I am getting married next year. Which means I want to look my best. Which means getting my diet in check without going on a diet per se. My social life revolves around things that don’t really help the waistline: eating out with friends, eating in with friends, fancy dinners with my boyfriend, gorging on Ben & Jerry’s at the cinema, cooking followed by eating, and don’t forget the booze topped up with a little more booze. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a total sloth nor am I overweight, I have an active lifestyle and get my fair share of exercise, but I’ve decided it’s not enough and I’m going to do something about it! *Cue Rocky theme tune.
So I started with a personal trainer last week and he told me I could, practically, only eat meat, nuts and eggs with a few greens thrown on top. I wanted to punch him. Yes, you lose loads of weight, and fast. And for all the tedium and sugar withdrawal headaches, you feel pretty darn good. I did a diet like this before and my skin was perfect, my sleep was amazing and I looked and felt great, apart from dreaming about chocolate fudge sundaes. That said though, I just don’t think these diets are sustainable. For me, as soon as the last diet ended, I put about half of the lost weight back on, and discovered I’m a much happier person when I’m allowed treats.
Dieting is so dull and boring, we live in a world where delicious Haribo jellies, doughnuts and chipper chips exist and I don’t want to miss out. But I love salad, vegetables, fruit, nuts and wholegrains just as much as that other stuff. I just need to find the right balance. Lots of people have suggested Weight Watchers, but I’ve seen dozens of friends turn into points counting maniacs for life and I just can’t do that to myself. My mother has always stuck to her “Rule of 80-20”, if you’re good 80 percent of the time you can be bad the other 20 percent. I like this and plan to implement it along with a regular fitness regime. But the personal trainer can stuff his high protein diet, it’s not for me.
And so, the inner battle between my love of food and my vanity will rage on. In the meantime, though, I’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, suggestions and experiences when it comes to eating healthily and keeping trim. Has anyone else tried the high protein route and had sustainable success?