It's All About The Small Changes | Weight Loss Diary Part 1

A quick intro...

Hello fellow bloggers! I am so happy that I am finally creating a blog. For a long time I was put off because I'm not very technical and blog design was a bit alien to me but I'm sure with time I will learn and improve! My blog will be mainly focused on lifestyle posts but there will probably be a sneaky fashion/beauty one popping up from time to time. To find out more head to the about me page  above.

Small changes? What on earth do you mean Megan? Before I get into the nitty gritty of that, let's go back a year from now. Picture your average size 10 girl who loved food and was fairly active. Now put her in university, living in student halls with a £50 weekly food allowance and the gym a 25 minute walk away. Starting to get the idea of where this is going? 

If you haven't already guessed that girl is me and yes, I did put on weight. A stone to be exact. This may seem normal to some people as I have heard many freshers weight gain stories. However, I didn't think it was possible for me to ever put on THAT much weight within the short amount of time that I did. I was so wrong.

Vodka and coke, pasta and cheese, bagels and jam. These things in moderation are a students idea of heaven, but when these are consumed excessively (and I mean excessively), it can cause the shock of your life. 

When I went home for the first time and stood on the scales I thought they were broken. No way had I put on 8 pounds in a month and a half. Unfortunately they were right and I had. This somehow didn't make me drastically change my eating habits though. I thought it was simply my lack of exercise so I whipped out my fitness DVDs and went to the gym (maybe a maximum of two times) and thought everything would be ok. 

Then Christmas came... 

"Shit". That's how I reacted when I saw the scales. Possibly some tears as well. Since my last weigh in I had put on an extra 6 pounds. I kept asking myself what I was doing wrong. My mum told me I wasn't active enough and I'm eating too much of the wrong things. She hit the nail on the head but I couldn't convince myself that she was right. 

Over the Christmas period I started reading health and fitness blogs and read nearly every weight loss tip on the internet. I felt ready to go back to uni and FINALLY sort myself out.

I had many attempts of trying to lose weight but failed numerous times. There were occasions when I would buy £30 worth of fresh fruit and veg and I ended up throwing half of it away because it never got eaten. When I went home for the summer I told myself enough is enough. I WAS going to lose weight and be back at my pre-uni size by the time September came. This, however, didn't happen...

With obstacles like my holiday in France (all those patisseries and baguettes...), staying with my Grandma for a week (she makes the best chocolate cakes and crumbles) and my mums home comfort meals, it soon became obvious that I wasn't going to lose a stone before September. Instead of giving up, I tweaked my goals and made lifestyle changes instead.

Source

Smaller portion sizes, becoming aware of hidden calories and sugars in food and exercising 3 times a week (sometimes more), I was losing weight in a healthier and happier way. I also felt more energetic and better about myself!  By the time I was heading back to uni I had lost 5 pounds in total. Just shows that you don't have to live off fruit and veg to lose weight!

In my next post I will talk about coming back to uni and how my weight loss continued during freshers week.
I will also do one in more detail about making lifestyle changes to lose weight and become healthier. 

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Love, M.