Saying goodbye to Go Ahead bars

Many people think Go Ahead bars are healthy – or an healthier alternative compared to other snacks. I used to be one of those people. Even though I didn’t really like the taste of them, I ate them anyway because I thought they were a much healthier option than other bars. But one look at the nutritional information was enough for me to change my opinion of them – and after finishing the last Go Ahead bar lying around the house, I can safely say I will never eat one again.

Looking back: 21 days to change a habit?

Today, it’s been exactly three weeks since I started my weight loss journey. Although there were many things I needed to change about my lifestyle in order to live a healthier life, I think the most important (and hardest) thing to do is to change current habits. After all, they took a long time to develop, so going cold turkey on them is a tough process. The one habit I really needed to change was my habit of snacking late at night – basically eating whatever was around, without being hungry. They say it takes 21 days to change habits, so let me tell you about my personal experience.

Weigh in #3

I’ll be honest with you: I didn’t expect a (big) loss this morning. It’s not that I haven’t been eating right, but it’s the lack of exercise the past week that would show on the scale (or so I thought). As I have been studying for my exams all week, while feeling the pre-exam stress build, I knew I should be happy regardless of what the scale would say. After all, I didn’t give in to my old habit of stress eating and that’s something to be proud of! :)

When it all went wrong

I used to weigh 64 kg. I had successfully lost 8 kg in only a couple of months and I felt on top of the world. I’d never felt so good about myself as I did back then. I’ve always been a little heavier than the other girls in my class, so being ‘just like them’ was a dream come true for me. I wasn’t the fat girl anymore – I was getting thin. I loved it. But that moment didn’t last long, because I broke down and I quickly started putting the pounds back on. I want to write about what I learned from that dark chapter of my life and just let my heart speak. Just write whatever comes to mind.

Green tea, my lifesaver

Sometimes we all need a little moment of peace. A moment of silence, even. A moment in which we can reconnect with our deepest wishes and goals, to make sure we are still moving in the right direction. When life gets overwhelming, and nothing else seems to matter but our current problems, I find this moment of silence extremely important. I can ban all unwanted stressors for a minute and just let them be. In order to do this, some people like to go for a walk, others like to meditate, but I like to drink tea. So I put on the kettle, pour me a cup of green tea with lemon and close my eyes. Success guaranteed.

Enjoying a healthy snack – unsalted nuts and raisins and a tangerine :)

When weight loss isn’t a priority

Blogging isn’t my priority this week – neither is weight loss and exercise. Like I wrote a couple of days ago, I tend to push everything aside when I have exams. It’s like nothing else matters, apart from getting a good grade (and spending every minute I have doing revision). I’m not proud of it, but I’ve learned that habits are hard to change when they make sense. I have always been an overachiever, I’ve always been top of the class and it’s extremely hard to let go and relax. After this exam week, I only have 1 exam more to go for my Bachelor’s degree, so I guess I will have to just suck it up for a bit longer and just carry on. But even though weight loss isn’t my priority right now, I’m still being healthy!

3 Specific weight loss goals

Why do you want to lose weight? Is it because you want to be healthy? Or maybe because you want to live a more fulfilling life? I noticed that many of the reasons I came up with were a little bit vague. What does “healthy” even mean? How do I know I’m healthy? When do I know I have reached my goal of living a healthy lifestyle? Is drinking diet coke every other day healthy? Compared to drinking multiple units every day it probably is, but it’s not really healthy on its own. Just like being thinner doesn’t really mean much either. Compared to models, I’ll still be fat, even if I lose all the weight I want to lose. I realized that I needed to set some achievable goals for myself, other than just reaching my goal weight. I decided to transform some of my general goals into more achievable goals I can actually measure. Maybe I don’t even need to reach my goal weight to accomplish my goals!

Exam week preparation

This time of year is always really stressful and overwhelming for me, as I have to take exams before the holidays . I have two exams next week (on Monday and Tuesday), and my desk is literally filled with papers, books, notes, summaries and articles. It’s insane. As I always aim for at least 80%  on a test (but preferably an even higher mark), I spend a lot of time studying. I know I still have a week left, but I already can’t wait for these exams to be over! Exam weeks used to be triggers for unhealthy snacking, so this week will be another challenge, but nothing I can’t handle ;)

Changes

Yesterday was a tough day for me. Despite all the lovely comments I received, saying “A loss is a loss” and “You did great”, I still felt kind of betrayed. I felt like I was putting in all the effort, and my body just didn’t hold up its end of the deal. This probably doesn’t make much sense to you, but there’s no other way I can really explain it. I have this implicit expectation in my head that effort equals weight loss, when really, it doesn’t. But I got over it. I realized that maybe the number on the scale isn’t the measurement I should look at.

Weigh in #2

I had been looking forward to this morning for days. The past week was a tough one, but I made it through all the challenges thrown at me. I hadn’t given in to my sugar cravings, I hadn’t treated myself on Sinterklaas and I felt so proud of myself for sticking to my new healthy diet. I was really excited when I woke up this morning, because I knew the scale would show me that all my hard work had paid off. Little did I know.