Sarahs Weightloss Blog

Hi Everyone!

So a while back – over a month now! – I decided that I was pretty happy where I was at 68.5kgs, UK size 10-12 and thought I would try to keep it at that for a while, maybe forever.  I’ve been told by others that the hardest thing to do is to maintain your weight after you have lost it.  I think this may be because a lot of people go onto fad diets which are not sustainable in the long term (at least I hope it is!), whereas I have just lowered how much I ate and changed what I ate to be more healthy and exercised.  Surely I can keep this up in the long term and not revert back to super sized Sarah . . . right?

After over a year of strict healthy eating and exercise, you would have thought it would be easy to take off the training wheels and attempt to balance calories in with calories burned, but actually it isn’t all that easy to balance it perfectly.  When you’re losing you just eat less than you burn = losing weight.  But it’s less of a bummer to eat a little less than you thought and lose a little more than eat a bit too much and undo some of your hard work.

Overall I haven’t done that bad so far.  After the first week I was appalled that I went up to 69.2kgs – almost a kg back on!  But the week after I was back to 68.5kgs and have stayed around there for the past month.  My waist however has gone down by another 0.5cm’s – bonus!  I now use the shapeup club app to check every now and then that I am not either in excess or deficit in calories, but I’m trying to wean this out and rely on myself to know what to eat.  However I think I will always use the app to track my weight, measurements and body fat – if they go up at all I can start counting again to bring it down – I’ll never let myself get super size again with the handy app in my pocket

The best thing about this part is that I can have more treats and food as I’m balancing my food intake with my exercise, rather than creating a deficit – cheeky I know, but true.  What this really means is that I have more choice in food than I did before, rather than just reverting back to ‘normal’ i.e. my super sized super unhealthy eating before my lifestyle change. 

Luckily I’ve found that it’s impossible to revert back to that style of eating high fat high sugar foods all the time, since I have been off them so long, I can no longer stand them! Wahey!  I was terrified that I would just think ‘oh, now the diets over – back to the couch with coke, chocolates, ice-cream, buttercream and junk! Come to think of it I don’t feel like the gym anymore’, I had no idea that I would genuinely not like sweet things at all, particularly cheap chocolate, icing or cakes – Bonus again! I now prefer natural cheeky things like full fat greek bio-live yoghurt with muesli and honey, nuts, seeds and dried and fresh fruit, which in a balanced diet, are totally allowed! 

So much has changed.  I hope I keep this up forever and ever . . . .

Till next time! :)

Hey Everyone!

I LURVE BBQS in the summer!  Now the world cup has started we have been enjoying quite a few.  The great thing is BBQ’s can be really healthy, even with burgers and sausages in a bun!  Here are some things I do to try and keep fat and calories low while still having all my favourite things:

Healthy Burgers? Rule one to making sure your burgers are healthy is NOT EVER to buy them ready made from a store – EVER! They have loads of preserves, fat, salt, flavour enhancers – you name it, its got it.  Especially avoid the cheap BBQ deals they have in store – those will be some nasty concoctions.   The best thing to do is make your own and its real easy peasy.

for 4-5 people, get 500gs of extra lean ground pork and 500gs of extra lean ground beef.  Thinly shop 1 large onion.  Get a load of fresh thyme and sage, salt and pepper (as much as you want – season to taste, but take it easy on the salt, you can leave it out altogether if you want).  Get it all in a bowl and just knead it all together with your hands, divide into equal sized ball and shape into burgers – DONE.  Low fat simple burgers.  We don’t have it in the UK much, but you can put minced chicken with the pork, or make ostrich burgers (which is low fat), or even make minced lamb and mint (but minced lamb is quite fatty here – and I can’t find a lean minced lamb anywhere).  Experiment, you can use any meat, any herb, add wine or spirits, whatever you like

For sausages, there are loads of reduced fat alternatives on the market which are around 90-100 kcal per sausage, rather than the going rate of around 200 kcal for a regular one.

Another really low calorie winner are chicken kebabs.  Again DON’T get the glazed processed store bought stuff, cut up some lean chicken breast and make your own skewers alternating between meat and an assortment of veg or your choice.  It doesn’t need any seasoning at all – it tastes great after being smoked on the BBQ and is very low calorie.  Serve in a pitta with salad. YUM!

For other vegetables, get assorted roots vegetables – beetroot, squash, potatoes, carrots etc.  Leave the skins on and whole (except for the squash, unless you have a BBQ big enough!), wrap in tin foil, stick it right in with the charcoal for about 1 hr, unwrap, let it all cool a little before peeling them and eating it – YUM YUM!

If you’re on a serious diet you can eat a selection of these things and not go off the wagon.  If you want to splurge you will still be eating healthy things and so the damage is controlled.  

I ate an awful lot this weekend, but it was good.  The worst thing that happened was the alcohol . . . and our goal keeper letting in the equaliser.  I also ate so much I had more than enough energy to run 6 miles under my target of 1hr Weight is still stable cause I’m still exercising hard and eating healthy things, with a few ‘cheats’ every now and then, but not regularly.

Till next time

Hey Everyone!

I was doing really well up to a point in dealing with my stress: trying to fit in exercise and healthy eating around work.  But then it all got on top of me, I didn’t have the chance to (or rather make time to) eat at regular intervals.  So I got really hungry and ate rather a lot more than I have done for a while, and all the wrong things . . . much cake, chocolate and biscuits were involved.  I still exercised, and it was for only 4 days, but the difference is very noticable – to me anyway.

So now I am trying to get back into eating smaller portions and more healthy food.  I feel like an addict that’s been clean for a long time and fell off the wagon, and is trying to wean off the drugs for the second time.  I think after this stressful time is over, it will be easier.  I really do comfort eat to ease stress.  I don’t eat just for the sake of it anymroe though, I have been genuinely feeling starving, but for sweet things, and instead of using my coping strategies, have just been giving in, since I just don’t have any fight left in me from dealing with other problems.

The stress is starting to disappate though – light is at the end of the tunnel, and I have gotten through the worst I think, with little damage.

On a brighter note I ran 4.8kms in the running club in 25 minutes.  I haven’t really been out for a while, but my speed has improved dramatically.  Today I will try and run 6 miles on the treadmill, as this week is my 6 mile running week.  Next week I need to up it to 7 miles, then back down to 5 miles for my rest week.

Till next time