New Year, New Me (Sorta)-My Diet and Exercise Plan

I actually started a diet the day after my birthday last year in mid November which fell on a Saturday. I hated most of the photos and videos of me from my joint party with my daughter, Florence, whose third birthday was 5 days before I turned 44.

Mentally, I felt stronger and happier than ever but physically I knew my body was not in the best shape, and whilst I’d yoyo-ed since Florence was born, those photos (unseen online obviously) were the catalyst to me returning to a diet and exercise regime. Setting myself a realistic goal of losing weight slowly and effectively and ideally by the summer, giving myself 8 months at the latest, and prioritising the gym and walking wherever possible, seemed feasible. And, I stuck to my guns despite the temptations over the festive season.

I’ve found myself craving exercise most days, now that I’m in the swing of things. I hit the gym that Monday after my party, lacking in confidence and feeling uncomfortable in my clothes but I pushed through (with the help of some motivational transformational videos on TikTok and Instagram) and have been back every day most weeks since then.

I tend to power walk on the treadmill burning an average of 400 calories in an hour with some light weight lifting, so don’t really require a rest day. I love that I’m reaching my goal of 10k steps a day thanks to these daily workouts.

I pound the streets when I can too-my middle son, Alexander, loves catching Pokemon-so that helps push me out of the door, and my eldest son, Oliver, encourages me to go to the gym with him after school on an evening, it’s become ‘our thing’. Having kids might have ruined my body but now that they’re older, they’re helping me fix it-ha!

And, guess what? It’s the middle of January and I’ve lost some weight! Slow and steady wins the race huh and this is just the start with a long way to go, but I’m happy!

I’m certainly not weighing myself as I hate the idea of scales, so I can’t share weightloss in pounds, but I can tell from my clothes feeling looser, and by the fact that some of my friends and family members have noticed. I couldn’t zip a beloved and very warm coat of mine a year ago and that now closes with ease so that’s enough to keep me happy and committed. These small feats really do help keep me on track.

Now I must mention, the biggest factor in me losing weight I believe is intermittent fasting. I followed this when my second child, Alexander, was four months old, opting for 2 days a week at around 500 calories, eating normally for the rest of the week, and the weight came off quickly. I was over a decade younger then however!

Now, I tend to follow a 14 hour fast every day bar when I’m on my period and feel weak, and ditto with exercise when I rest for those days also.

I eat dinner at 8pm usually and then breakfast at 10am but some days I don’t feel hungry at all in the morning, and so fast for 16 or even 18 hours. The average is 14 hours though, which is deemed the healthiest period of time to fast for women.

I prioritise plants and fruit and fill up on soups and salads, pulses and protein shakes, allowing myself treats too with a balanced way of eating. No deprivation and no calorie counting either, two things I hate!

You can read all about the benefits of Intermittent Fasting here too if it’s of interest. You can of course lose weight without following IF and it is not suitable for all but in my case I feel it’s helped me limit calories without the calorie counting and obsessiveness that often comes with that.

Do ask your doctor before embarking on any kind of diet, as I did.

So, that’s my update. I’m feeling better already. I’m sleeping well, eating well and exercising well.

Of course, it helps that my daughter attends nursery now and that my parents also help with childcare so my work and home life feels more balanced but I’ve also decided to be consistent this time round. I’ve lost weight before and quickly put it back on again so this time I need to keep truckin’ on. I’m not getting younger and want to feel as strong and healthy as possible both physically and mentally, for myself and importantly, my family. I can do it!