Since the new year started, I've had a complete change in diet and overall lifestyle. So this blog post is to talk about all those changes and little steps I've taken to make my lifestyle & diet healthier and better for myself and mental state. Hopefully this will help those of you reading too!
Joining the gym
A pretty obvious one I'm sure a lot of people do in January, but the key for me is sticking at it and not doing any less than 4 gym sessions a week or more. It helps to motivate me more when I go with my partner Adam and we motivate each other to keep going and to help each other achieve our goals in what we want to achieve with our bodies. I'm not like a lot of people who go to the gym to lose weight, I'm going to gain it. As I've always struggled with gaining weight and have always been underweight due to having a metabolism as fast as a 12 year old. It's a blessing and curse if you ask me, as when you want to have that extra stone, it's so hard to reach it. I do weighing every Saturday to keep in check with how much weight I'm gaining, fat, BMI and body fat mass. And since the start it's been up and down quite often. Thankfully at my last weighing I finally gained 2 pounds, which in my eyes is an actual milestone, as putting on just 1 pound was hard enough, trust me! I want to tone my body up and gain muscle weight, so this is where the diet comes in...
Changing my diet
From January 2nd, I cut out all junk food including, sweets, crisps, chocolate, cake, fizzy pop you name it, the lot. As well as everything that included milk, as I've found that dairy products seem to be my stomachs enemy and makes my stomach not so happy shall we say. I can have the odd one tiny pot of yoghurt as in a fromage frias or a cheese string, but anything more than that ends badly. So I've swapped milk for almond milk in tea, breakfast, drinks etc. So that I don't suffer and I don't miss out on my calcium intake. As I wasn't having enough dairy products, I was getting those white marks you get on your nails when you haven't got enough calcium in your body, so most days I have a bit of cheese or a yoghurt, or sometimes both to help this.
I cook fresh every single day, and this is something me and Adam quite enjoy as it's something we enjoy doing, is cooking together and getting creative in the kitchen. We (well I mean Adam really) weigh foods like rice and pasta and add it all into our apps, Adam has the My Fitness Pal app along side his Garmin fitness watch, and I add all mine into my Fitbit app as I have a Fitbit Blaze watch that literally never leaves my wrist. This app is not only good for tracking your food, but your water intake, heart rate, active minutes, steps, weight gain or weight loss and it even tracks your period and when your fertile! Clever little gadget that is worth investing in and I'm so glad I did!
I try to eat a portion of fruit and vegetables daily, alongside drinking 2 bottles of water or more a day. As for my calories, I need to (ideally) eat 2400 calories a day, but healthy calories, which is more difficult than you think! But I'm getting there! I've been having protein bars once a day - the PHD Woman Blueberry Muffin Protein bars are my favourites, yet I've tried so many different protein bars and this is the only one I cannot taste the protein in! So I bought an entire box of them off eBay for £14. I also have whey protein to help me repair my muscles after the gym. Unfortunately I chose banana flavour, which I thought would be really nice like banana milkshake which is my favourite, but it's honestly vile, so I just have to force myself to drink it as I don't want it wasted, honestly you should see me drinking it, I just gag every time but it's rather amusing.
Pink Loungewear Set* - Femme Luxe | Trainers - Nike Running | Watch - Fitbit Blaze
Keeping motivated
One thing that keeps me motivated and keeps me going, has to be my partner in crime, Adam. I couldn't do all this without him and here I am still going at it, and if I went the gym on my own I'm sure I would of given up by now. Having someone that builds you up and supports you through things like this is the best. Another thing that helps me keep motivated is feeling comfortable at the gym in the clothing I wear, and this set I'm wearing is one of my favourite's lately, gifted by Femme Luxe, I not only wear it to the gym but for lounging around at home too. It's so comfortable, I love the material and it's the perfect high waisted joggers and cropped hoodie I could ask for in this pretty dusty pink shade that looks great next to a tan.
What have you changed in your lifestyle or diet this year?
*Items marked with an asterisk (*) have been sent to me for review. All opinions are my own, please read my disclaimer for more information.*
I've had to really watch my carbs etc as I'm a Type 2 Diabetic but due to taking steroids for for another condition my bloods sugars are nowhere near under control. It's a pain in the ass.
ReplyDeleteSarah 🌺 || Boxnip
Gosh, reading this has made me realise how incredibly unhealthy I am! Right now I am drinking a can of Pepsi Max as I read this, and I feel really guilty about it. I would love to slowly cut out all unnatural sugars but it's going to be such a challenge, so kudos to you two for doing it so well!
ReplyDeleteI have, however, opted for Almond Milk now and it tastes so much nicer than cow's milk!
Lizzie // Hello Lizzie Bee
I never do any diet cause I love sweet stuff too much! I try to do yoga twice a week and run in the morning. How lucky you are to have a very supportive partner!!
ReplyDelete