As you'll know if you are regular readers, I am currently seeing a personal trainer once a week for an hour sesssion. I was struggling to get motivated, especially hard at this time of year when it's dark and cold! For me, I knew that some sessions with a PT would be money well spent. Exercise is great for your mental health and wellbeing, helps you sleep better and I know that by losing a bit of weight I'd boost my confidence. I wasn't exercising at all, and had totally gotten out of the habit of exercising, and Ross has got me back into it. I started in November last year and now that I'm seeing results I'm finding staying motivated a lot easier. I weighed myself this morning, and that's me now lost 7 lbs.
However, it's not just exercise, what you eat is just as important.
The key for me is being organised - hence why I have a drawer full of snacks at my work. This way if I'm feeling peckish and my colleagues have donuts or crisps, I can get myself a healthy snack and I'm able to stay clear of the junk food. I actually managed to resist the donuts...! Are you impressed?
So at the moment in my desk drawer I have the following:
- Decaf tea bags (Tetley)
- Rude Health Oat & Spelt Thins
- Peanut Butter
- Oatcakes
- Munchy Seeds, Chilli Bites
- Muesli (one with more seeds and nuts than dried fruit, like Jordan Nut & Seed)
- Baby plum tomatoes
- Bear blackcurrant yoyo (these are designed for kids, but to me it's a sweet treat!)
- Food Doctor Roasted Bean Mix
- Beyond Dark chocolate drops
Some other snacks that are great are crudites & hummus, sugar snap peas, popcorn, yoghurt & berries, a handful of nuts, rice cakes or a few dates.
On a typical day I'll have the following:
7.30/8am Breakfast - muesli & cup of tea
Muesli with dates & bananas10am Snack - see list above!
12.30pm Lunch - soup or salad, sometimes with a spelt thin and Philadelphia cheese
Hummus & oatcakes with salad3pm Snack
5pm Dinner - this varies and depends on whether or not I have the kids but I try and stick to healthy options where possible. If the kids are having pasta, then I'll have gluten-free pasta or choose to have steamed cabbage instead. I'll possibly write a separate post on our dinners.
Chicken stir fry8/9pm Snack
So I'm actually eating lots, and eating a lot more than I would have previously. But it's all about eating the right kinds of food. However it's also about being realistic. I can't stick to this 100% of the time... I've got to have a life and I do love my food. We were at Pizza Hut at the weekend for dinner, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also still have take aways, but again I'll be sensible in what I choose.
Hopefully this has provided some inspiration, food for thought you might say ;-)
You can find my Weight Loss Inspiration post with before and after photographs here which has a few more tips on losing weight and getting healthy.
