So what do you do?

Back in 2014 my journey to better health and wellbeing began. I didn't know it at the time but that desire to simply 'lose some weight' would cause a complete new way of life for me that has evolved, and continues to evolve, ever since. And because of those changes, along with my passion for knowing and understanding more, I often get asked the question 'so what do you do?'...well this is what I do!

Where shall we start? Well let's go with the obvious...food! Back in 2014 I started off with a low carb/keto approach to eating which gave me the weight loss I'd been wanting for so many years, but since then my approach has changed as I learned more and more. So whilst the ethos of low carb/keto is still there I think the easiest way to describe the food I eat today would be to simply say 'real food'. By which I mean we cook whole foods all the time. We avoid ultra processed food (I urge everyone to read Ultra Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken it is eye opening and will put you off packaged foods for life!). If we do occasionally buy any packaged foods then we follow these simple rules...does it have more than 5 ingredients? If the answer is yes put it back! Does it contain ingredients that you have never heard of or that you wouldn't find in a kitchen cupboard? Again if the answer is yes put it back!

So what do you eat I can hear being asked? Well a typical day for me can look something like this;

I'll start the day with a black coffee (fully caffeinated) and will usually have my first meal of the day around late morning/lunchtime which tends to be bacon, eggs and mushrooms (breakfast foods are my favourite!). Dinner is around late afternoon/early evening and will be some type of animal protein (chicken, ground beef, steak, salmon etc) with either green veggies (stick to veggies grown above ground) or salad. To round out the day I will have an evening dessert/snack of greek yogurt & berries (raspberries & blueberries are my go to) with a drizzle of honey. If I do feel the need for a snack at any point then this is where my favourite dark chocolate comes in, I prefer 90% cocoa but will always aim for a minimum of 70%. But other options can include a couple of dates, an apple, small amount of cheese, hard boiled egg, small amount of nuts or deli meats. And for drinks I will stick to black coffee or black tea which after our first morning coffee will mostly be decaffeinated.

A couple of caveats to the above;

Protein (animal based is preferable...more satiating and more nutrient dense) should be your primary source of food, not only does this keep us satiated it helps to maintain our muscle mass which becomes so important the older you get.

Alcohol - I try to avoid alcohol and only have a small glass of red wine occasionally. To be honest I like the taste of red wine but I don't like the effects of over indulging and the less I drink the less I want it.

Treats or cheats - these do happen occasionally and we aim to stick to the rule of 80/20...as in 80% of the time we keep to our regular foods and routines (although I suspect this is probably closer to 90%). Treats may involve indulging in something carb focused like bread or potatoes if out for a meal or maybe having a sweet treat with a coffee (but we do tend to buy just one thing and share it between us!). We make sure to really enjoy any treats that we have while at the same time not letting those treats define us...all too often I hear people indulge in something they know they perhaps shouldn't have which then gives them the green light to throw all their good work away and revert back to their old habits. Have a treat, enjoy it and then get back to what you know you should be doing.

So with food covered let's move onto exercise. Now I need to start this by saying that I have never been sporty; poor coordination, lack of confidence and an aversion to getting sweaty and out of breath always meant that I just simply didn't have any interest or desire to do any sort of exercise. In the early 1990's we started going to a local gym; this was in the days before big franchised gyms, it was relatively small, friendly, supportive and non-judgemental. We made a great group of friends and we sustained going for a good number of years (even during both my pregnancies)...although I would often remark that sometimes the muscle that got the most exercise was my jaw muscle from all the talking I would do! But at that time our diet wasn't great and so all the effort I put in down the gym had very little effect on my weight or body composition.

With the addition of children and Simon working away from home we gradually slipped out of our gym routine. In 2014 when I started my initial weight loss journey I was introduced to body weight exercises - squats, lunges, press-ups etc - and along with my new way of eating I began to see a change in how my body looked and felt. Fast forward to around 2018/2019 and we re-joined our old gym (although by now it was much, much bigger and much busier) and we were even able to enrol the kids along with us. Then the pandemic and all the various lockdowns hit; having no gym to go to we invested in some basic equipment and converted our garage into our home gym, and it was the best thing we ever did - no more gym subscriptions, no more having to drive to get to the gym, no more looking for some where to park, no more having to turn out in all sorts of weather, no more excuses on why we couldn't get to the gym and no more waiting around for machines. 

We still use our garage as a garage but have bought equipment that we can store easily and make the best use of. This means we now workout with weights three times a week for about an hour each time...and the 'non-sporty me' now schedules gym time into our calendar so that we never miss a session! But the other thing that we do is walk; we aim to get in excess of 10,000 steps per day and it is very rare that we don't get outside and get our steps in. It has become an integral part of our routine so much so that the day just doesn't feel right if we have not gotten those steps in. The effects of walking are tremendous; it is low impact, it is free, it keeps you mobile and active, getting outside you get the benefits of sunlight, the therapeutic affect of being outside and the chance to 'blow those cobwebs away' as well as a chance to destress and re-connect with nature. For Simon and I it is a great opportunity for us to connect, to chat about our plans, to have the time to talk and simply be together. Walking in our local community means that we have made connections with local businesses and with people we see on a regular basis, and simply seeing others out and about and saying 'hello' provides those social interactions which are so important.

In addition to food and exercise we try to ensure that our sleep patterns are consistent. I'd like to say that we aim to get good quality sleep but I'm not really sure how you do that and how you would prove it?! As a menopausal woman I will suffer from night sweats (although these are a lot better and much less frequent than they have been!) and these will obviously disrupt my sleep.  But we try and have a regular(ish) bedtime routine and are pretty consistent with the times we go to bed and the time we get up in the morning. 

We are also very fortunate to have our own infra-red sauna and try to use it for 30 minutes every day. We may even use the time getting sweaty to meditate as well...after all we have no where to go so why not multi-task and make best use of the time!

But with all of this the key to success is consistency. Almost 11 years after my initial weight loss I have kept the weight off and continue to learn more and adjust but I keep on going. I keep on doing what works.

My goal is to live as long as I can, to be as healthy as I can and to be in the best physical shape I can be. I want to be able to enjoy the life that I have ahead of me in the best way possible for the longest time possible. To live my life to its fullest unencumbered.

So, to sun it all up eat real food, lift some weights, walk, connect with others, sleep well and repeat!

Welcome to 2025...

A new year begins and as we reflect on the previous 12 months we look forward to what the coming months may hold.

It is also that time of year when resolutions and pledges are aplenty and the mantra of 'new year new me' can be heard ringing along with the bells chiming midnight!

But how many of those resolutions and pledges actually come to fruition over the year ahead? Why do we always use the ringing in of a new year as the time to make that change...well we say we're going to make that change!!

And while the start of a new year, or maybe the start of a new week, or perhaps the beginning of a month or even a point in the future that links to current plans (you know the 'when I get back from...') all sound amazing and may even feel great they very rarely even happen. The problem is that by telling ourselves that we will do something at a certain point gives us a feeling of positivity, a feeling that we are in charge, a feeling that we are moving forward and will achieve our goals because we now have a 'plan' and unfortunately that is where it all falls apart. That feeling of achievement because we have said we will do something on a certain date is enough for us to feel good about ourselves and it tricks our brain into thinking we've 'done something' when actually all we've done is thought about doing something. This in turn means that when that date rolls around we often find an excuse for the 'plan' to not happen or get delayed or only last for a few days until something comes along to derail us. We feel good about ourselves for thinking and planning about making a change but that feeling wains and our desire to make the change wains with it. Something else more important comes along and gives us the excuse to 'start next week' and the whole process repeats itself.

We've all been there, I know I have. I've lost count of the times I thought about starting a diet to lose a few pounds for that holiday, or before Christmas or for a special event only to find that before I knew it my starting point had moved so many times that 'the event' was suddenly upon me and I'd missed my opportunity. Which of course at that point made me feel like a failure and I would just give up, throw my rattle out of my pram and convince myself that I was always going to be this way and there was nothing I could do about it. Rinse and repeat this process over and over, for years and years.

You know that old mantra of 'don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today' actually rings true. If you want to make a change, if you want to try something new, if you want to lose a few pounds or get fitter then why wait for a 'date in the future'? Why not just start today? What's stopping you?

If you want to make a change in whatever aspect of your life then the best time to start is now, today, this minute. Waiting until Monday, or the new year, is only delaying you becoming the person you want to be. That better version you want to be will only happen if you make the changes you need when you decide to be that better version.

So the question you have to ask yourself is that if you are waiting for that specific date in the future to make those changes do you really want to make that change? If you can't start now, right this minute,  then why? Surely if the change you need to make is important enough, or wanted enough, then starting now is the only option.

Remember the only person you have to please is you, and the only person who can make the changes you want is you and the only person stopping you from starting is you! So don't wait till tomorrow start now. You don't have to start big, you don't have to start perfectly, you just have to start and each day you just keep on going until before you know it the thing that you wanted to achieve is happening. It may not happen as quick as you would like but it will be happening and if you miss a day or mess up then just start again the next day. No-one is perfect, we all have bad days and the trick is not letting those less than perfect days derail you. Simply dust yourself off, get back up and get straight back on with what you should be doing. Don't berate yourself, just chalk it up to experience and start again. 

So instead of reading this, you know what you need to do...start NOW!