Up With The Lark: What To Do, What Not To Do... That Is The Question!

Healthy advice - what to do, what not to do, over a thousand different thoughts, ideas, science, proven, not proven, personal experiences, you name it... Everything I read and collect, contradicts the other, from red meat, dairy, fruit, nuts - vegetables are fine, you can eat as many of those as you like it seems - but the others... Here goes...

One article - Avocados are good fats, you can eat these, however many you want. Next article, yes, avocados are good but only eat a half a day....

Second article - EGGS - amazing little shapes of poor goodness, eat, eat, eat and eat them again - poached and boiled - eat ALL of it (well apart from the shell!) and then one other article, stay off eggs, eggs are bad...

And so it continues - eat only grass fed red meat too, actually, no, don't eat any at all, eat only lean chicken/turkey but really, go vegetarian, even better, go vegan - in fact, eat raw, that's better but then again don't eat raw, no raw is bad for you, as is the Paleo diet.... Instead, juice, just juice, detox on juice - no wait, juice is full of sugar and takes out all the fibre (blah blah), blend instead - make smoothies - no, wait a minute, smoothies are full of fattening sugar too - all the ingredients together, massive calorie intake - just drink water - yes, 3 litres of water, no, wait, actually, drink 'half' your bodyweight in water, yes, that's better... Nuts... I'm sorry, what? Nuts, you know, almonds, cashews, walnuts - eat those, good source of protein - yummy - no, wait, only have 1 handful a day... actually, no, cut that down to only 3 brazil nuts a day... Oh, actually, cut out nuts altogether, full of fat, not good. Sugar - don't touch it, sugar free, forget it, natural sugars, nah, just as bad but better? Dairy - good, full of calcium, oh, no, and fat and yes, cheese is a good fat (is it?) but it's processed by man, don't eat anything processed and as for low fat, best buy low fat, better for you, actually, no it's not, full fat is much better as there's nothing added to bulk it up, but don't have more then a cup full, no, wait, tablespoon, actually, half a teaspoon! And don't continuously eat, don't think 6 meals a day will keep your metabolism revving, it doesn't work, only eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, like the French - actually, scrap that - fast, don't eat anything till lunchtime... or dinner - actually - fast 2 days a week and eat normally the other 5, actually, don't eat normally, eat better, no sugar, no dairy, no bread, no.... I think I'm going mad...

What do you you eat? How much of each? Do you eat a diet high in protein and ditch all the fat and carbs? But then there are bad fats and good fats, surely you're allowed good fats and carbs? Carbs are turned into sugar by the body and then can be used as energy for when you exercise... Because, quite frankly, I do exercise a lot!

And this is where I'm leaning towards - yes, I know, abs start in the kitchen, a slim waistline, less fat, better shape - all kitchen - but when the willpower is not there (which happens to a lot of us) that's when it all goes wrong. We all start with the best intentions to change, to become more aware of what's around us and what food and drink we're putting into our bodies - as in, don't see it as food see it as 'fuel' but I find that a very alien way, we are human after all and most of us love to eat good if not naughty food and drink - but it's true, everything in moderation - which is hard too.

I went to the gym every day for 6 months and lost nothing, in fact, I put it on - but I was stuck - same exercises every day, no confidence to branch out and I had the mentally that told me, as I was exercising, I could eat whatever I wanted the rest of the day as I had worked hard and needed to be rewarded - bad, BAD mistake!

What changed? Apart from my world into juicing, blending and using ingredients to make healthier food and I broke from the gym trap via doing something I never dreamed I would and could ever do! I started running! Last August, with a friend, I still remember by first run and remember a sense of freedom - I could disappear, not have to feel obligated to compete with anyone but myself - and since then I've tried to run as much as I can in the mornings - I've built it up to 7 miles and want to go further but 'life' keeps getting in the way. Plus since I started running, my willpower is enormous as I have you ever run on a pizza dinner from the previous night and copious amounts of wine? It's not pretty, you have no energy and just feel bloated and even walking is tiresome and you just feel guilty - but running on better food, literally now fuelling your body to run well makes you think twice about what you eat and what you drink - running is the only thing that takes out my stresses, I can meditate when I'm running at a good doable pace or completely get 'in the zone' and do a few HIIT's! When home I make either a juice or a smoothie which replaces my body with everything I had lost through sweating and then I eat so much better throughout the day and don't grab for the nearest sugar laden snack - I go for an apple or a banana or some full fat yogurt, or a small handful of nuts and they all keep me going and I feel so much better! Much more energy too, which is the most important. Also I've started to up my weight training, from own body weight exercises to the use of dumbbells or kettle bells and at the moment am doing a 28 day strength challenge - nothing more then 40 minutes a time each morning, no less then 20 and I'm loving it and am already noticing my arm muscles getting, well, slightly, let's say, 'noticeable'. And I'm doing this all in the comfort of my own home in front of my tv and youtube and using my own equipment, which is mine and only use by me, not used by other people say in a gym (which are never ever cleaned, yuk!)

I would also sleep better, but like I said 'life' and it's various stresses has been pretty awful the last 7 months but now I hope it's all over and I can get back to properly 'living' again and 'enjoying' food and drink - I do believe in treats and not on just treat days - if you fancy it, have it and then get straight back on to your good healthy tasty lifestyle, if you start beating yourself up, then don't, it's not worth it! Plus anything you read, just take out what you think which will 'work' for you, do not follow any advice you read religiously, it just doesn't work and like I've demonstrated (merely scratched the surface) there is so much contradicting advice, just use your own common sense - that's one of the best things you own!

Phew - what else? Have a few photographs! :)