Nici Alexandra

Believe it or not, I went on my first "diet" at the young age of 15!

I grew up at a time when Barbie and the cover of magazines was the perception of a "perfect woman". Only, this was not actually reality. These were NOT real women and it would lead to endless mental health and weight problems in young girls thinking that this should be the way they "should" look and always compare themselves to these images.

School was always so difficult. I never felt like I fit in and I always compared myself to the "skinny" girls.  Especially when I needed an "adult size 8" clothing at the age of 12. I felt like I must be fat and that I should do something about it before it got out of hand. This just led to years of self criticism and mental health issues that would not be diagnosed properly until my early 30s.

From here, it was a downward spiral. I had not realised that there are so many different and unique body shapes that cannot be compared from one person to another, so I didn't realise I just had a curvier figure.

So began the yo-yo dieting. I tried a local slimming club with my mum and yes, we lost some weight but we soon gave up attending and went back to "our normal eating" and gained the weight again.

At the age of 18, I got a car and so I would eat out with my friends. I remember eating fast food EVERY DAY, being so gluttonous in eating a large pizza, half a garlic bread and half a tub of ice cream all to myself and still felt like I could eat more. Gluttony is not the purpose of food!

I soon put on a load of weight that "I couldn't explain", but looking back it was because I didn't understand food, or what it is meant to do for your body. Sure, you can enjoy a pizza but not every day and definitely not that much food in one sitting! It's just pointless and can cause serious health problems long term, like diabetes.

The years went on and sure enough, I kept up with the diet crazes, from Weight-Watchers, to Atkins, to Slimming World, Keto, Body Building Diets, Calorie counting, full fat products v low fat products, organic vs non-organic (I tried so many of them) and yes, most of them worked but I would always end up finding that their limited way of eating would not be sustainable long term or with a busy lifestyle. Usually due to the complexity of the "rules" and things that have to be cut out of my diet. I would often find I DIDN'T KNOW what to eat, so I would panic and feel guilty for eating something "wrong".

Fast forward to 2022 and I realised I had done so much research on nutrition over the years. From what nutrients food gives you and why, to what we need those nutrients for and why. I read copious amounts of books, websites and attended workshops on nutrition, because I was adamant to find out what it is about the people who seemingly eat everything, do no exercise and stay slim, that works and how it works. Then share it with the world!

I made just a few tweaks to my diet and combined a couple of things that are scientifically proven to aid weight loss.

Within 3 weeks, I had lost weight for the first time in 5 years. Not only was it coming off, I wasn't depriving myself. In fact I didn't feel like I was on a diet at all.

In 4 months, I had lost nearly 20lbs in a sustainable way and I also had had 2 holidays in that time too!

The difference now was that I was eating everything that I had been told was "not allowed" and I was still losing weight. But how?!

There is no denying that there are things that should be enjoyed in moderation, but you definitely do not have to live on salad everyday or cut out whole food groups! I mean who wants that on a cold winter's night?!

I love enjoying my chili with rice, tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, guacamole, jalapenos, yogurt and anything else I want to throw into it!

THEN

Snuggle up in front of a good film with a hot chocolate topped with whipped cream, marshmallows, sprinkles and a triple chocolate cookie.

ALL GUILT FREE!!

Thank you for reading till the end, I hope you will take the leap of faith now and send me a message for a free chat.

You have nothing to lose...or do you?!