Do What Makes You Happy
Weighing yourself isn't the first thing that comes to mind when making yourself happy, but in my case, the past year of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, furlough, homeschooling, missing my man and being made redundant all took its toll on my weight - quite frankly it spiralled out of control. Before the pandemic, I was already in the overweight category on a BMI chart and by the end of 2020, I was firmly in the morbidly obese - eek!
My daughter took a photo of me on Boxing Day and it is forever etched in my mind. I'm sure I will share it on here at some point but until then, it is stuck in my journal to remind me why I started this journey. The photo made me unhappy. I was also tired of IBS flare ups and acid reflux. So, I bit the bullet and decided to go back to something that I had seen success with ten years ago - Lighter Life.
The above photo shows a whole day's worth of food. I was shocked at first and was sure I would definitely starve to death. As it happened, with the 2-3 litres of water on top, the level of hunger was manageable and the taste of the 'food' is palatable, with some becoming a firm favourite such as spaghetti bolognese and the chocolate shake.
I have now been following the Total Plan for five weeks and I'm pleased to say I am 13lbs lighter and still well and truly in the zone. I have a shake at 10am, a jelly at 1:00pm, a cup of tea and a bar at 3:00pm, a spaghetti bolognese or a noodle pot at 6:00pm and then a shake at 8:30pm. The Lighter Life website does imply that you can expect to lose a stone a month, but everyone's journey is different because every body is different - different heights, starting weights, amount to lose, lifestyle, level of fitness and hormones. Those pesky hormones!
I am vertically challenged, at just 4ft 11 inches so the number of calories my body needs just to maintain is less than someone weighing the same but measuring 5ft 8 so I'm not complaining that I am still a pound off losing a stone - I still think almost a stone in five weeks is great and seeing my chins disappearing and feeling my jeggings becoming looser is certainly making me happy.
Another bonus to Lighter Life is I am not having to spend hours in the kitchen preparing calorie counted meals or slave away at the sink washing countless pots and pans, so guess what I do with all this extra time? READ! (Currently reading Stop At Nothing by Tammy Cohen). Or blog, or play Sims with my daughter! It's so lovely to have my Sundays back again as during lockdown I embarked on a Joe Wicks 90 day body plan, which I really enjoyed, the meals were DELICIOUS and the workouts were awesome (I still do them now but not as frequently) BUT all of my spare time was spent either cooking, exercising or washing up and while I did start to see a difference in my body, for me it wasn't sustainable when I started working full time again.
So, today's topic has basically been about doing what makes you happy and for me that means feeling in control of my eating, losing weight and becoming healthier, spending time with my daughter and playing on the Playstation not to mention making time to read every evening.
I hope it has been an enjoyable read for you! If not, I'll try better next time! I hope you leave thinking about what you can do more of to make you happy.
Much love,
Nicola
My recommendations as mentioned above
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