24/05/2019
Firstly let’s give a massive SHOUT OUT to FRIDAY!!! It’s finally here!! The final day of work until 3 sweet sweet days off! Please can the sun shine and the rain stay away!!
Okay so today’s blog is focusing on a “hot topic of conversation’ Yes it’s a blog all about the D word – No not Dior unfortunately, I am talking about the dreaded D word…… DIET!!
Its getting to that time of year for some of us ladies, the warmer weather is gradually arriving and soon it’ll be holiday time….. which means BEACH WEAR, which means PANIC!! Which means “did I enjoy more hearty comfort meals in the winter than I should have?”
How many times do you have a conversation with someone and soon enough one of you comments on either going on a diet, or your currently trying out this diet, or it’s nearly summer, you must diet? It seems that this is a hot topic of many conversations whether we realise it or not.
The diet industry is a huge money making corporation, and with new “fad” diets coming out and new dietary products hitting the market, every day, I can’t help but feel that we, as in the millions of us trying to loose weight and get fit and healthy are being exploited in one way or another.
I am very easily sold on something, so throw back to 2017 when I saw Alexandra Burke on tv tuck into her slim fast shake, and tell me how many pounds she had lost I was like “this is right up my street” so I went out and I stocked up on shakes and bars, and was so ready to see the pounds fall off.
For any of you who don’t know, Slim fast works by having a shake for breakfast and lunch, 3 snacks under 100 calories and a balanced meal in the evening.
So after doing this diet for 2 months I was really hoping to see a difference. In reality I was hungry all the time, my skin started to suffer and I lost 1 Pound, oh and I was out of pocket too as slim fast isn’t the cheapest diet to follow!
There are many many companies out there just like Slim fast, you have Diet chef , Jane Plan, Diet Now and another I recently come across called Noom weight loss! And with deals like – sign up today and save £100, 14 day trial just £29! It’s not hard to see why us as the consumer finds this appealing. I actually know someone who tried Diet Chef a few years back and didn’t even get through the box of food because it tasted so bad!
I am by absolute no means a health and fitness guru, I do 3 classes a week, I have no desire to do more, I like my feminine look, I don’t want to be muscular it wouldn’t suit my small frame, and that look just isn’t for me (all though yes I think it does suit some people) I have spoken openly about my struggles to loose weight. I am as normal as can be, and have too continually watch my weight. (Blog post here??https://lifestylelisa.com/2019/01/24/living-the-healthier-lifestyle/)
But I do always remember something Luke (my boyfriend) once said to me a few years back when I was really having a tough time with my weight was that it’s not rocket science eat less and move more, and that is something I have found to be true.
I lost weight over the course of a year and a half (you can read the blog post here??https://lifestylelisa.com/2018/04/09/lets-talk-weight-loss/) I did this by cutting down my portion sizes, I now do 3 classes a week, and Luke and I do try to be more active (although we have let that slide a little since moving into our house!) I have climbed 2 mountains and am looking to do another next year.
I still have days when I look in the mirror and panic that I’ve put on a few pounds, I’m only human after all. There are times when clothes are too big for me and I worry that I’ve lost more weight than I should have. I get told I look good and sometimes I get told I look a bit too skinny, I think it’s just a no win situation.
Luke and I also make sure that we eat really well. I always do salads for lunch, we have vegetables with dinner, and I love making a healthy smoothie for an occasional treat. 
Don’t get me wrong, we’re certainly not saints and there are times when we love nothing more than a bottle of Prosecco and lots of chocolate! But to be super healthy 24/7, for me that would get a little boring. As long as Monday to Friday I’m on plan it leaves the weekend for the naughtiest little treats.
I have looked at many of these “diet plans” and honestly I can’t see how any of them work! I remember when the Atkins diet was all the rage, and everyone was doing it from Brittany Spears to Madonna and if you wasn’t already doing it you most certainly wanted to try it, but speaking with anyone who was on it I was told about the downside which was bad breath and how their skin really suffered as a result of the diet plan. And honestly does anyone even do the Atkins now?! I mean is it all really worth it? And it takes me back to my first point, eat less move more and have a nutritional balanced lifestyle with fruit and vegetables!
I think it takes me back to the desperation I felt in the early days of my weight loss journey and how I would have tried ANY diet to help me achieve my goals. Which is why I decided to waste a few hundred pounds on slim fast and I didn’t get “SLIM FAST” (pun absolutely intended!)
Diets are everywhere, on tv, in magazines, on advertising boards around towns and of course all over the internet. There is so much pressure on both woman and men today that it’s hard not to get sucked into the whole “try this for 6 weeks and see the weight fall off” But in my opinion and from my own experience keeping it simple, works better than any of these fad diets on the markets, and the truth is when you truly study them most people that have tried all of these out say the weight goes back on when you stop following the strict plan.
So Girls and Guys….. STOP obsessing, put the scales away, and don’t let it consume you!
It’s just not worth it! Love yourself, be confident and most importantly be happy and healthy!!
I am off to do my final 8 hours of work, before the weekend can begin! I will then be spending the long weekend catching up on blog posts I haven’t yet read, I have a new book to get into, I’m getting my hair and nails done, and there’s a list of other things too!!!!!!!!!
I also intend to have a few gins’s and eat a fair aloof food (keeping it perfectly balanced of course)
So whatever you are all doing, have a good one!!