Sugar, diets, exersise and weightloss
So it pains me to tell you this dear readers but I have become rather overweight! Not that I have ever been stick thin or anything fuck that. I am not swayed by magazine and TV images of so called 'perfect' women as I do not read magazines or watch TV and know that it is all bullshit anyway. I have always had a bit of meat on my bones but within the healthy range for my height and felt comfortable. But after 4 years away in countries that don't sell aisle upon aisle of biscuits, crisps and cake this last 10 months back in the UK has seen me indulge myself somewhat. I also stopped smoking a year ago which has had an effect on weight gain I'm sure, having never really weighed myself in the last few years I can only guess that I've put on about 2 stone (28lbs/12.7kg). So after a few months of feeling fat and knowing I was too overweight I decided that the 1st of January was D for diet day and at 44 years old I have gone on a diet for the first time in my life!
Well it's not really a diet, not in the sense of eating hardly anything for a few weeks or taking pills or potions for a while, I am also not living on low calorie food, nor have I joined slimming world or weight watchers. I am doing what we should all be doing anyway, cutting out unnecessary sugar and fat, eating no meat or fish (I had been proper vegetarian but in the last 7 years had seen my fish intake go up), eating very little dairy (I would quite like to go vegan at some point but am taking it slowly), eating loads of fresh fruit and vegetables, drinking no alcohol (for a while) and taking regular exercise. This seems to be working, I lost 7lb in 4 weeks which I am happy with although I know strict diets, pills and potions let you loose weight faster but rarely to the people doing them keep the weight off and usually end up putting more back on.
So for anyone who wants a more sensible way to loose weight and who is committed to changing their diet and lifestyle in the long term I will explain in a little more detail what I have done so far and will keep posting updates every 4 weeks when I weigh myself to see how well my plan works.
1. Cut out added sugar - I had 2 sugars in my tea and ate lots of biscuits and cake. I have stopped drinking the same tea and now have fruit tea with no sugar added. For the first week or two it was pretty horrible but I have been surprised how quickly my taste has got used to not having hot drinks so sweet. By week 4 I could have an expressо with no sugar something I never thought possible! I do have a sweet tooth and have always loved biscuits and cakes I have cut these out entirely for the first 4 months of my healthy eating plan (except a slice of cake at a 90th birthday last week!) but will have the occasional one now and then. As I am weaning myself off sugary foods I feel like I will find sweet things more sickly that I did before. In fact the other evening Simon made some crumpets with golden syrup on and I tasted a bit and it just seemed too sweet. 4 weeks ago I would have eaten 2 or 3 crumpets soaked in syrup. I think it just shows that you can train your taste so if having a sweet tooth is your downfall you just have to get through the first few weeks and then your taste will start to change.
2. Cut out unnecessary fat - Apart from the biscuits and cakes already mentioned above the other main sources of fat in my diet were dairy which we will look at more closely in the dairy section. I have also cut out crisps and instead of having my normal crunchy oat cereal with a yogurt on top for breakfast I have a banana.
3. No meat or fish - I became vegetarian about 10 years ago as I was opposed to factory farming, intense farming and the use of hormones and antibiotics. After 3 years I started eating fish again and have swung between not eating much fish to having it nearly every day. Despite vegetarian friends warning me of the high levels of mercury and fish stocks being depleted I kept eating it. I have now cut out fish again for health reasons but mainly for humane reasons as I feel humans are doing so much damage to the planet and to our fellow animals for our food. If you can watch the documentary called Earthlings. It certainly puts things in perspective and has encouraged me to be a much better vegetarian and move towards veganism.
4. Very little dairy - So I wanted to cut out diary anyway as a move to becoming vegan but have not managed that quite yet. I have cut down considerably though and this has defiantly helped my weight loss. I used to eat a cheddar cheese sandwich every day now I have one once a week and have soup the rest of the time. I used to eat 4 eggs a week and now have 1 a week. I have cut out milk completely but that is more for the going vegan side of things rather than loosing weight as I only had a splash of milk in a cup of tea. I used to have a yogurt every day now I do not buy them at all.
5. No alcohol - I am going without alcohol for the first 4 months of my healthy eating plan. I have never been a big drinker, for a long time I didn't really drink at all but the last few years I have had a glass of red wine every day which is meant to be ok so no worries there but in the last few months it has crept up to half a bottle a night which is still not a lot by a lot of peoples standards but too much for me and also fattening! So until Easter I will not touch a drop and then will go back to my one glass a night except for special occasions when I might have another glass, after that I'm asleep anyway so no problem about drinking any more!
6. Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables -It goes without saying really. We all know the health benefits of fruit and vegetables and so I have upped my intake swapping cereal for a banana in the mornings, having an apple after dinner and eating other fruit and raw vegetables, mainly carrots during the day. I also make sure I have vegetables with most of my dinners in one form or another. If you find getting enough fruit and vegetables difficult get a juicer and make juices. You can fit so much more in a juice and it is really easy to get your 5 a day in a juice as well as having some more at mealtimes.
7. Regular exercise -I have never been sporty, never enjoyed it and have never liked exercising. For a few months a couple of times in my thirties I went to an aerobics class a couple of times a week which was ok but for whatever reason (I cant really remember) I didn't stick to it. My sister (who is very sporty) suggested I try power walking, as I like walking anyway I thought I would give it a go. Armed with an app on my phone to time me and record my route I set off on day 1, I did something like a mile in 20 minutes which is hardly a power walk! I read up about walking and found that a power walk was much faster than I was going but that just a 20 minute brisk walk is beneficial to health and can help with weight loss. On day 2 or 3 I was a minute faster per mile and walked for 30 minutes. I did this for a week getting slightly faster each day. On week 2 I walked for 40 minutes, on week 3 I did 50 minutes and on week 4 I did 60 minutes. Now into week 5 I am sticking with an hour, one hour of brisk walking a day is enough for me and is enough to keep a bit more healthy and burn a few calories off. I seem to have hit a barrier with getting any faster at the moment and am walking at about 16.20 minutes per mile but my aim is to get to 15 minutes a mile.
8. Normal main meal with no restrictions - I have a banana for breakfast, soup for lunch (one day I might have a cheese sandwich) but no restriction on my main meal. I try and eat healthily but once a fortnight will have homemade pizza for instance. I have no restriction on portion size for most things either.
Anyway as I said I will update every time I weigh myself which is every 4 weeks. I don't agree with watching the scales every day and do not own scales so go to Boots every 4 weeks and weigh myself there. On Wednesday 31st December I was 11st 10lb, on Wednesday 28th January I was 11st 3lb, next weigh in will be Wednesday 25th February, wish me luck!
Thanks for reading :) xxx
Well it's not really a diet, not in the sense of eating hardly anything for a few weeks or taking pills or potions for a while, I am also not living on low calorie food, nor have I joined slimming world or weight watchers. I am doing what we should all be doing anyway, cutting out unnecessary sugar and fat, eating no meat or fish (I had been proper vegetarian but in the last 7 years had seen my fish intake go up), eating very little dairy (I would quite like to go vegan at some point but am taking it slowly), eating loads of fresh fruit and vegetables, drinking no alcohol (for a while) and taking regular exercise. This seems to be working, I lost 7lb in 4 weeks which I am happy with although I know strict diets, pills and potions let you loose weight faster but rarely to the people doing them keep the weight off and usually end up putting more back on.
So for anyone who wants a more sensible way to loose weight and who is committed to changing their diet and lifestyle in the long term I will explain in a little more detail what I have done so far and will keep posting updates every 4 weeks when I weigh myself to see how well my plan works.
1. Cut out added sugar - I had 2 sugars in my tea and ate lots of biscuits and cake. I have stopped drinking the same tea and now have fruit tea with no sugar added. For the first week or two it was pretty horrible but I have been surprised how quickly my taste has got used to not having hot drinks so sweet. By week 4 I could have an expressо with no sugar something I never thought possible! I do have a sweet tooth and have always loved biscuits and cakes I have cut these out entirely for the first 4 months of my healthy eating plan (except a slice of cake at a 90th birthday last week!) but will have the occasional one now and then. As I am weaning myself off sugary foods I feel like I will find sweet things more sickly that I did before. In fact the other evening Simon made some crumpets with golden syrup on and I tasted a bit and it just seemed too sweet. 4 weeks ago I would have eaten 2 or 3 crumpets soaked in syrup. I think it just shows that you can train your taste so if having a sweet tooth is your downfall you just have to get through the first few weeks and then your taste will start to change.
2. Cut out unnecessary fat - Apart from the biscuits and cakes already mentioned above the other main sources of fat in my diet were dairy which we will look at more closely in the dairy section. I have also cut out crisps and instead of having my normal crunchy oat cereal with a yogurt on top for breakfast I have a banana.
3. No meat or fish - I became vegetarian about 10 years ago as I was opposed to factory farming, intense farming and the use of hormones and antibiotics. After 3 years I started eating fish again and have swung between not eating much fish to having it nearly every day. Despite vegetarian friends warning me of the high levels of mercury and fish stocks being depleted I kept eating it. I have now cut out fish again for health reasons but mainly for humane reasons as I feel humans are doing so much damage to the planet and to our fellow animals for our food. If you can watch the documentary called Earthlings. It certainly puts things in perspective and has encouraged me to be a much better vegetarian and move towards veganism.
4. Very little dairy - So I wanted to cut out diary anyway as a move to becoming vegan but have not managed that quite yet. I have cut down considerably though and this has defiantly helped my weight loss. I used to eat a cheddar cheese sandwich every day now I have one once a week and have soup the rest of the time. I used to eat 4 eggs a week and now have 1 a week. I have cut out milk completely but that is more for the going vegan side of things rather than loosing weight as I only had a splash of milk in a cup of tea. I used to have a yogurt every day now I do not buy them at all.
5. No alcohol - I am going without alcohol for the first 4 months of my healthy eating plan. I have never been a big drinker, for a long time I didn't really drink at all but the last few years I have had a glass of red wine every day which is meant to be ok so no worries there but in the last few months it has crept up to half a bottle a night which is still not a lot by a lot of peoples standards but too much for me and also fattening! So until Easter I will not touch a drop and then will go back to my one glass a night except for special occasions when I might have another glass, after that I'm asleep anyway so no problem about drinking any more!
6. Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables -It goes without saying really. We all know the health benefits of fruit and vegetables and so I have upped my intake swapping cereal for a banana in the mornings, having an apple after dinner and eating other fruit and raw vegetables, mainly carrots during the day. I also make sure I have vegetables with most of my dinners in one form or another. If you find getting enough fruit and vegetables difficult get a juicer and make juices. You can fit so much more in a juice and it is really easy to get your 5 a day in a juice as well as having some more at mealtimes.
7. Regular exercise -I have never been sporty, never enjoyed it and have never liked exercising. For a few months a couple of times in my thirties I went to an aerobics class a couple of times a week which was ok but for whatever reason (I cant really remember) I didn't stick to it. My sister (who is very sporty) suggested I try power walking, as I like walking anyway I thought I would give it a go. Armed with an app on my phone to time me and record my route I set off on day 1, I did something like a mile in 20 minutes which is hardly a power walk! I read up about walking and found that a power walk was much faster than I was going but that just a 20 minute brisk walk is beneficial to health and can help with weight loss. On day 2 or 3 I was a minute faster per mile and walked for 30 minutes. I did this for a week getting slightly faster each day. On week 2 I walked for 40 minutes, on week 3 I did 50 minutes and on week 4 I did 60 minutes. Now into week 5 I am sticking with an hour, one hour of brisk walking a day is enough for me and is enough to keep a bit more healthy and burn a few calories off. I seem to have hit a barrier with getting any faster at the moment and am walking at about 16.20 minutes per mile but my aim is to get to 15 minutes a mile.
8. Normal main meal with no restrictions - I have a banana for breakfast, soup for lunch (one day I might have a cheese sandwich) but no restriction on my main meal. I try and eat healthily but once a fortnight will have homemade pizza for instance. I have no restriction on portion size for most things either.
Anyway as I said I will update every time I weigh myself which is every 4 weeks. I don't agree with watching the scales every day and do not own scales so go to Boots every 4 weeks and weigh myself there. On Wednesday 31st December I was 11st 10lb, on Wednesday 28th January I was 11st 3lb, next weigh in will be Wednesday 25th February, wish me luck!
Thanks for reading :) xxx
Comments