Getting back on the horse

So, I haven't written a post in a long while.
I originally started writing because I did want to get my ideas out to help others, but a major part of it was to help myself stay focussed on what I needed to do to lose weight.

I can tell you, since I stopped writing mid last year, I have gained 7 kilos.

I went through a major life change which created a lot of stress for me, and I've been struggling to stick to my healthy eating lifestyle.

There are a few factors that caused me to put the weight back on, and by identifying them now, I am starting the process of getting focussed again and losing the extra weight.

The main one was overeating. After creating this healthy lifestyle for myself 3 years ago, I find that eating the right foods has not been difficult.
I do treat myself to the occasional 'cheat meal' which I always have, and is a huge part of achieving the maintainable lifestyle, but my body craves healthy foods, and I have become accustomed to eating them.
The thing that has got me, is the amount of food I have been eating. Even the healthiest foods have calories, so by eating a larger meal-even if it is healthy, I am consuming too many calories.

The second thing was drinking. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't turn into an alcoholic and drink through my stressful times!
I have had a lot more social events lately, especially over the Christmas period, where I have been consuming a little more alcohol than I usually would. Sometimes its easy to forget that alcohol carries so many calories because of its liquid form.
I generally stick to low carb beer, but even one bottle of low carb beer holds approx 130 calories and a big night could see me drinking my entire daily calorie goal.

Another contributor to the added weight, is Cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Cortisol is important as it supports blood pressure and immune system. But a high amount of stress can produce excess levels of the hormone.
The symptoms of excess cortisol include:

• Poor sleep
• Constant fatigue
• Weight gain
• Headaches
• Low immune system

The weight gain is caused by boosted appetite as your body thinks it requires more energy to deal with stress, even though you're actually not burning more calories.

Weight is generally gained around your waist because fat cells in that area are more sensitive to cortisol. 

To combat the effects of high levels of cortisol, it is important to try and maintain a stress free environment, but if you constantly find yourself in high stress situations, try and take some time out for yourself to meditate, relax and centre yourself whenever you can.

Also, stressing about your weight is not helping you either! Don't beat yourself up about where you're at right now, just focus on your goals looking forward and think positively.

I can also attribute some of my weight gain to muscle gain. Even though i've 'fallen off the wagon' I have still been going to the gym regularly. It is my stress release, my 'me time' and I always feel good after a work out.

I have been doing a lot of weight training, and have been feeling my muscles getting stronger and more defined. As you are probably aware, muscle weighs more than fat, so by gaining muscle, I am gaining weight, but a 'good' weight gain! This is one positive and I will focus on that as I continue my healthy lifestyle.

Now that I have identified the reasons for my weight gain, I have been able to work out what I need to do to get back on track.

It's always good to stop and analyse the situation and write yourself new goals.

So, my goals to get back on track are:

1. Eat smaller amounts

2. Drink less alcohol

3. Destress

What do you need to do?

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Don't Get Fat - Surviving Easter!

It's always ok to treat yourself, especially at Easter. But it doesn't mean your healthy lifestyle has to go out the window.

So here is my plan to get through Easter, and if you're serious about a healthy lifestyle, try writing down your own plan with something that will work for you.

Allow yourself a treat, but don't go overboard. A plan is a great way to think ahead and set up some rules for yourself.

Here's my Easter plan:

1. Don't buy chocolate.

It doesn't mean I wont eat chocolate, chocolate always has a way of finding me! But I will not be buying the small packet of eggs that are conveniently placed by the supermarket counter, or a Lindt rabbit, or anything else that I'd usually be buying.
I will be buying my kids an Easter themed toy instead of large chocolate bunnies or the Humpty egg with Smarties, so there is no extra chocolate around the house that I may have to conveniently eat on their behalf.

If I get given chocolate, that's a bonus, and I will eat some!


2. Restrict Hot Cross Bun intake.

Hot Cross Buns have been on shelves for over 2 months. I did a great job of avoiding them the first few weeks as it wasn't Eastery enough, but I did buy a packet last week. I only had one and my family ate the rest, but they involve a lot of calories and if you do it right, a lot of butter!

So I will only buy one packet of buns over Easter, and that will be Easter morning. I will only have one and I will use low fat margarine.


3. Don't pig out at Dinner.

Most years, our family gets together to have a special dinner for Easter. So when we do, I will eat a little bit of everything but I will be conscious of what I eat.
Also, when there are bread and dips or salami and cheese out on the table before dinner, I will steer clear and wait for the real food.

If I'm cooking I will be looking up 'low calorie Easter meals' on google and find a recipe that tastes good but has less calories than the usual Easter feast.


4. Get out and about.

For most people Easter is at least a 4 day break. I'm going to make the most of it. I'll be getting out with my family, going down to the beach or park or somewhere that I can be out in the fresh air (no matter the weather) and I'll be keeping busy.


4. Easter is over after Monday.

I will be more lax on Easter weekend when it comes to my eating, but it will end Monday night!
Come Tuesday I will be back in my usual schedule of keeping an eye on my calories. I will even step up the exercise to work off any extra eating I do over Easter.  No super cheap clearance chocolate for me!

For a bit more motivation, look up how many calories are in the chocolate you are eating. Did you know 3 Cadbury solid dairy milk eggs (Yes, the super small ones with no filling) equal 100 calories??



It's sounds pretty simple to write a plan, but its a hell of a lot harder to stick to it. If it helps, physically write it out, then show someone, or talk to someone about it, so it feels more concrete.
You can even share it below!

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The Clean Plate Club

As children we were taught to finish every piece of food on our plate.  It's such a common notion that most of us have instilled it in our own children.

It's a bizarre concept if you take a step back.... did we get to choose our own serving as a child?  No, so how could our parents possibly know how hungry we were?

The idea came about in the First World War, when food was scarce and people were poor.  The government created the Clean Plate Club, a campaign to make sure everyone ate enough food, especially the men, so they were fit and healthy for the army.

This common practice has now contributed to obesity around the world.  It's not our fault right? We were told to eat all of our food every day, apparently it was going to save the starving kids in Africa...  I'm still not sure how that one works.

Now, many of us believe we've finished eating dinner when our plate is clean, not when we feel full.

How do we change this mindset? It's not easy, but you can do it.

I tried hypnosis to lose weight a few years ago, and one of the things that stuck with me was when the hypnotist said to me, 'it either goes to waste, or it becomes waste.'

Now it might be an unpleasant thought, but follow me through this.
The food you don't eat,  goes in the bin as waste and the food you do eat, ends up being flushed down the toilet as waste.

Does it really make you feel better to have finished it, just for the sake of it not going to 'waste'? You'll end up flushing it down the toilet anyway... You can't mail the food to the children in Africa.

So as an exercise from now on, leave a small piece of food on your plate, and break the mentality.

It could just be one spoonful or 5, but give yourself the ability to stop eating on your terms. Not when your plate tells you to.

Scrape it into the bin, feed it to the pets, or slide it onto your partner's plate.

The more you do this the more you will be aware of your hunger and the amount that you eat.

Let me know how you go!

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Fancy A Drink?

I like to have a drink as much as the next person... Or maybe a little more, but have you ever wondered how many empty calories you're consuming when you knock back a few??

I've made another of my graphs, but here is the hard bit. I've worked it out not by standard drink but how I'd usually drink it. Ie, it's a glass of wine, a 375ml bottle of beer, or can of vodka Smirnoff or Jim Beam and Coke. Obviously I haven't covered everything and each wine/beer will vary slightly, but it's still good to see laid out in front of you.

Baileys was an interesting one, as in a 60ml drink, there are nearly as many calories as in an entire can of Smirnoff.

Surprisingly, low carb beer, my drink of choice has nearly as many carbs as regular beer!

Click to enlarge

Have you ever noticed you weigh less after a night of drinking alcohol? Have you ever thought it was actually helping your weight loss?

Let me explain how it works. When you drink alcohol, your body tries to flush it out of your system by making you urinate more frequently. Frequent urination leads to dehydration and dehydration leads to weight loss.

Sure, the next day you will weigh less, but you'll be thirsty. A couple of glasses of water will bring you close to what you weighed before you started drinking.

After a big weekend of drinking, try and avoid oily food. It may seem the only thing that will settle your stomach, but instead, drink lots of water and some juice (preferably vegetable), green tea or coconut water.

If you're hungry, snack on foods that will replenish your body in the way of vitamins and minerals. Bananas are good, and eggs help soak up the alcohol without breaking the calorie bank!

I'm going out tomorrow night to celebrate my birthday, I will try to keep my empty calorie intake to a minimum... if not by drinking less, then at least by drinking the lower calorie option!

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Did you know you're fat?

Last week I was asked to sit in on a market research group run by the Australian Government.
They were testing TV and print ads for their new campaign Lose Weight. Gain Life.

Most of the people providing feedback were overweight, and everyone had to talk about whether the ads would make them change their lifestyle and start losing weight.

They played the tv ad and we watched a obese man and his daughter go through milestones together then she holds her dads hand while he's in hospital, then he dies and we watch the daughter get married without her dad by her side.
It was actually quite emotional.

The first hurdle I saw in this ad was that they were using an obese man in the commercial.

I felt it would not be relatable to the general public as he would be perceived as an extreme case. 

So when the public saw him lying in a hospital bed recovering from a stroke,  it would be easy to say 'well that's not me, I'm just not that fat'.

As the group sat their discussing each ad, it became clear that not one of them thought they were overweight.

I guess I always thought you had to be morbidly obese to be susceptible to these diseases, but just by being in the overweight category, you are at a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and some forms of cancer, like breast and bowel.

The last ad shown to the group was a print ad for a magazine. It had 5 fairly regular looking men and women standing in a line with the headline 'Which of these people are overweight?' Then at the bottom was written 'All of them'.
The room of people went quietly into shock.... Then denial.

One woman pointed out that these men and women looked perfectly healthy, that it wasn't fair to pick on these people as they're normal, healthy people. I think she missed the point altogether.

After much discussion it was decided that this print ad was the most effective of all that were shown. It got through to this group that you don't have to be ridiculously overweight to be at risk of cancer and disease.

The world has changed it's perception of overweight people recently, and there's been a movement from the 'fat is lazy' attitude to 'big is beautiful'. 

There's nothing wrong with this, people come in all shapes and sizes, but we forget that just because you're happy in your skin, it doesn't mean you will avoid the diseases caused by being overweight.

Obesity is a pretty sensitive issue,  and it's something we don't talk about because we have accepted the image of overweight people and are more frequently rejecting the image of stick thin models.

No one seems to have an issue reminding a smoker that cigarettes are killing them. Yet to tell someone they're going to have a heart attack if they eat another pizza is not a done thing. 

I'm not saying it should be, and I'm not saying everyone needs to be on a strict clean eating diet. I think it would just be good to identify if there is a health issue then work out to what extent you want to do something about it.

It's a hard one to discuss really because someone will be reading this thinking 'I'm overweight, I eat well, I feel healthy and I like the way I look.' 

There are others who are in the healthy weight range who eat fast food daily and don't exercise.

So there's a huge fuzzy grey area when it comes to obesity, but if we all politely side step around the issue, obesity will keep claiming lives.

Currently, Australia is one of the fattest countries in the world, with 2 out of 3 people being overweight. 

Obesity is currently costing tax payers $58 BILLION dollars a year, wouldn't it be nice if we could spend that money elsewhere?? (this is not a typo!)

Below is a BMI calculator to see where you come in on the weight scale. Are your results different to what you were expecting?

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So, I slipped up this weekend

So I slipped up this weekend.

I didn't just overindulge in a meal, I ate without thinking or without thought of the consequences all weekend. 

I ate McDonald's for the first time in months, fried corn fritters, potato bake, a huge brekkie cook up with pork sausages, pita with dips and a huge bowl of Nonna's risotto last night with a side of cheese and salami.

I can honestly say I have not eaten that much, or that unhealthily in such a short amount of time in over a year, before I started my healthy lifestyle.

It was almost like I forgot who I was and it was scary to see how easy it was to slip back into the old me.

I lay awake last night looking for the lesson to take away from this, and I thought of a few steps to handle a slip up and how not to let it ruin the good thing you've got going...

Ask yourself why.

Why did I eat that much this weekend?
I identified that it was a combination of being hung over from Friday night, so my craving for oily food was easily justified if it meant I was going to feel better. Also yesterday I had 3 social arrangements that all revolved around food. After eating as much as I did on Saturday my stomach was stretched and I didn't feel the regular alert that I was full. I honestly didn't even think about the consequences at that point, I was on auto pilot, and looking back now, it was dangerous!


Don't give up. Don't let one slip up make you give up. My 2 day binge came after 18 months of healthy eating, and in the grand scheme of things is just a a drop on the ocean.
You have to let yourself have the occasional slip up without being too hard on yourself, but you can't let it throw you over the edge and let your sense of self loathing make you punish yourself by quitting all together. The mind is a powerful tool if you use it the right way.


Make it up to yourself. After a setback, repay yourself by doing something that makes you feel healthy and good. Use your setback as motivation for the rest of the week.
I will use the image of me stuffing my face as motivation to eat clean and exercise. I'm writing this while on the exercise bike, and I'm working harder at the gym today than ever before to make up for my slack weekend.  I'm also staying away from carbs today, and I will feel better for it! I'm making up for it, so I know that when slip ups do happen, it's a minor setback and its easily rectified!


Plan ahead. A huge part of the fact that I over-ate this weekend was that I didn't plan. I rocked up to each engagement that I had and just ate. I would normally plan it through at the start of the day, identify that it was going to be a challenge and only eat what I needed to, while still enjoying my food. I know I don't ever have to go without, but I blew out the scale when it came to the healthy balance.
Talk yourself through the events you have and make yourself a little promise/bargain to get you through.

I'm physically going to write down my get-through-Easter plan, as I know that's my next big weakness, and I'll be sure to share it with you.

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Make an Announcement

I wasn't going to write on this topic yet, but while at the gym yesterday, I witnessed Australian Comedienne Magda Szubanski being interviewed on the morning show, announcing that she is back on the weight loss wagon after rejoining as the face of Jenny Craig. She originally signed with them 5 years ago and lost 35kg, but has since put the weight back on.

Magda Szubanski lost 35kgs with Jenny Craig before putting the weight back on.

The fact that she has been there, lost the weight then regained it would give you the idea that Jenny Craig is purely a diet, once you stop the program, it's an easy slide back to your old habits and put the weight back on. It doesn't look like it helps you to continue your lifestyle in a healthy fashion once you're on your own.

So it's not the program for me, but Magda has 1.25 million reasons to stick at it. (Yes, she's getting paid the big bucks to lose the weight) I'd say that's pretty good motivation!
While we don't all have that luxury, one great motivation tool is to make an announcement.   While it doesn't have to be a national announcement the way Magda has done, this is a valuable tool to motivate yourself.

Tell your friends and family that you're embarking on a weightloss journey/lifestyle change. Tell your Facebook friends or make an announcement at the next family dinner!

Magda explained that by announcing it publicly, she felt pressure but also motivated to get it right this time.

If you can handle the pressure, and channel it into positive energy to excel, then start the process.

It's not for everyone, and it can be quite daunting, but it could be the difference the next time you don't feel like exercising or when you want to pig out on cake, chocolate or chips!

I used this tool and found I had that little voice in the back of my head telling me to stay strong and hang in there and then the next time I would see my family, they'd tell me how good I was looking, or friends were asking for my secret.

I know I don't owe it to my family and friends to lose weight and get healthy, I'm doing it for me. It's just nice to feel like I'm not on my own, and I have support along the way.

Whether you want to lose weight, or just make a change to a healthier lifestyle, make an announcement, get the support of your family and friends, and use it as motivation. 

Facebook weight/goal tracker app LilySlim is a ticker that keeps tracking your goal and letting everyone else see your progress. Get one here.

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Easy Exercise: Workout from the couch!

So last week I told you about walking, have you started yet? (Read here for a refresher)

It's one of the most simple things to implement in your healthy lifestyle, especially when you are just starting out. 

Hand in hand with walking, or any form of cardio, goes resistance training or weights.

Weights aren't scary, and they're not just for bulking up. Weights, when done properly can be an excellent fat burner and you don't have to go to the gym to start!

It doesn't get much easier than the way I started with weight training....

Floor exercises

One night, after the kids had gone to bed, and it was TV time, I laid down on the floor and started stretching. I found it really invigorating.  Then I would do a few sit-ups, leg lifts, planks, pushups and any other exercises I could think of while rolling around on the floor- you do get a feel for it!

After doing that 3-5 nights a week for a few weeks, I stepped it up a level.

I bought some dumbbells. You can get them from Kmart, eBay (I am obsessed with online shopping) or from any sports store.

I started with 2.5kg dumbbells. 


Here are some of the exercises you can do while sitting on the couch with dumbbells, watching TV:

Seated Lateral Raise Sit with good posture holding light-medium dumbbells at your sides. Keeping the elbows slightly bent and wrists straight, lift the arms up to shoulder level (palms face the floor). Lower back down and repeat .

Overhead Press  Sit with good posture holding light-medium dumbbells in both hands.  Begin the move with arms bent to 90 degrees, weights next to the ears (arms should look like a goal post). Press the weights overhead and lower back down.

Bicep Curls   Sit and hold light to medium dumbbells. Curl the weight up toward your shoulder and release. Avoid swinging the weights and keep the abs engaged.  (Source http://exercise.about.com) I found it was easiest to sit on the floor for those, and mix it up between the dumbbells and my sit-ups and other exercises. Sounds pretty lazy doesn't it?! There are so many different floor exercises you can do. You can look them up online for inspiration or you can even make them up.  I know I did! After you master the dumbbells, you can introduce more weights, I bought a full set of dumbbells, a medicine ball, a kettle bell and a theraband. The more you do it, the better you feel, and the more addicted you get to it! I find its best when I work hard doing one exercise, then swap to an exercise that uses completely different muscle groups and keep alternating exercise.  Rather than do heavy weights at say 12 reps, its best to use lighter weights but do 20 or 30 . This raises your heart rate and burns fat while also toning muscle. So, combine some basic floor exercises with your walking and you will start to see the benefits, not just in extra weight loss but your energy levels increase, you'll find it easier to get out of bed in the morning, and you'll start to feel your muscles toning and an overall sense of wellbeing. I was looking for the 'motivational' meme that went like this: then I found that this one does a bit better for motivation!

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