My Weight Loss Story | Health and Fitness.

Hello everyone, 

This post is a little bit different as I wanted to write about my weight loss, I'm still in plus sized clothing, being a size 16, but I'm in such a healthier state both physically and mentally and well I'm just proud of myself for being able to achieve something I never thought was possible so this post is mainly for me to look back at to inspire myself to not give up because I refuse to become the person I once was. If this inspires or motivates anyone else then that's just a bonus!

I have always been an overweight child and on/off diets for the majority of my life, but nothing worked. From the ages 9-15 I was always humiliated to go to school as I was so much bigger than everyone else, which I found embarrassing, this led me to refusing to eat around people and I developed a little eating disorder, which I managed to hide quite well, where I would starve myself all day then binge at home on all the horrible foods. There was even a point in my life that I thought making myself sick would be the answer and help me lose weight, I was clearly wrong and now I have a little fear of myself or anyone throwing up as it makes me rewind to the dark days of battling my weight. 

It wasn't until I got to 16 that I started accepting the fact that I was bigger and I could either hide away or embrace it. Now getting into a state of mind that I was okay with my weight was hard because the truth is I was never okay with it, and even now there are days that I wish I could be smaller, but on the outside no one knew how much it all bothered me.

Towards the end of February 2015 I went through a real tough patch, suffering through a breakup and then my grandad passing away a matter of weeks after..it was shit to say the least. I'm the type of person who would rather eat my feelings than open up and and try and talk through my problems, which causes a lot of added weight as I would eat nothing but junk food because I thought that would be the answer to my sadness. 3 weeks later and probably over a stone in weight had been added that's when one day I woke up and just thought fuck this. I hated myself. So from that day I went into a strict eating regime and then when I got down to a comfortable weight I started going to Zumba with my friend, that's when the weight really started to fall off me. 

Once I started going to Zumba classes twice a week I found out that I loved exercising because of the rush you get afterwards and I find myself being much more happier once I've an hour at the gym as I get rid of all my frustrations of the day in a much more constructive way. 

As I said I had really strict eating habits at the beginning of losing weight, now I'm a bit more relaxed with it as I go to the gym a lot more now but I still eat a little under 1400 calories a day. For breakfast I would have porridge with fruit or a vegetable smoothie, lunch would be a chicken or a prawn salad, and dinner would be chicken or fish with a minimum of 3 vegetables. I cut out bread, pasta and rice completely as they make me bloat so I didn't want any risk of ballooning up again..and for a treat I would allow myself one small glass of Diet Coke, I was WILD! Now my eating habits haven't changed that drastically but I will allow myself carbs if they're brown, no whites for me! But soon I'll be back on strict eating to help shift this weight, as last year I lost roughly 3 stone..I stopped weighing myself as I became obsessed. The lightest weight I got down to was 14st 3lb, and I need to get back to that and a little bit more to go! Everyone talks about a goal weight but I still have no idea how far I want to go, ultimately I'd like to get to a dress size 12 and see what I look like as for me losing weight is to make me happier and to look shit hot..but I do it all for me so if I get to a 14 and think I look good then I'll just maintain that. I want to look healthy, not skinny.

Being proud of myself I found my most hated photo from when I was 13/14 and put it next to, what was, my current self at the time. I haven't gained that much weight from this image, thankfully, but I uploaded this to my personal facebook account and gained so much support in the comments and people I haven't spoke to in years congratulating me on my weight loss. 

First Image: Age 13/14, Size 20/22, 18st (ish).
Second Image: Age 19, Size 16, 14st 3lb.

I have about 7 pounds to go until I'm back at my lightest so I'm hoping to shift that in the next few weeks. For anyone wanting to lose weight I would say don't go for the crazy diets, just cut out all the bad things and exercise at least twice a week and you'll find the weight fall off, and don't give up. The best thing I read a while a go that keeps me motivated is "Strive for progress, not perfection" and I live by that quote because no matter where I get to I'll still find imperfections so as long as I'm seeing a progress I know I'm doing something right.

Hope you all enjoyed this post, stay positive! 

Chicken Kebabs and Skinny 'Slaw | Health and Fitness.

Hello everyone,

Lately I've been feeling so sluggish and awful where I've been eating an embarrassing amount of junk food, but now I'm slowly getting back into the habit of going to the gym I just need to get back into my healthier eating habits. Last year I lost almost 3 stone and felt so much better for it, so I need to get back to that place not just for physical appearance but also my mental state was in such an amazing place, with regards of my body confidence which has always been an issue..but I'll get to that in another post. A couple of nights a go I tried a recipe that I saw on Lorraine, one of the UK's favourite morning tv programme, and I loved it so much! This post is mainly for me just so I can remember what to do, but also I thought I'd share for anyone trying to become a bit more healthy. This recipe is for 4 people so chop and change where you have to.

What you will need:

For the kebabs -

•  4 chicken breasts (skinless)
• Juice of a lemon
• 1 garlic clove, minced (I used a tiny bit more because I don't want vampires getting to me)
• 2 tbsp of oregano or mixed herbs
• 1 tsp of dried mint
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• Salt and pepper (I only used pepper as I hate salt with a passion)

 For the nutty, if you wish, rice -

•  200g of brown basmati rice
• 500ml of boiling chicken stock
• a handful of cashews, pine nuts or almonds (optional) 

For skinny 'slaw (all finely sliced) -

•  1/4 of a red cabbage
• 1/4 of a white cabbage
• 1 red pepper
• 1/2 of a red onion 
• 2 tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley

For the dressing -

•  1 tbsp of white wine vinegar
•  1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of Greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp of Dijon or English mustard

 Now lets get cooking!

First of all grab the chicken breasts, make sure you keep this chopping board separate as you don't want food poisoning, then slice them how you want. If you would rather keep the breasts whole you can but if you want to skewer the meat then dicing would be the easiest option, I just kept mine to strips but in hindsight they looked messy when skewering up! So if you're striving for perfection then make sure the meat is diced.
You then need to wash your hands and get started on the marinade, to make this you just simply need to mix all the ingredients that you'll find under the 'for the kebabs' section, mix this up in a big bowl as you can then simply just chuck your chicken in the bowl and get your hands stuck in to make sure all the meat is covered. If, unlike me, you're one of these people who are organised and plans their dinners ahead of time you can marinade and skewer up your chicken the night before then cover them up and stick them in your fridge.

Once the chicken is all put on the skewers you just need to prepare them for cooking, you can grill them in a pan, but to make life a bit easier I just put mine on a grilling tray and stuck them in the oven, they took 25-30 minutes to cook but this all depends on the thickness that you have cut the breasts, so just keep an eye on them and check the middles of the meat!
When you put your chicken in you will want to start your rice as this takes about 20 minutes. Fill a saucepan about half way and bring the water to the boil on the hob, once the water is at boiling point then pour in your rice and throw in, well maybe not throw um..gently place, the chicken stock in (I didn't make my stock before hand because that's more washing up, works just as fine letting the cube melt in with the rice). Turn your hob down to simmer and place a lid on the top. 

Time for the coleslaw! This is probably the simplest part but probably most time consuming of the the whole thing as you literally just have to finely slice all the vegetables, listed under the 'for the skinny slaw' section, mix the dressing up and then mix both of those elements together. Now don't be worried if the dressing doesn't look enough for the amount of raw veg you've slaved away slicing up..it's plenty as you don't want a super creamy slaw as that will just take away the flavour of all the goodness.
By the time that's all made then your rice should be ready, give the rice a stir and drain if needs be, then grab a handful of your desired nuts, preferably not a living kind..if you get my drift riddled with innuendo. I used cashews as myself and everyone else I was cooking this for loves them a lot, sprinkle in the nuts and once again give it a stir to make sure it's all nice and mixed in.

 Now everything is prepared and cooked it's time to plate up. To make mine look slightly prettier, and so I also didn't over indulge, I placed the rice in a cup squishing it down slightly and then gently flipped the cup upside down on my plate to make a cute, little mound of rice. I'm the type of person who eats with their eyes first so my plate needs to be neat and colourful! You can dish up as much 'slaw as you like but as it's the vegetable portion of this meal make sure it's a good amount, then simply place you kebab on your plate. It's up to you whether you keep it on or de-skewer it before sitting down with your meal.

Bon Appetit!

Hope you enjoyed this little recipe, as I mentioned this is mainly for me to document things I enjoy so I can remember how to cook certain meals again as I have a goldfish brain.