Tweety's Eating Plan

Okay so a big part of getting to my weight loss goal is the food I eat!

I am a real foodie and I love all the things I shouldn't as well as things I should. A lot of chocolate, bread, pasta and coated peanuts were a big part of the food I would eat every week. And they were too big a part of it for too long and I was becoming a person I didn't like, mostly when I looked in the mirror but also my clothes were starting to get too small and then I had to move up a dress size. Don't get me wrong this didn't happen overnight, it was over a couple of years.

I think it started when I went through a tough break up which took a long time to get over, I then I started a job which meant I was on the road 4 days a week away from home and eating in restaurants and shop bough lunches. I didn't check myself, I just let myself eat what I wanted and didn't do any exercise.
And finally last year I lost a someone who meant a great deal to me, he was an inspiration and a great believer in me and all those around him. Initially I took to running a great deal to keep my mind focused but it didn't last and when I stopped the extra food I was eating to fuel the running became a comfort and it started adding up.
So I decided that in the New Year I would make a change and it would be a big change! I would loss all the weight I had gained and get back to a body shape I was happy with and as a result hopefully I would be a lot fitter. Over Christmas I prepared myself mentally and I made sure I ate all the things I really enjoyed which were really bad for me so when the New Year came I would be able to cut them out and make a fresh start.

I started on Friday 3rd January because my birthday is the 2nd and I was back at work on the Friday so it seemed like a good place to start. 
In the past I have found it very hard to stick to diets and rigorous eating plans where you can only eat certain things and you cut out loads of foods. I have learnt a few things from trying them though, some of which I am putting into practice at the moment.

So first and foremost I am not on a diet, I am healthy eating! And that is all it is! No fancy plans or strict eating regimes to stick to, just HEALTHY EATING!!!
I am going back to basics and only eating a certain number of calories (no more than I need and for a start less) and exercising at least 5 times a week. This does mean counting everything I eat and adding up the calories but I beat most of you reading this have a smart phone so you can easily get an app to help you. I am using My Fitness Pal which is free and it a great tool. I am getting very into it, you can scan the packets of everything (mostly) and get the calorie count and it saves it so it's there for next time, so don't start thinking its a real hassle to count calories as it's just not any more.

I have cut out some foods both for the high number of calories in them and for health reasons.
So out are:
- Bread - all forms, sliced bread, bagels, muffins, wraps, buns and any other type of bread you can think of.
- Chocolate - again all forms, chocolate bars, desserts, yoghurts (this is an except to this one which is protein shakes of a chocolate flavour, they are fixed calories and are hardly really chocolate and don't taste and thing like it)
- Potatoes and white pasta - (only eating sweet potatoes and a bit of wholemeal pasta)
I gave up bread for lent one year and saw a great difference in my weight and body shape. 

Also I have polycystic ovaries syndrome(PCOS) so ideally I should eat a low G.I.diet. (I will go into more detail about this another time)

So this is where I am starting and as you will see in the Week One Review it has worked so far and I didn't find it hard to stick to or feel hungry or feel cheated out of anything. (okay well by Thursday I did want some chocolate but I didn't give in and it was Day 7 which I always find hard) This is going to take time, I am under no illusion that is going to happen overnight ( I didn't get to where I am overnight) and I know it is going to take hard work and a lot of it but I can't wait to see the final results!!