Why I’m Ditching The Diet

Well hello again and welcome to my new look blog, isn’t it pretty!

As you will see, all my old posts are still here but there have been a few edits that you may notice if you look close enough.

I have taken a massive step and I’m moving away from “diet culture” and promoting a company that I have had internal battles with for a while now.

Before you run to my Instagram page and click the Unfollow button please take the time to read why I’m ditching the diet and try to understand where I’m coming from and actually, where I want to go now.

It all started last year….. *dreamy music and clouds appear*

The Reasons Why I’m Ditching The Diet

First there was the row and legal suit with 1 supermarket over their range of meals. OK they marketed them wrong but still, a little OTT don’t you think? Then came sausagegate… A small company that had a brief taste of amazing success, to have it all ripped away from them within months… Then a 2nd supermarket being sued for their range of meals even though copies are their speciality… Then my nail in the coffin… Pasta in sauces, cup pasta and noodle pots…

The goal posts get moved far too often. Seeing the money grabbing that goes on it is just disheartening. I was going to move to the rival plan after Christmas this year but being a target member I actually couldn’t as I didn’t have anything to lose. But then it twigged “Why do I want to be on any plan, I don’t need to be!”. I’ve been a “target member” for nearly 2 years and I’ve battled to stay within the half a stone bracket. I’ve spent ages moving my target down then back up and I’m fed up with being a slave to the scales! Maintaining my weight is clearly achievable now so why not just carry on that way.

Ditching The Diet – Get On With It

Being “at target” feels like the company want nothing more to do with you, you’re not paying them any more, you get given one crappy little booklet which is zero help and told to get on with it. You have to find your own way from there and it really doesn’t surprise me that so many people put weight back on. I have found the best way that works for me to stay roughly in my target range but that won’t necessarily work for someone else. But I don’t always want to stay in that range, I’m currently under target and I’m quite happy so I’d have to pay to go to group or move my target again, neither of which I want to do as come Christmas I’ll probably put on half a stone again.

Don’t get me wrong, the plan is fantastic for getting weight off, I’m walking proof of that, and it gives you a great platform to start to live a healthy lifestyle BUT it doesn’t help people mentally and I think that’s why so many people struggle with my absolute pet hate: food guilt.

I’ve seen loads of people over the years, having battles with themself over sticking to plan and the guilt that they feel for diverting, even slightly! I have always had “cheat meals”, at least once a week and I don’t ever feel guilty for it, I enjoy it then move on. It really gets into some people’s heads though and they get freaked out over the fact they had 2 slices of pizza! So what! I’d have that for starters! 9 out of 10 times I’ve still lost weight each week but every so often I do have a gain.

Having A Gain

Gaining weight when you go to group is like being publicly shamed. Imagine Game of Thrones style. “Oh you gained 2lb this week Carol, what could you have done differently?” NOTHING! Carol could well have been 100% on it this week but her bloody body decided to hold on to a bit of extra water just in time for weigh day. Carol will probably go home and stuff her face with everything in sight because “what’s the point?”

This is not teaching people healthy habits! This is the kind of behaviour that can start eating disorders. Nobody seems to get taught about how your body works either, there is so much misinformation. My favourite is still the whole “muscle weighs more than fat” statement. Fat does not weigh more, 1lb is 1lb whether it’s fat, muscle or chocolate. It’s the same with people who gain huge amounts in 1 week, you can’t physically gain 5lb of fat in one week, it’s just not viable. Most of that will be water retention, just like poor Carol! It can honestly become obsessive and it’s not healthy when it gets to that point.

Ditching The Diet And Bad Thinking

People sit and watch their peers lose 5lb one week then 4lb the next and get really disheartened by it because they only lost 1lb, what they’re probably not thinking about is the fact their friend is 5 stone heavier so is more likely to lose bigger amounts. People set themselves unrealistic goals too “Put me down to lose 6lb next week Trish!” – Carol (yes again) can’t get close to that though because she’s already a size 10 and close to target but nobody has told her the closer you are to target the harder it is to lose. Come the following week, Carol has lost half a pound and is again, totally disheartened and stuffs her face with the contents of her fridge.

I like to think that I have a pretty good relationship with food these days, I eat healthy 90% of the time because I choose to but yeah, I have cheat meals and I do have evenings where we’ll sit and watch a film and eat crisps and chocolate but I don’t feel one ounce of guilt for it! If I post things like that on Instagram then I lose followers, it’s ridiculous and I want to put a stop to people trying to be the image of “perfection”.

I’m not perfect!

I don’t want to be, I like the way I look and I like the way I feel and that’s all that matters!

What I want to do is put a new spin on the whole Body Positivity movement as I feel passionately about people being happy and confident in their own skin but I want to promote being healthy with it. There is nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight, it does wonders for your body, physically and mentally but there is something wrong when you can’t eat a slice of bread without feeling guilty because you had cereal for breakfast.

All of my recipes will still be “on plan” meals, it’s the way I cook now and I won’t ever change that but I won’t be following a particular “diet” anymore. I want to prove that it is possible to change your lifestyle and still enjoy “naughty food” when you fancy it.

I hope you understand why I’m ditching the diet and will continue to follow me and my new path. I’d hope I can inspire some people in one way or another.
Photo challenges will start again from next month but they will be promoting mindfulness as well as food. So there’s something for everyone no matter what you’re doing.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I know it was a bit of a rant but I feel it was needed. I’m excited for what’s to come.

My recipes will always be diet plan friendly but because I like eating well. You can find a couple of my favourites here and here.