My Health & Fitness Journey: 10 Things I've Learnt and How I've Lost Weight (No Crash Diets!)

For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you may have seen me post a couple of health and fitness updates throughout the past year. Many of you have been asking me what exercise I do, how often, how I've lost weight etc, so I thought I'd compile a special feature on here to share what I've been doing.

A Little Background Info

Last year I turned 31, and a month or so before, I witnessed a relative spend some time in hospital. It triggered something in me - it was time to start thinking about the future properly and addressing some ongoing health concerns which had been progressively getting worse. Throughout my 20s, I've been battling an autoimmune illness which has meant that I'm prone to getting regular bouts of cold and flu, and has at times, left me thoroughly exhausted and bedridden with my whole body aching. My migraines and eczema flare-ups were becoming more severe and frequent, I was having lots of stomach pains and was eventually diagnosed with IBS, and my mental health was suffering due to Stress, Depression and Anxiety. On top of all that, my weight was continuing to go up and up which only added to all of the above problems and my self-esteem and confidence was at an all-time low.

How I Got Started

I've always followed a lot of fitness people on Instagram and one day, I decided to try out a Joe Wicks HIIT workout on YouTube. It lasted 10 minutes and I could barely get through 5, that's how unfit I was. However, I was determined not to buy the next size up of jeans and started doing 10 minutes of HIIT here and there throughout the week. I gave up a lot of times, especially during the first three months, but when I started to see the physical changes, I stuck with it. The progress was a lot slower than I wanted it to be due to these constant stops and starts, so don't worry if you're the same and struggle to motivate yourself. Just treat each day as it comes and if you didn't manage to do a workout today, make sure that you do one tomorrow.

Getting Into Healthy Eating
Much of my diet throughout my 20s was mainly based on convenience foods - anything that was ready in 10 minutes was a good thing! I picked up a lot of bad habits from my family who have never been into healthy cooking, as well as from housemates (being a student doesn't help!). I watched a lot of cooking programmes on YouTube and started to mess around in the kitchen trying to recreate some of the meals. I had a 50/50 success rate in the beginning, but I'm now a much more confident cook and when I'm in the right mood, I actually enjoy it! I've tried a lot of new foods and I'm currently focusing on improving my gut health to lessen the symptoms of my IBS.

How Much Weight I've Lost
I started this about a year and a half ago and I've managed to lose just over two and a half stone, going down from a UK size 12/14 to a size 6/8 on top and size 8 on the bottom. I no longer weigh myself and now stick to taking measurements around my waist and bum every so often, but I'm pretty happy at this maintaining stage.

The Exercise I Do Now

Doing HIIT and spinning is amazing for blasting away excess fat, but I didn't feel all that stronger in myself. To remedy this, I've added in some weight training and also do Pilates and Yoga for additional strength and a healthy mind. I get bored very easily though, so I like to switch things up throughout the week to keep it interesting. I generally workout 3-4 times a week, but this does vary depending on my energy levels and overall motivation. I try not to get too stressed about it if I miss a workout as I'll try again the next day. Side note: I do all of my exercises at home as the very idea of setting foot in a gym gives me a panic attack - that's not for me! Plus it's cheaper this way anyhow ;)

10 Things I've Learnt

1. Doing 10 minutes of exercise every day is better than doing an hour-long session at the gym once a fortnight.

You don't need to spend hours in the gym to lose weight, tone up or feel physically stronger. When I started, I only did around 10 minutes of HIIT 2-3 times a week for about a month before I started getting into it and the pounds were beginning to slowly come off just by doing that. Check out Joe Wicks on YouTube and Davina McCall's Toned In 10 to get you in the right mindset.

2. Stop Making Excuses. Seriously. Just Stop It.

The one thing that I love the most about anything do to with fitness and losing weight, is that you simply can't buy the perfect body. If you want to lose weight properly and keep it off, you have to work hard at it and anyone can do it, regardless of how much money you do or don't have; whether you have kids or not. Stop making excuses and get on with it.

3. If you can spend 3 hours a day on social media, you can do 10 minutes of exercise.

If I had a £1 for every person that I see on social media complain (constantly) that they haven't got any time to do any exercise, to meal prep or to cook a proper meal at least once a week, I'd be a multi-millionaire! You do have time - stop wasting it scrolling through mindless memes and reading the comment sections - get off your phone and go and workout instead!

4. Crash Diets & Detox Teas - They Don't Work In The Long Term So Please Stop Buying Them

Sure, only drinking laxative teas for two weeks will show you a lower number on the scales, but the minute that you start eating solid food again, that figure is going to go up and you will end up putting on any weight that you temporarily lost (and usually more). They're a stupid fad and aren't a sustainable way to keep weight off, so please stop wasting your money.

5. Look After Your Gut

You may have heard about Gut Health in the news as it's been a huge wellness highlight over the past two years and when you stop to think about it, it's actually just common sense. For a good starting point, Liz Earle's The Good Gut Guide is very useful for beginners, and both Lee Holmes and Dale Pinnock have some excellent books for more in-depth guidance. I would also recommend looking into Ayurveda which has Gut Health (or 'Agni / Digestive Fire') as one of its core concepts.

One of my Foodie Friday posts - Quinoa Pizza!

6. Learn To Cook From Scratch

This time last year I barely knew how to boil an egg, but if you're serious about losing weight and improving your health, you really need to learn how to cook your own wholesome, healthy meals from scratch so that you have full control over the ingredients and portion sizes. Cooking tutorials on YouTube are brilliant and I have a stack of cookbooks from popular foodies such as Deliciously Ella and the Hemsley sisters. I also post regular Foodie Friday features on here so keep an eye out for those.

7. A Cheat Meal Is OK - A Cheat Day Is Not

If you've been sticking to your exercise routine, indulging in one cheat meal a week is not going to completely derail your fitness goals. In fact, I find that they're a good way to stay on track because it helps keep you sane mentally and combats certain cravings. However! A whole 24-hour binge day, when you haven't reached your target weight yet, will definitely cancel out any calorie deficit that you've built up over the week so just stick with the one cheat meal. 

8. Meal Prep Sunday

I've gotten into the habit of planning my meals in advance by doing some kind of meal prep on a Sunday so that I know what I'm going to be eating that following week. It stops you from wasting food and is a great way to stick to a weekly food budget. Visit your nearest charity shop to look for cheap cookbooks or check some out for free from your local library to get meal ideas. The internet is full of inspiration as well of course!

9. Ditch The Scales

I'll be the first to admit that it's easy to become fixated on what your weight is when you can see it so clearly in plain numbers on your scales, but honestly, one of the best things that I did was to throw them away. Your weight will fluctuate throughout the month (more so with women who typically carry more water weight than men, especially when you're on your period) and let's not forget that muscle weighs more than fat anyway. I found that keeping track using a tape measure around your waist, bum etc, was much more useful for my own personal goals.

10. It's Not A Diet, It's A Lifestyle

I hate the word 'diet' because it has so many negative connotations within our society and is often associated with misery and starvation. Instead, for successful weight loss where you keep it off for good, you should think of it as a lifestyle and not something temporary. I know it sounds cliched, but you want to strive to be the best version of yourself and not a yo-yo dieter who cycles between binges and deprivation. Being healthy, for body and mind, is a long-term game plan.

Going forwards: Whilst I love the fact that I've lost the extra weight and feel physically stronger, I'm still struggling with the mental health side of things and exercise alone hasn't improved my migraines as much as I'd hoped, so there's a lot I have to continue working on. It's definitely a journey but at least I've made a start!

Are you into health and fitness?

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Foodie Friday: Shake That Weight - Taste Test & 2 Week Trial review

Trying to lose some weight for the Summer can be the first step towards achieving your personal health and fitness goals, but what if you need a helping hand to start you on your way? This is where Shake That Weight comes in.

Dieting is hard. Whether you want to lose a couple of pounds or twenty, it takes effort and determination. I've struggled with diets in the past and have now adopted a more long term 'lifestyle change', but I know that for many people it can take some time to change bad habits and get into a new, healthier routine and mindset.

When Shake That Weight contacted me about doing a two week trial of their products, I wasn't sure whether to accept as I don't believe these kinds of very low-calorie diets are useful for long term weight loss i.e keeping the weight off after you've lost it. However, after I'd looked into their diet plans on their website, I found one called 'Woman With Meal' which seemed much more do-able for me so I thought I'd try it for a fortnight as I was curious to see what their meal replacement products tasted like.

On the Woman With Meal plan, you consume 800 calories per day which includes three meal replacement products for Breakfast, Lunch and a Snack, and then you make your own healthy self-prepared meal for Dinner that's no more than 400 calories. You can also enjoy a Shake That Weight snack, and all of their products are high protein, low carb and low calorie. As always, I chose vegetarian-friendly products for this trial and taste test. Here's how I got on! 

Breakfast - Shakes

 Shake That Weight Chocolate Heaven Shake  (135 calories / 12.5g protein)

I'm never very hungry in the mornings and often skip breakfast (a big no-no I know!), so having a shake was ideal for me and this was by far the easiest part of the diet plan to stick to. The shakes come packaged individually in sachets and you just mix them with water - super easy.

The Chocolate Heaven flavour was my favourite out of all the shakes that I tried. It had a surprisingly rich and sweet chocolatey taste which was delicious. If you're a chocoholic, you'll love it! The high protein content kept me full until lunchtime and I found that I didn't need that mid-morning snack anymore.

 Shake That Weight Hazelnut Crush Shake (130 calories / 12.5g protein)

Hazelnut Crush was really good too. It blended well into a creamy shake and the hazelnut flavour was quite strong which I liked. Like the chocolate one above, I found this very sweet and satisfying.

 Shake That Weight Lively Latte Shake (131 calories / 12.5g protein)

Coffee fans will love the Lively Latte shake and this was great as a pick me up when I had a busy morning ahead of me or if I was running late. It had a delicious latte flavour, but I could taste that added protein in this one.

Shake That Weight Gorgeous Gingerbread Shake (140 calories / 13.3g protein)

This Gorgeous Gingerbread shake has a few more calories than the ones above, but it also packs in more protein. Unfortunately, this flavour was much too sweet for my liking and I could only manage one of these during the two-week trial.

Snacks - Protein Bars

 Shake That Weight Dreamy Dark Chocolate Bar (130 calories / 8.5g protein)

For an afternoon snack, I had sometimes had one of these high-protein bars which also serve as a meal replacement product if you don't fancy shakes or want to mix things up a bit. The Dreamy Dark Chocolate Bar really soothed my chocolate craving and stopped me from reaching for a proper chocolate bar which definitely helped me to shift some pounds! This one was very chocolatey, rich in flavour and chewy, but not too dry.

 Shake That Weight Maple & Almond Bliss Bar (135 calories / 8.5g protein)

For a change from pure chocolate, I tried the Maple & Almond Bliss Bar which has a sweet, soft, slightly chewy and nutty centre, covered in a light layer of milk chocolate. This was very satisfying and helped with those sugar cravings!

 Shake That Weight Honey Nougat Harmony Bar (130 calories / 10.2 g protein)

You can really taste the extra added protein in this Honey Nougat Harmony Bar and sadly it makes the bar very dry, densely chewy and not very palatable. Wasn't a fan of this one I'm afraid. 

Shake That Weight Milk Choc Joy Bar (130 calories / 8.5g protein)

Milk Choc Joy indeed! This was so good and like the other dark chocolate bar, it really hit that chocolate craving sweet spot nicely. It is chewy and you can taste the whey protein, but it's also very chocolatey which helps to balance out the overall flavour. Yum!

Lunch - Soups

 Shake That Weight Vegetable Medley Soup (136 calories / 10.7g protein)

For lunch, I tried a mixture of soups, noodles and rice meals. I'm a big fan of soup and regularly make my own from scratch when I have time (I like to batch cook and freeze them in portions for later), but I didn't like these ones at all. They come in powdered sachets like the shakes, where you add water and then heat them up in the microwave. This Vegetable Medley Soup was just awful flavour-wise, with the dominant taste being onion and little else.  

Shake That Weight Tasty Tomato & Basil Soup (132 calories / 12.5g protein)

The Tomato & Basil Soup didn't fare any better either, with the tomato flavour being particularly weak with a slightly bitter undertone to it and the texture was much more on the thin side which I wasn't a fan of.

Lunch - Noodles & Rice Meals

 Chicken Tikka Massala Rice Meal (167 calories / 12.5g protein)

I've been a vegetarian for many years now, but it never surprises me how many 'chicken' flavoured products are actually vegetarian-friendly! Pretty much all of the 'meat' flavoured meals from Shake That Weight are suitable for vegetarians so it was interesting to try some of them out. 

The first one that I tried was the Chicken Tikka Massala Rice Meal which has a mixture of soy based protein, white rice and a curry-meets-tomato based sauce. It comes as a powder mixture that you stir into water and then microwave. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great either. The overall flavour was just too weak in my opinion and some of the rice was quite hard and bitty in places.

 Shake That Weight Simply Chicken & Veg Flavoured Noodles (169 calories / 13.8g protein)

This meal consisted of low carb 'diet' noodles made from durum wheat and egg, and soy and pea based protein in a chicken soup style broth. Again, it wasn't awful, but it wasn't fantastic either - it just had a very mild flavour that bordered on being bland.

 Shake That Weight Cheeky Chicken Curry Flavoured Noodles (171 calories / 14g protein)

The Chicken Curry Noodles, on the other hand, were much, much, much better! They had a strong typical 'curry' flavour and tasted similar to what you'd expect from a Pot Noodle, but without all the calories and fat. Very filling with soy protein and a good taste and texture all round. 

Shake That Weight Blazing Beef Chilli Noodles (166 calories / 14g protein)

The Blazing Beef Chilli Noodles were also really good and full of flavour and I used less water than stated to thicken up the sauce. They weren't as hot or spicy as the name suggests, but they have a little kick to them which makes you feel like you're eating a much more comforting meal. Texture and flavour was on point with these!

Did I Lose Any Weight and My Overall Thoughts?

At the end of the two week trial, I hopped onto the scales and it showed that I had lost 3 pounds. I could only stick to about 60% of the diet plan and I did end up eating over my calorie limit for some of the days, so I wasn't really expecting to see much of a weight loss difference. 

The breakfast shakes and swapping my regular chocolate bar treat for one of the protein bars instead, was definitely the easiest part of the diet for me. The hardest part were the lunches as I hated the soups and only really liked two of the noodle meals that I tried, so I found myself making my own lunches on at least half of the days. Sticking to a 400 calorie self-prepared meal for dinner was also incredibly hard (you really don't realise how few calories that is until you try to make a meal out of them!) and most of my evening meals ended up being around 500-600 calories instead.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't think that very low-calorie diets are sustainable in the long term, but they may help some people to kick start a diet, especially if they struggle with portion sizes and don't have any time to cook proper meals at home. Weight loss is definitely a very personal journey and there are lots of different ways to achieve your goals, so if starting on a very low-calorie diet is appealing to you, check out Shake That Weight.

*All products for the two-week trial were provided by Shake That Weight. Opinions by own as always!

Have you tried a diet like this before?

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