The Weighting Game – Part II

Part II

The Weighting Game is a series on my approach to healthy living.  If you missed Part I of the series please click here.

Okay so here is one of my ‘secrets’:

Consistency is KEY!!!

I do not believe in diets.

There are many theories about how to lose weight, however there are a lot fewer theories about maintaining a healthy weight.  I have definitely experienced the ups and downs of the weighting game and I still get it wrong from time to time, but what I’ve found to be true is that a diet may work for a little while but if you are looking for sustainability then it needs to be a lifestyle not a fad diet.  So the biggest ‘secret’ to my lifestyle is simply – consistency!

For example, I don’t believe in depriving myself of carbs, or cutting out sugars or only eating foods high in fats.  I think these are the types of diets that are not sustainable.  A lot of people try cut things out of their lives in order to lose weight but, do you really think you can go your whole life never eating carbs again? Probably not, right?

I know that I never could!

I love bread, pizza, pasta and potatoes way too much to ever cut them from my life.  And so I never have.  I try to never deprive myself of anything.  I love dessert and I love french fries so when I feel like those things, I have them.  It goes without saying that it’s obviously not possible to eat these things every day and expect to have a six pack and I’m not suggesting that I eat whatever I want every day, but I will have chips with my burger every now and then.  With all the ‘bad’ things, I obviously control how much of them I eat.  But if I feel like cake, I’ll have some cake.  Everything is good in moderation!  And I believe that applies to everything in life.

I feel like it is more than possible to be healthy and be in shape without having to completely cut things from your diet.  Life is WAY too short for that.At this point I would like to add that there are times where I am stricter with my diet.  There are times where I will definitely not have chips and will avoid sweets and other delicious treats.  This is usually before an overseas holiday or my Birthday when I really want to look good.  At these times I really try to be very healthy in order to be in the best possible shape.

I am the type of person that gets addicted to results and so sometimes I do get carried away.  When I visibly see changes in my body or people start commenting on how much weight I’ve lost, I thrive on that.  For example, I went a bit overboard before my 21st Birthday a few years ago because I was so desperate to look good on that night and when I look back on photos I realise that I looked a bit thin.  I couldn’t see it at the time but there were a lot of bones sticking out and I definitely did not look my best.  Being ‘too’ anything is bad.

What really has helped me find a middle ground though, as well as influenced my perspective on food and health, is the family I’ve grown up in.

As a family, healthy eating is our way of life.  My Mum is a fantastic self-taught chef and we eat well every day of our lives. She cooks delicious food using very healthy ingredients.  She doesn’t use any butter or cream in any of her meals or baking (in fact we haven’t had butter in our house for about 15 years, so there is one thing I have cut from my diet but you really don’t need butter).  Despite the healthy meals and lack of cream, I reckon that I eat the most delicious food every single day of my life.  The myth that healthy food isn’t yummy food is completely disproven in my house.  In my next post I will give you guys some insight into the kind of food we eat at home and share some pictures of my Mum’s amazing meals, so keep an eye out for that.

In general, I don’t have a very big appetite, however I genuinely live for my next meal.  My dinners every night get me through my days at work and I sometimes have to message my Mum to find out what we are having just so I know what to look forward to.  This helps a lot when I’m having a bad day.  I am moving out in 6 months and I fear for myself and Nick’s survival because goodness knows I’m not exactly chef savvy!

Another very important part of my daily diet is wine.  My Dad is a wine connoisseur and has a cellar full of fantastic wines in our home and so I have grown up drinking wine with dinner from a young age.  I have grown up appreciating wine and it has always been a very important element of our dinners (and sometimes lunches).  I have wine with dinner every single night of my life.  It too is what I look forward to at the end of a long day.

It’s all about knowing what works for you.

I have found that the easiest way for me to lose weight or stay at a weight I’m happy with is to control my portion size, not snack too much in-between meals, look for healthy alternative ingredients in recipes you love, for example try cottage cheese instead of cream (this doesn’t mean replace your spaghetti with zucchini – that is shameful!) and get into a habit of having a healthy awareness of what your body needs, like when you need to be more strict with your eating and when you can afford to have that pizza.  Find a ‘diet’ that you can live by, not just for 3 months but forever!

With love,

Amber Denae xxx