EXERCISE IS SO BORING BUT…
Does anyone remember when I began to think about being healthier and what not? I’m not exactly sure when, but it was a few months ago. I was going to discuss something srs today but eh, it’s been a long day, and quite frankly, ceebs right now. So I’m going to discuss something slightly (more like entirely) out of character, health. Like, exercise and diet type health. Because, you know, before I got started, I was completely lost and hey, I most definitely would not call myself an expert, far FAR from it. As far as you could get in fact, however, if I can assist anyone to start doing something, well… that’s pretty good I’d say.
I started the change, hmm, probably like 2 and a half months ago now. It’s a slow process, that is for sure, especially if you’re literally starting from the beginning, like I did. I was extremely unfit. I never ever exercised, like ever. I find it immensely boring unfortunately, I really do wish I enjoyed it, it would make this whole thing a lot easier. For the last 11 or so weeks I have exercised every single day, and I have completely changed my eating habits. I no longer eat any white pasta, rice, bread (unless it’s a special occasion, like my birthday this Saturday) and I avoid potatoes and all the other main carbs. I’ve eaten pasta maybe three times, it was brown and a much smaller serving than I would usually eat. I still eat quite a lot, I can’t help it, I’ve always had a big appetite, but I eat very differently. For instance, for lunch, I used to eat a large bowl of white pasta or a bowl of white rice with curry and I always ate a shit load of cheese. Now I would eat a bowl of salad with some feta cheese and a piece of mock (vegetarian) chicken breast, or something like that. Considering I absolutely LOVE pasta and rice, the change wasn’t exactly that easy, but the longer you do it for, the less tempted you feel and I’ve learnt to enjoy vegetables a lot more. There is so much you can do with vegetables, it’s quite amazing.
I guess you have to find some sort of motivation to stick to a complete lifestyle change. For me it was mainly two things. One, I’ve always hated my body, well maybe not always. I didn’t really care as a child, but since about the age of 13, I just haven’t been happy with my appearance, ever. I’m only 5’0, carrying the extra weight and looking flabby when I saw myself in the mirror made me feel so stumpy. I just hated it and I’m still not entirely happy. I know this is probably more of a psychological issue, because I’m the smallest I’ve ever been at the moment, and I’m still not really satisfied. More so because I would like to look more toned I guess, but that takes a lot of hard work, which I realise and am willing to do work on now. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, I wanted to be healthier and fitter. I think the second reason is why I stuck to my plan this time. I mean, I’ve hated my body for nine years now, and every single time I tried to do something about it, I gave up. I really wanted to be healthy this time though, I’m becoming a lot more conscious about what I put inside my body these days. Now when I look at cakes and sweets, I think twice about actually eating them. I think about what was used to create these products and whether I actually want that stuff inside of me. Considering I have hypochondria, the cause of my horrible long episode of anxiety from August 2011 till May this year, I thought trying to be healthier might help my mind feel more at ease about how vulnerable my body really is to illness. It does help, for me at least.
In terms of exercise, at the start, I started with 40 sit ups, 40 lunges, 40 squats and 15 minutes on a bike machine per day. I did that for about 2 weeks, then I moved up to 20 minutes on the bike. After 2 more weeks of that, I would do 80 sit ups, 40 lunges, 40 squats, 10 push ups and 30 minutes on the bike machine, every day. After about 4-5 weeks of this, I decided it was time to finally start jogging. So last week, my dad and I started jogging. I’ve been about 4 times now, in the days in between or when I can’t, I go back to my bike machine routine. My dad and I go out for about 30 – 40 minutes each time. Today, I jogged for 10 minutes straight without stopping I would still definitely consider myself a beginner, so I obviously can’t jog the full 30 minutes yet, I power walk in between sets of jogging. Jogging for a full half an hour is probably going to take a while, but at least I’m trying right?
It’s a little difficult to avoid carbs when you’re a vegetarian, but it’s not impossible! You just have to be creative, I’ve realised that you don’t need carbs, especially white pasta and rice. Besides, there are carbs in carrots and most vegetables and fruit, so I know I receive enough energy. I use a lot of Quorn products, they’re quite good I also eat a lot of lentils, chickpeas and so many different vegetables. My boyfriend and I also discovered a few other things during this food adventure. Below are a few of my favourites.
The sesame snaps are delicious, they are not the most low calorie snack you could eat, but man, I love them. Plus, considering I used to eat a massive triple chocolate muffin like every single day when I was 17, I figure this is a pretty decent replacement for my usual chocolate fix. Sometimes, I really do want to eat actual chocolate though, and the Atkins Endulge bar is great I wouldn’t recommend eating it every single day, but it’s pretty decent. It’s not as good as Cadbury or anything, but for a healthier alternative, it’s pretty decent. I hear dark chocolate is great for you too, but I can not stomach the taste, ew >.< Yoplait’s forme vanilla yogurt is the best yogurt I have ever had. Which is pretty amusing, because most people note that it’s good for a healthy alternative, but not as nice. I disagree, I actually prefer this to the variety with more calories. I really like it. However, I grew up with a horrible selection of food. My mum was a terrible cook, and I was pretty much raised on meals consisting of plain rice, plain over cooked soggy pasta (no sauce), grilled un seasoned meat that was cooked for so long that it felt incredibly stiffed, fast food and frozen meals. As a result, I don’t mind eating food without a shit load of flavour. Vanilla yogurt is actually my favourite. I hate the extra stuff. Lastly, the Quorn mince, is excellent! It’s low in fat and carbs and very high in protein. I use this product so often because you can do so much to it. Sometimes I just fry it with onion and a few vegetables. My ethnicity is Greek, so there are a lot of meals I can still enjoy thanks to the Quorn mince, like Keftedes (yuuuuuum) and Gemistes aka Stuffed Vegetables. In fact, I made them myself for the first time tonight.
Usually these are full of rice and meat mince. I decided to stuff them with the Quorn mince, brown onions, carrots, capsicum, celery, spring onions, asparagus and cauliflower. I added my favourite type of tomato sauce, and damn… do they taste good! I can’t wait to eat them tomorrow. ANYHOW, SORRY TO BORE YOU ALL WITH MY DULL FOOD AND EXERCISE TALK. I’LL MOVE ON TO THE STYLE SHIT NOW.
After I did this to my hair about a month ago, my boyfriend and I went and wondered around Myer. Because hanging out in department stores is fun sometimes. I was trying on hats, and we were told off for taking photographs. Way to ruin our fun Myer! NO WONDER YOUR SALES ARE SO LOW.
I also decided to try a cocktail or the first time in mah life. It was uuh, bigger than my freaking head! I didn’t really like it to be honest, the only alcoholic drink I’ve ever tasted and enjoyed is Smirnoff Ice Red, and guess what? It’s packed with sugar of course. Ha. Good thing I drink very rarely.
Don’t know wassup with my expression here. These are the first pair of jeans I have willingly bought and wanted to wear for YEARS like, 5 or 6 years? I sold them on e-bay though, they were a little big for me. It’s cool though, I replaced them with an awesome pair of Unif leopard print high waisted skinny pants, I’m also planning to purchase a pair of Motel leopard print jeans, the print on them is a lot nicer than the print on the jeans I’m wearing in the image above this paragraph. Alright, 1535 words, I’m going to shut up now.
