It was this time last year, with a BMI of 26.15, when I decided that my life needed to change. Although difficult at times, I (with the help of my mother) was able to shed three stone and gain body confidence for the first time in my life. It is for the latter reason that I wish to share some of my simple secrets, whether you want to lose a lot, or just the extra Christmas layers.
The first thing I must say is that weight loss is not about dieting. Dieting implies a specific period of time in which you eat differently; however, to be successful, it needs not to be temporary, but a lifestyle change. Although ‘diets’ may appear successful at first, sustained and maintained weight loss should be a permanent change in eating habits. Changing your diet for a week or even a few months will only temporarily change your body.
Chapter One: The Scales
Although weight itself shouldn’t technically matter (we all have different bone density and are different heights) it is a good place to start as it gives the ability to monitor change. You need to be consistent when weighing yourself as weight can fluctuate massively during the day as a result of changes in water weight. To avoid interpreting fluctuation as change, make sure that you weigh yourself first thing in the morning, having been to the loo and totally naked! After weighing yourself, head over to www.nutracheck.co.uk and start their ‘free trial’ in order to determine your BMI. Nutracheck is a brilliant site that not only tells you your BMI (and an indication as to where on the BMI scale you sit), but also calculates a tailor made weight loss plan, giving you a daily calorie allowance, along with an estimated date at which you should arrive at your target, which is based on the amount you wish to loose combined with the rate at which you intend on losing it.
Chapter Two: Calorie Counting
Nutracheck’s weight loss plan works on the basis of calorie counting. To some people, this can seem incredibly high maintenance and slightly daunting but it really needn’t be so. Buy yourself a little notebook and use it as your food diary. You must record everything that you consume! This includes milk on cereal and in tea and coffee, all drinks (other than water, black sugarless tea or coffee and diet drinks) and every little snack. It’s easy to determine the number of calories in packaged food, as they should be stated on the label but for other less obviously labelled foods, head over to google. Type in ‘calories in …’ and it should come up with several websites, such as http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/ and others that mostly do the same thing. From time to time you might need to look around a bit for slightly abstract items but generally, you should be able to find a pretty good indication. The more you do this, the more you’ll get to grips with what has how many calories and the easier it will become.
Chapter Three: Week 1
Day 1: Start by weighing yourself first thing in the morning, then record your weight in your food diary and determine how much you wish to loose, therefore calculating your daily calorie allowance and start using your food diary.
Day 1-7: For the first week, eat totally normally. You won’t loose any weight in this week but you will be able to determine where easy calories can be cut from your diet.
Day 7: Assessment of the food diary. Look at your diary and try to see where you can cut back, without being too drastic. Here’s an example of one of my first days of my weight loss journey:
– Special K red berries with 200ml semi skimmed milk (240kcals)
– Strawberry and Banana fruit smoothie (130kcals)
– Coffee with semi skimmed Milk (20kcals)
– Cheese and Onion Sandwich (370kcals)
– Muller Rice Yoghurt (200kcals)
– Can of Coke (140kcals)
– Ready Salted Walkers Crisps (170 kcals)
– Tea with semi skimmed milk (20kcals)
– Chicken and Pesto Pasta (460kcals)
– Glass of Orange Juice (120kcals)
– Snickers Bar (320kcals)
Upon looking at this initially, I thought that other than the crisps and the chocolate bar, I had a pretty healthy, low calorie day. In reality, this was not the case, with my day totting up to a total of 2190 calories! This is more than the amount the average woman needs to eat to maintain her body weight, and no weight will be lost on this plan. However, a few simple changes can make a big difference. This is how I should have had my day:
– Special K red berries with 200ml SKIMMED MILK (180kcals)
– A Banana (90kcals)
– Black Coffee (0kcals)
– Low fat Tuna Sandwich (280kcals)
– 100g natural low fat yoghurt (50kcals)
– Can of diet Coke (0kcals)
– Special K balsamic and sea salt crisps (100kcals)
– Black Tea (0kcals)
– Turkey Salad with a light dressing (300kcals)
– Crunchie Bar (185kcals)
This day still includes treats such as crisps and chocolate, but by changing a few simple things, the calories have been cut to just 1185kcals! Almost halving the amount of the previous menu! However, as a woman, in order to be healthy, you should aim to eat between 1500 – 2000 calories each day.
Chapter Four: A Few Easy Swaps
Just a few simple adjustments can make a big change to your calories expenses. Here are a few of my favourite foods and easy swaps to make your day easier:
Milk:
Change semi skimmed milk for skimmed. You won’t even notice the difference. If possible, try to cut out all milk from tea and coffee as this is a common way in which many people use a lot of their calorie allowance without realising it.
Yoghurt:
Swap highly sugared yoghurts such as Mullers for Low fat natural yoghurt. This doesn’t appeal to everyone but I’ve learnt to love yoghurt and eat it almost every day now.
Drinks:
Fruit juices and sugary drinks are notorious for being high in calories and don’t fill you up at all. Instead of drinking these, try to stick to diet drinks or ideally just water. Alcohol too is incredibly calorific and always will be. Instead of cutting alcohol completely though, you can trim back the fat by going for spirits with diet mixers. A gin and slimline tonic has 100kcals as opposed to a VK of 200kcals! (check out http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/tips-and-tools/drink-diary/ to use their alcohol calorie counter)
Protein:
You need protein in your diet but try to go for leaner meat. Turkey is incredibly lean and a cheaper alternative to chicken. Tuna with low fat mayo is another great way of getting your protein. If you’re a vegetarian, eggs are great. Try to avoid frying or scrambling them in fat and instead go for either boiled or poached with wholegrain bread and a low fat spread.
Salad:
There can be lots of hidden calories in salads. When choosing a dressing, try to avoid rich and creamy ones and instead go for oil-based dressings or indeed none at all? A squeeze of lemon juice or some balsamic vinegar can be delicious. Try also to avoid calorific extras such as croutons, grated cheese and fatty meat.
Vegetables:
Vegetables make up the majority of my diet. Roasted, blended into soups or mashed, vegetables offer a wide variety of meals whilst being filling and nutritious. You can make them more interesting with spices, garlic and seasoning.
So there you go, those are just a few of my hints and tips for being healthy. But please remember that is the overall aim –to be HEALTHY. So do not get too overly-obsessed with your weight, or too carried away with calorie-counting; if you don’t want to imagine life without milk in your brew then don’t, it is only 20 calories after all! As I said earlier, we all have naturally different body weights anyway, so there’s no point in comparing yourself to anyone else either, especially those air-brushed celebs! Most importantly, concentrate on being happy and healthy in your own skin, and remember it is more than okay to treat yourself in moderation; so if you fancy a chocolate bar at the end of the week then buy one, eat it, and ENJOY it!
Image sources:
http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/content/catalogue/images/DY05_XL.jpg
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http://www.tigersheds.com/garden-resources/post/2011/image.axd?picture=2011%2F9%2FVegetables.jpg