The Optifast Diet: Yay or Nay?

Hey Gorgeous People,

Since early March, I have been making a conscious effort to lose weight and lose it healthily. At the beginning of this endeavour, I weighed 93kg (the heaviest I had been) and I was not happy or comfortable in my body. So I began eating healthy.

At first, I just cut out bread, pasta, and anything that was too processed or had too many carbs in it. This went on for about a month and I lost 6kg, although I did put some of that back on during my period as my weight usually goes crazy around that time anyway. After about a month, I decided to start the Optifast diet, which is a VLCD - Very Low Carb Diet. My usual food for the day entailed an Optifast shake for breakfast, an Optifast bar for lunch, and then a high protein, low carb dinner. My dinner remained the same as what I would usually be eating as it usually consists of some chicken or mince and vegetables.

Now I have lost almost 10kg in two months and, while it hasn't been easy, I have noticed considerable differences from when I lost 15kg in a month at the beginning of last year. During school holidays from December 2015-January 2016, I put on enough weight so i weighed 90kg and I was determined to lose that weight. But, in all honesty, I did not lose that weight healthily at all and I believe I ended up losing a lot more muscle than fat. I lost the weight through usually having my only food for the day at dinner and even then, my dinner portions were smaller than usual. I found ways to even skip dinner some times by simply saying I had a big lunch and wasn't hungry. The longest I went without eating a single piece of food was three days.

Now I truly do not recommend this as a way to lose weight! And if you are doing this then I urge you to find a different way, such as Optifast, that allows you to lose weight but to do it in a way that is safe and won't be detrimental to your body. Yes, it is really hard sometimes to stick to the diet and I do get hungry, but the results are showing and I know I am losing fat this time instead of muscle. And, it is a diet! It's going to be hard sometimes! For instance, last year I lost very little from my lower abdomen area but I lost quite a bit off my legs. This time, I can tell that my stomach is getting smaller, which I am so happy about because I had and still have a lot of issues with how I feel about my stomach.

Me when I was around 93kg (I didn't take a lot of photos as I was self-conscious)

Me at my formal when I was 84kg (which is what I am now)

Now the difference may not be alarming as you can't see my whole body in the top photo, but I can feel and see the difference and I am beginning to love my body more.

So I truly recommend a diet like the Optifast diet just because it has really worked for me. Once I get down to my goal weight of 70kg, I will go back to just the healthy eating that I began with. But for now, I am married to the VLCD and I do really enjoy it. And this isn't a one hit, get-down-to-my-goal-weight-then-go-back-to-eating-how-I-was last-year kinda thing. This is a lifestyle change for me and I will have to stick with the healthy, clean eating for the rest of my life.

If you want to share your weight loss journey with me, please feel free to comment! I would love to know how you did it because it is still a journey for me.

If you want to follow me on social media:

Twitter: @immyminette
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As always,
I love you all so much

Immy Minette

Being Uncomfortable In Your Own Skin

Hey Gorgeous People,

I just wanna get deep and personal with you today on a topic that has plagued me since I was 11.
Now if you don't want to hear me get emotional and hear about my self esteem issues then you can leave if you want. But I know that self esteem plummets around puberty for both guys and girls so it is a major issue.

So the first time I started to feel uncomfortable in my skin was when I was 11. I was around 160-165 cm high and weighed 50kg and I thought I was really overweight because I was bigger than the 5 ft girls in my grade. My cousin, who I love dearly, told me to get on the scales and weigh myself and promised she would hop on after. So up flashed my weight in big BOLD numbers and all I saw was FAT!! So my cousin didn't hop on the scales afterwards which made me feel even worse because I felt betrayed and I thought she would use this knowledge and tell all the girls at school. I was never a popular girl at my old school. I was the tag along and this made my self-esteem plummet even more. When I look back at this memory I laugh and wish I was still 50kg even though that wouldn't be a healthy weight for me because when I look in the mirror, I feel disgusted.

So now I am 17, almost an adult, and I still hate my body. Some days I feel gorgeous but then I see a picture someone took of me and all I see is a chubby girl with a double chin, flabby arms, potbelly and cellulite. I weigh around 70kg and it probably doesn't make it better that I hang out with girls who are 55kg, 5ft 4 (compared to my 5 ft 7) and who are extremely active. Yeah I might make excuses to not exercise e.g. I get self-conscious about people watching me exercise and I have weak knees, but that doesn't mean I haven't tried. For 3 weeks, in the holidays, I would get up at 5:30am and go for an hour long walk/jog, get home and have a healthy yoghurt, walnut oatmeal and drink tonnes of water. But as soon as school got back I stopped because I didn't have the time. Waking up at 5:30 felt so good! No one was up to see this hippo running! But the eating healthy stopped because, when you live in a family of 7, it just got a bit expensive to be eating completely different food to the others.

When I calculate my BMI (Body Mass Index) it says that I am a healthy weight BUT I see that I am in the 82nd percentile and healthiness stops at the 85th percentile so I need to lose some weight!

I know how you feel whether you are male or female and are struggling with your weight because although I may not be considered unhealthy I am not happy in my body and I will always support others who aren't comfortable in their own skin!

So if you guys are going through self-esteem issues and you just want someone to talk to, I am here and will always support you!

Don't forget to follow me on:

Twitter: @immyminette

Snapchat: immy-12

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Love you all,

Stay Positive xoxo

Immy Minette