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Health and Fitness

Self Care – I Want to Lose Weight Without Damaging my Mental Health

May 21, 2018

I recently mentioned in a blog post, that for health reasons I needed to lose weight. Quite serious health reasons and ones that need to be taken seriously. I’m very body positive, in fact I’d go as far as saying I really do love my body most of the time, despite the many changes babies and life have put it through. In myself I am happy to stay a size 14 or be smaller it’s OK. But this is something I have to do. I’m not 100% sure putting it out there on here is the best thing to do, in case I fail. I hate words like fail and weight loss and losing weight and all these negative terms that make me want to run away and hide! I think I think I need to say that I’m working on making my body healthy and getting better.

But on to what I’m actually trying to talk about. I absolutely completely hate diets. Like really loath and despise them! This is just a me thing, I love hearing about other people success stories with Weight Watchers and Slimming World and things that have worked for them. I have seen people change their lives and have very positive outcomes from responsible plans like these.  But they are not for me. I have a lot of pressure in my life already and adding another thing to keep on top of and manage and organise does not take me happy.

Every time I’ve ever followed a diet, even if I’m enjoying the food and it’s going well, it makes me start to lose my mind a little bit. I hate attaching guilt to food and feeling bad if I eat too much cheese or have a treat. I also already eat a pretty healthy diet, I cook lovely home made food, I get more than my 5 a day, I eat healthy snacks (mostly), I drink water and don’t have too much caffeine. My weaknesses are cheese and savoury snacky things and if a doughnut is put in front of me, I will eat it.

Luckily, I absolutely adore exercise. I love running, walking, swimming and have recently started going to classes at the gym. I’ve tried yoga, pilates and spin classes and I’m really enjoying them. So my plan is to exercise almost every day if I can and to just keep an eye on what I’m eating, but not follow a specific plan. Healthy eating is really important to me and rather than focussing on cutting calories or not eating certain foods, I’m going to have fun discovering healthy choices, creating new recipes and eating absolutely delicious healthy food. But very much on my own terms and to my own rules.

I’m not going to be hard on myself if I eat something indulgent, I’m just going to move on and have a healthy rest of the week. I’m not going to feel guilty or go crazy or put too much pressure on myself. I want to be healthy and happy. The two things go hand in hand. I’m going to make my body healthy and get better without punishing myself and I’m going to look on this as something I am doing to be kind to myself, because it is a positive things and I don’t need words like loss and fail to get there.

I think my point here is that I want to enjoy it, treat it like a hobby and have fun. Not feel drained and guilty and half starved. Thats not well and thats not healthy. I also don’t want to aspire to be anything other than my best and most happy self. I would also really appreciate that if I do lose weight people don’t tell me I look better than I did before. I am just as good at this size as any other, I will just hopefully be a healthier more well version of the one I am now. I would absolutely love to hear people thoughts on this post and to hear anyone else experiences of doing this in a kind and positive way, without stress.

Please read my other post on this topic to put everything into a bit more context.

Outfit Details: Dress – Tu Clothing (from last year)

Bangles – Vintage

Shoes – Hallie Sandals – Hotter Shoes (current season)


Ways to follow Vintage Frills

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  • Reply
    Mim (@crinolinerobot)
    May 22, 2018 at 8:37 am

    I’ve found switching my eating habits was a chore at first, but got easier. Now if I had a sandwich for lunch rather than my now-normal salad it feels a bit heavy, and I don’t miss cake quite so much. (I still eat it when I’m on print deadline tho!)

  • Reply
    exothermix
    May 22, 2018 at 12:14 pm

    I love this post (long time lurker on your blog and big fan of your wonderful vintage outfits) and you are so right about positivity being important. Guilt around weight and food can be so pervasive and most diets focus on that which is why I think they don’t work long term for so many of us. Have you ever looked at Paul McKenna’s I Can Make You Thin? It sounds a bit hokey and Paul’s TV hypnotist/radio DJ voice has given me the giggles more than once but it honestly really does work. The app or book and CD are great and both under a tenner. It focuses on behavioural exercises to change your relationship with food, mindful and slow eating and a positive approach without diets or calorie counting. I’ve been seeing results so far, don’t feel deprived and am gradually losing weight and feeling better in myself.

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