It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change

This is probably going to be my last 'diet' related post for a while. I've officially finished my journey with Exante and now I'm back on the healthy eating routine; and as the title of this blog post suggests it is a permanent lifestyle change not a diet.

I'm so happy to be eating actual food again, rather than shakes and bars. I've definitely missed my breakfast smoothies and my salads for lunch, so getting back to healthy eating has been heaven. I've made a few changes to my diet, ensuring my carbohydrate intake is still relatively low, and my protein and fat intake at the higher end of the scale.

I've started using My Fitness Pal again to track my calories and macros to ensure I'm on track. I used this app when I lost my 14lbs through healthy eating and exercise earlier this year, and it definitely helps me avoid bad food choices when I know I have to input them into my daily food diary!

My daily calorie intake is set at 1,200 which is the recommended intake to be able to lose roughly 1.5lbs per week. I've altered my macros to lower my carbohydrate intake as the 'default' that the app set my carb allowance at was too high for me at the moment.

My macros are currently set as:

• 120g Protein - 40% daily intake
• 40g Fat - 30% daily intake
• 90g Carbohydrates - 30% daily intake

I'm going to keep my macros like this for 4 weeks and introduce exercise back into my routine. From there I will be able to assess my weight loss and see if anything needs altering. It's going to be pretty trial and error at the moment, so I will persevere and see how I go!

I have been off of Exante products officially for 6 days so far, and have managed to maintain my weight. I even had a 'cheat' on Halloween last weekend and ate some popcorn and Skittles! It's all about balance. 

I am relatively happy at the weight I am at the moment but would still like to lose another 14lbs. I'm going to keep going until I reach a comfortable weight, then will transfer over to maintainence. This part is going to be slow and steady, rather than the drastic weight loss that I experienced with Exante. My aim is to lose 7lbs by February 2016, then another 7lbs by May 2016. My target obviously may change depending on how I feel/look but as long as at the end I am happy, really that's all that matters.

On a side note, you've hopefully noticed that my blog design has changed quite a lot! I have been playing about with the template and design for the past couple of weeks (hence not writing any blog posts) but I'm happy with how it looks now so there will be a lot more posts from me in the near future. From now I will be posting more fashion hauls and beauty/make up review type posts, along with featuring some of my favourite healthy recipes for you to try. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!