'But you look fine! why are you losing weight?!'
I heard this so much when I told people I wanted to lose weight and get healthy. I used to look at instagrammers like Chloe Madeley and think to myself, ' I wish I looked like her'
Funny thing is,I didn't seriously consider getting 'fitter' until I decided to order myself a Fitbit and started counting my steps and trying to do 12 km worth of walking a day. It gave me some kind of accountability for my actions, and it wasn't until I really started utilising all of the features of my Fitbit Flex that I realized my lifestyle wasn't brilliant.
Alongside walking more, I started to look at what I was putting into my body, a food diary opened my eyes to the amount of junk I ate, from chocolate to crisps and everything in between! I gorged on cashews and convinced myself that they were healthy. (They are, but not in the amounts I was eating!)
That's not to say I still don't eat chocolate, I do, just very occasionally, but having discovered PowerBites, I think I can feel less guilty about having something chocolatey!
After months of LISS, (Power Walks every day!) I discovered the joys of Freeletics, which is an app the promotes the 'free athlete' and body weight HIIT workouts. This is when my love of keeping fit really evolved. It was hard, it challenged me and it made me push myself to the limit, which, for someone who worked out very minimally, wasn't very high.
I've recently found myself lifting weights after months of body weight workouts, and this just transformed everything, body weight is wonderfully hard, but weights have just added a different dimension to any workout! Weights that I use, whilst not very heavy have allowed me to get even more out of the HIIT that I do.
I've just started a new 14 day work out challenge with Lori Harder, which came at the right time, as I was looking for a new regime to follow!
I can't speak with any authority on fitness because, I'm not a personal trainer, but I can talk about what works for me.
My weight loss journey started 2 years ago, I didn't need to lose much, but losing nearly 2 stone and keeping it off has been lots of fun!
My top tips especially for diet are
1) Don't deny yourself the odd treat or cheat! I ate peanut butter or the odd chocolate bar when I craved sugar, otherwise, I stuck to energy balls and nut bars.
2) Start a food diary!Especially if you're just starting your journey, it really does open your eyes to the amount of food you eat, and the type of food you eat.
3) This is a big one, if it comes with chips, ask for SALAD! Unless there's a reason you need the chips!
4) If your food looks beige, add some colour, salad, beans, pulses, fruit.
5) In terms of exercise, find what you enjoy, there is no point in running 10k daily if it makes you miserable. similarly, Don't just lift weights and feel upset if you can't lift heavy, or a a lot. Remember its a process! You aren't born knowing how to walk!
6) Consistency is key. one day off one day on isn't going to do anything. Start slowly if you have to, move more, eat better not less.
