Week One

This week has been tough. Full of ups and downs. The diet has been tough. However I am now on day 7 so thats 1/8th down! The shakes are actually starting to grow on me, but I cannot get my head around the soups and porridge. Hopefully next week they will let me just have 4 shakes a day rather than having to have at least 1 soup with them. You can either have the shakes with milk and ice or as a hot drink - how exciting can it get?! 

I think the next part to add into my regime is the gym programme. My energy levels are not too bad - the evenings are the worst, so I think the time to get to the gym is actually in the evening. Any distraction from food and the pizza box can certainly not be bad! 

Last week was the first week EVER, that I wrote up all the lectures that I had! That was DEFINITELY a good feeling and one that I hope to continue this week. I still have a lot of work to catch up on but this is definitely the first step. I’ve got some examinations in a couple of weeks, they don’t count for anything, but they are still a good bench mark to see where I am at! Might actually consider trying to revise for them, but let’s not get ahead of myself…

In other news, I had rehearsals this weekend for my next musical project. My University are putting on High School Musical with a couple of the local schools in the area and the MD asked me to be part of the band! There is nothing I enjoy more than the process of rehearsals and hearing the songs for the first time when the whole band comes together. My part isn’t the most exciting, but its the experience as a whole which makes it so special. Show week is next week, along with my Concert, so tomorrow is going to be a piano-heavy week! 

I have come to realise that the next 8 weeks are going to be very boring. However, I also need to change my pattern of thinking because they will only be as boring as I make them. Because I have associated ‘fun’ and ‘reward’ with food for so long, stripping it from my life automatically makes me think I cannot do the same things I used to. The perfect example is going out for coffee on a weekend morning and doing my work in a coffee shop. I immediately think that I can no longer do this because I cannot drink coffees for the next 12 weeks. However, what I need to realise is that I can still do this, but I just go out and have a fruit tea instead! It’s all a matter of perspective. 

x

The Last Supper

Study: T - 14 hours. At 9am tomorrow morning I will be getting blood tests done before I embark on the study. I’m really excited to finally get started as it was back in December when I signed up, but now the nerves are creeping in. However, being scared of the next 12 weeks isn’t going to make them any easier. I have just finished my last meal before I have to start ‘fasting’ from 9pm (let’s be honest, it’s not really a ‘fast’ but somehow the word just makes it seem more real…) and although I will start the meal replacements on Tuesday I’m not going to let myself go out of control tomorrow as it will only make Tuesday harder! 

This last week I have been working hard to implement the changes I want to make into my lifestyle. Every morning I had a banana and blueberry smoothie for breakfast and this is a habit I will definitely be readopting once the study is over as it gave me lots of energy in the morning. All the ingredients were healthy and natural, and I think part of the reason it was such a successful adaptation is that the psychological effect of eating it as was almost as important as the nutritional impact it would have. I also went to the gym 5 times this week! I managed to fit it into my schedule and even tried my first yoga class yesterday morning! If you asked me at the moment I’m not 100% sure I would go back, (every single muscle in my body is aching - who knew yoga could be so strenuous?!), but I know that if I keep going I will see improvement so it would definitely be worth keeping it up. 

On Saturday I also reconnected with my first ever friend! We have been friends since we were 4 years old and I hadn’t seen her since I had visited her in South Africa with my family back in 2007 so it was a lovely surprise when she got in touch and mentioned that she was coming to England! I was nervous to see her as you always wonder if you will still have things in common after all this time, but it was almost as though we had never been apart. In fact, I think we even had more in common nowadays than we did when we were younger. It was so nice to see her and I am looking forward to going home next Friday to see her again before she heads back to South Africa. Who knows, I might even go over and see her next…

As you can see this has been a rather positive week! However, the best news this week was relating to my academic achievements (I’m such a nerd). The Medical School was offering 5 students the chance to go to Rome for a Medical Summer School and THEY PICKED ME. It was one of those moments where I thought ‘I have nothing to lose by applying’, so I did, and now I get to spend two weeks, ‘all inclusive’, in Rome! There is a mixture of medical and cultural activities which is going to be really interesting as I’ve never really been to Rome before (unless you count tying up in Civitavecchia on a cruise ship). This is a wonderful opportunity and it is definitely enough motivation to keep studying hard up to my exams. Also, more importantly it is great motivation to work really hard at this study for the next 12 weeks - it will make shopping for it much more fun! 

x

New Beginnings

“From every ending comes a new beginning”. 

Most people say that when one door closes, another opens and this allows you to start another new and exciting chapter in your life. However, this is not the beginning of a new chapter of my life, this is the beginning of a whole new book.

This is going to be such an exciting year for me - I’ve just applied for a Medical Summer School in Rome, finally chosen my iBsc options, become involved in a clinical research project and am currently organising a summer studentship this year with the Welcome Trust! Things are really going to start moving forward for me and if I want these things to be successful I need to take action. It’s now or never.

So, acting on this new found enthusiasm I have taken various steps to make these exciting opportunities a success. 

1. I joined a gym

This was super scary. I haven’t been to a gym for a while (since my gap year when I could actually put on my skin tight nike training gear and super cool trainers and just look like a pro) so I was slightly apprehensive as to what the experience would be like. However, half an hour later I was walking out with a bright shiny new membership card and a promise to myself that I would start first thing tomorrow morning. Seeing as I am now sitting here typing this blog post after my first gym session (YAY) you can see that I certainly kept that promise.

2. I am ‘detoxing’ 

banana milkshake

The word detox can have several different meanings. The medical profession see it as your organs (specifically your kidneys and liver) eliminating any toxic waste products from your body. This is why medical professionals argue that detox diets are unnecessary as we have a perfectly functioning body to do it for us. However, if you think about it, if these organs worked perfectly and could get rid of any toxins we put in our body (be it alcohol, nicotine, refined sugar, fat etc.) we would still all be slim and healthy. This is, sadly, not the case. So, although one day I will be one of those cynical medical professionals, at the moment I am all for the detox diet. I was going to do the 5lbs in 5 days juice detox diet by Jason Vale, but I do not own a juicer and cannot afford to buy one (being the poor impoverish student I am). So, I am still planning on doing it but I am cutting up all the ingredients and simply eating them rather than juicing them! I personally think this is better anyway as you do not lose all the goodness and fibre from the outside of the fruit! The cost difference is astronomical (my weekly shop was £30 compared to if you buy them and have them delivered - £150 + delivery, although this may suit other people more). 

courgette, spinach and chicken omelette

So, I technically started my detox last night. I made myself a 2 medium sized egg omelette with courgette, a handful of spinach and half a chicken breast. Before my gym workout this morning I drank hot water with a slice of lemon and post gym workout I made a banana smoothie (1 medium sized banana, 2 tbsp of bio live yoghurt, 100ml of milk and some ice cubes). In my opinion these are all very healthy meals and once I get rid of all the unnecessary toxins which are inside my body, my kidneys and liver will finally be able to come up for air and start doing the job they are meant to! 

3. ‘Up for Anything’

When I was younger I won an award which was entitled ‘Up for Anything’ and it is definitely time I rediscovered that side of myself! I used to never say no and I was always up for trying new things and this is particularly important for the career I am going into. I obviously have to be aware of the fact that I am not able to do quite as much as I used to be able to do when I was younger (mainly because studying does take up quite a lot of time now) but with good and efficient time management there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to fit in going to the gym, Musical Directing shows, seeing my friends and doing extracurricular academic projects around my studying. 

One week tomorrow I will be starting an intense weight loss programme. It involves only eating meal replacements for 8 weeks (soups and shakes) and it is going to test me mentally and physically. I have decided I am going to blog about it so that whenever it gets tough I can look back at the positive thoughts I had during the process to spur me on! This study will be life changing for me and if anything I say throughout the 8-12 weeks can inspire and motivate 1 other person to get out there and make a lifestyle change then that would be fantastic! 

Like Maya Angelou said: “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude”. I definitely am not 100% happy with the way I look and it is not something that will change overnight. It is going to be a long journey, but it doesn’t have to be tough. By adjusting my attitude and making myself realise I am making these lifestyle changes because I have chosen to will make the process so much easier than if I made myself think I was being forced to. 

I hope everyone is keeping up their new years resolutions! 

x

Going Cold Turkey

This time of year everyone is fine tuning their list of New Year’s Resolutions, but if we really think about it, how different is it from last years list? Another year has passed and many of us will not have made the changes that we had wanted to, so we’ll just try again this year because this year is definitely going to be ‘our year’, right? WRONG. 2014 may be one year on from 2013 but the excitement of the new year passes in a couple of days. Once everyone goes back to work, returns to their monotonous daily routines and has to actually start doing some studying (woes of a University student) the opportunity to reinvent yourself is suddenly not so appealing as you thought. Humans are creatures of habit and it doesn’t take long for us to push aside our resolutions and revert back to our old coping mechanisms. Here are a few things I am going to try and they might work for you too!

Do NOT go Cold Turkey. So many people, come the new year, will decide to give up everything that is bad for them (this may be smoking, alcohol, chocolate etc.) This is not a good idea. As well as feeling really grouchy and grumpy for the first few days of the new year because of the withdrawal symptoms, you will find yourself back to square one in the first few weeks. Some people may be lucky enough to have the will power to stick to their resolutions, good for them. But for the majority of us it will take a lot of work to adjust to our new lifestyles. I would recommend the following tips:

Introduce one habit at a time

When people create a list of 10+ resolutions and decide to deal with them all at the same time they are putting to much expectation on themselves, probably eventually resulting in failure. Not such a great start to the year… Make a conscious effort to only make small changes at once. You have to do something 21 times in order for the habit to stick, so this could be going to the gym for 21 days or making sure you eat breakfast 21 days in a row. This isn’t a very long time in the grand scheme of things - it’s only 5.7% of the whole year. So, you could technically resolve 17+ resolutions this year! But, you have to focus on resolving the situation daily, and this is why you must not overload yourself and focus on one item at a time. You will be much more successful if you do not pile a ton of expectation upon yourself, so start by making small changes.

Opt for a lifestyle change

Choose resolutions which can stick for life. It is much better to introduce a new habit steadily than to charge full steam ahead and burn out at the end of January. So many people say that from the 1st of January they will go to the gym every day, never eat chocolate again, study anatomy everyday (blah, blah, you get the gist) but this is actually not healthy, you are setting yourself up to fail. You are obviously not going to eat 100% healthy food for 12 months, go to the gym every day or study every evening. Life gets in the way. So, it is much healthier to incorporate these resolutions steadily into your every day life as you will not see yourself as a ‘failure’ if everyday isn’t as perfect as you planned it. This year, instead of cutting out every single item of food which is bad for me (which is pretty much everything) and being back on the chocolate bars by the 10th January I am going to replace these foods with healthier options and learn the mentality that these foods are not ‘off-limit’. I am hoping this will dissipate my cravings and reduce temptation as these foods are not going away, we just need to learn to live with them.

Allow yourself to make mistakes

Failure doesn’t mean that you are not perfect. You must not allow your success to be hindered by a couple of set-backs along the way as your mistakes do not define you. It is far better to make mistakes as you do learn from them and they make sure you are better equipped when you get back up and start again. It is very common when introducing a new habit to take 1 step back for every 2 steps you take forward, but if you persevere and learn from your mistakes you are far more likely to be successful come the end of the year. 

Many people fail at their goals because they know what they want the final outcome to be, such as ‘lose 50lbs in 12 months’ but they rarely know where to start. If you divide your long term goal up into shorter goals and build a specific plan to achieve small steps along the way, such as 3 month sections, or follow a particular fitness plan for a finite number of weeks (i.e. 6 weeks) you are much more likely to ‘stick at it’ and lead to that ultimate resolution.

Do things you enjoy and HAVE FUN!

It is very important to keep doing things you enjoy. By cutting out a bad habit you are removing something from your life which you got pleasure from, so it is important to replace that habit with something you enjoy or the resolution will become redundant very quickly! It could be something simple, for example if I am trying to cut back on chocolate and I start craving it I will decide to paint my nails as this is something I enjoy (and it also means I can’t eat chocolate for at least 30 minutes whilst they dry and after that time my cravings have gone - RESULT!)

If you don’t have anything you enjoy doing (don’t worry, many people don’t) you need to start to learn to pamper yourself a bit more. So I recommend you should...Start something new! It doesn’t have to be anything radical or expensive, you just have to enjoy it.

The best part of accomplishing a resolution is watching yourself gain the mental resilience, confidence and trust in yourself. You may not accomplish everything on your list this year, but the journey will be incredible so don’t push yourself too hard but make the small changes you need to make this year that much better than the last.

I hope some of you will find these points useful! 

Good luck everyone x

New Blog!

Hey! So, today is the start of a new year and to keep with the trend of a 'new year, new me' I have decided to start a Blog for 2014.

The end of 2013 was tough for my family and I. The bad weather caused two very large trees to fall down on our house resulting in us losing heat and power for the whole of the holidays. When an event such as this happens, you automatically categorise 2013 as another bad year (along with pretty much all the other years, lets be honest). This Christmas I decided enough was enough. It is times like this that you need to remind yourself about all the exciting and positive things that happened throughout the year. However, when you decide that the world is against you this is pretty hard to do and this is why I have decided to start my own Blog!

So, although this Blog is mostly going to be for me to post about the exciting things that I get up to this year I am also hoping that when I post about some of the more challenging experiences, the life lessons I have learnt will help inspire other people in similar situations. As humans, we tend to put ourselves in situations which are difficult and confusing but guess what? Other people will be going through exactly the same things as you are! So, I am hoping that by sharing my experiences I will help others.

Here is to 2014 and all the exciting moments it will bring.

Happy New Year!