What I found was a blog piece wrote about an interview that Jennifer Aniston had given to 'Elle' magazine. As she is renowned for 'looking good' she was asked about what she did to keep herself looking as slim and as good as she does!
I then preceded to read the article and found myself getting rather annoyed. Jennifer Ansiton had simply explained her healthy eating plan...no gimmicks...no quick fixes...just simple healthy eating. But what annoyed me was the blog authors attitude that in some way her choice to eat healthy was 'sad', that she was somehow 'depriving' herself of something. The whole blog piece really slammed her for choosing this lifestyle, and was wrote with heavy sarcasm and an attitude that was full of criticism. How can someone's decision to make healthy food choices be treated with such disdain?
Now I am all for freedom of choice (and opinion for that matter) and as a consequence someone's choice to eat a certain way or live their life a certain way should be their choice and their choice alone. It doesn't mean you have to agree with it or follow what they are doing but the least you can do is respect their choice.
I changed my way of eating nearly two years ago; I lost nearly 2 stone in weight and dropped 2 (sometimes 3!) dress sizes. I have never felt better about my body and how I look. I still have bits of me I don't like and still worry about how I look but I know that I am in better shape than I was 2 years ago. And I am proud of what I have achieved and proud of the fact that I have made a change to my lifestyle that I have stuck to. And along the way I have helped and supported others to make changes to their lifestyles too.
So if (and when) people ask me how I've lost the weight there is no quick fix or gimmick to tell them about I'm afraid. It is simply a change to my lifestyle that involves cutting out the processed foods and eating healthy clean foods. But I have to admit I kind of dread it when people ask me because I know what their reaction is going to be most of the time. As soon as I explain what I have done people usually say 'Oh I couldn't do that' and for some reason I then feel guilty...I know...why??
So let's ask me the same question that was asked of Jennifer Aniston - what do I eat most days? Well, breakfast tends to be sausage, egg and bacon. Lunch will be a salad with either chicken, ham, cheese or tuna followed by a yogurt (as low sugar as I can find - avoid all the low fat rubbish!). Dinner will be chicken, fish or meat with a large salad or plenty of veggies. I will probably have a bowl of greek or natural yogurt with some berries and most days I will have a couple of squares of very dark chocolate. Snacks will be either nuts with some dried fruit (not a fan of nuts but getting better with them) or cheese or some dark chocolate.
I don't worry too much about the number of calories each day but try to ensure that processed foods and foods marked 'low fat/fat free' are avoided. I don't eat bread, pasta, rice or white potatoes, nor do I drink diet drinks or fruit juice. And so far it seems to be working for me!
I find myself wanting to learn more about the relationship between food and our bodies and understand the effect that food can have on us. I have come across some great books and articles and am beginning to know more about what happens when we eat certain types of foods. I am passionate about what I am learning and will explain it the best I can to anyone who is truly interested.
And that is the other key to all of this you have to want to make that change. There is no point wishing you were slimmer or weighed less or wanting to look like Jennifer Aniston unless you are prepared to do something about it. It's very easy to come up with excuses but if you want something bad enough then you will make that change. The next thing is then sticking to that change; I initially made the change for a 90 day challenge but found that after the 90 days I really didn't want to go back to my old ways. The foods that I thought I would miss I actually didn't and never have since. Now don't get me wrong I will allow myself an indulgence every now and then, but I don't let that one indulgence become licence to fall back into old ways.
But with all of this I made a choice to change what I was doing, for my own reasons. And whilst I don't expect everyone to do the same, or even like or agree with what I have done, I at least hope that people will respect me for my own choices.
If you are interested in making a change then please feel free to comment below or message me via Twitter @JaynePhipps. Also check out Gary Taubes - Why We Get Fat & What to Do About It & Dr Mark Hyman - Eat Fat Get Thin & The Blood Sugar Solution for some great reads too.
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