs to lose and I want to lose it by October 2018, when I have a holiday booked with my family. It's a manageable goal, which I feel is important. In the past, I've become far too caught up in wanting the weight to disappear immediately, searching out the quick fixes. Lose 10lb in a week...and then keep losing that amount each week, but that's just not realistic.

I want to get healthy, or as healthy as I can with my current health problems. Quick fix diets aren't going to work for that.

For right now, what I'm going to do is follow the weight watchers flex plan, alongside tracking on MFP so that I can keep a track of my portions and calories. My diet is going to be mostly whole foods, with a few treats thrown in to keep me from losing my mind! I don't like to feel too constricted on diets, so it's important for me to have a little flexibility for the occasional Starbucks or chocolate bar.

As far as exercise goes, I'm going to be mostly focussing on walking, pilates, and as much cardio as I can handle. Mostly, I'll be working out at home with fitness videos on Youtube. Blogilates is one of my go-to's when I need a quick workout.

Right now I'm feeling positive, so hopefully, I can keep this up and next December, I'll be writing a much more exciting progress post.

Until next time,

Hannah

Pulsin Bar Review

Hi all,
It's been a while since I posted, but I have an interesting post to share today. I was contacted by Pulsin asking if I'd like to review some of their products. So, first off, I'd like to say a big thank you for Pulsin for sending me some bars to try.
This review will reflect my personal opinion about the products that I tried. If you'd like to find out more about the brand and what they offer, you can check them out HERE.

Review

Packaging

I really love the design of these products. When I opened the package they looked so appealing. It's definitely the kind of thing I'd be drawn to in a shop if I saw them, and I'm always on the lookout for healthy snack bars so this one would catch my eye.

Taste

I tried three different bars. Super Berry Raw Choc Brownie. Orange Choc Chip Protein Booster and the Vanilla Choc Chip Protein Booster. I was also sent a box of three Peanut ones, however, I don't like peanuts so these were gifted to my sister.

Vanilla Choc Chip

This one was definitely my least favorite of the bunch. I didn't like the taste much, but the thing which disappointed me the most was the texture. I've had a few different bars before, with varying degrees of success, but this one was probably my least favorite of any brand I've tried. The texture was very dry, leaving a film on my tongue that was unappealing. It's definitely not a bar I'd choose again.

Orange Choc Chip

Better than the Vanilla one, I actually liked the taste of this one a lot more. There was a definite taste of orange and the chocolate taste was pretty decent too. Though not as dry as the Vanilla one, this bar still has a drier texture than I'd like and still left a bit of a weird film on my tongue. However, the taste was good so I may consider getting this one again.

Super Berry

My favorite of the bunch. I found both the taste and texture of this bar to be so much better than the others. The berry flavor shone through well and it was a lot moister than the other two bars. I liked that there were pieces of fruit inside the bar, which definitely helped with the moisture. Of all the bars, this is the one I'd be most likely to try again.

Feeling Like a Failure

Is it a healthy attitude, to label yourself a failure? Probably not, and yet that's what I'm finding myself doing. Not only have I not posted for ages, but the reason I haven't posted, is my biggest failure. You've probably guessed what it is, my weight.

Not that long ago, just a few short months to be exact, I had just got back into the eight stones, for the first time since I was seventeen. I was so thrilled, and then it all went wrong.

For reasons I still don't understand, I not only stopped following the whole foods plan which I know I feel better on, but I also stopped following any diet, and overeating again. I've tried over and over these past few weeks to get back on track, and I'll do it for a day or two, and then slip up and start eating all the wrong foods in very large quantities.

As far as tracking goes? I've fallen into habits of tricking myself. I reach the point where I've logged enough food to reach or slightly go over my calorie allowance, and then I'll stop logging food and yet I don't stop eating it.

From pastries to sugary drinks, pizza to copious amounts of chocolate. I've been grabbing at all of it, and I don't know why. Yes, it tastes good, but so does the healthy food. Yes, it's convenient, especially when I'm having poor health days, and can't cook anything. However, I could batch cook in advance on good days, so that the healthy food is just as quick and easy to get someone to grab for me.

My weight keeps creeping up, then I'll get upset, lose a pound or two of it, and then put it back on again. It's gotten to the point where I'm back up at 9st 6lbs. I've been yo-yoing between this weight and a pound heavier for weeks.

Exercise has basically disappeared from my daily life. I always have a new excuse, and sometimes it's a good one, like I'm really unwell (I've been having a lot of bad days lately). Sometimes, it's awful excuses, such as, I'm binge watching Lie to Me on Netflix, and I don't want to turn it off to do a workout. Told you it was an awful excuse.

I keep trying to motivate myself. I browse weight loss tips, quotes etc on pinterest. I tell myself I'll follow a certain challenge. I make charts for my wall. I set myself goals of when to reach goal weight. Then I ignore all of it and reach for a large bar of chocolate.

Today, I ate 90% wholefoods, only slipping up with two items. I stayed within my calories and I felt so proud of myself. It reminded me that it isn't all that hard to stick to a diet plan. I just need to get my determination back, because I am so close to goal (though not as close as I was, which is upsetting).

All in all, recently I've been feeling like a failure. I've lost so much, so why can't I get this last bit off? Why can't I follow the plan now?

My hope going forward, is that I can slowly get back into whole foods, and try my best to stay within my calories everyday. As well as get more exercise. I also hope to write more here, and not shy away whenever my weight starts creeping up.

So, the same old refrain from me. I'm doing bad. I hope to do better.

Maybe this time I'll mean it.

Exante | My Thoughts

Hi all,

If you saw my last post, then you'll know that last week I decided to try out Exante diet products. I mentioned in that post, that the products weren't what I was expecting, as I thought it would be prepared ready meal style food, which I've seen other diet companies doing. So going in I was a little hesitant.

Now, a week later, I wanted to tell you how I got on.

In short. I didn't.

On day one, I went in feeling cautiously optimistic, and determined to stick to the plan. I started by having one of the pancake sachets for my breakfast, which tasted ok but not great, and it was significantly smaller than I'd been expecting.

For lunch I decided to try out the coconut shake, which I really did not like, and by this time I was so hungry. My mom, who's a nurse practitioner, was already worried about the extremely low calories, so after having two products, I gave up. I just couldn't. I was so hungry.

I have used a few of the products this past week, but I've been adding in real food as well to get to my 1,200 calorie allowance, because I didn't want to be that hungry on a diet. To me, if you're feeling that hungry, then it's not a healthy diet.

I lost a pound this past week, but I can't say it's because of Exante at all, because I didn't really use many of the products. The ones I did try, weren't great, and I was disappointed, because it was nothing like what was advertised on their site. As show, by the image example below of what's on their site, and what the products actually look like.

All in all. I was really not impressed by this diet plan. The food didn't taste great, the portions were really small, and it was nothing like what I thought I'd be getting. I am much happier following a healthy eating plan, of whole foods.

Exante: Tester Week

Hi all,

I feel like I've been writing nothing but a string of posts, saying how badly I'm going and how I'm planning to get back on track. So, yeah, this is unfortunately another one of those posts.

At the start of the year, I had 11lbs left to go to get to goal weight. For one week, I stuck to my wholefoods diet really well, only straying from it about twice. I started exercising more, though not as much as maybe I could have, and was determined to do well. I lost a pound that week, and I was disappointed that it wasn't more, but determined to keep going.

Then, cookies, pizza, chocolate and takeaway happened. The difficulty is, if those foods are around my house, I have very little self control. I live with my family, five adults in one house, so I don't have sole control over what food is sat in view. So then I eat it, enjoy it, feel terrible for doing it, and then do it all over again. It's a problem.

The other issue, is that on my good health days, I'm in charge of the cooking, but when I have my frequent bad days, it's harder to get a good meal. My parents both work, as does my sister, and my brother has been unwell himself recently. Making it hard to avoid going to the local takeaway.

So after week two of January fell into a pit of eating so badly, not just bad food but over calories, to the point that I'd log food into myfitnesspal until it showed me going over, then I'd just stop adding but not eating. I gained 3lbs on the scale today. I was gutted.

I knew something had to be done, and I thought what better way to get myself kick started again, than to have all my meals already planned out and made up. So I started looking into different diet companies, like DietChef and Exante.

I couldn't afford to go for DietChef, and I was drawn to Exante when I noticed they had a tester week for just £20. That gives you one weeks worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's a VLCD plan, which I've never done before, and I am a little worried about dropping my calories so much. However, I am only going to do it for a week, starting tomorrow.

One thing I'll say from unboxing today, is that it's not what I was expecting. Maybe I should have looked a little deeper into it, but I didn't. I was expecting to have ready meal type food. Instead, it was pouches of dried food. Very small pouches. I'm a little concerned.

I'll be following the Exante plan for one week, eating three pouches of food a day, which I believe total about 700 calories. So lower than I've ever done before on a diet, with my lowest daily allowance usually set at 1,200.

I'm hoping that I'll lost around 3-5lbs this week, and I will be trying to add in as much exercise as I can. Which is proving hard at the moment, after injuring my ribs after a bad fall. So we'll see how that goes.

I'll post an update at the end of the week, letting you know what I thoughts of the products, how much weight I lost, and also my overall thoughts on the diet.

Call me Yo-Yo

Hi all,

I cannot believe it has taken me so long to update, during November, if I was writing, I was doing to for NaNoWriMo so my blogging kind of got lost. Sorry!

I'd love to come on here and say that in the four weeks since I last posted, I've managed to reach my weight goal, which was only 7lbs away. This isn't the case, because I've hit a rough patch of yo-yo dieting that's driving me crazy.

My health has been rough again, I came down with another virus, so that is definitely affecting my ability to workout, but my eating has been crazy bad recently too.

Ever since getting into the 8st's, I've been yo-yoing between 8st12 and 8st13, with my last weigh in putting me at the higher number again. I need to step it up and get myself motivated again, because I am so close to reaching my goal, but I just keep on wasting time bouncing between a pound gain and a pound loss.

I've been trying to do as much exercise as I can, but being unwell has really made this harder, so I'm barely doing anything. The worst thing, though, is that I've gone off the rails with my eating.

I'm talking, going over my calories most days. Eating chocolate cake, ice cream, pies, chips, and basically nothing that could be considered a wholefood, which is what I'm trying to stick too!

There's one month left of the year, and I need to lose 2lbs a week in order to reach my goal by the end of 2015. I'm not all that confident (hence my more realistic goal of getting there by mid Feb when I go on holiday with my family), however, I am going to try really hard to get back into exercising and eating right.

I haven't come this far, to give up now that I'm so close. I just need to remind myself that more often.

I'm going to try and be much better at keeping this site updated. I've been bad recently, and I want that to stop. So I'm throwing that into my goals for December list.

Please comment below if you want to share your weight loss/fitness journey, and share this post if you like it.

Quick Little Update

Hi all,

It has been a while since I wrote anything on here, and I am so sorry for that. I honestly don't have much of an excuse, I just haven't been blogging even though I have a bunch of posts to do, not just here but on all of my sites.

Anyway, I wanted to post a quick update, because things have moved along since my last post. I was sort of in a bad place when I last wrote. I was feeling unwell with my health condition, and it wound up with me having a virus for almost two weeks, which made my POTS symptoms so much worse.

I'm all over that now, though, and I'm back to having a good mix of good and bad days with my health. I am still collapsing a lot, but some days, like today, I make it through the whole day without a collapse. Yay.

I've been stepping up the exercise more. Specifically, I've been doing a lot of blogilates on YouTube. I love these videos because they provide great toning, they're really challenging, and I can pick the areas to target. They're also great, because most of the exercises are done on a mat, and it's always best for my health when I can workout in a sitting or lying position.

I've also been doing cardio with my treadmill whenever I'm up to it, and using the bike machine too.

I'm getting a lot stronger, which I love. Exercises I couldn't even do one of a few months ago (lower leg lifts, cheerleader L's, push ups, etc...) I can now manage to get through the whole section of them in the videos. 

Last week, I lost 4lbs, which was incredible. I was aiming for 3, because that was what I needed to lose to get into the 8st's, and getting 4 was just so unexpected and exciting. So I'm currently sitting at 8st12lbs, just 7lbs left to go to hit goal, and my aim is to reach that by the end of November.

As far as November is concerned. I'm going to be keeping up with the pilates, by following the Blogilates workout calendar for the month (arm days are tough!), and I'm also going to keep up with the cardio, and to the Journey to Splits Challenge by Blogilates, which gives you stretches to do each day, to work your way towards being able to do the splits at the end of the challenge. I'm pretty excited to increase my flexibility.

So, that's where I'm at right now. In a pretty good place, even if my diet could be better. I'm sticking to calories, but not always with the best kinds of foods. My health, is as always up and down and unpredictable, but it's good to be back to just dealing with POTS, and not having a virus on top of it.

Hopefully I'll have another positive update for you after my weigh in on Saturday. Until then, I hope whatever fitness goals you have, are going well. I'd love to hear about your weight loss/fitness journeys, so please leave a comment, and don't forget to subscribe to my site for updates on my journey, and if you like what you're reading, please share. 

Shakes, Headaches, and Too Much Pie!

Hi all,

I'm still on my mostly liquid diet at the moment. I have a dentist appointment of the 24th, and I'm hoping soon after that, I'll be back onto solids.

As of right now, I can manage shakes, soups and soft foods. Which is where I've hit into a problem. One of the foods, soft enough for me to handle, is pie, and if you've read previous posts of mine, you'll know that pie is one of my biggest weaknesses. I can't say no.

I love pastry, and fruit pies are one of my favorite things to eat. However, following the diet plan I'm meant to be following, I'm not supposed to eat pie. So it's bad enough that I'm eating it, worse still that I'm eating so much of it. I have a slice of pie pretty much every day, some days more than one slice.

So far, last weigh in I lost another pound, leaving just ten to go. However, since then, I've spent the weekend going way over my calories, and yesterday eating an alarming three slices of pie! This is the major issue I need to deal with.

As far as other food goes. Mostly I've been having Tesco UltraSlim meal replacement shakes, which are tasty and actually do keep me feeling full. So that's a positive. I've been having these mostly for my breakfast and lunch, and then having a soup, mashed potato or some other soft food for my dinner.

Another negative, is that I've been getting a lot of really bad headaches recently. I don't know if this is because my diet is just a little weird at the moment, or because I'm coming down with something, but my usual everyday headaches, have been getting more painful, and while on my proper diet I had some days without headaches, now I'm not getting those days.

So a few ups and downs recently. I need to get my head more focussed, get rid of the pie, and lose those last ten pounds.

A Strange Diet

Hi all,

It's been a while since I last posted anything here, and this is in part due to the fact that despite my best intentions, I have not got back onto my diet properly.

In fact, for the past week or so, I've been on a very odd diet. One born out of necessity. The necessity being a really bad toothache. I haven't been able to eat solid food in a little over a week, and I'm still in the process of having multiple dentist appointments, and antibiotics to fix this problem.

As a result, my eating habits have been a little odd. I've mostly been sticking to soups, smoothies and very soft foods like scrambled eggs for the past week, and in terms of weight loss, it's been going good. This past week I lost two pounds, taking me to just eleven pounds left to go to reach my goal weight.

My course of antibiotics runs out tomorrow, so I'll need to head back to the dentist to get some x-rays done, and then finally get the treatment I need. So it's still going to be a while before I can eat solid food.

In light of this, I've decided to try out Tesco's Ultra Slim Shakes. I figured since I'm drinking most of my meals anyway, I may as well try out these shakes, and see if it'll help me shift the last eleven pounds.

The downside of this, is that although my weight loss has been ok, I haven't been able to exercise at all because the pills I'm taking for the infection, make me feel really unwell.

So, I'm hoping that by this time next week, I'll be back onto solid foods, and back on the treadmill.

Less than 100%

Hi all,

I wanted to write a little update about how it's been going following the principals of Deliciously Ella, which I started a little over a month ago now. You can see my post about starting it, and what it involves here.

For almost a month, I stuck to it entirely. There were a couple of slips, when I didn't realize a certain ingredient was in something, like the cranberries I bought, and my brother noticed had been sugar coated!

As with any diet, though, I think it's really tough to just jump right in, and not have any slips. Especially when you're going into something that requires such a huge change, and cutting so many different items.

My slip came this past week. I had a really busy weekend the first week of August, and for the first a while I stuck completely to plan, but then on one day I decided I just couldn't come home and cook something, so I allowed myself to have one cheat day. This involved KFC, which is probably one of the worst things I could have gone for, but it tasted good, so I told myself, just one day and I'll get back to it tomorrow.

Unfortunately, this one lapse, led to several more over the next week. I was eating chocolate mini rolls, pizza, burgers. I just couldn't say no. Now, I was only eating badly for one meal a day, and a couple snacks, my breakfast and lunch remained good. The problem I was having, is that while I am feeling more energized since being on this diet, my health still isn't good. I get really tired, and often ill by late afternoon/evening time, and some days I'm still bad all day. So it's a lot harder for me, to cook something in the evening.

What I need to get into, is being more organized, and having some meals prepped that can be cooked easily, or frozen and can be heated up.

My weight loss hasn't been affected too badly by my slips. I lost a pound this past week, and a pound the week before. So now I'm down to having just one stone left to go, which is exciting.

From today, I am determined to get back on track fully, and I plan on stocking up on some good choices tomorrow, so I'm not reaching for the cake and pizza.

So, that's where I am currently. I'm still learning, but I'm hoping it'll stick soon.

As for fitness, I did 15k on the exercise bike yesterday, which was the first proper exercise I've done in a while. I need to get back into eating fully healthy and running on the treadmill! I also want to get more into pilates.

I'll update again soon on how it's going.

Recipe | Harrisa Spiced Sweet Potato Salad

I love warm salads, and the other day I was rummaging around in the kitchen, trying to find something that would be warm, comforting, and yet still healthy. This harissa spiced sweet potato salad is what I came up with, and it was delicious, and only 236 calories.

It's really quick and easy to make, and really tasty too.

Cut the sweet potato into cubes, place on a baking tray with a little oil (I used coconut butter), and add half a tablespoon of harissa spices. Mix together and place in the over at Gas Mark 5, for 20 minutes or until soft.

While that cooks, chop up 1 cup of raw spinach and place in a dish. Add half a can of drained chickpeas, season with half a tablespoon of harissa spices, salt, and pepper.

Once the sweet potato is soft, remove from the oven and add to the salad.

Enjoy!

Let's Try Something Whole

Hi all,

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about getting healthy. For me, when I started this weight loss journey, it was primarily about that. Weight loss. I knew I wanted to be healthier as well, fitted, more toned etc, only I never truly believed that I could be healthy. Not fully.

When I was sixteen, I was diagnosed with an illness called POTS and it completely changed my life. You can read more about how it affected me, by clicking here. But in short, I lost my good health, and that's been really hard. 

So while I've been dieting, I've hoped that if I exercise more, I'll feel a little better, but I was slim when I was diagnosed, so I never truly believed I could be healthy. Over the past few days, my outlook on this has absolutely changed. I now hope that I can be healthy, and I mean, off my medications, able to go out on my own, and get a job kind of healthy.

This has all become possible, because of a blogger that my mum found while looking into different diets. She came across the blog and book Deliciously Ella, and started to read a little about her. She's a woman, who also had POTS, and started following a wholefoods, plant based diet, in order to feel better. It worked. Two years on, she was off her medications and living a normal life.

So that's what I'm going to be trying from here on out. Gone are the processed foods, the sugar, gluten and dairy that's been in my diet for so long. I'm going back to basics, and while I will be eating a little fish and chicken along with it, primarily my diet will be plant based.

I'll be sticking to wholefoods, organic as much as I can. Eating more fruit, veggies, and things like chia seeds, almond butters, and wonderful smoothies.

I'm going to be having food in it's purest form, in the hopes that it might do for me, what it's done for Ella, and somewhere in the next couple of years, I could be healthy.

Along the way, I'll be sharing my progress, and some recipes I try. Both ones I find from other blogs and books, and some I create out of whatever I have in the kitchen.

I have no doubts that it's going to be really hard. I'm a sugar junkie at heart, but I'm also determined. I've been struggling to find diet inspiration for a while now, and what better inspiration, than getting my health back.

Smoothies and an Update

Hi all,

So it's been a while since I wrote something on here, and it's not because I've given up on the diet. I just had no internet for a little over two weeks! It's back up and running now, so I thought I'd do a quick update.

I'm currently sitting at 9st10lbs, and I'm really excited to get my weight into the double digits, hopefully this week.

I'm trying something new for July. My sister decided to do a 30 day smoothie challenge, drinking one smoothie a day, along with regular healthy meals. She asked me if I wanted to join in, and so that's what I'm doing.

Yesterday I had a grape, apple and spinach smoothie which was delicious. Today I opted for a mango and kale one, which again was really good. 

I'm hoping this will be a good way to get more fruit and vegetables in my diet, and make me stop reaching for sweet treats like chocolate and cakes.

It's no secret that I have a very big sweet tooth, and I need to quit this habit and swap it for healthier snacks.

I need to exercise more, though, because this week I've barely done anything.

So, here's hoping that this last 19lbs will go soon.

I'll Have ALL the Calories. Thanks!

Hi guys,

I'm writing this after two really bad days of calories. I'm seriously mad at myself, because this past week, I was so focused. I did a lot of workouts. I was better with what I was eating, and even though I had a day or two where I overate a little, I made sure to make up with it by exercising. 

I had a goal in mind, to lose two pounds this week, and then Thursday and Friday happened. Things went... Badly.

Part of the reason it's been bad, is that I'm in charge of cooking in my house, so when I'm having bad health days and can't do it, my brother takes over. However, recently we've both been unwell, and the rest of my family hasn't been feeling great either. So nobody really felt up to cooking, especially since in my house, it's usually three different dinners because of people's food preferences.

So the natural conclusion, was let's get a takeaway. 

My daily goal for calories is 1,200

Thursday.

I was good all day. I woke up with my mind set on having fruit, veggies, and protein. Breakfast and lunch, I was doing great. Here's a little look at what I had.

Breakfast - Kiwi, Scrambled Eggs (small portion). (153 Calories)

Morning Snack - Omega Booster Seeds, Coffee with coconut sugar. (205 Calories)

Lunch - Homemade Tuna Burgers, Homemade Cauliflower and Feta Frittas (roasted not fried) 455 Calories)

Then dinner happened.

Dinner - KFC Wicked Zinger Box Meal (Corn cob and Diet Pepsi) (1,010 Calories)

Total Calories (1,823) 

Friday

I woke up with good intentions, but since when do they get me anywhere.

Breakfast - Alpro smooth chocolate soya pudding (115 Calories)

Morning Snack - Jelly Babies (5 sweets), Wheat Free Apple Pie. (320 Calories)

Lunch - Ramen (94 Calories)

Dinner - McDonalds Taste of America New York Classic Burger Meal Large. Mocha Frappe with whipped cream. (1,240 Calories) 

Total Calories (1,769) 

So it's safe to say that I'm not happy with myself for continuing to go over my calories. Especially since this morning at weigh in. I gained three pounds! I'm so mad at myself.

I wanted, in relation to this, to talk a little about choices. I made some really bad choices the past couple of days, and I've paid for it on the scales. So now I'm regretting everything I did. Here's the thing. We were eating out, but that didn't mean I had to eat badly. Both KFC and McDonalds offer more than one salad option, and I even considered getting them, but suddenly as I was giving my order to my dad, I was asking for things really far away from a salad and diet drink. It was like I gave up on my diet and just said, I'll have all the calories, thanks!

If I'd opted to have a salad and diet drink, I could have had a meal that was under 300 calories and still tasty. If I'd felt like being a little bad, I could even have gone for a sugary drink with the salad, and still I would have saved myself so many calories.

The McDonalds burger I had, alone was almost 700 calories, and then adding on a drink with whipped cream, and fries. Insane.

I'm not saying not to treat yourself, because sometimes you just want a treat, but I need to learn to be wiser. If I've had something higher in calories during the day, don't eat a high calorie dinner. If you have extra calories for dinner, then have something like McDonalds if you want, but don't use all or more than all of your daily allowance on one meal.

Next time someone suggests eating out, I'll have to remember the number on the scale this morning, and ask for a salad!

Positive Progress: Finally!

Hi all,

As you know from my previous posts, I've kind of been losing motivation, slipping with my weight loss, and generally not feeling great. So, as of my last post, I decided I needed to refocus. I had just gained two pounds, and I wasn't happy with that at all. So I promised I would cut the junk food, stop going over calories, and be better in general.

I didn't actually manage to kick all the bad habits. Turns out, apple pie is hard to say no to. However, I was more concious of what I was eating, and went over calories maybe once. I did step up the exercise, though not as much as I could have. 

My goal was simple, lose the two pounds I'd put on. So I was thrilled, when after a semi-good week of diet and exercise, I got on the scale and I'd lost three pounds. It was truly a great feeling, that not only had I undone the bad week, but also forged ahead with my weight loss.

So, this helped my motivation a tonne, and I'm back to eating healthier foods, staying within my calorie allowance, and exercising.

One thing which has really been helping, is that my mum and I joined together and bought a treadmill for our living room. It's so great having that and the exercise bike to use, along with our small supply of weights, resistance bands and a few other bits and pieces.

I don't get to use it as much as I would like, because of my health restrictions, but on my good days, I can normally get in a good thirty minutes, So that's helping with my cardio.

I'm hoping to see about two pounds loss next week, but with just twenty one pounds left to go, I'll be happy with any loss I can get.

Kicking the Habit...I Mean It This Time

Hi guys,
As you may remember from my last post, I've not been doing fantastically recently. However I have some good news, I managed to kick the habit of eating KFC and Belgium Buns all the time. Bad news, I've swapped it for McDonald's and Apple Pie.
Oi! I don't know what has happened to my motivation, but today marks the start of a new week, and I fully intend to kick the bad habits.
No more eating over my calories. Restrict the amount of junk I eat. Maybe even try to eliminate it.
I want to get back into working out, because I've been sick for the past two weeks, but I finally feel healthy enough to tackle a workout.
Today, the sun is shining. I'm feeling motivated, and I want to get back on track with my weight loss. Today is the day to do it. It's salads, water and workouts this week.

Losing Motivation

Hi guys,

It's not been going well recently. This past week I lost a pound, but for the two weeks prior to that, I stayed the same. It's not awful, I'm at least not gaining the weight back, but I've completely lost focus.

While some family were visiting, I broke my detox and ate cake. Not a huge deal. I planned on getting right back into the diet, and sticking to it strictly for a while longer. That didn't work.

For a few weeks now, I've not only been off of detox, but I've also lost complete focus with my diet. I've been going over calories a lot. I've been eating the wrong kinds of food, including KFC Burrito's, Belgium Buns, and Chocolate. I've been sick, so I haven't been able to exercise at all. 

Honestly, I'm shocked that I haven't gained weight recently.

From today, I'm hoping to refocus and get myself back on track. I have a goal in place, that by the end of June, I'd like to be in the 8 stones again, which means losing 1 stone between now and then. 

I need to work out a way to kick the habit of overeating again, and to do that I need to stop going after the high calorie treats.

How do you deal with lack of focus?