5 tips to stick to your eating plan

30 kilos later... and at least once a week I'm asked the question "How did you do it?" There's no simple answer and there's no quick solution. To put it simply, it takes perseverance. That said, I have some tips that worked for me. I'm not saying they'll work for you - everyone has different diet habits - but I'd like to pass on any knowledge that might help :)

1. Don't drink your calories

Sodas, juices, ice tea - all full of sugar. The best thing to drink is water. Alcohol is another biggie - one glass of dry white contains up to 77 calories. If I do have wine, I choose a lite variety and add lots of ice.

2. Always eat breakfast

We've all heard the 'most important meal of the day speech' - well you know what? #TRUTH
When I wasn't eating breakfast, I would starve it out till about 11, at which point I resembled a zombie from The Walking Dead. My personal preference for a good breakfast is low GI seed bread with avo or egg.

3. Have a little junk food

I know what you're thinking... How can this retarded girl be telling me to eat junk food when I'm on a diet?? 
Well, in my version of healthy living you can eat everything. Yesterday I ate delicious greasy BACON CHEESE FRIES. Today? Back to healthy eating. Having just a little satisfies my craving so I have the motivation to keep going. I mean, a life without bacon is not worth living, right?

4. Get some sleep

If I'm out with friends, I start getting itchy feet by 11pm - God it's so late, I need to get to bed! When you're tired, you make bad food choices - you crave something carby and sugary to give you an energy boost. 8 hours - your body will thank you.

5. Stay active

Yeah yeah, I know the story... you had a rough day at work and now you just want to sink into the couch and watch junk TV. I know the feeling all too well. Even on the days I feel like that, I try to at least take a walk or do a chilled gym class. My problem? If I don't do any activity, I feel guilty and start eating the whole kitchen.

Old Habits

Sometimes I feel like I haven't learnt anything. I've lost almost 30kgs. I've changed my eating habits. I eat more veggies now. I eat seeded bread. I eat BEANS (13-year-old me would have shuddered at the thought) And yet... I still find myself making some of the bad decisions I've always done.

Today, after a big helping of dinner, I ate chocolate chips right out the box. Chocolate chips! It's not even a dessert! It's for baking damnit, not for stuffing in your face at hyper speed. To my knowledge there was no good reason for this shameful binge - I'm not upset, I didn't have a bad day, I don't think I was even craving sweets. It was just there and I had it.

Perhaps sometimes, when we're not vigilant, we fall back into our old habits. My old habit is being a Constant Craver and I just want to eat non-stop. There's something ridiculously familiar and comforting about that motion of hand-to-mouth. Then, once I've stopped, I get another familiar feeling - one of disappointment and shame. I get so mad at myself because, even though I've lost all this weight, I've still got this great big belly I'm trying to get rid of. They say abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym - well I've eaten the whole damn kitchen, now what?

As always, I think the only thing to do is pick yourself back up, shake off the dust (and cookie crumbs) and start over.

Food Addiction

I realise what I posted two days ago was incredibly de-motivating, and I wish I could retract my statements and say it's all a lie - but I can't. The truth is, every now and then you will feel worthless, you will feel unmotivated, you will feel like giving up - and that's okay! We're human beings and these are normal feelings. I think what I've learnt is that you have to push through those feelings to get to the bigger issues - what is the real cause of my feelings of helplessness?

The way I've been viewing food is like alcoholism - one little slip-up and you descent into the foul depths of despair and cake. Food CAN be an addiction. It can make you lie awake at night pondering about pizza or chocolate, or pizza AND chocolate, or chocolate ON pizza... the list goes on. The mind can be a terrible thing - simultaneously giving you junk food cravings and feelings of desperation and helplessness. In my mind, I'm still a slave to the addiction - constantly beating down the sugar monster that dwells beneath. In reality, this is only half true - yes, every day is a struggle - but, you lost 20 kilos, bitch! I always fail to remember just how far I've come from what I used to be.

In an attempt to meld my old lifestyle with my new one, I'm going to make some changes. I'm going to pick one night of the week where I can completely let go - don't worry about gym, stay out late, drink (although maybe stay away from the neat tequila shots). At the same time, I'm going to try to give myself a break and stop feeling guilty every time I miss a gym session - I'm not going to let fears of reverting to my old chubby-cheeked self ruin my life now :)