Diet, its a dirty word to a foodie!

Its been really nice over the past week to get so many messages of support. Especially from people who I haven't seen in such a long time. I'm not, and probably never will be the most sociable Facebook user. I pop on every now and again and post here and there and like this and that but not prolifically as I find it a bit overwhelming at times. When my family suffered a personal tragedy a few years back, I found it really, really hard to even log on and look at what other people were up to, (and I'm sure I'm not alone in this experience) but I digress...so thank you to you guys for touching base.

Diet, its a dirty, dirty word! I dislike it with a passion. I know that many people would rather diet than exercise but here in boxercise town I'd rather exercise and eat heartily like the Botticelli I am! But even I cant exercise that much so here are a few of the changes I've made so far that will hopefully be enough to lighten my load.

• Upping the fruit, salad and vegies. A no brainer really but Im trying to increase my portion of salad and vegies at meal times and making it the bulk of my meals. This usually consists of whatever's in the fridge with a splash of olive oil and salt and pepper or a bit of dressing. I am having an apple a day but know I really need to add an extra fruit so that's my aim for tomorrow.
• A big bowl of porridge for breakfast with a splash of honey. (No more crumpets with peanut butter)
• Swapping full fat for lite.
• No white bread. I've cut out white bread and as much as I love it am avoiding the bakery abd all their donutty and pastry goodies like the plague!
• No sweetie darlings. I've cut out sugar and am avoiding soft drinks, chocolates and sweets but if the mood strikes me I will have a little something preferably a few corn crackers with honey or a few small chocolates or a cup cake.

So far these are my main changes. Not too many and not so strict that I'm going to beat myself up or restrict myself. I like to eat heartily at most meals and enjoy a bit of cheese in my salad or a handful of cashew nuts or a few chips. I guess the key is that I'm having a few rather than loads and I'm happy with that. If my body fat doesn't start to drop I will review my diet again. 

Since having Amina I have noticed a sharp decrease in my propensity to eat with my emotions. I don't really binge on sweets or savories anymore and feel more in control of my portion sizes and cravings. Emotional eating though is the bane of many people's lives and I don't know what the answer is (For me as a woman I would probably identify hormones as a contributing factor.) but I might try to find out by asking around and I'm sure I will touch on this again soon.

I've had a few messages over the past week from people who are in the same place as me, trying to get fit and lose weight and I hope that my blog and its little reminder in their newsfeed, inspires them to commit to do something towards this the next day. One friend in particular has had an extremely busy few years with work and, as a result has put on some weight (about 20kgs). Being really busy can completely annihilate your ability to eat well and exercise. So perhaps over the next few weeks I will try to come up with some suggestions for ways to deal with diet and exercise when you have what feels like ZERO time. I would love to hear any ideas from you guys? What do you do when your super busy? Do you have any suggestions for exercises you can do while sitting at a desk or during a lunch break? If you don't have time to post on the blog, a FB comment would be great.


Jess :)