Lose Weight and Keep it Off

It’s been 30 days in September and I’m at the end of the challenge. I promised that I would update you with how it all went. Overall, my eating habits have improved. The takeaways that we did have were all planned in advanced and we thought carefully about the type of food we would eat. While out for meals, I’d try to choose something healthier, whether they were salads, tacos rather than pizza, or even cutting out the desserts altogether. The scales say I haven’t lost any weight since two weeks ago, but I’m not that bothered about the scales right now. I feel better in myself. I’ve walked every day except yesterday because of work commitments. I made sure I either picked my daughter up from school or took her in the morning. Sometimes I even did two trips out to do both drop off and pick up. I’m going to stick to this way for the time being. My head isn’t in the game to follow a plan right now. I need to focus on what makes me happy and it is freeing to not constantly b...

There’s a misconception that when you want to lose weight you need to cut out fat. And then there are weight loss diets that tell you to cut out all carbs. I never recommend these types of diets. Let me make it clear that there is a big difference between low-carb diets and no-carb diets when it comes to weight loss. Low-carb diets make you think about what you’re putting in your mouth. They encourage you to focus on healthier carbs that won’t lead to high blood sugar levels and energy crashes afterwards. And the no-fat diets? Well you can’t cut out all fats—and you really shouldn’t. Yes, your body needs some fat. No sure about this? Really don’t think your weight loss diet needs carbs and fats? Well let’s look at what they do. Carbs give you energy: while protein is good for energy levels, carbohydrates are better. They metabolize a little quicker. Carbs are actually the main energy source for your body. Carbs help the digestive system: you know fiber is import...

Whatever type of weight loss diet or regime you’re on, make sure you’re getting enough protein and fiber. Most diets out there will include at least one of the two in large amounts, since they encourage you to at least eat vegetables. But why are the two so important? Couldn’t you go a diet without both? Well, you could but you wouldn’t have the healthiest lifestyle. You may even find it harder to feel satisfied while you lose weight. Protein and fiber in your weight loss diet helps in a few ways: They help you feel fuller for longer: both of these food groups break down slower than the likes of carbs and fats. Have you ever wondered why you feel fuller after a bowl of porridge than you do after a couple of slices of toast? Well, this is why. By the food breaking down slower, your body uses it up over a longer space of time. They make you feel fuller quicker: on top of that, you’ll find that you don’t need to eat as much to feel fuller. Fiber is especially beneficia...

Yesterday, I looked at whether you really need to use protein powders for weight los s. While you don’t, there will always be some who prefer to use supplements or need to supplement their lifestyle or diet because of choices or needs. Because of that, I want to make your choices and search for protein powders to use easier. That’s why I’m sharing the top three powders available for women who want to lose weight. Whey protein powder is considered the better option out there. It has less lactose in it, which helps to keep the sugar content down and helps those with dairy or lactose intolerances and allergies. Optimum Nutrition This whey powder tends to make the top of any list of protein powders. That’s because it’s affordable, effective, and easy to digest. It comes in different sizes, but if you’re new to whey protein powders I’d suggest getting the smaller packet first to trial it. If it works for you, then invest in the larger packets to save money. ...

I came across this question recently. My husband uses protein powder after exercise to help him repair his muscles. While they’re mainly used by men, there are also some women who use them. But do you really need protein powders to lose weight? Can they help or will they just make it harder to shed the pounds? Your body needs protein Let me start by saying that our bodies need protein. I’ll get into that in more detail later this week, but cutting protein out of our diets is bad. The protein helps with the building of muscle and aids with losing weight because it fills us up for longer. You can get protein from all sorts of foods. There’s no need to use protein powders really, but they can help to increase the amount you get if you don’t eat the right type of foods. There are vegetarians and vegans who can struggle to get enough protein. Those who workout a lot may find they need extra protein to help their muscles repair. Protein powders can help you lose weight...

I had to go shopping this weekend for clothes. Not because I’ve gone up or down sizes, but because the fall and winter weather is starting to close in. We need all sorts of clothes that we’ve never really had to buy before with the change of country. According to the scales, I’ve actually put on 7lbs since the start of the month! I know I said I was going to wait until the end of the month, but my husband bought some digital scales and I wanted to see. The scales that I had been using were manual and much more likely to be wrong. So, maybe I haven’t put on weight. Maybe it’s the fact that the scales were wrong. But it’s not nice to feel like I’ve lost only to find out I’ve gained half a stone! I’m well over the 13st mark now and I just need to make some changes. On a positive note, my husband—and I trust him when he says this—thinks that I look like I’ve lost. Maybe I’m just changing my shape rather than actually losing weight. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I can’t...

Late night snacking is a pain when it comes to weight loss. We always reach for the bad stuff, thinking we need to eat more or just because we’re bored. When I looked at emotional eating the other day, I mentioned that boredom was my issue. To be honest, it was the boredom at night which always led to late night snacking. I needed to curb this if I wanted to lose weight and keep it off. I put a plan together and made sure I lost the weight. The best thing about the Weight Watchers diet was that I could find a way to still snack without resorting to the bad stuff. You can do it on diets like the paleo, keto, Atkins, Slimming World and so many more. Here are my tips for curbing late night snacking so you can lose weight and keep it off. Recognize you’re doing it: This has to be the first step. If you don’t realize that you’re snacking, then you’re going to struggle to curb it in the first place. Food diaries are great—but you do have to make sure you track every lit...

There are still days that I have sugar cravings. I don’t think they will ever completely go. But I have beat the majority of them. I don’t get them on a daily basis anymore and when I do get sugar cravings I find it much easier to push them to one side. How did I beat my sugar cravings? It wasn’t too hard actually. Well, it wasn’t as hard as I expected. I did have to put some effort into it, but I didn’t feel as sad or annoyed that I was giving something up. I’ve not switched to sweetener either. In fact, I prefer drinking full fat pop over diet forms (except Coke because I hate the furry feeling I get in my mouth from full fat Coke!) when I do decide to have them. Making the decision to beat my sugar cravings was the first step. I needed to be proactive and committed to it. I made sure my husband knew that the diet change was coming and why. It helped that the Weight Watchers diet made a move to SmartPoints. I wanted to conserve my points and that meant not having the s...

If you’re an emotional eater, then welcome to the club. My emotions have controlled so much of my life. I eat because I’m bored or because I’m sad. If I’m stressed, I’ll not eat food but I’ll get empty calories from alcohol or pop. The good news is that I managed to stop emotional eating. This was essential to help me lose weight and keep it off after my first daughter. It’s been key to help me maintain my weight and now lose it over the last few months. I don’t have any secret tips or advice for you. Everything I’m about to tell you, you’ve probably heard in the past. But I’m hoping that by letting you see how it’s worked for me will help you stop emotional eating too. I Find Something Else to Do This is the most important part of no longer being an emotional eater. My main problem has always been that I eat because I’m bored. So I’ll try to find something that keeps my hands busy. For me, it’s writing. If I’m typing away then I can’t pick up food to eat it! Oth...

I mentioned yesterday that I wouldn’t be following the paleo diet in full. While I went over some of my reasons, I have to admit that the paleo diet downsides and risks are part of the reason why I’ve decided to focus on it but not making it a full-time lifestyle. As I do the research into the diet, I wanted to share with you the downsides that I’ve found. I’m not saying the diet doesn’t have its benefits but I want you to be fully informed to help you make a decision for your health. The Paleolithic People Didn’t Live That Long There was a comment yesterday that point out the good point that the people of the Paleolithic times didn’t live that long. That is certainly the case. Over the centuries, our lifespan has increased to the point where people now live into their 90s and even to 100+! But the diet wasn’t the only reason for early death. This was a time with little knowledge about food. They would become prey to larger animals and have to deal with no knowledge ...

Over the last few days, my husband and I have seriously considered the paleo diet. We know all the benefits and can see that it is something we could follow. But we have to be honest with ourselves and I have to be honest with you. I’m not going to follow it perfectly for the rest of my life. There are just certain foods that I wouldn’t be able to give up for life, especially dairy foods. This isn’t because of health—I know the nutritional benefits of dairy can be gained from the leafy greens—but because I know that if I say a definite no to something then I won’t want to follow the diet. I’ll crave and crave the foods. And these aren’t foods that are inherently bad for you that I’m worried about completely giving up! It’s milk and cheese: two excellent sources calcium, vitamin D and some fats (some of them good). We will always have them in the house too, since my daughters both need them. So for me to say no to them completely would be extremely hard. I know my limits....

As I mentioned on Saturday, I’m looking into the Paleo diet for weight loss. There are many positive reviews about it and it does look like a healthy, long-term option. The long-term benefits are important to me. I want a lifestyle and not a diet. So, with all the research I wanted to share what I’ve found out about how the Paleo diet can help with weight loss. If you’ve found other ways, then I’d love to read about them in the comments below. It Keeps Your Full The first thing I’ve found is that the paleo diet works because you feel fuller for longer. This is a diet that’s full of protein and fiber—two extremely important food groups for the body. That doesn’t mean carbohydrates and fats are avoided, but that protein and fiber are the main focuses. These two food groups break down in the body slowly, which makes us feel fuller for longer. We’re less likely to snack, and we find eating fewer calories in the day much easier. This really does work. I found when...

It’s the middle of the month. This is the point where people start to fall off the wagon. They forget about their weight loss goals or may find that their goals are no longer relevant. I’m a great believer that goals are the key to success. You may have found they haven’t helped in the past, but be honest with yourself. Have they not helped because you didn’t think they were worthwhile reaching or because you started making excuses? If you don’t make goals, how do you know you’ve achieved something? How do you know when you’ve reached the end of your weight loss journey? The truth is you don’t! You’re more likely to not even bother because you don’t have goals in the first place. But what about when those weight loss goals are no longer relevant? What about when your life takes a different direction? Back in January, my weight loss goals involved the Weight Watchers diet. I wanted to get back to my pre-baby weight. Eight months later I have completely different goals...

Over the last week or so, my husband and I have considered the paleo diet. We don’t like faddy diets, but this doesn’t look like on. In fact, it looks extremely healthy and would fit in with the majority of food that we eat right now. I want to share the research I’ve done into the paleo diet and why I think it might be for us. It could be for you too! It’s the Caveman Diet You may have heard of the paleo diet referred to as the caveman diet. It’s gets the name because of the lifestyle this diet is based on. In simple terms, you would eat anything a hunter-gatherer would have eaten. That means a lot of protein and fiber, but still some healthy fats and carbohydrates. When I first read about the paleo diet a few years ago I pushed it to one side. It wasn’t for me. I could say that looking back it was a mistake, but my head wasn’t in the right zone. The problem is I have a strong belief in everything in moderation. I love chocolate and cookies, and believe that...

There are a lot of people who look for those quick fixes when it comes to weight loss. I’ve tried them and I did lose weight with some of them. Then I gained all that weight back…and more! There’s a reason why the title of this blog is “Lose Weight and Keep It Off.” I want to not just help you lose your weight, but keep it off forever. It’s something I know is possible (as long as you don’t get pregnant…) but it means that I need to share the bad faddy diets to help you avoid them. Liquid diets are one of those fad diets that I see a lot of people following. And there are so many more cropping up each day! I’m not talking about the cleanses that you use for a couple of days to give you a kickstart. Some of them can be good for you, although the jury is still out on the long term benefits/side effects. Right now I’m talking about the liquid diets for weight loss. Those diets that you follow to lose tens of pounds within a few weeks. You may hear of them as juice d...

It’s half way through the month, so I thought this would be a great time to give an update. This is a little unconventional compared to other weight loss journeys I’ve been on, since I haven’t been tracking my weight on the scales. I’m going to split this into three sections, how I’ve done with: Food Exercise Emotions Sticking to a Diet Mostly, I’ve stuck to the plans that I’ve made regarding food. I’m not one for making daily plans for the meals we’ll have, but I do make loose ones based on the food we take out of the freezer and what we’ll have for lunch. We’ve been eating a lot of salads lately, especially for lunch. Salads are quick and easy, but also mean that I get excellent portions of fruit and vegetables. We’ve eaten out or had takeout just five times over the last two weeks. That’s down from almost every day or every other day over the previous months. The only reason we ate out on one occasion was because it was a school BBQ, and I only have one ...

Lots of people blog about weight loss. Some blogs are worth following more than others, and there are certain men and women that I love to keep track of. I want to share some of my favorite weight loss blogs to follow in today’s posts. They offer some great tips and recipe ideas. Ben Does Life Ben DoesLife isn’t updated regularly—every couple of months or so—but that doesn’t take away from the invaluable information from it. Ben is currently on a walk across America, which doesn’t help with the updating of a blog. He’s been doing a lot of writing and videos for this walk—and there are a lot of tips you can pick up along the way. Fit This, Girl Mary is a personal trainer, but doesn’t just offer tips on exercise. She shares her tips on healthy and clean eating. The best thing is that a lot of her tips are based on experience with weight loss and getting fit herself. She’s gone on to be a motivational speaker as well as personal trainer, so Fit This, Girl is certa...