How I Lost Over A Stone, Even As A Food Blogger

How I Lost Over A Stone, Even As A Food Blogger

• August 07, 2015

 
I wasn't planning on blogging about this, but I'd uploaded a photo onto my Instagram referring to my weight loss whilst on a 3 week holiday in Hong Kong and straightaway, I had friends asking me how I did it. 

I managed to lose 17lbs in the space of 2 weeks, through good old exercise and portion control.

Thanks to Yee for suggesting that I blog about it and here it is! As far as this post goes, let me make it clear that I'm not a dietitian and nor do I have the right qualifications to advise anyone about losing weight. This post is my personal journey on weight loss and whilst these tips are transferable to anyone, I am not liable for any damage should there be any.

Right, let's do it. 

As a food blogger and lifetime foodie, being surrounded and driven crazy by food is a daily occurrence in my life. Dieting is also constantly on my mind, but right after I lost loads of weight for my wedding in 2012 (and put it all back on plus more!), I just couldn't diet anymore.

Usually, I eat whatever I want and in whatever portion size I desire, which, I can assure you is huge. I also didn't do an ounce of exercise, thinking about those Insanity workouts pre-wedding gives me the sweats. As a result, my weight, especially in the past few months shot right up. By the time I arrived in Hong Kong and checked out my weight on those dreaded hotel scales sitting in the bathroom, I gave myself a right shock.

68.5kg!! (10 stone 11 lbs or 151 lbs)

Still, my first week and a half in Hong Kong was a crazy whirlwind of loads of food and I was stuffed silly by the end of each day. However, this all changed from the 2nd half of my holiday. I had access to a gym and swimming pool at my sister in law's apartment complex, and she suggested that I join her for her workout. This started the ball rolling and I got right into exercising! 

Without any gimmicky diet routines, all I did was increase my activity levels every day, and decreased my food portion sizes. The heat in Hong Kong also helped, it was so intense that I would literally be dripping in sweat within 5 minutes of being in the sun. 

Exercise & Increasing Activity Levels

1. I started the day at the gym on an empty stomach and spent 35-40 mins there. 20 minutes on a cardio machine like the bike and cross trainer, then another 15-20 mins doing sets of squats, lunges, press ups and sit ups 
2. By lunchtime, I would be 'sweat-walking' i.e. shopping for 2-3hrs in the open and sweating like mad 
3. I'd be back to the apartment for 4pm, just in time for swimming with my cute 4 year old niece, who by the way is a complete water baby (she swims, dives, goes to the bottom of the pool without armbands!) 
4. One of the days, I got to roller blade for nearly 1 hr and also worked up a crazy sweat at play zone for my niece's birthday party (no gym or swim that day)  
5. Another day, I went hiking in the blazing sun for about 3 hours and really made an effort at climbing the steep parts without taking a break. The dress I was wearing was completely drenched through

This is what I did on most days for the last 10 days of my holiday. 

Food & Portion Control

1. I didn't really change my diet during those 10 days, but what I did change was the portion size and how much I ate at different meal times
2. After a gym session, breakfast would typically be a Chinese bun with a glass of milk. Sometimes, I ate fruit and milk instead, and snacked on crisps too!
3. No mid-morning snacking
4. Lunch would be whatever I wanted, but once I was full, I'd stop. Sometimes this would be a full bowl of noodles, sometimes only half. If there was food leftover, I would leave it. It was very wasteful, but I had to be brutal, otherwise my gym sessions were not going to count. Half a large bowl of noodles or a burger without the fries was typical for lunch
5. If I really fancied an ice-cream whilst out shopping, I ate a smaller lunch so that my combined quantity of food was the same as a normal lunch 
6. One of the days, all I wanted was street food, so lunch was a few combinations of street food skewers and sweeties. I stopped as soon as I was close to being full  
7. No afternoon snacking
8. Dinner would be early at 5-6pm and I made an effort to eat a smaller portion size again. If I felt hungry, I filled up on glasses of water and tea

 I ate whatever I wanted but was careful with portion size, no in-between meal snacking and dinner was my lightest meal of the day.

I weighed in at 62 kg when I left Hong Kong. Once I was back in UK, I continued to be careful with food portions and managed a daily 20 minute jog with 15 minutes of squats, press ups and sit ups. 

On day 14, 4 days after I left Hong Kong, I couldn't believe the scales when it showed up with my new weight. 

I was now 60kg (9 stone 8lbs or 134lbs)!! This made it a total loss at 17 lbs.

(Sorry for the bad quality and mess in the background, I just took a quick snap before a jog)

I haven't lost anymore weight since as I've been over eating again, but I haven't gained any either. I've kept up with the exercising and remind myself daily that if I want to lose weight, the maths is to increase activity and decrease food intake.

With daily exercise (most days), I feel that my lifestyle is so much healthier and I aim to keep up with my new routine. Now that I'm in my 30's, good and healthy lifestyle changes need to become long term.    

Will you be taking any tips on board?