Nothing to do with leather again, but lots to do with meat!
So today is #NoDietDay which really means no eating day and just highlights for me the utter silliness surrounding the “diet” industry which must be worth a fortune! Your diet is what you eat. Everyone has one, healthy or not, whether or not they’re choosing to restrict their eating. Not that there’s anything wrong with thoughtful fasting (a real “no diet day”) – it can be really beneficial for your health, but Do Your Own Research!
Disclaimer – I’m no GP or nutritionist, simply a person musing on her own experiences! My advice is think for yourself, research carefully and experiment for yourself – you’ll soon know if you feel better or worse!
On with it – nope – one more disclaimer: I have an eating disorder (link to my YouTube short on that here) that is complex and I’m slowly figuring it out, so maybe don’t take any of my advice at all – ah maybe the only disclaimer I need is I’m human and imperfect; whatever the topic always Do Your Own Research! Anyways, on with it again!
I’ve never really “dieted” by way of restricting food because I’ve never been bothered enough by my shape, weight or size to develop the willpower to restrict my eating. I’ve been anywhere between 7-14 stone as an adult, hovered around 8 the last few years without a restrictive diet, and I’m fitter and healthier than I’ve ever been in my life.
Weight Loss
Since living on my own for the first time I naturally just ate what I wanted when I was hungry. I don’t know how heavy I was before but I’m guessing I lost around 4-5 stone in just over 6 months without really noticing. One or two friends did and I was horrified when I jumped on the scales one day and it wasn’t quite scraping 8 stone. I’ve since realised that meant nothing, but more on that later if I remember…
Diet
Eventually I looked at my diet (what I was eating – I was never “on a diet”) and it was mostly meat, salad, dairy and more dairy by way of chocolate. Did a bit of research and was horrified to discover the food pyramid scam. (There’s an overview of the changes made to the food pyramid before publishing at at 4 minutes in the video below, but DYOR!) I ultimately decided that other than the chocolate my diet was fairly healthy – just couldn’t consume enough calories to sustain the lifestyle I was trying to live whilst keeping the weight!
I tried putting on weight by way of prescription shakes but nothing was sustainable. Maybe partly because I was trying half-heartedly for other people, and because of the eating disorder?
Video below jus for fun!
Change of Mindset
February 2023 after my best friend came to live with me I had to refer myself to physio: throwing logs had inflamed the shoulder I dislocated when I dropped my motorbike (right outside school) years ago and I was struggling more than I should have been with a 20kg bag of coal.
I didn’t mind the exercises I was given and loved feeling stronger. I added a few more weights and different exercises and soon became addicted to lifting weights and feeling fitter.
Food became fuel rather than an “additional pain in the backside thing I have to do when I remember, if I can face it or force it down my gullet, that interrupts whatever else I’m doing that is ultimately more important”!
I wish I could say that it’s fixed my eating disorder – there’s other bits I need to unpick there, but managing my weight has become a little easier. I don’t obsess about food (although I rotate certain “safe foods”) I eat simple and fairly clean, and I eat what I enjoy even if I don’t always enjoy what I eat! I still have to keep track in the back of my mind to make sure I’ve eaten enough calories on busy days, and force myself to fuel my body during burn out or black dog weeks, but a simple check of my weight every week or so makes sure I don’t inadvertently lose too much.
I’m on pretty much the same diet now – doesn’t change much from summer to winter but I’m more mindful that I eat quality calories “if I have to eat I’m going to eat good quality food”. I make from scratch cause home made burgers are sooooo much more tasty and healthy than shop bought, but I make simple and try to make sure I get my fats and carbs not just from chocolate (addicted to nuts and fresh berries now)! I try to make sure that if I have to eat, I’m gonna enjoy it!
A quick note on weight
The number on the scale means nothing! Friends and GP were worried because of the drastic weight loss, and ultimately that was for some very complex reasons I won’t go into here. Apparently losing a lot of weight quickly might not be healthy – or that might be “yoyo dieting”. I haven’t looked into that DYOR…
But: the number on the scale doesn’t take into account your height, time of day, water retention, time of the month, body fat. Even BMI doesn’t take all that into account. Right now I’m the same weight I was last year, but I’ve built muscle so it looks different.
Considered apologising for belly rolls in this video!
If I increase my calorie intake and up my weight lifting sessions I could potentially (haha if I could keep it consistent so this would actually be impossible) be 10 stone in a while. That would be an additional couple of stone of muscle. I would be nearing ‘obese’ BMI but it would be pretty much pure muscle.
If on the other hand I started eating more calories by way of fast food and chocolate and stopped lifting weights, I could be knocking on 9 stone quite quickly and this would be an extra stone of fat. According to BMI I would be considered a healthy weight.
The number on the scale is an unhealthy obsession – how you fuel yourself with food is a much healthier obsession!
Oh – if you’re looking for a good quality source of information on diet (food not “dieting”), exercise and mental health instead of someone just rambling about their own small epiphany, I couldn’t recommend Andrew Huberman enough! I don’t care what he does with his personal life, the guy’s brain is genious!
