First blog post: My fitness and health journey

Helloooooo! Welcome to Psychology, Food and Fitness.

My Journey

Seeing the scales hit over 10st was a huge shock to me. I'd never been chubby or even slightly overweight. I'd always been naturally skinny and never really had to worry about my weight so, to see the weight creeping on without really knowing what to do was a struggle for me. But getting into a relationship meant cheeky restaurant dates and cute takeaways in plus, chocolate as a fail safe present. That was it. I refused to put anymore weight on. Enough was enough.

So, 1.5kg (pink!!) dumbells and magazine workouts became my best friend. Alongside a little thing called 'my fitness pal' - sure you've all heard of it - which set me on 1200 calories. Whilst this worked for a long time & I also become a cardio bunny (1hr on the cross trainer and lots of running - which i now cannot stand). Eventually my progress came to a halt. This meant more cardio and less to eat. I eventually stopped at weight of 114lbs (I'm 5ft4 for those wondering). Still unhappy with how I looked, seeing lean, toned girls on tumblr and Instagram I decided I HAD to up my calories, start weight training with proper weights.

This is where it all began.. I sucked it up braved the men's room at the gym ;)

That's what I did and my body composition improved massively. Although when it came to cutting I still battled with hitting the gym 6 days a week (some days twice) and exercising as much as I could. Going back to old habits of dropping calories low when weight loss halted. This dramatically changed who I was a person, getting comments off friends and family. On low calories and carbs I was moody, irritable, always tired from getting up early but I couldn't sleep at night. Under recovery and a lack of nutrients also took a toll on my hormones and bodily functions.

Now i'm really into my nutrition and focus on eating well. As a psychologist focusing on clinical psychology, i understand how important it is to not only have a good relationship with food but also, how nutrition can directly affect your gut, hormones and brain functioning. So this blog will contain lots of fun recipes.
My fitness journey has come a long way; i like to focus on a balanced, holistic approach which includes eating well (plant based), exercising (but not excessively) and looking at your mind (mindfulness). I like to promote body confidence and self-love.. it's all about that SASS. You don't need to be in the gym twice a day, 6 days a week to love yourself or your body!

SaveSave