As you might have read in one of my previous blog posts, I used to live a very healthy lifestyle to lose the weight I had gained from taking medication for my depression several years ago. I lost about 25 kilograms and maintained my new weight for quite a while, but have now gained almost 10 kilograms back. No medications this time, just slacking and stress eating… I know there’s far more important things in life than my weight, but I started to feel uncomfortable in my body and decided it was time to kickstart my healthy lifestyle once again!
Treating my body right
Being healthy is obviously very important to me. I am grateful every day that I am healthy. However, I realized that I am not treating my body as well as I want or should. I was stress eating a lot and spending entire days typing on my laptop. While I love writing, it also means that I sit behind my desk for most of the day. When I started wearing my Fitbit again, I realized that on some days I was taking less than 1000 steps. Shocking, right? Yeah, I thought so too.
So, here we are again! How exactly am I going to do this?
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Clean eating
In order for me to eat healthy and stick to it, I need some rules. I don’t know why, but just limiting my portions or keeping track of my macros does not work for me at all.So, I’m setting some rules for myself:
– No (white) sugar. Just sugars from fruit and other natural sources like honey or maple syrup and always in moderation.
– Only three drinks with kcal per week. Consider them cheat foods. This can be anything from a regular Coke to a cocktail or a glass of wine. As long as it’s just three of them per week.
– Stay anywhere between 1200 to 1400 kcal. I’m not really counting my calories, but I generally know how much kcal are in each serving of food I like to eat. So I’ll just try to stay anywhere close to that range.
– I will allow myself one ‘cheat’ meal per week. Not a whole day. Just one meal. So that means I can still have pizza or some french fries once a week.
– Cook and eat at home a minimum of five days a week, preferably six.
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Exercise
I will try to perform two to three HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions of 16 minutes a week. Studies have shown that this is a great cardio workout with the same or sometimes even better results than doing a full hour cardio session three times a week. HIIT workouts are about getting your heart rate up by giving an exercise your all and then resting for a while to get it back to normal. Then you repeat the intense exercise again. I do 16 minute HIIT sessions that look like this:
Warming up
30 seconds high knees
90 seconds rest
30 seconds jumping jacks
90 seconds rest
30 seconds step-ups
90 seconds rest
30 seconds high knees
90 seconds rest
30 seconds jumping jacks
90 seconds rest
30 seconds step-ups
90 seconds rest
30 seconds high knees
90 seconds rest
30 seconds jumping jacks
90 seconds rest
Cool down/stretching
This way I’ll have a quick yet very effective cardio workout. I’ve been doing these for the past two weeks now and I really love it. I am not usually into exercise, so I am glad I’ve found something that works for me!
Additionally, I will try to take my bike to school more often, walk anywhere that is within walking distance (if I have the time to do that) and take the stairs over the elevator/escalator everywhere I go. -
Taking care of my mind
A big part of my unhealthy habits are due to stress. For me, it’s just as important to take care of my mind and mindset to get and stay healthy as it is to eat well and exercise. I’ll be taking care of my mind and spirit by taking regular breaks from writing and blogging, spending time outdoors and disconnecting from social media every once in a while.
I will still be setting goals for myself, but I won’t be pressuring myself into achieving them with strict deadlines. Instead, I will just give myself some time and space to get where I want to be. I am convinced that all good things take time, so slow and steady will also do the trick!
These are the things that I will be doing for myself to feel healthy, happy, and to love my body. I will start treating it with the respect it deserves and stop taking it for granted from this day forward. I hope you’ll join me for a few reasons: it’s good for you, you deserve it, and I could really use some accountability buddies. 😉
Have fun starting your journey to a healthier lifestyle. Please share below what you will be doing and any tips you might have! I’ll start sharing more details about my own journey along with some delicious healthy recipes I’ve been trying. I adore cooking and this website is about my passion projects after all! Anyway, if you want to go on this journey with me, or would just like some tasty recipes, keep an eye out for my next blog posts!
With much love,
Maud
