Therefore, I suggest slowly adapting your diet over a period of time so that it never seem difficult and you just slowly flow into it! Remember, if you want to change, you must bring about change!
Just a quick statement... I apologise now for my grammatically incorrect blab. I am a Cambridge science student with a tendency to yap. (no english skills!!). Also... this song always empowers me when I feel a bit poop... so LISTEN IN!!!
Anyways, despite only being 21, I have been at all stages of weight/ eating habits (including he drastic under eating) so I will try to write posts to cover all of them depending on what level you are on!
The different levels will be separated according to current diet and weight
Level 1 (I was at this level when I was 14)
Overweight with bad eating habits. Would find switching to clean eating difficult, and don't really want to give up chocolate and sweets... after all... it tastes so good! However, you know you are bigger than you should be and feel rather self-conscious about certain aspects. Diets never normally last longer than a day, as you slip back into old eating habits. Probably eating over 2000 calories a day, and live a fairly sedentary lifestyle.
I remember when I was like this. I was the big girl of the year, and ate like a machine. I hated plates being left with food on it (that hasn't changed), and being at an all girls school with a lot of eating disorders... there were always lots of leftovers for me to dig into at lunchtime... SCORE!!! At break I'd eat 2 cookies, a chocolate bar and a pack of crisps, and after school, a strawberry frapuccino (with cream on top.... duh!!!!) and a blueberry muffin. I have since counted the calories I used to eat, and it must have been around 3000 a day!.... oops! Fundamentally, I didn't like how I looked but just accepted that this was how it was going to be.... I was a big girl... they were small girls... just as you have big dogs and small dogs... and I didn't think that it was ever going to change!!!
Aim: Just want to get smaller!!!! (of course you will change levels as you get closer to your goal... but this is just to see where you are starting out!)
Level 2
Bigger than you want to be, but eat fairly healthily. Aren't scared by clean eating, but would really miss that afternoon cake/ pudding at dinner. You are quite active, but don't seem to be able to to be changing shape much at all.
This level can be split into 2 initially but can be solved in the same way. The split is caused by a difference in muscle mass. You're either fairly active, and eat fairly big portions of food (with a fair amount of muscle) or don't eat all that much, but seem to be quite fatty (with little muscle mass). I would classify skinny fat as a level 2. I have been this latter version for a long time now, as I don't have much muscle mass at all... hello 26% fat! GREAT!
Aim: Budge that fat, maintaining/building muscle.
Level 3
Very active, and eat very healthily. Just want to budge that last little bit!
You are very lucky if you are a level 3, and I'd say that just watching your diet and making sure you eat clean will help to shift that last little bit. After all... abs are made in the kitchen!
Level 4
Very active, skinny, and you restrict your calories. It has become a bit of an obsession. May eat a piece of cake, but go and burn it off immediately, and are unhappy if you haven't. Will spend a long time doing a lot of cardio, but not much strength training! If you eat a little bit more than normal, you seem to put it on as fat very quickly
I was exactly like this when I was 17. Although I was skinny, I didn't have much muscle tone as I was running a ridiculous amount and not replenishing the calories. So what did my body do.... it burnt the muscle of course... as it was more energy efficient for it to keep the fat than it would be to keep hold of the muscle. So, when I started eating normally again... hello fat... my body stored it as fat as it wasn't sure when it was next going to get food again. Unfortunately, this is a very obsessive state of mind to be in and isn't healthy at all. My friends started to get very worried about me as I was looking gaunt and my immune system hit rock bottom. Despite being at the weight I wanted, I wasn't completely happy as it was a stress that I had to constantly think about, and I was tired ALL THE TIME!!!
If anyone reading this is at this stage, I THOROUGHLY recommend you trying to eat more and doing weights to build muscle. That way, you will find your metabolism will increase, burning that last bit of fat, and you will be able to eat more without putting on weight. Your energy levels will also be much higher. Having been through it.... I completely understand. If i could turn back the clocks... thats EXACTLY what I would have done, but I knew nothing about weight training and thought I'd just get bulky! I promise you wont!!!
So.... there are the levels. Most people will probably be a level 2, of some degree aiming to be a Level 3. If you are a Level 1. I will write a post giving you step by step help to try to change those habits and get to where you want to be. It amy take longer.... but I promise you, you can do it.... and you WILL do it!!!
To anyone reading this... feel free to comment with personal info and I can try to help. State what level you think you are at, and what your issues are and I can try help you overcome them (as I have almost definitely been through it myself at some point!!!)....
ENJOY!!!
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