It's flab fight time... and my little weight loss trick

Not sure where I'm going with this?

Stick with me and I'll explain....

I have a naturally slim build, but I really do enjoy eating. Don't get me wrong, I don't have those unfortunate associations with food that a lot of people who struggle with their weight do. I don't use food for comfort, I don't use it to replace love, and I don't binge and purge. 

I do however love to eat. Food is good! Masterchef is my porn; those perfectly balanced little plates of goodness smiling up at you. Cookery books are my fashion magazines, tempting me with exciting ideas. Baking is stress relief. It is always clear when things are getting me down, as the kitchen table is groaning under perfectly positioned cooling racks full of tasty treats.

My kitchen table also demonstrates a love of food. I don't have a large house, but what I do have is a six seater kitchen table which I insist that my children, husband, and I sit down at for a proper home cooked meal every evening. It is six seater because I also enjoy cooking for friends.

 Due to my love of... well... dinner... my naturally slim frame is always on the slightly stretched side. I am a UK size 12 and I do my best to maintain that. I'm still carrying a little baby fat from when I was pregnant with my one year old son so I'm a slightly chunkier than I want to be size 12 right now. I like to keep slim partly through health reasons, but mostly through vanity and the fact that I like to stay fitting in my clothes.

This means that unfortunately, it's time to start the flab fight again. I fully admit that I don't really relish exercise, but what I do know is that I love food more than I hate the gym. However, there are only so many hours in the day and whilst my twice a week gym sessions maintain my fat girl lifestyle, they certainly aren't enough on their own to reduce the surplus.

As discussed, I am not prepared to reduce my calories too dramatically (even just for two days a week). So what I am going to do is this:

1) cut out the snacks that aren't part of the daily plan
2) monitor my calorie in-take and out-take with My Fitness Pal
3) exercise 5:2 (as in five days a week I will do 30mins exercise, and rest two days)

And my little weight loss trick?

Rubbing a little vanilla on your pulse points stops you craving sweet food (such as sweets and chocolate and cakes) so much.

For me, this works very well. Whether it is a placebo effect or has genuine scientific value I can't say, but I do know that when I smell like vanilla I go through the day with less fat girl snacking.

However, I'm not too fussed about smelling like neat vanilla. Instead, I use Demeter's cake-y fragrances. Graham Cracker is my absolute favourite and because I associate it with the saltiness of Graham Crackers and the chocolatey goodness of OMGs it keeps me away from crisps and chocolate. You can't say much fairer than that?




If you are in flab fighting mode, I would love some support and advice along the way! Feel free to friend my on My Fitness Pal and follow my daily progress!