Weight Loss Wednesday: Week #1

I have decided to be a part of fellow blogger Jennifer over at Barely There Beauty's Weight Loss Wednesdays. It's a community for us bloggers, where we motivate each other in our goals to lose weight and get fit for 2014. If you also want to become a part of #BLOGGERSWLW, head on over to Jennifer's blog: http://www.barelytherebeauty.com/p/bloggerswlw.html Personally for me, there is no better encouragement than having someone else that is striving for the same goals to give me encouragement and tips, so I would really recommend becoming a part of it. 

To give you a bit of a history of my weight, the first time I was ever properly weighed was when I was 16 years old. I was diagnosed with an over active thyroid in 2010, and was around 57kg. The medication I took over 2 years, along with eating too much McDonald's caused me to put on a hella lot of weight. In September 2012, I was weighed at the doctors and came in at 66.4kg. I was shocked to say the least, and that's when I knew I needed to do something about it. 

I have already done a lot of the hard work and I weighed myself today and was 56.8kg, the lightest I've been in over 4 years! I would eventually like to be 53kg, however when I get to a stage where I am super happy with my body, then I will stop whether it be higher or lower than that weight. Even though I do plan to lose more, I am going to go easy on the diet and focus more on toning. This is mainly because I am due to have jaw surgery in February, and I've read that on the liquid diet I will be on, you can lose between 10-30 pounds post-op - crazy I know! The days leading up to the surgery will be like the last suppers - Dominos, Mcdonalds, Wagamamas, Nandos anything I can get my hands on - before I have to endure endless meal-replacement shakes, baby food and yogurts for 4 weeks +.

Here are a few tips as to how I have got this far:

1. Healthier alternatives: Almond milk instead of dairy milk, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, low fat/dairy free spreads for butter, wholewheat bread rice and pasta instead of white.
2. Cutting out things I wouldn't miss: Try to cut out salt and oils to fry food. 
3. Eating vegetarian when possible: I am not denying that lean protein isn't good for you, but I cut out meat and replaced it with fish or quorn and found that I started losing weight at a faster rate.  
4. Making meals in bulk, then freezing them: When I get in from work or uni, I tend to be ravenous and will eat anything in my reach. I like to make 5-6 portions of bolognese sauce to freeze so that I can pop it in the microwave and have it with wholemeal spaghetti or a baked sweet potato for a quick dinner.
5. Detox: I invested in the Bootea detox, it was brilliant for kick starting my weight loss. I lost 2 kilos in 2 weeks without changing my diet. 
6. Weights: Weights have been my biggest help in terms of exercise. I do about 35-40 minutes of weight circuits and it has transformed my body. I never thought in a million years that I would have a thigh gap, but weighted squats and lunges mean my thighs no longer touch which I could cry with happiness about. 

I hope that some of these tips help! Why don't you take part in #BLOGGERSWLW?