Good morning from sunny Thailand…For quite a while now I have spoken about healthy eating and have told you about my weight loss but not in any depth and some of you may think yeah, yeah…

This week (and) I have never liked my photos taken… there are not many of me which I really like…But on this post I am baring all ( not) quite..haha…for those who thought ..You wouldn’t …haha…That would be too much information…

I wasn’t an overweight child or teenager…my weight piled on when I had my kids…Then began the yo-yo years…I fluctuated from 8 stone nothing to 16 stone something… I tried many diets some more successful than others…I tried many types of exercises…What did I learn from all that? I hate aerobics…I hate being in a class full of sweaty bodies…

I discovered walking…No sweaty bodies…I can free my mind…I see more of life and people…The furthest I have walked …26.2 miles …I completed the London Moon Walk…Whether you run or walk 26.2 miles is a marathon…I did it! A few years ago now but I did it!

Now to bare all…Never before published pictures of moi…

Before…

The one on the right is me at my heaviest…I will now go through what I eat instead of what I did…No fads, not a diet, just commonsense…Eat this…Not that!

We see so much in the press and media or supermarket ads ...It is a minefield ..so I am going through what I have learnt and apply to what I eat…Also what I feed my family as everyone likes different foods…

Breakfast  Cereals…

I will use granola as an example…It conjures up that healthy image as it contains nutritious nuts, seeds, oats and fruit…It also contains more sugar than a can of coke…

Porridge, shredded wheat or Weetabix are what we eat…

If you really like granola and my family does sometimes then make your own…you then control what is in it and it will most likely be cheaper…  It takes 5 minutes to make and makes enough for 4 servings…

For the granola

• 100 g organic bran
• 150 g organic jumbo porridge oats
• 25 g sesame seeds
• 100 g walnuts
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 5 tbsp maple syrup
• 100 g  mixed fruit, such as Medjool dates and cherries.

Serve with …Greek yoghurt( not ) greek style yoghurt, fresh blueberries, pear, apple, kiwis, pineapple, mango any fresh fruit of your choice just chopped, cored and if necessary peeled.

Mayonnaise …I do buy it sometimes… although time permitting I make my own…

Light means lighter…RIGHT?

By law food to be labelled light, lite or lighter, reduced fat or low fat must in the UK be 30% lighter than the full-fat product in the US it is 50% or more calories from fat are required to have a 50% reduction of fat in light versions. Translated it means if the original product is high in fat the light version may still contain a lot of fat…So it could still be high in fat and also higher in added sugar to enhance the taste because there is less fat…

Well…After all that malarky…I just opt for the normal version as considering how much and how often I eat it…which is not often…I do not want to skimp on flavour…

All this low-fat is better than the high-fat trend is now proving that after all these years of telling us to eat low fat or no fat… to have been not true…We are now being told it is the type of fat, polyunsaturated fats are good fats…Trans fats are bad…

What are the worst trans fat offenders?

In no particular order…Deep-fried Food, Pie Crust, Margarine, Shortening, Microwave popcorn, Animal fat and dairy, Store brought cakes and Cookies, Biscuits, Creamy frozen Drinks( Dairy Queen), Crackers, Non-dairy Creamers, pancake/waffle mixes…Basically, deep-fried fast foods, processed foods, packet mixes, store-bought cakes and biscuits all sugary processed foods…

What do I do…Cook from scratch…limit animal fat and dairy although in animal fat it is naturally occurring trans fat and in smaller amounts….This is where my favourite word keeps popping up…Moderation…Most of the above foods you can cook from scratch at home or use a healthier alternative…

It is all about knowing what the food you like to eat contains…Yes, it means a bit of research but if you want to lose weight and or be healthier …so be it!

What fats can you eat?… Not all fats are bad…

There are lots of good, tasty fresh foods which we can eat…Oily fish, salmon, sardines, mackerel, avocado, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, Olive oil, coconut oil, rapeseed oil, Butter(grass-fed), meat and cheese( in moderation).

Sugar… is labelled in many different ways…

I came across coconut flower sugar and syrup the other week…It was in the smallest of glass jars with a healthy-looking labelled and the price tag wasn’t healthy but a tad on the high side…

I didn’t buy it but did come home and do my research…Sugar is sugar and they may be natural and unrefined and just slightly better for you but …It’s Sugar! Added sugars are even worse…

What do I do...I never take sugar in drinks anyway but I do restrict foods high in sugar i.e chocolate…sweets…sodas…yoghurts…fast food…cereal bars…cereals, sauces…milkshakes…grape juice…These I limit or avoid…

Fresh Vegetables…we eat lots of fresh vegetables either steamed or raw …

I know many people don’t eat as much as they should of fresh vegetables …Maybe they juice and just swallow because quite frankly some of those juice options are pretty awful I would rather eat the fresh vegetables…You will never get your 5 a day by juicing and juicing also means you lose some of the fibre. We need fibre in our diet…Don’t we?

Oil…

I use different oils depending on what I am making or cooking…My main ones are Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Nut Oils or Ghee…There are so many different oils but check on which is the healthiest oil depending on what you are making no one size fits all with oil as they all have different burning points.

Salt…

The debate lingers on and opinions are still divided…I use locally produced salt and always taste before adding extra…As it is very hot and humid here we need to keep our salt levels up…

I do however limit my intake of cured meats, pickles, table salt, crisps and savoury snacks…

Eggs…

Again eggs have been the subject of many warnings over the years it all depends on how many you eat and how you cook them…If you are eating fried eggs every day with other fried foods, of course, you will gain weight…If you poach, make a cloud egg or boil your eggs then they are much healthier I also think it enhances the taste of the egg…

Alcohol…

The biggest contributor to my weight loss has been reducing the alcohol I drink…which of course included the soda…double whammy…The common consensus is that a good red wine benefits your health again …every day?…

I will tell you a little story…One of my besties worked in a bar for many years if she served you a drink in her home it was a pub measure…None of the just take the top off and pour which more often than not is what most people do…I know I did…

She had a health problem and went to the doctors who arranged for blood tests…The outcome was that although she measured her 2 evening drinks it was effecting her liver…To say she was upset is putting it mildly as we both knew people who drank far more without any apparent health problems…

The bottom line is we are all individuals and have different tolerance levels…her tolerance level to a regular sundowner was lower than mine…It took longer for my regular sundowners to have an effect on my health but they did eventually…Cutting right down to an occasional drink has proved beneficial in many ways for me…I sleep better and have lost a lot of weight…

Water…

 

I always make sure I drink plenty of water and green tea…Although green tea does contain caffeine depending on the type /variety of green tea it does vary…I drink No.12 Oolong green tea which is lower in caffeine than some of the others…

Cheat days/weekends…

I have always advocated that eating healthy doesn’t mean deprivation or cardboard foods and never eating that burger, pizza or doughnut again…

Make sure you plan your cheat …Plan when and what you are going to eat…Most experts agree that one cheat day per week is sufficient. It’s a good idea to line up that cheat meal on a weekend or social occasion. By planning your cheat meal, you know what you’ll be eating and can cut a few extra calories earlier in the day…

By planning you can pick a favourite food or meal instead of just raiding the fridge randomly or running up and down the sweet or cake aisle and just picking up anything…

If you are going out for a meal and planning to splurge …pick what it is going to be…Will it be the breadbasket…dessert or a few cocktails? Focus on one and enjoy it without going overboard…If it is the lovely bread basket opt for that dessert next time…

In all honesty, I could not splurge on all three now…I just couldn’t eat all that…One cocktail would fill me up…As you lose weight your taste buds change and the amount you can comfortably eat diminishes… 

So don’t cheat when you are famished, cheat in moderation and plan…

You can minimize the damage of a cheat meal the day of your feast by being careful about what you eat maybe reduce the carbs and eat a nice big salad with boiled eggs instead of potato… or fast before the meal. In other words, if you’re cheating at dinnertime, move your first meal to later in the day (lunchtime). Reducing the number of hours you’ll be eating not only saves you calories, but it also shifts your body into a fat-burning state.

To summarise…After picture…Not a great one… I will try to get a better one…

I don’t starve myself but I know what I eat and what it contains…I practise intermittent fasting as it works for me…I have mainly reduced my alcohol massively and soda…I have increased my green tea consumption.

I eat very little processed foods and cook from scratch…I don’t eat low-fat foods I just enjoy proper food but moderate my intake.

I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables.

My main carb is rice, I eat little bread, pasta or potatoes mainly because I prefer rice or sweet potatoes…I do like nice bread so as a treat I make sourdough or soda bread. Pasta I eat maybe once a month the same with white potatoes they are not my favourite carbs.

My total weight loss from beginning to end is 6 stone or 38.10 kilograms…All done by just increasing my walking and cutting down alcohol, soda and processed foods…I feel much better and my aim is to lose another half a stone …I thought 1 stone but have been outvoted by my family…We will see how I feel and what happens…

I hope this helps many of you as I do not ban anything…I eat what I fancy just not all at once or on a regular basis but if I want some pork crackling or a donut I will have one…It is all about what you eat and how much…It is about knowing your food and your body…It is about being sensible and not binging all day and every day…We are indeed what we eat…

Both myself and Sally from Smorgasbord cover lots of subjects and foods and help with understanding how different foods help you maintain good health…You don’t need expensive foods or diets just commonsense and knowledge…All you need to do is keep an open mind, fads, diets and food fashions are consistently changing. Scientific research frequently disproves previously held beliefs, diets and lifestyles…Think low-fat…

What works for one person because of their individual body shape, metabolism, DNA or underlying health condition may not work for another person.

A healthy balanced diet with moderate amounts of the bad foodstuff coupled with regular exercise is your best chance of staying well…

That’s all for today I hope your healthy eating is going well…I hope these tips will help guide you through your healthy eating and weight loss journey…

If you have any particular diagnosed dietary requirements or deficiences then Sally’s and my new series starts on Wednesday with Calcium and Magnesium deficiencies…Sally with her vast nutritional knowledge and I provide the recipes.

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about there are now regular columns on my blog this year. It is important that we are mindful of the world we live in…

 

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  MeWe

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: 

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Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a lovely week, stay safe  xx