Sunday 9 January 2011

Get Trimmer... and stay Trimmer

Hi :)

During the 1st week of January, it's best to slowly discard bad eating habits. Slowly is the keyword here - If you're someone who for e.g. eats out every night, drinks a couple of glasses of wine almost everyday, drinks a can or two of coke everyday, etc.



It's unrealistic to stop doing all these things at the same time. A more realistic approach would be to initally:
  • cut down to one *small* glass of wine every other day (red wine is a healthier option, I'll go into that another time)
  • choose healthier options when eating out e.g. ask for dressing on the side when ordering salads, pick roasted, grilled meals over deep fried foods
  • switch to diet coke (which you will eventually reduce because although it contains less calories, it contains artificial sweeteners) and drink more water
When you are successful with your small changes, you take the next step:
  • small glass of red wine 1ce to 2ce a week
  • eat out less so you know *exactly* what's going into your meals.
  • diet coke a couple of times a week
And then:
  • wine, eating out and diet coke will be classed as "treats" ie you only have them on special occasions.
A similar approach worked for me (although I don't drink and I've never been a Coca Cola (I initially entered 'coke' haha!) addict, I based this on someone else I know and I hope she reads this :) ... ).

This week, please post what you feel your bad habits are and how you think you'll slowly wean yourself off them.

Enjoy your week :)

10 comments:

Pretty Lashes said...

Hi Adura,

my name is Biola, I've been lurking here for about 4 months , hoping to lose weight by just reading and not committing myself fully to the challenge and I've managed to gain 5 kilos more (almost a stone) in the process * side eye*

I really want to join the challenge..I have about 50 lbs (EEEKKKK) to lose and I've got the added incentive of getting married at the end of this year to do it...I'M GOING TO BE A SIZE 10!!

Do I post my stats here? how exactly does it work?

PLEASE post regularly, i know life gets in the way but some of us need the constant encouragement.

my downfall is treats: biscuits, muffins etc....they're no longer treats but an everyday occurrence, I'll eat a pack of biscuits without blinking or I'll eat two muffins out of a four pack..its just gluttony and that's what I need help with..

Please reply so I know what info I need to give to you.

B.xxx

Adura O. said...

Hi Biola :)

I'll definitely update at least once a week... it's a promise I'm gonna stick to!

Just copying and paste from the original post:

Assess exactly where you are at the beginning of the challenge e.g.
- how a pair of jeans (or another item of clothing) fit,
- your measurements incl. waist, hips, thighs, etc
or
- weight.
Before pictures would be amazing but I understand if you're not comfortable with those.

Where do you live?

Pretty Lashes said...

Thanks for replying :-)

I'm based in London, nothing fits anymore unfortunately ;-(...I live in the uniform of leggings and a long top/jumper now... My current weight is 89 kilos and my ideal weight is 64 kilos, not too skinny, with some meat on my bones.

Ive unfortunately been on the other extreme end of skinny as well so I think that weight, where I looked the healthiest is a happy balance for me.

I'm about 5"5, so ive got between 50 and 60 lbs to lose

I'll happily post a before picture in a few weeks, when there has been some visible progress :-)

I'll also use your blog as my food diary, if you don't mind to give me some sort of accountability for the food I eat.

Any other tips? What should be my calorie consumption in a day? Have you got a menu plan?? Sorry to ask so many questions!!

Xxx

Xx

Pretty Lashes said...

Thanks again for this.
Xx

Preye K said...

Guilty treats? hmmm...on sundays ice-cream and cake after service :)

and bitter lemon which I hear contains even more sugar than a cola (is that true?) I really need to cut down on my consumption though so I'll start with the ice-cream and swap with water :( for a month and maybe carrots (for cake) which I totally love and eat every other day.
For the Bitter Lemon...hmm...work in progress...lol...ok, let me try once a week
Tesco blackcurrant tea doesn't count as a guilty treat does it? cause I take that in truckloads daily...without any sweeteners though (thank God)

Dunmola said...

I recently got a 28-day diet plan from a friend that worked like magic for me.
I followed the diet for just 2weeks and lost 4kg in the first week and 3kg in the second week. (i was weighing 83kg and now weigh 76kg)
Basically entails eating grilled fish/chicken/meat, vegetables ( green pepper, carrots, cucumber, lettuce)
fruits (apple, watermelon,orange)
If anyone is interested, send me a mail d_ebonie @ yahoo dot com and il send it to you or if there is anyway i can send it to you adura and post it here.
It definately worked for me and 2 of my friends that followed it

Unknown said...

My most major bad habit is sweet stuff! Cakes, cookies, ice cream, you name it, I love it! I've decided to limit my consumption of those things to only times when I bake them myself. Considering I usually only bake once a week at most, hopefully that will limit it somewhat. And even when I've baked myself, I'm going to try to have only one (maybe quite generous)portion! Wish me luck!

Adura O. said...

@Abiola Check out the old posts in the challenge (http://www.adura-odesanya.co.uk/search/label/%27Get%20Trimmer...%20Naija%20Style%27%20Challenge).
Calorie Consumption - I know I should say 2000 BUT as long as you're bulking up your meals with protein and veg and reducing large carb portions (especially processed, focusing on calories should not be neccessary.
Food plan... I've shared some tips in previous posts but a way to start for you would be to post your typical day's food log once you start eating healthier.

Good Luck! :)

Adura O. said...

@Preye
Great start! :)
Why don't you try Green Tea? It contains anti-oxidants and has other benefits :)
After church, why don't you have vanilla ice-cream minus the cake? *On Sundays Only* ;)

Definitely cut down the bitter lemon... you're off to s good start :)

@Dunmola That's a good diet plan but it's also contains good components for everyday eating (past the 28 days). I eat in a similar way but
- I don't restrict my veg (a lot of vegetables are starchy and provide carbohydrates)
- I sometimes pan fry my chicken in a couple of tbsps of extra virgin olive oil
- it's also great to vary your meats (my friend a Nutritionist suggested this and it was a great suggestion!) - different birds (turkey, guinea fowl, etc), lean pork and more
I intend to share my food diary later this week to give more of an idea of how I eat.
My email address is email@adura-odesanya.co.uk

Adura O. said...

@Vickii Of course you can do it! That's a great idea to limit it to **SMALL** treats only when you bake. Of course you didn't mean generous portions ;)