Saying ‘Yes’ to Yoga and ‘No’ to No-Carbs

So for those that avidly read this blog (thank you my Big Fat Greek Family), you’ll know that I’ve followed a low-carb (sometimes no-carb when super strict) diet for a while to help get me back to my pre-‘babies’ body and it’s worked, really well in fact and quickly (a matter of months)… as to be honest having PCOS means my body dislikes sugar anyway and white carbs (thanks insulin resistance) and I have to work REALLY HARD to lose weight although let’s face facts, white carbs are NO GOOD for anyone…

Anyway, this way of eating worked well for the time I followed it but the last few weeks have seen me BORED, bored, bored I tell you…

… You see post-Cannes (hello yummy wholegrain carbs with most meals) I’ve realised that I was being too tough on myself, that my body is fine with whole-grains, whole foods and good fats (the way of eating I always ate pre-kids), it’s just about balance. You know, eating well and exercising, what I knew all along.

(Reading Cameron Diaz’s The Body Book (although a little repetitive) and I Quit Sugar for Life by Sarah Wilson reaffirmed all this too!)

Yes being strict on myself helped me lose weight but I wonder if the same would have happened anyway with a low-GI way of eating/ the Mediterranean diet (the one my ancestors invented-clever that). I’m sure it would have done, it did after my first child after all…

Let me be clear, what I have achieved in the last few weeks is not a diet per se (I’ve always been anti-calorie counting) as who can live like that plus calories in don’t equal calories out, they change when consumed so it’s a flawed system), I’m simply viewing tasty and seasonal food as the beautiful, nourishing, fuelling thing that it is.

We must re-learn the true value of food and enjoy it.

Carbs are firmly back in my life now-slow releasing whole foods including bread, sweet potatoes, brown and basmati rice, lentils, beans along with protein in every meal to keep my blood sugar balanced and my tummy full, tonnes of fruit and veg and treats every so often. Hello to treats to not deny yourself too! Not just to maintain my weight but to feel healthy body and mind.

Oh and yoga, and lots of it, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and I must thank you to my good mates and bloggers Deborah of Metropolitan Mum and Zaz of Mama and More for inspiring me to get back on my mat, it has CHANGED my life!

I’m calmer than I ever was and my body has literally transformed in a matter of weeks to be sleeker, more toned and sexier (love yourself sisters) than frankly any diet or even marathon gym sessions ever did. The DVD I use at home is called The 10 Minute Solution-Yoga and was £4.99 in HMV. You can read my other post on it in more detail here…

Yoga loves me (along with its close friend swimming) and it will love you too; it’s the only exercise that has ever made me feel truly content. It’s on-going, there are of course parts of my body I want to keep working on such as my arms, tummy etc but I’m happy with my UK size 10 figure and I’m in it for life when it comes to the downward dog now, my friends!

That’s not to say I don’t run either, my running buddy and son Oliver (4) and I hit the park most evenings pre-bedtime for a short run (he always beats me)-love that he says his ‘Spiderman trainers are just so good at running Mummy’ and both my kids are little yoga-converts…but more than that, it’s so flipping lovely to eat the same food together as a family and not restrict myself…hello Friday night fish and chips!

Because life is too short and food is for the taking, to be enjoyed and cherished and I let me tell you, I feel great inside and out!

Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash

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