It's been a whirlwind of commuting and working some long days in the run-up to the holidays, which is why I haven't posted in a while! Hello again!
This isn't something I like to talk about much, but I'm in serious need of motivation to do some exercise and cut down on chocolate. Where we lived before, it was just over a mile away to work which meant I was able to get in about an hour a day of walking. The weight I had before dropped off quite quickly, and motivated by this, I even did extra toning exercises in the evening. I lost about 3 inches on my waist and I didn't even have to try very hard! Then, the summer holidays came. Now, I still kept active by doing some sort of exercise, but I did also meet friends and have the odd coffee from Starbucks. 2 WEEKS LATER, yes, 2 weeks, I had expanded and some of my clothes felt tighter on me. I couldn't believe it. I'm really conscious of weight as diabetes and high blood pressure run in my family and if I want to have a baby, I need to be at a healthy weight to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes, which could cause lots of problems later in life.
It's been hard trying to shift the extra weight I've put on and since I've been commuting on the trains, I am not getting the exercise I got before. This has resulted in me feeling quite sluggish and not as confident as before, but it's helped me understand my body more. I am somebody who puts on weight very quickly. It's easy for someone to say, "oh, go on, a slice won't hurt!" but this is the most frustrating thing, because it does hurt and I start expanding dramatically. What also annoys me is when people say "oh, but you're fine, you don't need to exercise!" Everyone knows what their limits are and a way I have felt really good about myself is when I've exercised and felt stronger because of it. Exercise isn't just about losing weight, it's about keeping fit and it does your body an amazing amount of justice.
I can't stand calorie counting, and want to enjoy life, and food is a big part of that. This is why I need some serious motivation to cut back on the more calorific fatty things and introduce more exercise. My husband and I generally eat quite healthily, but we both have a sweet tooth. A day cannot go by where we don't have a cookie or something after eating some food. It's like someone who loves to smoke a cigarette after their meals; I never understood it until now - sweet things are my vice.
What is going to change is my outlook. I love eating sweet things and instead of having a massive slice of cake, or a whole bar of chocolate, I'll just have a bit. My husband and I have started what we call "1 bad thing a day" and we wait until we are together to eat that bad thing. It means we still get the fix we need but without going overboard.
The other thing is to keep up with healthy eating and fitness blogs. I discovered Blogilates a while back but every time I visit her site or YouTube page, I feel all the more motivated. She posts all sorts of videos on ways to make food more healthy without sacrificing on taste, and also loads of exercise videos. I've downloaded her beginner's workout plan which gives you a daily exercise video to do. Something like this will help keep me motivated and get into a good habit of exercising daily. The great thing is that her videos are actually a lot of fun and really short - 10 minutes maximum!
So, here's to trying. Wish me luck!
*Just to point out that in no way am I trying to tell anybody that they should give up sweet things or lose weight themselves. This is purely about me and what I need to do to make myself feel like I did before the summer holidays, and to avoid weight-related problems that run in my family. You do what you want!*
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