6 weeks ago I took part in the Her Spirit feet first February challenge and set myself the goal of completing my second lockdown marathon. I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that I would complete it but unlike the 1st lockdown marathon walk I knew that this time I had to change my diet too.
For as long as I can remember I have fuelled myself with a combination of coffee and carbs. I have an active life as a swimming teacher but because I thought I was always too busy and didn’t have enough time, I always went for convenience over nutrition. I was drinking between 4-6 coffees a day and living off toast and pasta. Sometimes I didn’t even sit down to eat, I would put my toast into tin foil and eat it in the car whilst driving in between lessons.
Lockdown has without a doubt changed my life. Suddenly I had ample amounts of free time on my hands so alongside the daily walks and jogs I was enjoying, I found time to sit and educate myself using the Her Spirit Fuel section on the app. When I first started watching the videos that coach Jessie had shared on it I thought to myself, how am I going to find time to watch all of these, but I got so interested in everything she was saying and the time didn’t matter, I was invested in learning.
I learnt that carbs are not the enemy but that I was eating far too many of them. The portion control guide taught me that very early on, so one of the first changes I made to my diet was to make sure that I was still having e my carbs for breakfast and I swapped my buttery toast for homemade porridge oats. This kept me full up and fuelled for the open water swimming and walks I was doing during the daytime.
My evening meals became far more exciting and having heard the phrase “eat the rainbow” I suddenly saw for myself, on my own plate, what that meant! I started taking photos of my dinners and sending them to my family as I was so impressed that the stodgy bowls of pasta had been replaced with delicious vegetables, chicken or fish. My food looked good!
6 weeks into the challenge, I have lost 1 stone and I have never felt like I was on a diet and I never went hungry, despite burning around 1000 calories a day through exercise (according to my garmin!) I have learnt to fuel my body properly and I have never been happier. I feel stronger, leaner and fitter than I have in a very long time.
Thank you Her Spirit xx
Check out all the information Vicky used on the FUEL section of the app “Learn to Fuel”