My weakness, the ultimate guilty pleasure, and the one thing it is hardest to give up.

I WILL get there and I WILL give them up for good, I just need to find something to replace them with first, and that is going to be a challenge and a half.

For me, the deal breaker has always been crisps. You could hand me a packet of practically any flavour and I would most likely eat them.

It’s a problem, someone please help me!

The Sad Reality

I’m not sure if many of you know but over the summer I’ve been working in a local convenience shop (which I cant name or I’ll be in trouble!). So while I’ve been working there, I’ve really noticed the eating habits of some of our customers.

Now I will just add in here that I know it is quite hypocritical what I am saying and that I shouldn’t be so judgemental when I know that I have also been out and spent £5 or even more at a time on junk food. However, saying that the whole point of my blog is that I am on a journey to a better life, and by the time I have children I will have figured out a good balanced diet for them! I certainly don’t want them having sweets every night…

I mostly work evenings, which obviously doesn’t always paint a very good picture as the customers are normally there for the chocolate or alcohol.

But this is honestly not the most shocking part. The amount of sweets that parents buy for their children is incredible, incredibly awful that is. We often have our regular customers come in on a daily basis and since I work 4 or 5 days a week I do pick up on what they buy quite a lot.

Cringey I know but with obesity in the news headlines more and more frequently, it’s interesting to observe families to see what they’re like! And who doesn’t love a good bit of people watching.

Anyway there’s one particular family that comes to mind as I’m writing this. As far as I’m aware I have only met the two sisters and their mum.

The sisters argue like crazy, even in the shop, I even get embarrassed serving them – it’s that bad!

Every day that I work, they come in a buy so much junk food, it makes me feel sick even thinking about it. Obviously the shop has a small chilled section and we have steak slices or chicken and bacon or chicken tikka, you name it! The girls also buy these because they are normally on offer…they have got to be the most awful looking things ever!  Plus the thought of all the calories, fat, carbs and processed meat that goes in them makes me feel quite nauseous!

I’m going a little bit off topic here. So out of the two sisters, one must be about 14 who is a pretty average size (surprisingly because of what she eats) and the other is about 15 but she is without a doubt overweight, obviously at no surprise to any of us. I think its really sad that this has happened to her but whenever they come in with their mum, it’s not like she does anything about it and still lets them buy it.

No their mum is a different case, the complete opposite to myself, where she doesn’t eat enough…and it’s pretty obvious.

I think its pretty bad that we live in a society where eating disorders are so common nowadays. Yes, the NHS say that they are addressing it but they clearly aren’t or obesity cases wouldn’t be rising so rapidly and unfortunately it’s something I see everyday. I’m only one person out of thousands who are obese but I am slowly getting there and one day I hope to be able to influence and help people on their own journey to a better life.

Also, if you actually read this, please let me know! I have no idea who really reads it so it would be nice to actually thank whoever you are. (sorry family, you don’t count because I give you no choice but to read it!)

Response

A few weeks ago I got my first negative response (that I know of) to my blog. To say the least I was shocked. To be honest, I didn’t know how to react. The fact it came from someone I could trust, or so I though, made it a little bit worse and they clearly hadn’t been reading it.

This really goes to show how judgmental society is these days and the quote ‘never judge a book by its cover’ could not be any truer in this case.

I’m sure that this isn’t the only person who has jumped to conclusions about my blog, and when I started, this is very much what I anticipated. I have put my story out there for everyone to see, which has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done and for those who are judging me, they are clearly not worth being a part of my life!

However, that aside, to all of you who keep reading and offering me an unbelievable amount of support, my family, old school friends, I could never thank you enough and its really keeping me going right now.

So as another little update, I’m keeping positive (despite negative comments) and lining up a load of dishes I want to tr. I’m also going to go cold turkey on crisps, my real true weakness, and this will be my biggest challenge yet and I will let you know how it goes.

Eggs

Now you may wonder why I’m writing about such a simple food that most people eat in their everyday lives. However, for the first 19 years of my life, unless eggs were hidden within a cake or other such foods,, I wouldn’t eat it!

So two years ago my mum made me scramble eggs for breakfast and now I cant get enough.

The reason I’m writing about them now is partly because I’ve been craving them so much in the past few weeks and partly because they are so good for you.

Benefits to your health:

Now for the boring bit. Eggs are full of iron and vitamins B and D. iron isn’t as easy to come by as other nutrients and I know so many people who have had health problems because their iron levels have been too low. So eggs are a cheap way to get your fix.

The protein in the eggs helps to balance your mood and prevents your blood sugar from crashing so you can stay awake all day and not take your afternoon nap that I know many of you are guilty of (as am I).

Personally, I see eggs as something for breakfast, something to start the day right and keep you fuller for longer. After a bit of research I have seen a couple of recipes that I really want to try and they seem quite easy and cheap to do.

Cooking:

This is the good bit! Obviously the way you cook eggs could make them slightly unhealthier, such as a fried egg drenched in oil!

I’ve only ever had scrambled and fried eggs but I’m going to try poached eggs soon!

Fried eggs are more of a guilty pleasure that have a little bit of goodness in them if you look past the fat content. A once in a while treat!

I tend to put the egg on a bit of kitchen towel before putting it on the plate to soak up a bit of the oil I cooked it in.

My favourite breakfast at the moment!

Scrambled eggs have to be my favourite of the two with loads of ground pepper on top! I’m not a huge fan of creamy things and food with loads of milk in. so I make them with a little bit of butter! Check out pictures to see how I make it and when I’ve got round to trying other ways of cooking eggs, I will post an update.

A Quick Update

Last week I confessed that I had had a bad week, cheated on my diet and promised to try harder over the next coming days, and that I did. I haven't cheated on my diet and I've actually been to the gym, a much greater success than the week before. I've been told this week that I look skinnier as well which is a great compliment that I will never get tired of hearing! However I still feel like its not enough, obviously I know I could have gone to the gym more and stayed for longer when I did go and that will be my aim for this week. I never really know which equipment or machines to use in the gym though, to maximise weight loss (any advice would be greatly appreciated).

It's tough sometimes, I could have 1 or 2 great days that are really productive but after that I could end up having 2 or 3 really awful days that seem hard to get out of. I'm sure I'm not the only person that has this problem, and as these other people, you feel like you're the only person that this happens to, in that sense I guess we are not alone!

I'll keep this short and sweet and stop complaining now! I'm getting up extra early tomorrow to go food shopping and to the gym, starting the week the right way!!

My Confession

I have a confession to make, this last week has been completely awful. The worst week I've had since March and that's saying something considering I've had exams in that time. I caved in and cheated badly, stress got the better of me after a series of bad moments and it all went downhill from there.

It's not the greatest feeling to admit to cheating on your diet to be honest with you. It happened though and I have to live with the guilt of that. It's in the past now and there's nothing I can do about it but get over it and know that a new week is starting. All I can really say is that I will try even harder this week and hope that I can find a different way to deal with my stress that doesn't involve eating all the time.

I need to dig deep down and find the motivation I need to get myself going. Today, my mum and her friend did a triathlon, their first one and my mum is now determined to do even more! I want that kind of determination and next year me and my dad are going to do it as well. You may laugh but it gives me something to aim for, even if it is a year away.

Isn't she great?

I also need to lose a significant amount of weight before I go to Athens at the end of next month. Not being someone who likes being in the sun that much as it is, I need to lose weight to not be uncomfortable when I'm walking around. So again, it is the start of a new week and I will be starting by hitting the gym.

Give up? Not a chance.