Now though, with my holiday's all booked I'm ready to sort myself out & I've put this post together to help you too!
So many people are advertising personal training, or health kick courses guaranteeing they're going to help you in 'less than 6 weeks'. But you want to see results straight away right? I can show you how!
An average person, will eat crips, chocolate, smother their bread in butter and eat fried foods - don't get me wrong they're all my guilty pleasures (especially the butter!!) but everything is good for you in moderation.
In the last week I decided that I would try out a strict 'diet plan' to get my 'bikini bod' back in shape for August! And I've seen results within a week! Dropping four pounds in just 8 days!! Here is how I did it..
Determination, will power & EATING.
1. The last thing you should be doing to lose weight is to stop eating, and cut out important food types such as carbs. Everyone says that to lose weight cut out your carbs and you'll see a difference straight away - yes that's true, you see a difference but then the next crumb of bread you eat you put 3 pounds back on because you're body's not used to the intake anymore. So stop cutting foods out and start eating them!
2. Determination, set yourself a realistic goal of what you want to achieve. Whether that be a pound a week, two pounds etc. or even just fitting in those gorgeous shorts that you wore all summer last year. If you set yourself something to achieve, there's your motivation. There's nothing worse than doing hard work and not seeing results because you never had a goal in sight.
3. Will power - the hardest thing to do, believe me! In the food plan I'll guide you with you'll think I'm crazy, no chocolate (or a treat once a week) but have will power and resist what your thoughts are telling you!
Okay! Step one.
Take a photo of yourself, today, tomorrow, whenever you're going to start your regime. Save it, don't look at it for a week. Weigh yourself when you take this photo - but don't weigh yourself every day, do it once a week because weight fluctuates for one reason or another on a daily basis. So choose a day, take a photo & weigh yourself each week & you'll see results!
Step two - Food.
The best thing to do when you want to lose weight or to shape up is to write down your meal plans (and stick to them!) because then you know exactly what you're eating!
Choose foods that are going to fill you up for longer, that way you won't be tempted to have a packet of crips 10 minutes after eating your breakfast! No extra fat content going on you!
Ensure that you have breakfast - EVERYDAY! People seem to think skipping meals is the best way to lose weight, it's not. If anything you will put on weight because you'll overeat at your next meal.
Portion sizes - follow my simple steps i'll advise you on below, and make sure you're not eating for two like I started doing at Uni!
Choosing the healthy option can be just as enjoyable as the full fat version, but it's all about making the right choices.
(See my food plan below)
Step Three - Hunger.
Sometimes through the day, in between meals you may feel peckish and want a snack. Before you do, think to yourself are you really hungry? Sometimes you could just be thirsty, so drink half a bottle of water and see how you feel after that. If you're still hungry, have an apple, or some type of berries - fruit is so good for you, and the amount of natural sugars and water that's in fruit keeps you feeling fuller for longer and also better about yourself!
So, identify if you are hungry & if you are, choose the right options!
Many people eat their food and still feel hungry, I know I'm one of those people for definite! So, next time you sit down for dinner; slow down, stop eating half way through, have a few sips of water and assess how hungry you are. If you're still hungry go ahead and eat some more, but take you're time with eating instead of your body manipulating you into thinking you need more food than you can handle!
Beat hunger - I get hungry when I'm bored, so next time you're hungry find an activity to do whether that's a walk, bit of reading, housework or even some chewing gum whilst you're working at the office. It helps!
Don't go hungry. The mistake everyone makes is holding out for meal times - waiting to feel hungry - no. When you've made your food plan for the week set yourself times to eat and stick to those & you'll keep a consistent satisfaction throughout the day, which will stop you snacking and keep off those extra pounds!
Planning your meals
The best thing you can do when you are planning your meals in to incorporate all different meal options. The worst thing is getting bored and then slobbing out over a full dairy milk bar.
The best foods to essentially incorporate into your diet are things that will keep you fuller for longer, here are some really good examples:
All bran, lean back bacon, beef mince/steaks, chicken, cod, cottage cheese, couscous, duck, eggs (one of the best things for breakfast!), gammon, haddock, ham, sugar free jelly (for your treat days), prawns, lamp, mackerel, skimmed milk, mussels, pasta, pork, potato, rice crispies, salmon, tuna, turkey.
They're just the basis of what to incorporate in each of your meals in a day. Obviously your fruit and veg is the best option for any meal, so incorporate as much of those as you can into every meal & you'll be right on your way to getting your goal achieved!
Here's a plan of what I've had in the past week for my meals!
Breakfast
1 Wholemeal slice of bread, toasted, with a poached egg & three table spoons of beans. Now that doesn't sound a lot but try that for your next breakfast and see how full you are! Porridge is a filling food, have 40g of porridge oats, with skimmed milk & add your own favourite fruits & you'll be full until your lunch!
For a quick breakie, have two weetabix with skimmed milk & some fruit!
Here are two of my favourites! (Above) - Beans on toast with grilled mushrooms & onion. (Right) - Spinach (a great filler) with grilled mushrooms, tomatoes and a poached egg!
Remember! Anything can be good or bad for you, it all depends on how you choose to cook it. So, no butter on your toast or bread and poach your eggs instead of frying them!
Lunch
Tuna & Cucumber sandwich:
2 slices of wholemeal bread, spread low fat soft cheese on each side (instead of butter) chop up some cucumber and place about 3 or 4 slices on each side of bread. Add half a tin of tuna (in brine or fresh water) and you're good to go! Add some fruit to your lunch & you'll stay satisfied till dinner!
Soup, one of my favourites!
Waitrose do a great range of soups, the best you can pick are the ones in the big cartons - not tinned! My favourite is pea & ham from Waitrose, but anything with low fat content (from there) or making your own will be good for you. If you go for one bought from a shop, heat up half of it with a small brown roll - you'll be full all day!
Veggie? No problem! Get a tortilla wrap, spread it with some low fat soft cheese, get some sliced tomatoes & asparagus with some small cucumber chunks & some onion (mix the tomato, cucumber and onion together) then put together in a wrap and some foil. Don't forget your fruit!
Dinner
If you like your fish, try Salmon or Haddock. Place on a baking tray lightly wrapped in foil on 180 degrees for about 20 minutes. Whilst that's cooking, choose either brown rice (half a pack of wholemeal Tilda is a good choice) or a handful of pasta, boil this. Whilst you're waiting, chop up courgette, broccoli, asparagus, onion (any veggies that you love to be honest!) place them in a pan to boil, then add Passata sauce to them (a lovely, low fat tomato based sauce) add some pepper & a pinch of salt to flavour. Then serve it up!
Turkey stir fry! Turkey keeps you fuller for longer, and so does all your veg! I prefer to grill my turkey in the oven for 20 minutes rather than fry it! So place on a tray, wrapped in foil in the oven for 20 minutes. Whilst that's cooking, get your stir fry veg & noodles going then add it all together, spice it up & add a light sauce.
Spag Bol is a winner for dinner! It keeps you so full and it's so good for you! If you cook it correctly! Ensure you get lean mince (400g), chop all your veggies up (onion, mushrooms, carrot etc) a tin of chopped tomatoes (400g). Everyone knows how to make a spag bol, just make it the healthy way! Those amounts are guidelines for a serving of 4.
Snacks
Hopefully, following those food guidelines you won't need to snack. But IF you do! Choose the right options; fruit (mixed berries & watermelon are best) or apples & bananas. Incorporate some low fat yoghurt if that sounds boring on it's own!
A small thing you can do to help yourself as well, change from semi-skimmed or full fat milk to skimmed milk. It keeps you fuller for longer & has less fat in it than the other two, a really good idea for you if you're a tea or coffee lover like me! You might think you won't like skimmed milk but you will be surprised! If you're a sugar lover, cut it out or at least cut it down in your tea - it's unnecessary & could make a big difference to your waistline!
If your mind's slightly boggled after reading that, drop me a message if you'd like any more details or even a guideline to planning your own meals and health kick plan! I'm more than happy to set you one up with all your favourite things to get you on your way!
Contact: either via Facebook or Twitter, or email me: aprilaslattery@yahoo.co.uk
Good Luck!
April X
