Getting healthy through weight loss and exercise
Weight loss. Generally people are never totally happy with their weight, whether they’re overweight, just right or underweight. Once you have children, most women’s shapes change, and many of us struggle to get back into our pre-children weight. Especially those of us who’ve have children after hiting the age when our metabolism goes to pots.
For me it was age 28 when it started being harder to maintain or lose weight. My mum struggled with her weight after having my brother (before 2 pregnancies, she had been a trim and petite size 6. I never thought I was impacted by her dieting. But she did go through craving phases for various sweet foods and I definitely got the love of sweet foods from her. My grandma was also large, and my Nan on my dad’s side was short and dumpy. So genes were also going to be a challenge for me too.
Putting on weight
Horrifically I’ve spent many of the post child years, heavier than I was at 9 months pregnant – and I put on 5 stone when I was pregnant! I was surprised none of the midwives commented. Not one suggested I was putting on too much weight. Pre-pregnancy I’d gained a bit of weight but then lost it easily – with a lot of exercise and calorie counting. I could always eat a lot, but had always done a lot of exercise to offset it. Whether that was gym workouts, playing squash, swimming or and dancing multiple times a week. But getting married, eating larger portions more suitable for the OH’s physical job, and no willpower meant weight went on easily, and even easier when pregnant. I was just so hungry all the time.
N was a big baby, and I had lots of fluid, so lost half the weight straight away. But then with lots of cake eating with NCT friends, and a lack of exercise for years (farming hours makes it hard to arrange times to go out to classes at set times) meant the weight crept on. Initially I kept losing and putting on the same half stone, then just got lazy.
I did go back to dancing after 6 years, and loved being back. It didn’t help with the weight loss – really you need to be dancing 4-5 times a week and watching diets to lose weight from it. And dancing minus the socialising!
Weight loss previously
Pre-pregnancy, I used Weight Loss Resources which was calorie counting and recording everything I ate. It worked well but it took a lot of time recording all food eaten. I tried a very low calorie diet, New You, a couple of years ago. I lost 3 ½ stone, but it’s quite antisocial. I’m an all or nothing person too. Once I’m on a strict diet I find it easy. But have a couple of days of a blip and I find it really hard to get back on track.
Knee and ankle injuries meant I stopped dancing and again got lazy and ate too much rubbish At the start of 2020 I decided enough was enough and I needed to get fit again. I wanted to lose weight to be able to play tennis, to get back to dancing without being exhausted.
I decided to try keto. To make it easier I did a meal replacement shake as breakfast most mornings, then 2 keto meals. Meal planning for the day meant I knew exactly what I was eating. On work days in the office I’m back later than tea time, so I could do my own food and not worry about the OH and N’s dinner. The weight fell off easily and I felt good. 4 stone down and then Covid and lockdown came.
Keto diet again
Going back to 3 meals a day at home and with family makes it so much harder for me to have willpower. I ate way too much sweet stuff, went back on the carbs again. Yet again the weight went on.
Eventually N went back to school in March (hopefully the last ‘return to school’). It was back to me needing to do something. My clothes had got tight again, I’d had to get out the bigger jeans. I was back to keto again, throwing in the shakes for breakfast and sometimes lunch.
I love keto because it means I can just tweak normal meals so I’m still eating most family meals. I just switch the carbs for veg or replace the carbs with alternatives like different flours, or eggs. With this diet I can also make keto desserts and sweet treats. As long as I’m making single portions it works for me. So pancakes with berries and greek yoghurt for breakfast. Or a mug cake if I have a smaller main course.
Weight loss progress
Now I’m back on track. I’m 2 months in and have lost 3 stone. I’m now back to what I was pre lockdown 1 plus another ½ stone off. So it’s going well. First target aim is for the end of May. Then by October to have lost the remaining weight I’d like to drop.
Easy exercise
It’s not all just about the food this time. When you do a low calories diet you don’t need to exercise. But with the shakes and keto I have energy and need to get active again. When I’m in the office I walk around more to other desks, and at lunchtime go for a wander. But working from home the last year has meant being more sedentary. I’m not a person who enjoys walking around our fields. I prefer walking where I can see buildings and people, and see things I want to take photos of. Or walking for a purpose, to reach somewhere. So I got even more lazy than before.
But I got inspired by Emma over at Island Living 365, who when self isolating managed to get in 10k steps a day in her bedroom. That seemed impossible to me, but I decided to try and get to my 8k steps I set (and rarely reach). But now getting up through the day each hour to do 500 steps, and adding in more steps at lunch and in the hours after work, I’m now hitting over 10k most days. It might only be stepping around the house, or on the spot, but every bit of exercise helps.
Now I’m finding I can get back into some of my clothes I’d put away, my jeans size is comfortably down a size (lucky for me I’ve got a pile in the wardrobe full of the various sizes I’ve been). This time I’ll be getting rid of the big clothes I finish with, and I’m going to keep the weight off.
So it’s onwards and downwards, and getting healthier.
Have you put on weight since lockdowns started? Are you trying to get healthy again?