I’ve meant to write this post for a few months now (granted with a slight different title) but seeing as it’s almost 6 months to the day since we went to Ibiza and I spent an indulgent week eating my weight in Spanish food, followed by a healthy week of fitness and a surprising amount of fun at The Body Camp in Ibiza, I figured it was high time I finally updated you on what happened since I lost all that weight in less than a week.
I’m not a fan of quick-fix solutions. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like for problems to be fixed fairly quickly, I just don’t like for the fix to be temporary. Whenever I can, I’d always much rather fix something and not have to worry about it again. This of course is partly the excuse/reason I’ve used for not indulging in extreme diets, extreme workouts or any kind of fitness/weight-loss method I can’t keep up with.
So, as you already know, Lloyd and I lost a fair bit of weight when were in Ibiza (not to mention a few inches of fat) but beyond that, the biggest thing I wanted to get from it was to find a way to keep the weight off, stay in tune with the stuff I’d learnt – all while still getting to eat and drink pretty much all the stuff I wanted! Essentially, I wanted to eat my cake and have it.
Day One…
I went straight to Burger King! I could say it wasn’t my fault and that there wasn’t much option in Ibiza’s airport (which was true as we were there out of season) but in truth, there were at least two places that had healthier options and I just glossed over those and went in for a meal that was probably as much calories as I’d have in a day over the week at The Body Camp.
I can’t pretend – it felt good! I had absolutely no regrets. It felt like what I wanted and it was a much needed welcome back to normal life outside the safe bubble of The Body Camp (you had a chef in a luxury Ibiza mansion – it doesn’t get much more ‘bubbly’ than that!)
The same night, I went to my cousin’s house party and then on a night out with friends where I had no limits on my liquid libations for the night or my post-clubbing drunk food. (I did regret the hangover the next day though…)
Week One…
What did change however was once I got home and went out to do my weekly food shop. I was so much more aware of the choices I was making and I skipped the sweets and treats aisle. I’d realised that they were one of those things I’d only ever eat when I had them at home but never miss if they weren’t in my cupboards. I’m never sat at home thinking “Oh, I really crave popcorn right now…” but I can guarantee that if I had a family pack of popcorn (you know, those huge bags), I’d eat them at least two of those in one sitting. (I even used to look at the calories and think “Well, it’s just 500 per bag so two bags is only 1,000 calories…”).
Making little conscious healthier choices like that made such a big difference as I wasn’t dramatically changing what I was eating, just taking out the excess nonsense I didn’t really need. (I still indulged in wine and beers, of course).
At the end of week 1, I’d managed to stay the same weight, despite my wine and pretty much staying on a fairly similar diet.
Month 1…
Fast forward to the end of the month. The confidence I had from not gaining weight in the first week meant that I carried on with business as usual, cheeky glass of wine here and there, as much carbs as I wanted…etc. I still made healthier choices – more greens and veg at home. Switching sweets for fruits and most importantly, not eating when I wasn’t hungry! (In the past, I’d usually pile my plate high with more food than I needed and spend half the time struggling to finish everything on it – and when I say high, I mean it – we’re talking 6 inch high piles of spaghetti bolognese, just for myself).
Oh and I carried on with the working out. Okay, not really. I did for at least two 20 minute runs… and by ‘runs’, I mean run for like 2 minutes and walk for 3 minutes. None of it was by any means athletic and most of it was inspired by the fact that it was sunny outside. Still I did it so it kinda counts, right? (Plus, I’d already bought the running shorts and shoes so I figured I might as well use them).
Weight at the end of month 1? I’d lost another 3 pounds! How this happened, I had no idea. I certainly didn’t feel like I’d worked hard to get there or that I’d done anything dramatic but there is was, clear as day on the weighing scales – my proof that little changes can make such a big difference.
If you remember from this post here, I’d found it harder to lose weight over the years (okay, I wasn’t trying very hard all the time) but my weight had just done higher and higher, never the opposite (I remember the days, not so long ago when my waist size was 28 – and this was well past my teenage years). 3 pounds loss in a month, in addition to what I’d already lost meant that I’d lost 11 pounds already till that points.
6 Months Later…
Cut to today and I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve been a lot more indulgent than I was in my first month. Travelling as much as we do means you don’t have that much control of your diet and seeing as I’m not much of an exerciser (I think I ran one more time between then and now), I kept expecting that I’d have started piling on what I like to refer to and my ‘winter weight’. 🙂 (*Except I typically gain winter weight in summer/spring/autumn so… 🙂 ).
I stood on the scales a few days ago and in addition to the 11 pounds lost already, I’ve lost another 3 pounds! That brings us down to a total of 14 pounds – 1 stone!
Okay, I know 3 pounds weight loss in 5 months is particular huge or mind boggling but this is the the lowest weight I’ve been in quite some time. (Georgia has a ‘weights chart’ – for some reason, we started tracking our weight as a foursome over 5 years ago, using the exact same weighing scales, and so we’ve got records of how big/small we’ve gotten over the years).
Thinking back now, all I can say I’ve really done more of is being conscious of the choices I’ve made. The little things. Don’t over eat at breakfast because you’re worried about being too hungry at lunch time (deal with lunch/hunger when it comes around). Eat a family pack of popcorn if you want but for goodness sake, don’t eat one every day or at every snacking opportunity available! Never let yourself get too hungry, this is how you make bad food choices. (I wanna say I’ve tried drinking less wine but that would be untrue 😉 ).
Oh, and I almost forgot, another huge benefit I mentioned back then was how doing the things we did in Ibiza (e.g. that 12k uphill hike) totally changed my mindset when it came to my ability to do physical challenges which in turn, was a huge part of why I hiked (well, hiked most of the way), at high altitude with little oxygen in the air, all the way to the Rainbow Mountains in Peru! This is one feat I wouldn’t have considered doing in the past and this change in mindset has meant being open and able to do and see so much more when we travel.
Okay, I’m gonna stop here otherwise I could just go rambling on and on… The reason I wanted to share this post with you was, more than anything else, to show how little things can make a huge difference and why its totally worth getting started today with whatever changes you’d like to make, no matter how little! 🙂
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