I don’t think there are many people who can’t honestly say they haven’t struggled with their weight. I don’t think there are many people who don’t look at their bodies and wish that something, or everything, wasn’t different.
Of course, the media has a huge hand to play in this. As we incessantly find ourselves forced to stare at various celebrities who are congratulated for losing, and then besmirched for gaining. It is, in my opinion, an ugly and cruel game that not only hurts those individuals, but we as a society. Because, being thin is not the same as being healthy, just as being a size 14 doesn’t make you fat. And this desperate need to compare our bodies with others, if only I was as thin…. or if my legs were… is quite frankly ludicrous. I do not wish I had the body of Kate Moss. But, I do want to make sure my body is in tip top shape. So I can be the best, healthiest individual I can be.
Now, I have lost weight before, my diet was simple. For dinner I would have a packet of Maltesers. That’s 160 calories each evening; so unsurprisingly the weight rolled off (I was also far far bigger than I should have been – University life…) However, and I am sure this shock no-one, this rapidly piled back on when I started eating 3 meals a day. The truth was, I had no idea how to eat healthily. What a proper portion size looked like? How a balanced meal should be prepared? This was not the sort of thing I was taught in school and absolutely not the sort of thing I was taught at home. Frankly, I was just bloody ecstatic to finally have the freedom to eat the food I wanted to eat – even if it did leave me feeling bloated and uncomfortable. And for the purposes of this blog we won’t even touch upon emotional eating, a story for another time….
For the past few months I have been focused on learning about healthy eating. For the first time I am actually learning what foods are good and bad, the differences between “good fats” i.e an Avocado and a “bad fat” i.e marshmallows (my personal weakness.) So when the Ace Ladies sent over their nutrition plan I felt I had finally found something that answered all those practical questions that weren’t really answered by those food bloggers I was following religiously.
Things like portion sizes, what types of carbs I should be eating, if I could eat fruit? There was even a section that explained the science in layman’s terms (admittedly I had to read this a good few times, but it made sense to me in the end.) It has acted as a fantastic guide as I continue to redefine my relationship with food and find new and innovative ways of cooking tasty, satisfying meals, that provide me with the nutrients and energy I need.
I really would recommend it, it taught me an immense amount and has helped me plan my meals for the week. Which is an activity I, rather embarrassingly, find myself doing on the weekend. Yes, I did think my early 20s would be rather more glamourous. Not, only that but I just purchased the first pair of size 10 trousers I have bought in rather a long time which was my personal goal.
If you would like to speak to either of the fantastic ace Ladies, drop them a line on info@ace-lifestyle.com and if you think their nutrition plan might help you the link is available here.