My (formerly) Secret Addiction....

One thing that has kept me on track when it comes to my nutrition has 

been my food diary. Each week I go through the same routine... 

1. I take 5 minutes to write a meal plan for the coming week. 
2. I write a shopping list
3. Go shopping

Sounds basic and you're probably wondering why I bother. 

Planning meals in advance makes shopping easier... I only buy what's on the list, I minimize food waste and I spend less on food in the long run.

Most importantly.. I only buy what's on the list! This is key if you've an issue with portion control. 

Of course there are times I don't make it home for dinner & plans change.... I keep a container with a handful of nuts in the boot of the car for
emergencies! Just a handful mind you... anything more, and if you get
caught out & feel hungry, you're likely to eat 200g of nuts before your body has got the memo that it's been fuelled for another while! Nuts are great... but they're pretty high in calories so keep an eye on your intake. 

Back to the food diary....

I thought about whether or not to post this, but I think it's important that I keep my posts honest so that
people understand the underlying issues behind obesity. 

2011: 

I was at the stage where food had taken over pretty much everything... I was overweight, which made me feel like crap (physically and mentally), I
comfort ate which made me gain more weight, I found the stairs tough going so I became lazier since it was just easier to stay still. When I got to my heaviest, I had stopped going out. I stopped socialising with friends, and just cut them out. Isolating myself was the worst thing I could have done.... I was alone, and I turned to food as a comfort. 

You'll know if you've read the blog, that I'm a real foodie.. .I love cooking
and good food, but it wasn't my love of cooking that caused the weight gain. I never cooked back then. Everything I ate was processed, pre-packed and full of unpronounceable ingredients. 

Let's face it, I didn't gain all that weight from just having an extra biscuit
here and there. I ate an unbelievable amount of food...all I thought about was food, and I would eat and eat until I felt nauseous, and then I'd eat again. 

This is a sample of what a pretty average day looked like for me back then... And no, I'm not exaggerating! 

BREAKFAST: 

Bucket sized bowl of Cheerios & slice of toast before leaving for work.

Toasted sandwich with sausages, bacon, egg & mayo at my desk once I
arrived in work.

Bottle of processed orange juice

10.30

Muffin/Scone 

Bottle of Lucozade

LUNCH

O'Brien's Triple Decker Sandwich with chicken, bacon, mayo & cheese

Bag of crisps 

Bar of chocolate

Bottle of Lucozade

15:00

Chocolate or muffin/pastry

Bottle of Lucozade

17:00 (On way home from work)

Jellies/Chocolate 

Bottle of Lucozade

DINNER

Pasta with processed sauce & cheese

Lucozade

EVENING SNACKS!

Biscuits or cake... not just one either, we're talking about a whole pack of
biscuits or whole pre-packed cake

Toast.... I can't even guess at how many slices of toast I'd eat... 'a lot' would be a fair guess! 

Sometimes I'd pop out to McDonalds Drive Through and honestly order 2
large meals, an extra burger, chicken nuggets, and ice cream or apple pie (Ok ok who am I kidding, I got the ice cream AND apple pie). If it wasn't
McDonalds, it was ordering Indian, or Dominos... wow those meal deals... A large
pizza, wedges, garlic bread, ice cream and 2 litres of coke for 15euro...and yeah, I'd eat it all over the course of the night. 

Obviously I'd have more Lucozade to wash it down!

So emmmm that was embarrassing and a little uncomfortable to see written down! 

Moving on... It wasn't as simple as overeating here and there for me... I had a serious problem with food. I ate at every opportunity, and was slowly
killing myself in the process. 

How I felt then:

· no energy

· low confidence

· zero self respect

· breathless with slight exertion

· sweaty all the time

· moody 

· dodgy digestion

· Joint pain at ankles, knees and hips

· depressed 

I felt like shit. 

2012

Roll on to 2012, and I'd started working towards a healthier lifestyle. My
main focus was on weight loss, since I blamed everything from my illness to my depression on my weight.

I had lost a significant amount of weight at this stage, but my progress had stalled... my next step was to further restrict calories and spend more time
in the gym.... 

9am - 12

No food

Spinning 

Body toning class/circuits

15km on bike

Free weights

I'd go back home...to bed since I was wrecked from not eating anything and going to the gym...Most afternoons I'd hospital appointments to drag myself
to.

5-7pm

No food.

Spinning

Free weights

Home again, to a massive bowl of fruit to deal with the double vision I'd
usually have during round 2 in the gym. 

Back to bed. 

How I felt then:

· tired 

· moody 

· obsessive

· hungry

· weak

· dry skin

· depressed

· drained

I felt like shit. 

Late 2012/2013

I realised I had to stop acting like an idiot (and to be fair, I was kinda hungry). Aside from anything, I'd stopped losing weight... so clearly hunger strike wasn't the correct approach. Now I just eat lots of real food... Lots of people are going to think my eating habits are still strange cos I don't eat cereals
for breakfast or pasta for dinner. 

BREAKFAST:

3 egg omelette with bacon, mushroom & raw goats cheese

Spinach, tomato & pepper salad
Nuts

SNACK:

Chicken salad with diced kale, brocolli, carrot, sun dried tomato & cottage cheese

LUNCH

Meat/fish with kale/spinach salad 

Handful of berries

SNACK:

Chicken or fish 

Nuts

DINNER

Steak,onions, mushrooms, brocolli & asparagus

POST TRAINING

Protein shake/chicken breast 

Between 5-8 litres of water/day.

How I feel now:

· buckets of energy that is constant rather than slumping in the
afternoon

· great mood (still can be a cranky cow though!)

· sleep patterns improved

· digestive issues cleared up

· skin problems were resolved

· my eyes are clear and don't look bloodshot any more

· black rings are gone

· depression is 1000% times better 

· health is pretty good...considering! 

· lots of confidence

· happy & chilled 

· teeth are really white (I can't explain that one... but has to be
something to do with a lack of artificial colourings)

· AND... my hair is starting to regrow!! SURPRISE for anyone who I hadn't told! 

This is just a sample of what I eat... some days snacks will be salads, Greek yogurt, raw cheese, nut butters etc. The point I'm trying to convey is that I
eat a lot! It's all real, unprocessed food which will serve to maintain my health and provide me with energy to train, as well as the ability to recovery between sessions. 

I eat to fuel my body, and give myself the best chance I can of maintaining my health... for me, grains and processed foods just aren't worth giving up my health for... 

I still go to the gym an awful lot... it's hard to make yourself believe that training less provides more benefits to your body... but I'm getting there. I do lots of other things with my spare time, and try not to
micromanage my training and nutrition too much. I love training, and I still love
food but I've become a lot better at silencing that slightly OCD voice that sometimes pushes me a little too far... 

Guys my reason for this post is to help you realise, whether you're a trainer or professional working with overweight clients, or you just know someone struggling, that sometimes it's not as simple as just stopping eating... I was properly addicted to food, and like any addiction you need support, empathy and understanding to kick it. 

Don't suggest a cheat meal of a chocolate bar for someone working on
getting over a food addiction... would you give a recovering cocaine addict just one line at the weekend?... My poor diet screwed everything up, but now... eating real food has improved everything!

If you're not a 'real' woman what are you????

I'd be interested to get some thoughts on this one..

A well respected provider of fitness courses are running a Women's Appreciation month on FB where they're asking women to post photos/videos of them lifting to show that women can be strong etc. FANTASTIC idea, and a great way to quash notions that lifting weights makes us big and bulky, or that we'll all end up looking like Jodie Marsh.. Today in a post they used the expression 'real women, doing real training'....

This isn't a dig at those running the promotion, I honestly think it's a brilliant idea. It's a great opportunity to promote their courses, encourage women to get involved in strength training and educate people that lifting weights doesn't turn women into a body builder type.

However... I HATE the term 'real women'. It's an expression that has come about as part of a backlash towards the super skinny, supermodel era. After years of being told we should be super skinny, now we're being told we're not a real woman if we don't have curves??

The 'real women' campaign is basically just giving the middle finger to the fashion and beauty industry who have made women feel like they're not slim/sexy or perfect enough for years... That's fine. I hate that the fashion industry has the power to make women feel bad about themselves. However... I really don't like how this new term has become so popular, and is now creating a whole new notion of what a woman should look like. 'Real women have curves' implies that if you don't have a J-Lo ass, or breasts above a certain cup size that you're in some way less of a woman. If you're naturally slim, should you try to gain weight in the hope that you too can be a 'real woman'?  Should you be less content and confident just because your naturally petite?

Most commonly, the term 'real woman' is used to describe and justify a woman carrying excess weight. Now.. we all know I wasn't exactly slim before so this isn't me being a judgemental cow or anything like that.. Ireland has an obesity epidemic. Using this term is encouraging people to view being overweight as being the ideal, or the norm. It's not. It is bad for your health. Simple as that. We shouldn't be glamorizing being overweight in the same way as we shouldn't encourage being super skinny or underweight. These type of factions just serve to encourage disorders ranging from anorexia to body dysmorphia to compulsive overeating and depressive illnesses.

By switching from the 'super skinny' campaign, to the 'real women' team, we're basically just creating a new way to make women feel insecure about their body type. Being slim doesn't make you any less of a woman than being a size 14, 18, 24 or whatever. We need a new campaign.. one that focusses on women being healthy and happy, without pitting us against each other in a bid to have the 'perfect' body type.

In the same way, I'm not sure I like the mention of these so-called 'real women' doing 'real training'. I love lifting weights...the gym is where I'm at my happiest lately and I actively encourage women to get involved in strength training over running on a treadmill at every opportunity. However, I never ever belittle the type of training someone else does.. I'd far prefer to see women enjoying running on a treadmill for 30 minutes, than hating every second of a strength training program, giving up on it and going back to the sofa instead. Just because running isn't my thing, it doesn't make it any less 'real' than squatting or deadlifting.

People should do what they enjoy, what works for them and what they can stick to. There is no right way to train or eat.. everyone is different and I think if we all respected and embraced that, we'd be an awful lot happier..