I need to lose a few bags of sugar!

The bags of sugar being 1kg each! :)

Losing weight is always a battle for the majority of us. I have currently decided to go on a strict weight loss regime and thought I would share with you what I'm doing.
I currently weigh 60kg and my aim is to be 55kg which is my standard weight that I have been used to over the years. I have lost a few kg already so it can hopefully only get better. When I say I need to lose weight I'm generally confronted with people saying "why? you look fine, or it's nice to be curvy" well, it's because I feel uncomfortable, poeple need to take into consideration that I know how to dress to look slimmer than I am. I don't like having my love handles splurging out on the sides of my jeans. I love my curves, and don't plan on losing them, my extra weight has managed to settle on my stomach area, and a little on my thighs. Trust, me when I am 55kg I am nicely in proportion :) FYI: I am roughly 5'5" or 5'6"

Why did I put on some weight? Well, clearly I didn't exercise and indulged in junk food whenever I wanted to.


What will I be eating now?

  1. No junk food, eliminating all artificial sugars which includes chocolates, biscuits, cakes etc.
  2. I will be eating lots of fresh fruit and veg.
  3. No processed food.
  4. To use no butter or oils apart from olive oil.
  5. Eating 3 times a day with sensible portions and snacking on fruits and nuts.
  6. I will also be having lots of green tea throughout the day.
  7. I will be cutting out refined carbs which include white bread and white pasta.
  8. Instead I will be having complex carbs which include wholegrain bread, potato's, pitta bread, oats and brown rice which are good sources of slow releasing energy foods.
  9. I have decided to include complex carbs no more than two meals a day.
  10. Drinking plenty of water.

How will I exercise? Well, exercising for me is boring, I always get motivated at the gym which lasts for about 2 days, and then I can't be bothered again. So, I have given up with the excuses for not going and decided to work out at home.

How often will I workout? Everyday, yes it seems a bit much, but it wont be when you are having fun doing it!

FUN EXERCISE ACTIVITIES INCLUDE...

BELLY DANCING: One activity I really enjoy is dancing. As a child I aspired to be a belly dancer but my dream was soon wrecked when I realised that it wouldn't be sensible. However, this didn't stop me from dancing. As a child I would watch those dancers and copy their moves and perfect it until I got it right. Now I am very critical of dancers, I would say I am almost at a pro level and am very proud considering I haven't had any proper lessons and taught myself.

Photo: Shakira (Google)

I would highly recommend you watch some You Tube videos of Didem and Asena for inspiration. Belly dancing is such a good way to lose the calories as you are literally working every muscle to move those hips, hands and feet. Try and do an hours worth of dancing, and you will be surprised at how much you sweat and how fast time goes by. Call your friends round and have a laugh! :)

WALKING: Put on your most comfortable flats or trainers and go window shopping. Make a wishlist of the kind of dresses and tops you want for when you reach your ideal weight.

WHILST WATCHING TV: Why not do some squats to take away from the fact that you are actually exercising, try and enjoy it. Just make sure it isn't a food programme lol.

DANCE TO FUNKY HOUSE / DRUM AND BASS: The fast beat should keep you moving, use the rhythm in the song to add some arm raises, lifts and even punches to burn more calories.

BODY POPPING: Perhaps sign up to some lessons, or practice at home in front of the mirror, I love this as the sharp sudden movements really make your heart beat fast and silly moves just make it all the more funnier and enjoyable! :)

BUY A WORKOUT DVD: Get some friends round for motivation or alone in the mornings to kick start your day on a positive note.

DON'T FORGET TO WARM UP AND WARM DOWN WITH STRETCHES!

The best time to exercise is in the morning or before your food, exercising really motivates you to eat healthier and encourages you to be in a healthier mood throughout the day. Another thing it is good for is your skin, your face needs to sweat to get rid of all the toxins. If it meant my skin was going to improve just because of exercise that would be enough motivation for me!

Do you have "fun" exercising tips? If so, please let me know :)

TIP: when your friend offers you a bag of crisps, don't say your on a diet. Just say you don't fancy it or you have just had a packet. There's no need to remind yourself constantly about the fact that you are trying to lose weight. How many times have you told your friends or family that your on a diet and they just say "meh, heard it all before" well, prove them wrong with the results and stop justifying yourself!

Comments

Becky said…
Hi thanks for this, I have been trying to think of a plan to lose some weight for a while now and this has really given me some ideas and motivated me to start!! THANK YOU!! :)
Muhsine Emin said…
@becky no problem, i just felt really excited and happy this evening that i had to blog about it :)
on345667755 said…
I'm currently on the cabbage soup diet, its really working and its not half as cabbage-y as i thought it would be. my goal is also 55kg but first i have to get back down to 60kg cause well stress makes me shovel things in my mouth and I've been pretty stressed in the past few months! best of luck with your weight loss!
Belle Du Jour said…
good for you! I am always for losing weight :) who isnt. I have been on a "health" kick for a while now. I am very small about 5'1 and always been under 100 pds and after college it shot up to like 115. I have lost about 7 pounds just by eating healthier and walking home from work everyday. its easy to get in excersize in nyc though! I love the fun workout plan you have, let me know how it goes and how you are doing!! best of luck!!! Workout buddies work best for me!!
No One said…
Make sure if you're going to drink tons of green tea you balance it with drinking water either right after or a few hours later because drinking a lot of tea causes stretch marks.... ;) sounds crazy but it's true
No One said…
Overall this was an awesome post... Very helpful,motivational, and informative, what else can you ask for??? :)
dez said…
I hired a personal trainer/nutritionist a month ago and i still follow what he taught me. One thing you have to be careful of on a diet, is how many times you eat and what you eat when. For example, have your calories and carbs in the morning, to burn off the rest during the day. Don't abuse fruits, they have as much calorie content as normal sugar, its only easier to burn off, so save them for morning/noon. 6 small meals a day and space them out. Your stomach's like the mechanics of a horse's. You need to have your stomach break down, digest foods and work on a regular basis, or your body will just store what you don't give to it on time.
Bree said…
I weigh 130 pounds! I had my baby at the end of April, & I'm trying to get back down to my pre pregnancy weight of 110 lbs. I've been going to Jazzercise it's a lot of fun! If I can't make it to class I run.
Ashwini said…
Great post, I agree with all of it. So cool that you mentioned that exercise is great for your skin. I actually got into exercise 2 months ago, and half of the reason was my skin (other half: love handles). :) Here are my exercise tips (they're more along the lines of how to stick to the gym and why exercise is good for preventing breakouts:

http://clearlybeautiful.blogspot.com/2009/09/exercise-as-acne-cure.html
This is just the post I need to be reading right now. I'm trying to get down to 58kg for summer, small goal but should make it easier to reach xx
Petrichor said…
You got yourself a great plan there.. but the most important thing I would say is to BE CONSISTENT. Trust me, I know this from experience. Don't skip out on working out, don't quit when it gets tough.. don't get discouraged if you're not seeing results fast enough. You gotta push through all of that and keep going. In the long run, it pays off. I don't know if you've checked out my blog and how I do it.. but if not you can check these 2 entries out. http://petrichorblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/sywgis-series.html

http://petrichorblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Goals?max-results=10

But yeah, good luck with your goals. Make sure you stick to the plan ;)
I took a few weeks off my diet and exercise regime to give myself a break.. So I need to get back to it these days myself. Not looking forward to it.. but it has to be done.
Steph said…
bellydancing is awesome. I took classes several years ago and man, was it a work out. I love how it combines fun, music, and a lot of muscle specialization and toning. To this day, I still can't do a full body shimmy *sigh
HeavenNRJ said…
Try Shape magazine if you haven't already. The best ever, IMHO.:) Full of useful tips and information. It's not only about sports/exercises, nutrition/diets and health, but it's also about real people (incl famous), fashion, beauty; psychology and science behind the concept of "healthy lifestyle".

PS not sure about UK version though. Hope it's not full of advertisements.
PPS I'm in the same weight for about 7 years and still manage to fit into some of the clothes I wore when I was 17. lol
luvrin said…
Awesome post! This has been great motivation for me to shift from 60kg to 55kg (I am also 5'5!) I will be following along with you. Thank you for the post!
We are almost identical! - I'm 5'6" and am trying to get from 61kg down to my conformable weight of 55kg.

I'm doing the same with my food, no processed food , no white carbs and only eating proper meals with healthy snacks in between. Portions size is one to watch out for - I have a tendency to give myself man-size portions!

My exercise is cycling everywhere, including up hills, bikram yoga twice a week, pilates once a week and completing the 200 crunches challenge.

Good luck - we can both do it1
Muhsine Emin said…
@sakeenah whilst on a work placement in istanbul, some of the ladies were on the cannage soup diet, it doesnt taste too bad when seasoned and with lemon juice, good luck with it, keep us updated :) x

@belledujour walking home everyday is such a good thing to do, well done.. its not as easy as it seems i know. x

@ClassyDea66 OMG stretch marks???? *horrified face* i wondered why my mum told me to have no more than two, thanks. i'll be sure to research the subject further. x

@Dez small regular portions is amazing, i did that too- which works very well, but im trying to snack often with fruit salads which will be like a meal anyway to accompany my 3 "proper" meals. it's good to hear ur keeping up ur regime of the personal trainer, its easy to let go. x

@Bree jazzercise sounds amazing :)

@Clearly Beautiful Blog i think thats where i have been going wrong, and the reason for my skin not being in the best condition it can be, already my skin feels fresh.

@black vanilla rose u can do it, good luck. x
Muhsine Emin said…
@Petrichor yes you hit the nail on the head, its so hard to be consistent but you have to be if you are determined. i read that post of yours quite a while ago, loved it! U know ur stuff girl:) its important to have a break too, enjoy it :)

@HeavenNRJ i will try the shape magazine thanks, i usually go for zest here.. x

@rin yay :)

@Emma - [Magpie Sparkles] ahhh good luck, sounds like an awesome plan. xx
Unknown said…
I've been doing a similar eating plan (sadly still no exercise, I'm too lazy!) for a while now and found it works wonders. I lost 2" from my waist and hips just by eating well! Good luck with it all :) xxx
benkenz said…
Firstly i think you are stunning!;) Such a good idea of the dancing though! I love dancing also! Glad you posted this because i have finally got my self motivated too to start shifting the weight i gained with my last child! (who is now 4 and i still havent shifted it!:( ) I think you get to comfy sometimes! And yeah i need to loose 28lbs asap! And then work out from there how much more i want to loose! Nightmare! Im just really changing my eating habits nothing extreme as that never works for me and it goes straight back on. So very subtle changes so will take longer! But hopefully worth it! Anyway enough babbling ;)x Good luck and looking forward to your progress!xx
your post came at the perfect time! thanks for the tips. i think ill be joining you..Goodluck!!! :)
Angela said…
i've been thinking about trying the P90X...I heard it's not easy

but best of luck with your weigh loss

http://sparklemidori.blogspot.com/
Lydia said…
When I asked info about fitboxe at the local gym I also asked for belly dancing. They told me that if you have no other excercise in your schedule it won't help you to lose weight at all. because it's no good excercise for your legs or arms.

that's what they say at least.
Michelle London said…
were the same height,but i dnt know what i weigh in kg,trust me iv started the whole running thing,its so long,but in 4 wks itl b worth it
Muhsine Emin said…
@lydia they are wrong, try belly dancing and u will see how much u sweat, ur working everything, twisting, turning, bending etc... its a v good cardio session!
Tali said…
I also did bellydancing from a young age. I havent dont even attempted to do it in about 4 years now but i used to be very good! Love it it is a great workout!!
Good luck with this!!
Also dont underestimate peppermint tea. It absorbs excess oils in your stomach!! xox
BenimProje said…
Canim ben viva daha öncede yazmistim, bende zayiflamaya karar verdim daha yeni oldu ve blog actim bu konuda, senide davet ederim bloguma, basarilar dilerim sanada!
PurplePR said…
I want to lose some pounds so bad!! I get motivated for a week or two but I expect immediate results and when I don't see them I give up too easily. I'm a dress size 12-14 and want to lose about a stone but I always think if I lose it it'll just go back on again when I start to eat normally.... :/ cud do with lots of tips and motivation. Keep us updated!!

xx
Tugba said…
workout DVD olarak önerebilecklerim var :)
Leslie Sansone Walk at Home serisinden 5 miles fat burn var mesela vaya bir sürü seri var
sonra zumba da çok eğlenceli latin danslarının karışımı
Bir de göbek eritmek için The abs diet for women da çok başarılı
bir de tracy anderson method o da madonna nın çalıştırıcısı


ben de spora başladım da önereyim dedim :)
Saira said…
Oh my god! Like others have said too, your post came at the right time for me aswell since I have started an almost identical diet as you - I started it on Monday!

I am eating healthy carbs/LOW GI foods and having green tea instead of coffee at work.

I did this diet successfully (with abit of help from gym) two years ago and I lost loads of weight! TRUST ME, nothing is better than upping fruit and veg and eating healthy carbs.
The only thing I would recommend is having an extra glass of water for each green tea portion as it does constipate you if you have that and only that as your source of liquids!

So i feel loads better starting this seeing that other people are being healthy too - I'm between 5'5 and 5'6 and weigh about 70kg. Aiming to lost about 10... will keep checking on this and keep everyone posted xxx
Jasmin said…
I wish I could get on a diet & exercise more. I drink too much coffee & love junk food. Awesome post! Love the info.
Tina A. said…
Good luck with this plan Muhsine! I love that you 're making an effort to eat healthier too, rather than just to lose a few pounds fast!
I 'm trying to eat healthier myself, the only thing that helps me is actually cooking myself, otherwise junk food is a huuge temptation!
I 'd also suggest making a playlist of songs that make you get up and dance for whenever you are exercising! ;)

xoxo
ALACATI said…
SELAM,
Dediklerine katiliyorum canim ozellikle dans ve yuruyus benim favorimlerim arasinda. Hem dans etmek cok eglenceli ve muzikte relax oluyorsun ayni zamanda beyin icinde cok iyi bir calisma... bende cok yapiyorum bunlari baska bir tavsiyemde belkide yapiyorsundur; aksam 7 den sonra yemek yememen, yada cok agir yemekleri oglen yemek aksamda salata ve corbayla gecistirmen tabi yapabilirsen, musli, all brain vs yogurtla sabah kalvaltisinda yemen, duzenli uyku, asiri stress ten kacinma saniyorum azda olsa bu programda etkili olacak diye dusunuyor ve tavsiye ediyorum, simdiden basarilar diliyorum... aa birde yapabilirsen yag eritici bisey sicak su icmen bol miktarda....
Tillyness86 said…
I just watched a few videos of Didem she is so talented I don't know how she moves the way she does! Good luck with the weight loss x x
Anonymous said…
I agree about the bellydancing. My mom is a bellydancer (performs too, so proud of her) and she looks great. I want to do it but it is a really intense workout. Awesome! <3
Aneela Nasir said…
I just printed these tips out and taped them to my bedroom door. thanks they are awesome!
I love you for your brutal honesty, this bit made me laugh :
Why did I put on some weight? Well, clearly I didn't exercise and indulged in junk food whenever I wanted to.

Good luck!
Shannon said…
The bellydancing sound like a brill way to loose weight.
Good luck! <3
Sheefa F said…
wow thanks for the bellydancing tips hehe...sounds super kewl! i am super lazy when it comes to exercising and dread running on the treadmill :S I love exercises like yoga and pilate and have bought a mari winsor pilate dvd which I quite seem to enjoy and never get bored off. It does not make me tired and hence I dont resent it. Its a 30 minute workout routine and feasable to do everyday :)
The Sooj said…
I've been thinking the same thing, such an odd coincidence! I'm almost exactly your height and my regular weight is around 54-53 kg (I have a small bust, etc,) but I've definitely put on the pounds lately. I was thinking I ought to go down to my original weight because I'm sick and tired of having to buy clothes because I moved up a size and then losing some so having to buy again... it's such a waste of money. Plus the reason I gained weight is because I stopped exercising, which is really bad because exercising really helps with my depression. People tell me I look fine as I am now, and I think I look fine too, but they have to understand that physically it's just easier to move around when I am at my stable weight.
The Sooj said…
I just found your blog and have been following it for a while. I read the new posts so I've moved on to the old ones I haven't read yet.

It's so weird, I was thinking the exact same thing you mentioned in the post! I'm exactly your height and though usually I weigh 53-54 kilos (I have small breasts, lol) I've put on the pounds lately and need to lose about 3-4 kilos.

Main culprit, as always: I stopped exercising. I used to go to the gym semi-daily when at uni, because the gyms were open late till night and so close to my dorm, but now I don't always have the motivation. People tell me I look fine the way I am, and I think I do, I'm not intent on looking slender or whatnot, but I do find having to buy new clothes to fit my constantly increasing size such a waste of money. Plus I love being fit and having that mental and physical energy to attack whatever the day brings me.
The Sooj said…
Oh and I just have to add I miss weight lifting so much... I never liked cardio (had to force myself to do it because my doctor told me it would help me get over my mild asthma) but weight lifting was the fun part; everyday you get to see the results, you get stronger, more flexible, more toned, and there's something about being able to lift a weight you couldn't before that makes you feel so empowered.

Popular Posts