I am doing my healthy eating top tips posts and will continue with those but I wanted to kind of give you a bit of over view of what my relationship with food was like, what I have changed and what I am doing to give you a bit of incite.
Before deciding to lose weight my eating habits were awful and looking back now I am actually disgusted by what I used to eat. I am a comfort eater, I always have been but I also used to hide what I ate due to the fact I was severely bullied at school, so much so that the kids used to throw food at me on the bus and tell me to eat it off the floor. This resulted in me not wanting to eat in front of people and its only been in the last few years that I will eat in public alone but even then I would feel very self concious.
You would think this would have the opposite effect on me but it actually just made me eat more but I used to just hide it because at the time I thought food would make me feel better. I suppose I was in someways what you called a secret eater though if I was comfortable in front of people then I didn't mind. My friends and family were aware of how much I could scoff in one go.
I wish I could tell you what changed in me but I literally just woke up one day and decided enough was enough and I didn't want be like this any more. I was the biggest I had ever been, a size 18 heading towards a 20 and I weighed 16stone 12lbs not something I would ever admit to the whole world before now.
I had recently had my heart broken and I do think it was the kick up the bum I needed to make me look at my life and for the first time in my life instead of mopping and feeling depressed about it I took that energy and used to get where I am now. Like I said though, I don't know why this happened now.
To start the healthy eating I just began by cutting out all the chocolate, cake and crisps I was eating on a daily basis. I started serving my meals on a smaller plate so I didn't pile it so high with food. I made healthier choices at meal times as well as changing my snacks to fruit and veg. I also started using my fitness pal and wrote everything down that went into my mouth this was a big step for me, I had be really honest with myself with what I was eating.
Making food from scratch is a big thing, I rarely eat processed food any more. If I am making it I know what's going in it. I also plan ahead what I am eating and often make double the amount I need so I have a meal for the next day or I will freeze it for a day I am working late. Preparation is key! This also works when eating out, I look up the menu online and plan what I am going to have. This way I can't get distracted by other meals also I can fit the rest of my days meals round it.
lastly I measure out my food which I know some people hate to do but this is key for me not to overeat as if its on my plate it will end up in my mouth.
Over the 10 weeks leading up until Christmas the only sweet thing I let myself have was either an options hot chocolate or one of those rice cakes with a coating of chocolate on them. I started to read up about nutrition, about how refined sugar is actually worse for you than fat. (This is a whole other topic that I will go into another time) and I started to learn about what my body needed from food to function properly.
This made me realize that I had willpower and I could control what I ate, to begin with I was worried about having a piece of chocolate incase I just went crazy and ended up in old bad habits but I now have a good balance of 80% of the time I eat really well and 20% I let myself have treats and the not so good foods.
My energy levels have doubled since eating better, I no longer want to fall asleep at 2pm in the afternoon. I am rarely in a bad mood though it does happen, I am a woman after all. ;) I also don't feel hungry about an hour or two after I have had a meal. I can go between meals without snacking, though I do often have a piece of fruit or veg, especially if I am work but I definitely don't need it.
Another thing is exercise. I started off by going for long walks with my dog everyday which he appreciates as much as I do. I then got myself two dumbbells, a hula hoop and a skipping rope. I started planning out different routines that I used to do every morning along with my walk. Now I am more confident I have joined the gym and I also go running and swimming. I have gone from someone who hated exercise to now loving it.
Noticing your body improving and getting stronger is a huge motivation which to begin with you don't think you will ever see but you do, you just have to stick at it.
My one bit of advice is to start slowly, change a few things at a time and let yourself get used to them before changing something else. If you change everything at once you will feel deprived and more likely to end up in your old bad habits.
It isn't easy and I have had days where I have really struggled but I tell you something it is so worth it. I have never felt so good about myself and my confidences is growing by the day.
Like I said at the beginning, this is a bit of a ramble but its the only way I can get as much as I can think of down. I want to try and do more posts where I go into detail about the things I have changed and do. I am no expert and what's worked for me might not work for someone else but I would love it if I could help just one person feel amazing as I do.
Thank you if you have got this far and a huge thank you to all of you who have supported me. Having a friends and family support me along the way has been the biggest help, especially on those tough days.
Thank you so much for reading, this was a tough post for me to write and I'm not completely sure how long I will keep it up for but I really wanted people to know that whatever your eating habits are, if you want to lose weight you really can.