It’s definitely time for an update in my weight loss journey. If you’ve not caught up with this series yet come and found out the handy tips I’ve been sharing to help you boost your healthy weight loss plan.

The aim of Thinking Thin is to help me and you reprogram some of the thinking that hinders our weight loss so that we then change our behaviours around food, for good. I left you with some helpful cheats last time for when you have slipped off the old diet wagon. It would be great to hear how your getting on with these. I hope they’ve helped you out over the last few weeks.

There is however one change all of you must make if you are going to lose weight, and keep it off. It’s not revolutionary and neither will this secret make me a whole load of money, or the rest of the diet industry for that matter, but if you don’t do this, I promise you, you will struggle.

One thing Badge

It’s really simple, you have to COOK! And if you don’t cook already, then take some time out to learn, and do it fast. It will help you out no end in the long run on so many levels. It is probably the single biggest change I have made recently which has lead to an overall weight loss of 23lbs!

Why am I making a big deal about this, it’s not rocket science is it? Firstly, the last time I was on maternity leave I managed to lose 2 stone before I returned to work. Within a few months all that hard work was undone and I was back at square one.

What had changed? All of a sudden I didn’t have time to cook any more. More and more things went in the oven and came out twenty five minutes later and more take away’s crept in and the weight crept back too. I was looking to save time, all the time and cutting down on cooking and preparation was an easy win.

Thinking Thin

My priorities changed drastically putting work very much at the top of the list and dropping cooking off down the bottom somewhere. This meant I was no longer valuing my health, or my family’s for that matter, and bad eating habits soon took over.

The other reason is, it really works! If you cook more and reduce the amount of processed food you eat you will lose weight. SIMPLES!

If you’ve seen my vision board you’ll know that central to my plan is this phrase:

I value myself and I deserve to be healthy!

Cooking, preparing healthy food etc is absolutely central to valuing myself and my family and all our meals for the last few months have been freshly prepared and cooked by me. If you are eating a lot of processed food and are struggling with your weight this is where the biggest change is needed.

There is no shortcut to this, there is no pill, shake or meal replacement diet plan that will keep the weight off like eating well. You will only end up yo-yoing up and down and spending more of your hard-earned cash on diet-related products and weighing heavier than you did before in the long run. The diet industry doesn’t really want you to lose weight in the long run, they want you to battle with it. Hence, all you can do is find aids to help you win the battle. Take, for example, Bio X4 weight-loss dietary supplements that contain probiotics, digestive enzymes, and other nutrients that can help you control your appetite, cravings for junk food, and indigestion. As for reading up on product reviews before investing in them, you already know the drill. Adding that to a diet of properly prepared home-cooked meals, who knows, you may even find yourself on the winning side!

So, buy yourself a cookbook, and learn a few meals. Practice until you find things you like and learn as you go along. Look at your life and start prioritizing buying fresh ingredients and preparing yourself healthy meals. Value yourself!

Cooking Tips For Losing Weight

Use a one calorie cooking spray instead of oil

Remove or drain all fat from meat you eat

Do not eat breaded or battered products

Eat plenty of fruit & veg

Make your own tomato based sauces for pasta/curry etc

The Weight loss Journey So Far

Starting: 17st4lbs

Now: 15st9lbs

Lost: 23lbs

Previous articleReview: Drayton Manor Adventure Park & Thomas Land
Next articleReview: A Wilko Picnic

13 COMMENTS

  1. Cooking is a great way to lose weight. Start by buying healthy food as if junk is not is the house you cant eat it.

  2. I’m so proud of you! Cooking meals from scratch is NOT more expensive than so-called convenience food, but if someone’s not used to doing it, there are plenty of good books and programmes helping make the most of time and cash.
    Keep up the good work – and Granny promises not to bake you any naughty treats when you visit (I’ve been researching fat free, sugar free, virtually everything free tasty treats, though).

  3. You’re doing amazing! I’m hoping now I’m back at work being more active will help with weight loss. Although now I’ve just given up and decided there’s no point if I’m going to have another haha xx #binkylinky

  4. This is amazing Zena, you should be so proud of yourself! As you know i’m a big advocate of from scratch cooking and totally agree that it’s the one change that’s going to have the biggest effect. Well done lovely xx #PoCoLo

  5. You’ve done so well already with your weight loss. Your post has prompted me to sit and think and we do eat too much processed stuff. At the moment life is very busy so it’s easier to take the quick option and buy something quick to cook or ready made rather than cook from scratch. You’ve certainly given me pause for thought. #binkylinky

  6. well done on your weight loss! I really need to do this, it worked so well for me 5 years ago, but i have seriously come off track. I have the intention but not the willpower, but this is going to change as sick of being overweight! #binkylinky

  7. Happy to hear of the progress you’re making! Cooking healthy is such an important step to keeping fit. I completely agree with this.

  8. I need your motivation! I need to lose some weight, but when I start a diet it does’t last long. Well done. Thanks for linking up to the #binkylinky

  9. Loving the new header by the way! great tips, we do a lot of this already but I do agree more and more Jar sauces have crept into our diet in recent years, before the children I always cooked from scratch, I will have to make a real effort to cook properly again, we will all benefit from less sugar and salt in our meals. Well done for you doing so well with your weight loss x #binkylinky

  10. I agree with cooking your own food is a great idea because you have the control on what you eat. Thank you for sharing this motivational article of yours.

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