What feels like ages ago, I wrote this post. I wrote about making little changes to improve my lifestyle, make me feel better about myself. Last month I was overjoyed to slip into a pair of size 10 skinnies and be under 10 stone for the first time in years. But this weekend, this happened.
Size 8 skinny jeans. And high waisted too. I cried in the changing room. I’ve tried them on everyday since buying them, to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. I’ve pictured them above against the jeans I have been wearing for a few years. And yep, that’s the true size difference. They’re both stretchy denim too, both high-waisted!
To make me even happier, these jeans were pretty much a bargain courtesy of my favorite new app, Zeek. Basically it allows you to buy and sell unwanted gift vouchers, and they let me test it over the past week. You make a small saving on the voucher you buy and they are often electronic, meaning you pay on your phone even in store. Pretty useful, especially if you receive a voucher for a store you’ll never use! And using my code 2vcbyd you’ll get £5 off your first voucher too…
To be honest, slimming down this much wasn’t in my goals. I wanted to feel comfortable in myself, to stop over-eating. I haven’t really ‘dieted’ excessively as such. I’ve cut down the carbs in my evening meals, I’ve made sure i’ve stopped eating when I’ve been full. I’ve exercised more. I still have curves (miraculously, I’ve not lost anything from my chest at all), but I’m healthier and fitter than I’ve been in years. I’m sleeping better, I can run from the tube to platform 18 in Victoria without still wheezing at Clapham Junction (scratch that, East Croydon!).
You may wonder where the above burger fits in with a weight loss post?! Well, I’m not depriving myself. I enjoyed this treat on Brighton beach last weekend (an hour after buying said skinny jeans!), it’s from
Burger Brothers and it was AMAZING. Blows Gourmet Burger Kitchen out of the water, and it’s pretty clothes to Byron standard. If it was a little thicker, cooked a little pink, it would be pretty spot on. The deal with burgers and weight loss? No fries, and no doughnuts from the pier.
I’ve eaten more salad, but I’ve never enjoyed it more. I’ve upped the fat in my diet (I was advised by a gasto consultant my food was actually significantly lacking in the stuff), so salads are actually yummy. Nuts, dressing, eggs, bacon. All the kind of things that make a salad enjoyable. Spicy salad made with tabasco? Hell yes! Chilli salad with beans and cheese? A weekly staple.
I’ve enjoyed using
A Salad for All Seasons. It’s a book I was sent as part of an un-salady collaboration a few months ago (the Florette one, where I made a
salmon pasta). I didn’t use it for that collaboration and wasn’t asked to make a comment about it, but it’s become one of my favorite cookbook. It’s perfect!
I’m not going to slip back into my old ways. I’m going to keep exercising, I still want to do a bit more toning work on my thighs. I want to improve my fitness, keep up the running and manage a 5k. I want to maintain the shape I am right now, because quite honestly, I do feel pretty damn confident. I’ll be less strict with myself, I’ll let myself have a bowl of pasta a week, but that weight is staying off!So if you’re struggling with weight loss, it is doable. I’ve gone from avoiding mirrors to being so proud of myself in less than four months.
The downsides? I’m using safety pins to make my skirts stay up. And my younger sister thinks she can steal my new clothes (though I can also have my old ones back!).
Did you make an lifestyle changes over the last few months?How have you been getting on?
