Happy New Year, the Dreaded Holiday Gains, and How I Overcame It

Happy New Year!

Like many of you, I ate a lot over the holidays. Like A LOT. For our Christmas dinner, I ate something like an entire cake to myself, with some chocolate, and of course the meal itself.

I felt disgusting. And I felt fat. I beat myself up for it. I would then go on horrible long runs. And then I'd come back and my runner's knee is worse than ever before.

So I told myself to stop weighing. The last time I weighed myself was January 2nd, when I weighed 63 kg. That was absolutely heartbreaking, considering I had thought I had compensated my binge-eating with lots of running and swimming. I then told myself - alright, I cannot let this get to me.

Like this was the kind of food I was eating - times like 10 in one go.

In fact, it was this running coach Jessica, who put a post on her weight gain during her off-seasons that really made me feel a lot better. I commented on her one of the photos, and she was very kind to reply, telling me it's okay to indulge a bit. The way to stop feeling bad is telling yourself that I'm not going to be like this forever. I know it was something small, but thank you Jessica! You should all follow her on instagram at @sugarruns.

So I have slowly been getting back into shape, and starting to really switch back on the unhealthy-eating. I have stuck with the 16:8 intermittent fasting. Lucky for me, I was working at a ski camp immediately after that horrible day for 4 days, where I was kept busy. I skipped breakfast, didn't eat lunch until 12:30 (even though fasting ends at 11 for me), and then I'd eat dinner at around 6. Because I was so busy, my body rarely felt hungry, except in the morning. Before this, I was mentally holding myself hostage every morning, counting down the minutes until I could eat at 11. Now that I am back to my regular routine in London, I have noticed that I sometimes don't even need to eat until much after I break my fast.

Ski camp where I was kept busy!

The second thing I have noticed is that my sugar cravings have stopped. Yes, I indulged on cookies several times over the past few weeks, but overall, my snack-intake is much less, and I don't crave it as much as I used to. The way I do it is simple - I have Alex literally hide the biscuits away from me. And I don't put anything bad in the cupboards. What happened was that I would then eat low-GI index foods throughout the day, and oh boy do I notice the difference! Not only do I feel less lethargic, my heart pumps less after eating, and I don't feel like I need high-sugar food to keep me up, therefore ending my cravings.

So today I weighed myself. I am back to a great 58.9kg! Which is where I want to be. I went to see my osteopath, who has fixed me a little. I am really trying to be mindful about my body. And it's just great to see that my efforts don't lie. So don't feel down if you gained a bit over the holidays! What's important is that you realize what you want - do you want to lose weight? Are you okay with your current weight? - and then act on it. Know what YOU want and know HOW you can get there. Because you can once you've figured those two things out.

Happy New Year! I hope this year is going to be a wonderful year for you all!

#diet #running #weight #mindfulness #training #holidays