Dear Diet, it's not me ... it's you ....

~RANT~



Why am I so anti-diets?  Well, for one I am proof they really do not work, in the long term.

We enter into them with all good intentions of trying to lose weight, take off a certain amount of pounds in a certain amount of time which is all they focus on.  Whether or not you do lose the weight, and actually manage to keep it off long term, does you more harm than good.  A lot of the time you are just losing water, you are not replacing fat with muscle as so many people say, you need to exercise to build muscle for a start!

Fad diets make you view food as your enemy, it isn't!  Food should be viewed as a pleasurable thing, a social thing, a healthy thing, it should excite you, fuel you. There is no such thing as bad foods, just bad choices.  Food is a means to good health, diets that restricts you from these realities are detrimental to your relationship with food, resulting in you losing your enjoyment of food, and can lead to a fixation on weight or even an eating disorder.  Believe me, I have been there, done that.

Diets often result in you feeling guilty should you stray from them.  It is ok to stray every now and then, to over indulge a little, we are human beings, we have that right.  Following a 'diet' leads you to constantly mutter that awful sentence 'I can't have that' ..... of course you can!  Every once in a while. Don't consider it as a treat, you don't need treats, you are not a dog, just consider it as an enjoyable experience, again, every once in a while.  It is just about re-education of yourself, of taking control.

Most people know what is considered right and wrong health wise.  The key is to make all foods you like fit in with a healthier lifestyle.  Adapt them, reduce your portion size, look for a healthier alternative.  There is absolutely no need to feel deprived.  As soon as you tell yourself 'you can't have that', you will want it.  In the same way that grabbing for that bag of crisps as a quick snack became a habit, retrain yourself to grab a healthier alternative if you really need something, or a glass of water, or just not to grab anything, you probably aren't hungry, your body is just in the habit of having that thing, we can all retrain our habits.  And remember, food is not therapy, if you are bored, or upset, or stressed, food will not make things better, it will just add to your problems.

By healthier alternatives I don't mean the so-called reduced fat crisps and biscuits etc, to me they are just as bad, you tell yourself they are healthier, you will eat more of them, and they are full of just as much rubbish as the full-fat versions, still processed crap.

Diets also make you expect this drastic loss in a super quick timeline.  It isn't reality.  If you don't meet that deadline, you feel like you have failed, and you will give up.  If you do meet that deadline, you will more than likely stop, and eventually revert back to your old eating habits.  I noted this the other day whilst reading, 'Eat healthier, be conscious of portions and get to a normal weight, but don't rely on someone else to convince you that your doing so has anything to do with their "formula".  Your food for your life is what counts most.  A diet's recommendations may give you a way of eating, but only you can determine if you live healthfully and happily 'eating' after!'  So true.

I have no deadline, I have no target weight, I just want to be healthy, and fit.  I reckon it is going to take me a couple of years to get to the level of fitness, muscle tone and reduced body fat I feel my body needs to be at to be healthy, I'm in no rush, it is long term.

~BREAKFAST~

Oh breakfast was a goodie today, it put a huge smile on my face.

Porridge, made with water, with added cinnamon, chopped up stem ginger, chia seeds and mango chunks!  Every mouthful was orgasmic!!!

Again also had a grilled grapefruit half, but naked this time, had cinnamon in the porridge instead!  

~MID-MORNING SNACK~

Was at work on my own this morning, and knew that normally meant I would be bored, and looking around for something to eat, raiding my boss's biscuit stash or 'popping' to the shops.  So I took in a slice of nimble wholemeal and a pot of my beloved wholenut peanut butter, and a banana, toasted the bread at work, spread on some PB and sliced over half the banana, and then ate the other half after.  Fab!

~LUNCH~

Today's lunch was a totally delicious chicken and avocado salad, made with mixed leaves, spinach, fresh yellow pepper, avocado, chicken, beetroot, mixed seeds and a dressing made as usual of rapeseed oil, honey, dijon and wholegrain mustard and white wine vinegar, just a teaspoon of each.

 

Gorgeous, and eaten with great care to ensure I didn't get beetroot down my crisp white shirt!!!

 

 

  

 

~AFTERNOON SNACK~

Matt was working late again this week so dinner wouldn't be till later, I came home from the gym absolutely ravenous so knocked myself up a protein smoothie (almond milk, chocolate protein powder, teaspoon of coconut oil, frozen raspberries, frozen raspberry yogurt, fresh strawberries ... blitzed!) and had a small granary roll and a tub of crab meat, plus a couple of gherkin spears.  Did just the job!

 

 

  

~DINNER~

 

I know I say this everyday, but tonight's dinner was absolutely gorgeous!  My take on pork milanese, which is normally fried in lots of butter and oil.

I took some very lean pork escalopes and placed each one between some baking paper and gave them a good bash with my meat mallet (you can just use a rolling pin!), till they were about 5mm's thick

In my hand held food processor I whizzed up some wholemeal bread, a small chunk of parmesan and some fennel seeds

.... I absolutely love fennel with pork, it is a marriage made in heaven! 

I then set up 3 plates and put wholemeal flour in one, 2 beaten eggs in the other and the breadcrumb mixture in the 3rd, I then dipped each pork escalope first in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumb mix.

Rather than fry them, I lined a roasting tin with some silicone paper and sprayed that with some fry light, placed the pork escalopes on top and then gave each of them a small spray too, and cooked in an oven at 180oc for about 15 minutes, then turned over and cooked for another 5mins.

I served these with a lovely salad of mixed leaves, spinach, beetroot, chopped pear, light feta cheese and walnuts with my usual dressing, only using cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar.

~EXERCISE~

 

Back in the gym today, as I missed Friday it felt like I hadn't been there for aaages, and I was so ready for it.  I absolutely loved it.  Did 25 minutes on the cardio machines then the rest on the corded weights, was in there just under 2 hours.  Tried a couple more new machines, one for hamstrings and one for glutes, and cut out a couple of others I felt weren't really doing much (hip adductor and hip abductor), I even did 10 minutes on the cross trainer, a machine I usually hate!!!  I felt on a total high when I came away with a huge smile on my face.

 

 

 

 

Thanks again for reading

Jo

xx