fmyfat17

This is a great little article i found on the cosmopolitan Australia website. I believe that this is applicable to all Western women as we all tend to lead the same sedentary lifestyle.

Enjoy it as much as i did.

xx

French connection

Do you envy the women from the land of croissants, escargot and Chanel? Mireille Guiliano, the internationally bestselling author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, wants to stop you and your unhealthy negative thoughts in their tracks.

“So often I see the begrudging look on women’s faces and hear the phrase, ‘I don’t want to go to the gym, but I have to’. Pourquoi? If you are eating mindfully, and eating the correct portion sizes, you don’t have to torture yourself on those metal contraptions or run a marathon to stay trim. French women reject the notion of ‘no pain, no gain’, opting for a more pleasurable notion of mild, sustained exertion. We prefer all-day movement, what I like to call ‘the slow burn’, and we practise it as second nature instead of attacking it like boot camp.”

Herewith, Mireille’s top seven French ways to stay thin without the gym!

1. Don’t save your steps, multiply them! Instead of driving your car around in circles to find a close spot, purposefully park far away and walk that little extra distance. Do you know burning a mere 210 extra kilojoules a day equates to a loss of 2.2 kilograms a year? Burn those kilojoules creatively; take an extra few laps around the block at lunchtime, take the long way home when walking your dog at night. The principle is to squeeze as much natural physical exertion into a day as possible.

2. Incorporate simple resistance movements daily. Use your own body weight as resistance wherever possible. Isometric exercises, discreet but effective, are very French. For example, while waiting in traffic contract your abs for 12 seconds with your back pressed against the seat (it’s better for you than road rage). When reading a magazine at home, try sitting on the floor with your legs stretched and apart in a V and your hands on each side; this is a great stretch for your inner thigh muscles.

3. Take care of your core. Don’t forget about those abdominals! These are the muscles that hold all our vital organs in place; they support good posture and a healthy spine, and something we must take care of. Do a few sit-ups as part of a little stretch/exercise/yoga routine in the morning — it’s never too early or too late to start this ritual.

4. Get aquanited with small weights. A bit of extremely simple resistance training is an antidote to hours spent on gym machines. Short but focused movement with small weights is a good way to preserve upper body tone and bone density and supplement the cardiovascular benefits of an active lifestyle. A little goes a long way, and that only increases the older you get, so don’t let extremism overtake you.

5. Get on your bike. Most of us see cycling as recreational pastime for children or a hobby for only the most serious triathletes. But French and European women see cycling as a mode of transportation. Not only does it have well known health benefits: it’s a low-impact, mild aerobic exercise that strengthens your heart and lungs; tones the muscle groups; keeps joints, tendons and ligaments flexible. It is also fun, helps to reduce stress and is environmentally friendly. So get pedalling.

6. Yoga. If there was ever a fountain of youth, it might be the practice of yoga. Not only does it reduce stress, improve your posture and help to develop longer, leaner limbs, it also speeds up your metabolism, works nearly every muscle group and promotes an overall bodily wellness that no other sport or class can compete with. No equipment necessary.

7. Vive l’escalier! Taking the stairs whenever possible is one of the main tenets of this philosophy. In France, walking up and down stairs is a perfunctory part of their day, and no wonder: climbing a flight of stairs burns a stunning 4600 kilojoules per hour. Climbing a couple of flights a day will surely go a long way.

In the end, remember that those who over-exert themselves inevitably burn out, but those who know how to stay fit while enjoying life come out ahead, mentally and physically.

Ok so detox very much over….woot! But i must say that i feel alot better. LikeI’ve just returned from a 3 day spa trip. Tres ZEN.

Now i’ve never been a big fan of the scales but i thought i may aswell check it out for the sake of my lil ticker thing. And waddya know? 1 kg weight loss ~2.2 pounds.

In 3 days thats crazy cool. So i’m feeling rather chuffed. But a little scared. Today was the first daunting day of my “healthy” eating habits. So im allowed to eat more than just soup and tea, which is great. But a whole lot of bad at the same time. Little worried that i may now end up putting weight on…although admittedly 1 kg isnt a great deal, its still a loss!

Hopefully i’m doing ok though because i have discovered my new best friend…Kellogs Special K with chocolatey flakes. Woah!! Chocolate right??? Well its less than 120 cal per serve so i believe i have found a very beautiful thing. If it is not available in America…i feel very sorry for you.

Breakfast:

1 cup of Kellogs Special K with a 1/4 cup of skinny milk

Lunch:

Rice with lentils and a side of green bean salad

Snack:

Weight watchers jelly fruit cup, only 47 kj~12 calories

Glass of OJ

Dinner:

A fist size of meat loaf on a bed of lettuce

2 pieces of watermelon

After dinner snack (more like while watching GLEE snack):

Cup of warm tea and a 3/4 cup of Kellogs Special K (no milk)

Looking back on it now, doesn’t look so bad. The big problem now is exercise. Studying for exams up to 8 hours a day can be seriously draining…and im still recovering from the dental surgery.

But i’ve got all this energy from the detox and i really wanna spend it. Maybe ill dance around the house for abit.

Next week i will deffs have to schedule in some gym time.

Sarah x

Food Log

Now for all my fellow jews, im sure you’re feeling the stretch after that scrumptious feast of honey chicken, glazed roast, carby baked/fried spuds and decadent honey cake. So i have therefore devised a fantastic detox plan that is not only cleansing for the inside but for the outside aswell. Oh and this works on any person of any denomination, so dont worry if your not jewish!

I’ve not included exercises in the detox plan for a couple of reasons:

1. The point of a detox is to cleanse the body of all the junk you’ve been force-feeding it through the consumption of simple, unprocessed foods and lots of water. If rigorous exercise is undertaken during detox, your metabolic rate is increased, hence sending your appetite in to overdrive. Thats a really bad thing to do when you haven’t even begun your diet yet as this will cause you to want to eat more than your body really needs. So in this case, detox acts as a cleanser aswell as an appetite suppressant as it gradually shrinks your stomach. It is always great to begin a new diet/lifestyle on a shrunken stomach as it acts as a mode of telling your body that something is changing and it better get ready for much healthier foods then what it was receiving before.

2. Detox can encourage fatigue for some and boost energy for others. If you feel that you can and really want to go all out on the cardio during your detox period go for it, just remember to remain hydrated at all times!

3. Personally i’ve just undergone dental surgery so at risk of my face imploding and me succumbing to the drowsiness of remaining anaesthetic i decided to stick with some easy leg work, 50 ballet squats and 50 wide legged squats. Great for bum and outer thighs!

Ok so here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for:

Breakfast:

Hot Tea with either one tspn of honey, sugarine (splenda,equal), mint leaves or nothing at all.  If youre feeling particularly peckish try a sliced apple or carrot to ease the hunger pang.

Hot tea is a fantastic and efficient cleanser aswell as available in many flavours but if your not a fan, a cup of hot water will have the same effects. Just make sure its hot-warm or else it wont have the same effects.

Lunch:

I prepared my own hearty vegetable soup from broccoli, carrots, onions and a minimal amount of potatoes. Upon boiling all the vegetables, i placed them in a massive pot and whizzed them to a medium thickness, adding water or low sodium stock to the soup to get the right texture.  A bit of salt and pepper is a nice little addition but if youre pedantic, any other alternative is fine, or no seasoning is good too.

If a little more substance is necessary, 2 to 3 matzoh balls are also a nice little addition but make sure to make them yourself so you can manage the sodium content.

Dinner:

Your favourite flavour of diet yoghurt. Im personally a ski diet mango fan but whatever floats your boat.

One packet of instant soup that is less than 100 calories. I chose pumpkin…yum.

One banana, apple, serving of watermelon or celerysticks depending on whether or not you had fruit that morning.

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Simple as that! If you feel that you need more carbs than, a couple of crackers thrown it at lunch or dinner is still ok but not ideal.

Drink heaps of water, 2 litres or more! Dehydration is extremely dangerous and i dont wanna be responsible for anyone fainting.

Only 2 more days to go…yay

Sarah x

G,day fellow bloggers and weight-loss entrepeneurs

My name is Sarah and im a 17 yr old from Melbourne, Australia

No, i do not own a pet kangaroo or wield hunting knives hidden beneath my akubra. I don’t even own an akubra….not exactly my taste

But i do have one thing in common with alot of Australians, and that is a bit of a weight issue. Australians have for some reason evolved along with a diet high in sugar, fats, cholesterol and alot of alcohol. If you’re not liquored up on a friday/saturday night….well thats just unaustralian.

Although convenient, i shouldn’t really be blaming my aussie environment or my middle-eastern ‘eateat’ culture, i am responsible for my own appearance but more importantly my health.

I was an extremely overweight child and only when i reached a size 16 (im not sure what that is in american size…a size 8?),  at the age of 12 did i realise i had to change. As i always had been physically active i deffinitely knew that my weight gain was due to the unhealthy content and inappropriate portion sizes of my meals and snacks. So i decided to undertake an extreme diet and exercise regime.

It was fantastic!!  I went down to a size 8-10 (2/4) and was at my peek physical fitness. I was even competing with the boys in sit up competitions and the like. I managed to keep the weight off for 2 wonderful years. But then i hit senior school. Stress, improper time management and sheer laziness encouraged me to neglect my healthy lifestyle and let myself slip abit.

and here i am now. Ive managed to maintain a size 12 (6) for the past year through sheer luck, and some people would be so grateful for that. But im 17 and i shouldn’t be at this weight or size.

Although it doesn’t exactly look like it, due to great genes which make me appear well-proportioned, a recent visit to the hospital forced me to realise that i wasn’t ok.

I had sky-rocketed to a whopping 76 kgs (167 lbs) w clothes on and that is not healthy considering im only 167cm tall.

So here i am, im gonna get serious again. It wont be easy as i am actually in my last few weeks of yr 12 which in Australia is the time when students and parents alike freak out about their students futures by afflicting exams upon them. Highy stressful. Highly chocolate/coffee filld. which is not fun. not good. and most deffinitely not healthy.

As i am determined (and have already kind of begun) to lose this unneeded, sluggish weight i have decided to start on a 3 days detox before i begin my 16 kg (32 lbs) weight loss journey.

Hello watery soups and warm cups of tea. And lots of studying. oy vey.

Sarah

Food Log

Exercise Log