Not losing weight because I'm not eating enough

It took me a while to realise the reason I wasn't losing weight was because I wasn't eating enough.

I work as a technician, which is an incredibly active job, involving long days with lots of lifting and carrying of heavy objects. Sometimes I can burn up to 2000 calories in a particularly strenuous day. I figured that if I ate about 1500 calories a day and did all that exercise, I'd be sure to lose weight.

Right?

Wrong! So, so wrong.

I'd always start off well - a healthy but low calorie breakfast but as the working day progressed, I'd become hungrier and hungrier. It would get to the point where I'd be thinking of nothing but food and I couldn't concentrate on what I was meant to be doing. I'd start making stupid mistakes. Eventually I'd crack and binge on whatever was at hand - usually something processed, high in sugar because it provided that instant energy 'hit'. Invariably then I'd get stomach cramps and castigate myself for breaking my diet.

And so on, day after day.

The weight, especially around my belly, just would not shift, no matter how hard I worked. I really didn't feel good about myself and more importantly, my health started to suffer.

So, I started to think about exactly what my body needed to function to the max. After all, if I had an expensive piece of equipment that was meant to last a lifetime, I'd make sure it had the proper fuel it needed to function, not expect it to get by on a mixture of fat and sugar.

The first thing I looked at was breakfast. Puffed rice cereals for breakfast are all well and good but if you're on the go all day, you're going to need something a bit more substantial to start you off.

I talked to a lot of people and they all said the same thing - porridge gives you a great energy boost at the start of the day.

Porridge had always put me off because it seemed like a lot of faff when you're rushing to get out of the house but then a mate of mine mentioned Quaker Oats Oat So Simple Original sachets. Bingo! So, so easy. Cut the top off the sachet, pour the oats in the bowl, fill the packet up with milk to the line, pour in it, mix it up, 2 minutes in the microwave, done!

Then for the crowning glory, I put a teaspoon of toasted seeds on top, (it has to be Munchy Seeds Omega Sprinkles) and two teaspoons of honey, (my favourite is Littleover Apiary Pure English set honey). Yum, yum! I just love this breakfast. It gives me an amazing start to the day energy wise so I don't find myself with a horrible energy plunge and shaking hands. Best of all, it tastes fantastic, which bizarrely stops me from thinking about food.

In further posts, I'll be looking at maintaining energy levels on the go.