Sunday 16 October 2011

{Weight Loss Inspiration}

I've reached my target weight, and my personal trainer has now featured me on her list of success stories on her website! Here are the before and after pics:

3 July 2011

3 July 2011

11 Oct 2011

I have achieved the following results:

  • lost 6 inches from my waist
  • lost 5.75 inches from my hips
  • my body fat % has dropped 11%
  • lost 33lbs (however I've lost in total 3 stone since having had baby 5.5 months ago)
  • dropped from a size 16 to a size 10
All in just 3.5 months!!

The key has been to eat healthily, no crazy diets, and to do a bit of exercise.

A number of people have asked how I've done it, so I want to share with you some of the tips I've learned from Maria.
  • Keep a food & exercise diary, and be honest with yourself
  • Eat little and often
  • Watch portion sizes
  • Have something to eat as soon as you wake up in the morning to get your metabolism going
  • Choose the healthy option where possible
  • Limit bread, pasta & potato intake (I had no bread or pasta to start with)
  • Choose wholemeal where possible (brown rice, wholewheat pasta, wholewheat noodles, seeded brown bread)
  • Avoid or limit bananas (as far as I'm aware they slow metabolism - not sure if this is true or not. This is the only fruit that I've been told to avoid)
  • Avoid or limit red meat 
  • Eat lots of fresh fruit & vegetables
  • Eat lots of fish
  • Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day (I struggle with this one!)
  • Avoid Coke & Diet Coke
  • Avoid alcohol (I'll have a soda & lime when out)
Here's what I would eat in a typical day:

7am - couple of spoons of low fat natural yoghurt
8.30/9am - museli (one with nuts and seeds rather than dried fruit e.g. Jordans Nut & Seed) with skimmed milk & lots of blueberries & raspberries or porridge
10.30am - snack (handful almonds; crudites & hummus; oatcake, fruit salad, yoghurt & berries; sugar snap peas or handful popcorn)
12 noon - vegetable soup; chicken, tuna or prawn salad (with salad leaves, beetroot, pine nuts, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and drizzle of dressing); ryvita & cottage cheese or Food Doctor pitta bread with chicken and salad
3pm - another snack
5pm - fish with lots of vegetables; chicken stir fry with brown rice/noodles or homemade chicken curry (tomato based sauce) with brown rice
8pm - another snack

If I'm feeling hungry at any point I'll grab a handful of Food Doctor seeds or Munchy Seeds or a handful of cherry tomatoes or sugar snap peas.

I still have the occasional cake (there is no point trying to cut out everything 'bad' - it's got to be a realistic diet so that you can stick to it), I'll also still eat chocolate occasionally (80% cocoa dark chocolate and I'll only have 2 squares) and if I do have a take away then I will have a chicken kebab (salad, no sauce!).

In addition to the healthy eating I've been exercising approximately 5 times a week. I've joined Maria's running club which meet on a Sunday morning and I've started a Pilates class too which is a Monday night. In addition to this I do a Davina workout DVD at the house (Davina's are the only DVDs that my personal trainer recommends by the way). I've also been trying to do a run when I can, but at the moment it's becoming difficult as the nights are getting really dark, as are the mornings! To start with I went out for brisk walks with the kids in the buggy and I'm now able to run (I did 5.37 miles this morning at running club, and before August I had never really run before).


Hope this is helpful? Any questions, do let me know.



16 comments:

  1. Well done! Seriously!
    I was doing really well over Summer, running 4 times a week. Then someone got attacked on my route, the mornings and evenings got dark and I didn't feel safe going out. My husband works long hours at the moment so I don't have any childcare to go when it's light and I've taken up teaching 3 nights a week so I'm just too exhausted. I need to try harder though. Exercise is the key for me.
    Will be popping back on here lots for inspiration! Well done xxx

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  2. That's a fantastic achievement and you look fantastic!

    I'm not so sure that I could stick rigidly to the diet, I do love bread, pasta and potatoes, but I try to eat them in small proportions.

    I've also tried exercise DVD's but I keep fast forwarding the bits that I don't like, which really defeats the purpose.

    Are you going to keep up your running?

    I really do admire your staying power with your diet and the training!

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  3. @storminakcup - I'm a little wary about going out in the dark too. My husband works long hours, 6 days a week so I don't really get out much to run now. The DVD allows me to do a workout from home whilst the kiddies sleep.

    @A Working Mum's baby gifts - yes, I hope to keep up with the running. I'm training for a half marathon now. It's going to be tough when I go back to work in Jan though.

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  4. Wow! You look amazing. Very well done and in such a short time. I need to lose about 10 kg myself. Great tips too. Thank you!

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  5. You look truly amazing. Way to go x

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  6. It's amazing how much you've managed to achieve in such a short space of time! I'm going to be pointing my OH in the direction of this post to show it can be done with hard work and perseverance. You are such an inspiration!

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  7. Wow that is fantastic! I really need to try to do this, I am terrible with sticking to diets and struggle more since I have had PND and don't get out anywhere near enough. The DVD sounds like a good option. Well done, you've done so well x

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  8. Wow, that's some achievement! Well done you!! x

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  9. Very well done!! I have recently started to run 3 times a week to try and loose the baby weight but I am finding it really hard.....must persevere!!! You prove it can be done xx

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  10. Congratulations you look stunning! So proud of you and all that you have achieved. That's great she is sharing your success story. And way to go you for reaching your goal. I love Davina DVDs helped me lose my baby weight too both times. I was really getting into my running but I have a knee injury so that's put me in the no running category for a few months and the weight is creeping back on. I need to figure out what to do in the meantime until knee surgery is over and healed so i can run again. You have a very inspiring story here. Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me. I bet you feel so good about yourself and all that you have worked hard to accomplish. Well done!!! #sharewithme

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  11. Well done! That is a brilliant achievement, you must be so proud of yourself and because you have not done a crazy diet it will probably be easier to maintain. You look great x

    http://www.youbabymemummy.com

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    Replies
    1. My weight is back up and I've got a stone to lose again, but I've done it before and so I know I can do it again. Feeling motivated! Thanks for commenting x

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  12. We'll done you have done great to loose that much weight so quickly. Great post :) #sharewithme

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