I'm back again with #2 of my new Dieting & Me series!
I have been loving reading your comments on the first post I uploaded (here) and they have really spurred me on even more to keep going with this healthy eating and changing the way I look at my diet and what I put into my body!
Today's post is going to be all about that key ingredient to dieting and something that for me decides to go up and down on a regular basis - Motivation!
Along with healthy eating and keeping active, being motivation and determined is what you need to keep going and help you steer away from spiraling back to your old ways.
I'm going to share with you ways of how I motivate myself to stay healthy and what has pushed me to turn my diet around and cut out the excess rubbish.
1. Health & Body
Before, diets for me had always been about loosing weight and fitting into that dress for the weekend. But after having a long hard look at what I was putting into my system recently I realised that it was mostly doing me 0% good.
Snacking on chocolate bars and sweets to the extreme has been a daily occurrence and I would rather come from work and just have a bowl or cereal and some biscuits than cook a healthy balanced meal. This is both wrong and utterly lazy!
I know this is doing me absolutely no good and actually is seriously bad and after having my first filling last month I know that sugar is really having an effect on my body so my intake needs to to be cut drastically. (I swear to god I could easily eat a whole tub of Celebrations and not even feel sick.)
I don't just want to have a good body on the outside but on the inside too!
So I've been getting myself into a routine of 3 meals a day and minimising snacking to help me keep a balance diet.
MY 3 MAIN AIMS :
- Avoid sugary snacks and binge eating/over eating. Did you know just one standard Mars bar contains over 30g of sugar?! Just a few chocolate bars a week meant I could have been having an extra 100g or so of sugar added into my diet and as much as I love chocolate that is seriously not worth it.
- Have a main meal every evening. I want to make sure that I eat dinner every night, there has been some nights I have happily just sat and eaten biscuits or toast for dinner, which of course left me even more hungry which then lead to me eating more. So a healthy dinner is what I need to keep me satisfied and avoid that desperate need for chocolate at 8pm.
- Be active for at least 30minutes per day. Even if it is just walking to work and back or cleaning the flat I am going to make sure I doing a bit of exercise everyday. You'd be surprised how much of a difference this can make and as soon as the weather has made up it's mind here and stops raining and blowing a gale then I will be pounding the pavements again and training to hopefully be able to run 5km again with ease.
2. Motivate Yourself With.... Yourself
Now... we are all guilty of staring endlessly at photos of Beyonce and Jessica Alba, crying into our takeaway's wishing we had their body.
But at the end of the day - we are not Beyonce and unfortunately we will never be Beyonce (sorry to crush your dreams girls).
We all need a goal that is attainable so using photos of ourselves is the best way to keep that body image we are striving for realistic.
Everyone has a photo of themselves from a time where they have felt a bit more confident about how they look and feel about themselves, using these are a fantastic way of keeping motivation because at the end of the day - you know you CAN reach that goal.
3. Fashion & Self-Esteem
Fashion is always a major (and possibly even the biggest) reason that I get so upset and frustrated with my body. Every year I am obsessed with so many trends and looks that I just feel I could never pull off.
Going round stores and looking through websites normally consists of me just looking at items and thinking to myself ... "I can't wear that it's to short" or "I can't wear that you'll see my bingo wings" and "You'd see my tummy too much in that".
I want to be able to wear whatever I want, feel good about myself and get totally involved with all the fashion and trends that I am loving. I want to not feel totally gross on a girly night out with my gorgeous (size 8) friends!
Things like playsuits & cute dresses (without my trusty tights), crop tops, disco pants... the list is endless really - I want to be able to buy these, wear them and not feel conscious of every single piece of me looking horrific - especially with summer on the way!
4. Holiday
And... talking of summer it is just over 5 months now until I will be on a plane to Florida! This is an obvious thing to keep me motivated!
Knowing I am off on holiday and am going to be both wearing summery outfits and bikinis is enough to make me step away from the pick 'n' mix!
I love buying clothes for holidays and I want to be confident enough to buy all the outfits I dream to wear! And.... bikinis - I haven't felt good in a bikini since... well... ever - I would love to be able to hit those water parks without a care in the world and I'm hoping this "new me" will help achieve this!
5. Bank Balance
Not only does food have an affect on my body but also on my bank balance. Buying lunch at work, treating myself, going out for dinner, takeaways - they all add up and it's definitely something I want to stop.
Knowing that just taking in my own food to work and avoiding the bakery and supermarkets in my lunch hour can save me pounds and pounds every week is motivation enough to get up a little earlier and make my own lunch!
So there are just a few things which help keep me motivated when it comes to slimming down and staying healthy! Let me know what keeps you motivated in the comments below!
Next time on Dieting & Me - My Top Tips!
