My challenge was to lose weight without diet but by eating healthy, exercising and applying Clara's advice… we must set an example. :-)
I cannot give you figures, because from the beginning I decided that I was not going to get on the scale. I didn't want to be obsessed with weight, I wanted to focus on my body sensations. How do I know that I have lost weight then? For the great tip: the clothes.
Why do this # challenge21díasClara
I put you in the background, after having my second child and after a long time in which I did not feel like going on a diet because I had enough with work, the house and a baby - a child later - who had trouble sleeping all the time. All night in one go, I did go on a diet. It was with our nutritionist, Dr. M.ª Isabel Beltrán, and I reached a weight where I was healthy and I liked myself. But … every year I have been adding between half a kilo and a kilo, and I was already at that point where if you stop, you have to change the size of clothes. Up to this point! That was my red line.
I already ate well, because I don't skip the advice from Clara's experts, but… I lost my whims - a chocolate here, a piece of sausage there… - and above all, I ate too much on the weekend, always chaotic, with family commitments and outings with friends.
In addition, due to an injury, he had stopped exercising. Well, not quite, I was going to classes where they do exercises to take care of the back, but not cardio. Total, the perfect recipe to gain weight.
How to lose weight without dieting
What then has my challenge consisted of? What have I done to make me feel good in my jeans again and not get the button on my pants nailed? Yes, at that point it was. These are the four things I have done, because to lose weight, you don't need much more:
- Eat following the plate method. For me it is the ideal formula, because it is an easy way to know that the food is balanced and you do not have to count calories.
- A satisfying breakfast. I have eaten oatmeal cream for breakfast practically every day (flakes cooked with milk and cinnamon and a pinch of sweetener) with fruit. On the days that I have not, I have had rye bread (a mini) with cold cuts of turkey or hummus or aubergine pate and lettuce leaves.
- Light dinners. Vegetable cream first, fish second and yogurt. This is one of Clara's tips that we repeat the most, but… it works!
- Two snacks. One mid-morning and one mid-afternoon, which are basically a piece of fruit accompanied by a handful of nuts. And it is important to have a snack so as not to devour at dinner.
The secret of the success of this "no diet"
- To plan. That has been crucial. Because ordering the chaos is fantastic when you eat every day and you come home having to improvise a dinner and the tupperware the next day. So I have used a planner to organize lunches, dinners, weekends, and with a previous shopping list it has been a breeze. Someday what happened from Tuesday to Wednesday, but I have not had to use ready meals or unbalanced resources (you know, bread with cheese and sausage). In the photo it does not say it, but the food includes fruit, and dinner, yogurt.
- Overcook and freeze. Super important, because with the usual hours, it is almost impossible to cook every day for each of the meals. So, for example, I took advantage of the fact that I used the oven to heat my children's pizza - they continue with "Friday pizza" - to make grilled vegetables in two ways, as you can see in this photo.
- Give me one free meal a week. It is not a meal to commit excesses, but it is essential to be able to get together with friends or family without being the weirdo at the table and without dying to see that others can eat delicacies that would be forbidden to me.
- Without passing me. So yes, I have eaten that handful of potato chips that I can't give up in an aperitif, but beware, just a handful. And yes, I have had a glass of wine or cava, but one, not two. And yes, I have hit the cheese board without remorse on occasion. For the rest, it is not that we are very binge-eaters. But I have tried to make more baked chicken than lasagna, for example.
- Just one day. So if I have had other commitments, I have tried to go to a restaurant (or negotiate with my mother, ha ha ha) so that the menu fit with what I wanted to eat. This is what I eat if I have to go out to eat outside the office, since, luckily, I am in an area where there are many restaurants and I can choose what suits me best from the menu:
Do more exercise
- I've been swimming again. One of Clara's tips for exercising more is to practice one that you really like, so as not to skip classes and be regular. And swimming is my sport. Just as other people exercise the body and liberate the mind with yoga, it happens to me with swimming.
- Find the moment. I have seen that for me, the best thing is to stick up early but go swimming before going to work. That way I just depend on myself, and I make sure my sheets don't stick. In the afternoon, I know from experience that either I don't leave work on time or the children have a problem or a birthday party … But I have a great reward when I see the sun rise from pool to pool …
- And I keep watching my back. I have not left the back care classes, but also, I am going to swim with a monitor, to perfect my style.
- I have recovered the bike. Yes, I have taken my bike again to do some tours. It's not that I use it every day, but it's something else that I didn't do before.
- And I keep walking a lot. Because if I have time, I prefer to walk to the sites instead of taking the subway or the bus.
The hardest
- Plan the weekend. Yes, although I have told you that one of the keys to success is planning meals and that only one is free, it is not so easy, because we are sociable beings, we have family and friends and little time during the week, so commitments follow one another the weekend, which always starts on Friday… But I have succeeded, with a certain diplomacy in some cases (family members) and talking more and eating and drinking less in others (basically with friends).
- Chew well. I can't help it. I start off concentrating on the first bites but… I can't get it to the third ones. It is still my unfinished business.
- Eat less chocolate. It's my weakness. And although I eat it very black (85%), I admit that I eat it too much. It loses me … But, although it has cost me, I have managed to take less. So even though I don't eat just one ounce a day, I don't go over two either.
What i have achieved
In these 21 days I have lost weight, but I already tell you that I do not know how much because I did not want to weigh myself. The point is that I feel good again in my clothing size. Also, my figure is more defined thanks to sports and I have more energy. And my self-esteem is very high, so I am still well motivated to continue on this path. With these 21 days I have consolidated good habits that I hope not to leave. Are you joining the car to lose weight and take care of yourself with Clara's advice?
