Mens Sana in Corpore Sano: i risultati della dieta

In autunno ho iniziato una dieta perché volevo tornare ad un peso che fosse quello in cui io mi sentivo bene con me stessa. Dovevo solo scendere da 64 kg a 57-8 quindi è stato un percorso relativamente breve, nonostante sia stato graduale.
Se siete nuovi iscritti, forse non saprete niente di questo mio percorso, ed allora vi rimando a questo link, in cui potrete trovare alcuni post in proposito e anche qualche stralcio di diario alimentare. Mi ero ripromessa di farlo ogni settimana, ma il lavoro (i lavori!), il dottorato ed altre vicissitudini mi hanno completamente assorbita, impedendomi di farlo anche solo per me stessa.
Ad ogni modo, nonostante le festività e tuffi occasionali nel mondo della Nutella, sono riuscita a perdere 6 kg e mantenere il mio attuale peso per mesi.
E' più facile di quel che si possa pensare, ma dovete tenere a mente un po' di cosette:

1. Non prefiggetevi delle scopi impossibili:
Sapete benissimo come funziona il vostro corpo, sapete anche quale tipologia di corpo avete. Se siete delle persone "procaci" e sinuose, non pensate che potrete diventare le prossime Kate Moss, perché ciò non avverrà mai! Sappiate che la bellezza sta anche nella diversità e apprezzate la vostra diversa bellezza. Ci sono tanti esempi di donne che pur non essendo degli steli sono ritenute unanimamente belle: Beyoncé, Dita Von Teese, Shakira, per citare alcuni esempi. Tutte queste donne sono comunque percepite come bellezze strepitose (e so che questo ha anche a che fare con un fenomeno sociologico di dictat del gusto, ma non mi avventurerò ora in questo territorio, anche perché alcune di voi potrebbero trovare il discorso assai pedante).

2. Fate le cose in maniera graduale:
Non esaltatevi troppo in fretta, altrimenti potreste avere l'effetto collaterale di deprimermi altrettanto in fretta quando non vedrete i risultati il giorno dopo aver iniziato la dieta. Sappiate che il vostro corpo ha bisogno di un po' di tempo per abituarsi ai nuovi ritmi ed alle nuove abitudini alimentari, compresa l'idea alla base del vostro modo di nutrirvi. Per di più, fare le cose in maniera graduale vi aiuterà a scoprire (o riscoprire) alcuni sapori e ad provare piacere nel nutrimento sano ed equilibrato.
Sappiate poi che quando arriverete allo scopo prefissato, non dovrete fermarvi, bensì mantenere il risultato. Perciò sarà meglio che facciate le cose poco per volta, ricordando di...

3. Capire bene le cose che fate:
Capire l'importanza di ogni singolo gesto. Capire quali sostanze ingerite e che effetti hanno sul vostro corpo. Capire, per esempio, perché non bisogna mangiare pane e patate, o perché non potete mangiare per secondo sia la carne che il formaggio.
La chiave per il successo di una buona dieta è non privarsi di niente e capire perché si stanno facendo le cose. Solo in quel modo potrete percepirla come una cosa buona e giusta nei vostri confronti, e non come una forzatura.

E per favore non credete a quelle stupide diete da rivista. Sono fatte apposta per far perdere peso troppo in fretta, il che risulterà solo in un rapido prendere peso alla fine della dieta. Per di più non sono mai ben bilanciate.
Una buona dieta è il giusto equilibrio di carboidrati, vitamine, proteine, zucchero e grassi. In una dieta ben bilanciata potete mangiare una pizza e/o un dolce alla settimana (dipendentemente al peso che dovete perdere). In una buona dieta potete mangiare bene e trarre piacere dal mangiar sano.

Se avete domande o chiarimenti, chiedete pure tramite commenti o email :)

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano: the diet results

 Back in autumn I started dieting, because I needed to lose a bit of weight to get back to a shape that I felt comfortable in. I only needed to get from 64 kg's to 57-8 so that was kind of "fast", although gradual.
If you are a new subscriber, then you probably don't know all about it, therefore I suggest you check this link, where I posted some weekly updates on diet menu and stuff.
Now, I know I promised I would post my diet journal weekly, but I've been overwhelmed with work and PhD stuff, and I was so behind with reviews that I didn't even have the time to write the journal for myself. But, I will try and start that again.
As of now, despite the festive season and occasional splashes into the Nutella world, I have managed to lose 6 kg's and maintain that. It is easier than you think, you just need to keep few things in mind.


1. Don't set unrealistic goals for yourself:
You know fully well how your body works, what kind of body type you have. If you are tall and "bootylicious", then don't fool yourself into thinking you can become the next Kate Moss. That is never going to happen. Embrace your natural beauty, because beauty is in variety too. Beyoncé, Dita Von Teese, Shakira...those are all women that do not look like praying mantes and we all perceive they are beautiful nevertheless (of course, that also has to do with some sociological phenomenon of dictatorship of taste, but I don't want to go into that, some of you may think it's pedant).

2. Do things gradually:
Don't get too excited too quickly, because you may end up having a side effect to also get depressed too quickly, unless you don't see results the next day you start the diet. Just know that it will take some time for your body to get used to the new habits, and for your mind to adjust to the new concepts of eating. Plus, that way you will take pleasure in eating healthy food, which is helpful as you will keep the diet going, instead of stopping it when you have reached your goal. And know, that once you do reach your goal, you will have to maintain that. Therefore, it is better for you if you do things little by little and...

3. Understand fully well what you are doing:
Understand the importance of every little gesture. Understand what every substance you eat is, and how it affect your body. Understand that (and why) you can't mix potatoes and bread, for instance, or why you should not be eating your cheese and your meat too. The key to a successful diet is never deprive you from anything, and understand exactly why you're doing certain things. That way you don't feel you're forced to do things. You just do them because you know it is good for you and how it is good for you.

And please, do not trust those magazines diets. They're just a bunch of crap, they're aimed to make you lose weight to fast, which will only result in you gaining that weight as fast afterwards. Plus, they're never well-balanced.
A healthy diet is the right equilibrium of carbs, fats, sugars, proteins, vitamins etc. A healthy diet allows you to have pleasures like a pizza and/or (depending on how much you have to lose) a sweet once a week.
In a healthy diet, you learn how to eat well and take pleasure from it. Do invest in a specialist consultation, you can do that just once and feel happy with the results. I haven't even gone to monthly weight-ins: I could see and feel that I was doing just fine. And I was...I lost my weight before Christmas and I'm still doing fine!

Any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments below or via email. I'll be happy to reply.

news from wonderland

Hi everyone,
as you may have noticed I haven't been able to post as much as before in the past month.
The reason for that is that I am commuting a lot, trying to find a job (possibly one that keeps me working at least 5 days on 7 for more than two months!) and thinking about a PhD.

Public transport service in my region is almost inexistant, therefore I am often forced to spend the night at my boyfriend's (LOL not that I'm not happy with it! In fact, I love that...being cuddled until you fall asleep is priceless), which results in me being away for almost 2 days in the end.

Needless to say, that absorbs my time a lot.
I should be starting a teaching job very soon, and I will have to commute at least 2 days a week to do that. That will absorb much time as well.
However, once I know what my schedule is, and I get used to that, and planning my lessons etc, I will be back on the right track, I promise!
I love blogging too much to disappear, so you will have to deal with my *caugh caugh* fabulous self some more.

There are lots of things that I really want to blog about:

- new products: as I have far too many products, I will probably now follow this principle: new products that have amazed me or particularly let me down, will have a full review. Otherwise, i will be making fotd's with those products and mark them with a different font color. And if you happen to like what you see and want a full review, you can leave the request in the comment and I will do that.

- fotd's: been missing posting fotd's way too much!

- exploring winter trends: I think you've all liked my previews post about that as much as I have, therefore I have decided I will blog about that more. Get ready for a 60's make-up trend, neutrals trend (which I will surely make use of at work), and a very interesting variation of smokey eye that I spotted on a magazine! ...and lots of blues!

- new collections

- more tips on make up looks

- foundations: which ones I prefer and how I apply them

- cheap vs expensive make-up products: favorites of mine, ranging from cheap to expensive with short but cohesive reviews.


Also I am opened to requests, so if you have any, just drop a comment.

I am still dieting, although I was a bit bad this week, mostly because commuting left me with zero time to shop for food.

What I have discovered this week is that 1. I dropped one kilogram already; 2. I made a promise not to weight in again until a month has passed. I am afraid I would become too obsessive and miss the main focus; 3. if you start eating less, your body will become used to eat small portions and will not make you starve; 4. I tend to think about food when I am bored, stressed over study, or unsatisfied with my previous meal.

OK this was a very long, boring post, I hope you made it to the end :)

yours faithfully,

Lyd xx

MSICS (Mens sana in corpore sano) - my weightloss diary: week 1

As promised, my weekly update on my diet journal.

Come promesso, ecco il mio aggiornamento settimanale sulla dieta.

GENERAL REMARKS:

To my astonishment, being on a diet is not at all bad. When your diet is fairly distributed you don't feel any restriction or deprivation, nor do you think of yourself as starving.
Also, I have re-discovered some tastes that I had forgotten, or simply given for granted; e.g. the simple taste of a crispy toast-like bread in the morning.
Apart from really longing for a pizza yesterday (which was my weekly treat that my diet allows me to have) there hasn't been much pain this first week.
But let's take a closer look at my regimen for this week:

OSSERVAZIONI GENERALI:
Con mio gran stupore, ho constatato che essere a dieta non è poi così tanto male. Quando la dieta è ben distribuita, non si percepisce come restrizione o privazione, e nemmeno si avverte un senso di inedia ;)
Inoltre ho riscoperto dei sapori che avevo dimenticato, o semplicemente dato per scontato, come ad esempio il sapore semplice di una fetta biscottata di mattina.
A parte desiderare una pizza ieri (ed è comunque un piacere che la mia dieta mi concede di avere una volta a settimana), questa prima settimana non è stata tanto dolorosa.
Ma andiamo nel dettaglio di quel che è stato il mio regime per la prima settimana:

Sept, 18th - saturday

Lunch:
Lentils soup / Zuppa di Lenticchie
Chicken meat (130 gr) / Carne di Pollo
Fennel / Finocchio

Dinner:
Ham / prosciutto cotto
Fennel / finocchio

Sept, 19th - Sunday

Breakfast:
Plain yougurt + cereal/ yogurt magro con cereali

Lunch:
Chicken meat / carne di pollo
1 Potato / una patata (NEVER EAT FRENCH FRIES/MAI FRITTE LE PATATE!)

Dinner:
Lentils soup / zuppa di lenticchie

Sept, 20th - monday

Breakfast:
Plain yougurt + cereal / yogurt magro e cereali
30 grams of freshly baked bread / 30 grammi di pane fresco

Lunch:
Vegetable soup / passato di verdure
Cheese / formaggio (yes, you can eat cheese, but in a precise portion / sì, si può mangiare il formaggio, ma solo in determinate quantità)
30 grams of bread / 30 grammi di pane

Dinner:
Vegetable soup / passato di verdure
1 hard boiled egg / 1 uovo sodo

Sept, 21st - tuesday
Breakfast:
yogurt + cereal / yogurt e cereali
2 slices of crispy toast like bread / 2 fette biscottate

Lunch:
risotto with meat / risotto con carne
30 grams of bread/ 30 grammi di pane

Dinner
tunna/ tonno
carrots / carote

Sept, 22nd - wednesday

Breakfast:
the usual / il solito

Lunch:
pasta
cheese/formaggio

Dinner:
boiled meat / carne bollita
half a boiled potato / metà patata bollita
half a boiled onion / metà cipolla bollita
60 grams of bread / 60 grammi di pane (yes, I can eat more bread in the evening because I don't eat pasta / sì, posso mangiare più pane la sera perché non mangio pasta)

Sept, 23rd - thursday

Breakfast:
the usual

Lunch:
Pasta al sugo
1 mozzarella
30 grams of bread / 30 grammi di pane

Dinner:
1 hard boiled egg / 1 uovo sodo
Spinach / spinaci

Sept, 24th - friday

Breakfast:
the usual

Lunch:
pasta al pesto
ham / prosciutto cotto

Dinner:
Beef meat / una fettina di manzo
Spinach / spinaci

Sept, 25th- saturday

Breakfast:
the usual

Lunch:
horse meat / una fettina di cavallo
peas / pisellini primavera
30 grams of bread / 30 grammi di pane

Dinner:
Pizza vegetariana ( pizza with peppers, aubergines, and zucchini topping)

Sept, 26th - sunday (yes, today)

Usual breakfast

Lunch:
beef meat / fettina di manzo
peas /pisellini primavera
spinach / spinaci

Dinner:

Vegetable soup / passato di verdure
20 grams of potatoes / 20 grammi di patate


Please, do notice that this is MY diet, therefore I have not written all my portions on purpose. My portions may be the wrong portions for you. My point here is simply to tell you that you can match food like this, and you will have healthy habits.
However, I do encourage you to see your own doctor to get YOUR OWN diet, and NOT TO COPY THIS ONE.
when I eat the same food for 2 days, it means simply that living with other 4 people I am forced to cook for them as well, so sometimes I really do not have time or ingredients to do anything else, because my time nad ingredients, I already use up for them.
Hopefully this will be helpful to you, leave me some comments if you wish and...if you are dieting: GOOD LUCK ;)

Per favore, tenete a mente che questa è la MIA dieta, perciò non ho scritto le mie porzioni di proposito.
Le mie porzioni potrebbero infatti essere porzioni sbagliate per le vostre esigenze.
Il mio scopo con questo post è solamente di mostrarvi come abbinare dei cibi ed ottenere delle sane abitudini alimentari.
Tuttavia, vi incoraggio a consultare il vostro medico per avere una dieta TUTTA VOSTRA, e a NON COPIARE QUESTA.
Quando mangio lo stesso piatto per due giorni significa solo che, vivendo con altre 4 persone ed essendo obbligata a cucinare anche per loro, talvolta uso il mio tempo o gli ingredienti nei loro pasti e quindi non ne ho più per me.
Non è comunque un male, basta che conservi le porzioni e posso destreggiarmi io fra i vari cibi quotidianamente.
Spero di essere stata utile per qualcuno e se avete commenti scriveteli qua sotto-
se siete a dieta: buona fortuna ;)

PS: PLEASE DO NOTICE THAT WHEN I AM HUNGRY IN BETWEEN MEALS, I EAT A FRUIT - ANY FRUIT EXCEPT BANANAS AND GRAPE

N.B. SE MI VIENE FAME IN MEZZO AI PASTI MANGIO UN FRUTTO, UNO QUALSIASI TRANNE BANANA E UVA.

a new series is coming on this blog, and it's about weigh loss

Hello everyone, I just want to announce that I will be doing a new series on this blog, and it will be about weight-loss.

As you may know, my body has changed over the past year and a half, and I really do not like having those 7 more kilograms. I have been going to the gym for 6 months, but without a serious diet, I was only able to drop 3 kilos. During July I wasn't able to go to the gym, and got those kilos back, so now I am really tired and frustrated not to find clothes that suit my shape, or not to look good in my old elegant clothes, and I have decided to call it a day.

Starting today I am on a diet, one that has been given to me by a dietologist, and should work.
It will be difficult, but in the end not so bad. I don't have to drop 10 kilograms, so it is just about knowing how to match food, get used to smaller portions and eating healthy food.
I am happy about it, because common sense here in Italy has always said that a sane mind goes in a healthy body, as the Romans would say.
In fact, the new series will be called "MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO".
Every weekend I will write down what I've eaten during the week, and every month I will tell you how much weight I have lost.

I am not going to write portions, because this is my diet, and it would probably not work with you, but what you can do is learn from that how you can mix and match food to be healthy!
Whoever wants to start a diet can find a "partner" in me, because we all know dieting on our own never works! I am a real gouramande and I need to be monitored.

Of course, if this does not work for me, it means I have hormonal problems, but at least I will learn how to eat healthy and be a sane mind in a healthy body, that's all that matters to me: be healthy!

I will try to take before&after pictures.
Just know that my current weight is 64 kilograms (shame on me!), that I am 174 cm tall, and that this diet has begun today, Saturday 18th of September!

Do you like this idea? Will you be following my experiment, or have you started one of your own?