06 Jan Healthy Lifestyle – How it all began
On all of my Social Media pages and my Blog clean eating and fitness play a very important role. I have discovered the healthy lifestyle quite some time ago when I was in High School. I have always been very athletic but I did not pay that much attention to healthy food when I was younger. Like many teenagers I loved fast food and any kind of sweets. As a child this felt totally ok. But when I grew up my body changed and I noticed what effect unhealthy food had on my body.
In order to finance traveling (which is another passion of mine) I started working in a bakery three times a week. I enjoyed working there. My family liked it too as all employees were allowed to take the leftovers with them at the end of the day. That was great at the beginning. However, due to all those white and sugary carbs I gained quite a high amount of weight in only a short amount of time.
I was so frustrated because up to then I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted to. As always being athletic it was not about working out enough. It was only about the wrong diet.
I did not know my body so well. That’s why I was very drastic and completely stopped eating (mainly starchy) carbs from one day to the other. I was still eating vegetables and fruit but no more starchy products. Unfortunately, I also stopped eating good starchy carbs such as whole grain bread, brown rice etc. As quickly as I gained weight I lost it.
However, this was not healthy either. I even lost more weight than I ever had before and I was way too skinny during that time. I also felt nearly constantly weak and I was thinking about food all day long. I have always been a food lover, so depriving myself from food that I loved was really frustrating to me. This is a picture of me when I was younger and it wasn’t even my skinniest time 🙁 Do you wanna see more pictures?
It took me some time to realize that this was not a healthy way to go. I started to read a lot about nutrition, carbs, protein etc. so that I finally recognized that the right balance is the key. I started to eat good carbs again (also starchy ones). And I allowed myself to have cheat meals every once in a while.
I even talked to a nutrionist who recommended me to try out the 80% rule: Eat 80% healthy food and allow yourself to have 20% cheat meals. This is the only „rule“ I live by. Although I also do not take this too serious. For instance when I go on vacation I do not care what I eat at all. Just recently I spent two weeks in the Maldives. There I seriously ate whatever I wanted to including waffles, crêpes, pancakes etc. and also lots of it. As I always stay active on vacation I only gained 3 to 4 pounds which is totally acceptable for having for 2 weeks the time of your life 😀 I also know now that I can gain shape quite quickly because I know my body quite well. Now I know for instance which workouts to do and what to eat in order to lose weight quickly or how to maintain my weight.
This is probably the biggest advice I can give to young women and men: Listen to your body! What works for some people might not work for you.
For instance for me „low carb“ (especially in the evening) works great if I want to lose weight. For some others „high carb low fat“ might work better. So listen to your body what it needs and what makes you feel good.
Only for a while I have realized that for me both „low carb“ and „high carb low fat“ work. I feel best eating lots of carbs in the morning and avoiding carb in the evening. For instance in the morning I prepare a huge bowl of oatmeal with some fruit in the morning. I usually use sugar-free almond milk, some chia seeds and Xucker to make it. Then I put some cinnamon over it. I can never get enough of this breaky 😀 For dinner I have some meat or fish with vegetables or salad. And for lunch I take whatever I feel like whether it’s a pretzel (my favorite) with some cream cheese and salmon or some pancakes or anything like it.
But like mentioned before I am not so strict about my diet anymore. If I feel like having a pizza (even for dinner) I will go for it. This attitude is also if I go out for dinner. I can go now wherever I want to without having to worry about my diet. This freedom is priceless!
Of course I now have 10 pounds more than during my skinny time. But I do not regret it. I can now eat whatever I want to. And I feel much stronger and healthier than before. I love to cook and bake healthy things and create clean substitutes for unhealthy food. Also I myself do not like girls who are too skinny especially when you can see the bones 😛 Fortunately, my ideal of beauty has changed. When I was younger I looked up to all those catwalk models. I now look up to all those gorgeous fitness models. Because they have really worked for their body and they are healthy.
Hence, this is the most important message I have for all people out there: Aim to be healthy and fit, not skin and bones!
Have a healthy & happy day 🙂
Xoxo
Madeleine
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