Biggest change

Hey :-)

I’d say the biggest change for me has been actually committing to losing weight and finding deeper, more meaningful reasons to me this time around. Also I've accepted a few things in particular and it's actually been a real help:

1. Losing weight isn’t a quick thing. I’m not going to be at my goal weight within a month and be fitting into everything in my wardrobe that’s too small straight off the bat – even though I’d love to be lol. There are no quick fixes and I’ve got to be patient and accept that if I truly want to lose the weight I have to understand that it’s a longitudinal process.

2. I’m going to have tough days where I don’t follow the plan – I might eat the wrong things and miss the gym. Those days don’t make me a failure. They don’t make what I’m trying to do futile. They aren’t an excuse to ruin the rest of the week and start again on Monday. They are a bump in a road, perfectly acceptable because I’m human and life doesn't follow my plan all of the time and in the grand scheme of things tomorrow is a new day and yesterday’s mistake makes very little difference.

3. I will get fed up of the process being slow. Of not being able to eat what I want. Of watching my friends and family eat what they want. Of craving things I can’t have on certain days. Of not losing as much as I'd like to on certain weeks. When things like this happen I have to be kind to myself and actually say a little internal “well done, you’re doing great. Now go have some grapes instead of a chocolate bar and quit feeling sorry for yourself” lol :P

4. Its ok to have days off! I can’t and don’t want to follow a completely healthy regime all of the time and a couple of days off a week are really good for me because if I can’t enjoy some of the things I really like then what’s the point? Plus days off give my body a rest and me some treats to look forward to. They also make going out to dinner and little things like having popcorn at the cinema a lot more fun – but that might just be me lol. They are just ‘days off’ though and not weeks off lol. They can also be flexible. They don’t have to be weekends – they can be on a Wednesday night for a random take away and on a Friday morning for an indulgent breakfast if I want. They can be as flexible as I am.

5. It’s a permanent lifestyle change not a diet that lasts until I’m where I want to be. When I’m at my goal weight I don’t get to go back to eating crap and pretending the gym doesn’t exist. When I’m at my goal weight I will continue to live a healthy life at a healthy weight and maintain all the good things I’ve implemented. I may not have to be as strict but being at my goal weight isn't an excuse to go backwards.

6. I can still eat things I really enjoy and I don’t have to be hungry I just have to make a few changes. The chicken I like for dinner – just without the jacket potato loaded with cheese and butter and with the spinach salad instead. The tuna mayo I like at lunch – just with onion and light mayo on wholemeal crackers instead of on sandwiches made of thick white bread.

7. I don’t have to do exercise I hate. 40 minute runs and 30 minutes on the stair machine are going to keep me from the gym not make me go there!!!! I can still do cardio, keep my heart rate high and keep in a fat burning zone but without killing myself on machines I hate while counting down every single second and dreading coming back tomorrow. The elliptical trainer is my new best friend lol. I also don't have to spend hours and hours in the gym. An hour 4 days a week with a good mix of cardio and strength training is more than enough. This is a marathon not a sprint.

That’s quite a long list but I thought I’d share the things that have really helped me this time. If you can take anything from all of that up there lol I'd say tailor make the weight loss process to you so that you know you’re going to want to stick to it and be kind to yourself along the way :-)