There are two reasons why I decided to start a blog, the
first being that I love to write and the second is that I really want to start
looking after myself. At the moment I’m working as a research engineer and part
of that involves writing papers to publish your findings. I complain a lot
about this part of my work, but secretly I love it! I find that it helps me to
understand my work so much more, you can’t write something down and then
present it as fact without being 100% confident in it. So you end up spending
an awful lot of time just reading around the topic to make certain that you
know exactly what it is you’re talking about! This brings me on to the second
reason for starting a blog – I really want to start looking after myself, but I
haven’t a clue what I’m doing!! I want to lose some weight, get fit, eat right
and take care of my skin and hair (who doesn’t?). A year ago, I had gotten very
unfit and my clothes were either really tight or didn’t fit, my skin was
starting to look dull, my hair…we won’t even go there… and I ended up being
quite unhappy with myself. As well as that, I was often tired, had no energy
and found it hard to concentrate. So, to try and make a change for a better me,
I hopped right onto the health and fitness bandwagon and promptly fell right
back off! I tried this a few times but it never seemed to stick and I couldn’t
understand why. I blamed myself for having no will-power but this isn’t me;
when I put my mind to something there’s usually no stopping me! So why couldn’t
I get the results I wanted even though I was so determined?
What I have found is that it’s not for want of trying, it’s because it’s confusing! When it comes to healthy eating, there are so many different diets that you don’t really know what it is that you’re actually supposed to be eating! You have people who avoid carbs, people who say they are good for you, people who swear by plant-based diets and those who prefer paleo. When I’m trying to find out what’s right for me, I get lost in a sea of buzz-words: gluten-free, low-fat, sugar-free, antioxidants, super-foods… stop, I’m not able! All I really want to do is to find out how to nourish myself so that I can fuel my body properly and that I can have the energy I need to get me through the day, and if that helps me look better too, then how bad?! My problem with exercise though is without a doubt, motivation. To a certain extent, the fact that I haven’t been able to adopt a healthier lifestyle has been down to a lack of will power. I come home in the evenings tired and the last thing I want to do is half-heartedly look online for some healthy dinner recipe when it would be so much easier to just put on my pyjamas, order a pizza and watch tv!
Photo cred: Sparkpeople
What I have found is that it’s not for want of trying, it’s because it’s confusing! When it comes to healthy eating, there are so many different diets that you don’t really know what it is that you’re actually supposed to be eating! You have people who avoid carbs, people who say they are good for you, people who swear by plant-based diets and those who prefer paleo. When I’m trying to find out what’s right for me, I get lost in a sea of buzz-words: gluten-free, low-fat, sugar-free, antioxidants, super-foods… stop, I’m not able! All I really want to do is to find out how to nourish myself so that I can fuel my body properly and that I can have the energy I need to get me through the day, and if that helps me look better too, then how bad?! My problem with exercise though is without a doubt, motivation. To a certain extent, the fact that I haven’t been able to adopt a healthier lifestyle has been down to a lack of will power. I come home in the evenings tired and the last thing I want to do is half-heartedly look online for some healthy dinner recipe when it would be so much easier to just put on my pyjamas, order a pizza and watch tv!
I am currently a healthy weight according to my BMI, but I
am unfit and, despite my best intentions and efforts, I don’t have a healthy
lifestyle. This is what I want to change. I am using this blog as my online
diary of making a change for a healthier lifestyle and sticking with it this
time. My reasoning for thinking that writing will help me to achieve my health
and fitness goals is that if I’m putting this in a public forum, it will force
me to actually research healthy meals, the right type of food to eat, how to
get the most out of my workouts and finally get in to all the clothes I’ve been
dreaming of wearing!!
I really enjoy reading other people's blogs and I have been inspired by
them to try to adopt a healthier lifestyle. I have convinced myself that no one
will read this and that's fine, at the end of the day this is for me! But if
you are like me and you find it hard to digest the wealth of information that's
available on how to become fit and healthy, and you do read my blog, then I
hope you find it enjoyable and maybe even helpful too!
Niamh x
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