Weight Loss Begins In The Kitchen

First off, let me just say that after years and years of struggling with my weight I have come to realise that I hate the term 'dieting'. Why? Because if you look up the word 'diet' in the dictionary you will find that it actually means 'the kinds of food a person, animal or community habitually eat'. This can be anything from high junk food intake to gorging yourself on all the health foods in the world.

So here's the biggest and best piece of advice I can offer you if you are like me and wish to change your weight for good: don't think of yourself as dieting, make a lifestyle change instead.

When it comes to weight loss, maintaining a healthy weight or even gaining weight, one thing is certain; it all begins with the fuel we are putting into our bodies.

I like to think of my body as if it were a car. I mean, you wouldn't go putting diesel into a petrol car now, would you?

So what do I mean by lifestyle change?

Well if you're like me and you really take a good, hard look at your current diet or even the diet you had before you started on your weight loss journey you'll probably notice that it consisted of mainly high calorie or junk foods. If not you'll find that you were simply just eating way too much of the 'good stuff'. Why the quotation marks? Well, just because certain foods are coined as good for us, doesn't mean that eating them in excess is good for us. Just as cutting out certain foods entirely (unless there is a medical reason for this) is also bad for us, so is overeating all the good stuff.

I watched a television programme recently called Secret Eaters and although I already knew many of the fundamentals behind it, I was shocked to see just how wrong some people can go when it comes to being healthy. One woman on the show was doing, for the most part, the right thing. She ate a healthy breakfast, salad for lunch and dinner, and snacked on fruit and nuts throughout the day. She even exercised regularly! But still, she was gaining weight and at 19 stone it took her going on the show to realise just where she was going wrong.

So here are my tips for healthy weight loss!

1. Make A Lifestyle Change Not A 'Diet'

Look at your usual habits and instead of telling yourself you're going to go on a diet, tell yourself you wish to change your lifestyle. Make your health and wellbeing a priority.

2. 80-20

Choose to eat healthily 80% of the time and don't make yourself feel guilty when you 'slip off the wagon'. It's okay to treat yourself from time to time.

3. Consider Calories

Calories are those little numbers we can all find on the back of the package but they are also the amount of fuel we are putting into our bodies. The average woman needs around 2000 calories per day whereas men need around 2500. If you are overeating by as little as 500 calories a day, that's 3500 calories a week and 1lb extra fat you could potentially be gaining. In the long run that's over 50lbs weight gain in only a year!

4. Watch Out For Hidden Calories

For a long time, I tried to eat healthy with little success. I'd have porridge or even fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, salad for lunch and dinner and fruit and veg to snack on throughout the day. But when I found I wasn't losing all that much weight, I began counting every single calorie I was putting into my body and it turned out I was still overeating.

Tips For Finding Hidden Calories

Remember to include the cooking oil and how much you've used when cooking.

Check portion sizes on your 'snacking' foods. You may find that actually your 'snack' could be considered an entire meal when it comes to calorie density.

Be mindful when cooking that every taste test or a mouthful of food is also contributing to the fuel inside your body.

5. Avoid Things Labelled 'Diet', 'Low Sugar' Or 'No Sugar'

These products may sound great on the surface but the truth is that when we eat or drink these things we are more likely to snack or binge. This is because our bodies get a taste of something sweet that actually isn't and the lower calorie content of these foods leads our bodies not to get the kind of fuel it was expecting. In turn, your body will begin giving you signals that you need to feed it! And so the snacking begins.

6. Think About The Portions On Your Plate

A healthy balanced meal should be 1 quarter protein, 1 quarter carbs and the rest should be loaded with fruit and veggies.

7. Treat Yourself

If you're like me and you have a sweet tooth or you just can't go without that savoury snack from time to time, don't make yourself feel guilty about it. Always try to plan ahead and work a treat into your daily calorie goal. Making yourself feel guilty over a couple of bites of a cookie is only going to make you feel bad and when that happens you are 90% more like to make bad food choices for the rest of the day.

8. Don't Start Tomorrow

We've all been there and told ourselves, 'I'm going to start tomorrow' or 'I'll start on Monday'. But then we get there and we really can't be bothered. Making small changes from right here and now will help you in the long run even if you did just have a junk food breakfast or a chocolate binge last night.

9. Drink Plenty Of Water

There are many benefits to drinking plenty of water but when it comes to weight loss it's extremely important to make sure we are drinking enough, especially if we're cutting out other drinks like coffee or fizzy drinks. Also, try to drink a glass of water before a meal to help your digestive system and also sip water during your meal to give your stomach time to send signals to your brain to tell you when you're full! It can take up to 20-30 minutes for these signals to get to the brain and most of us eat far too quickly.

All in all, make the change today for a better you tomorrow!

I wish you all the best for your journey towards being happy and healthy!

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