What Looking After Myself Looks Like Now

A few years ago, I lost around three and a half stone. At the time, losing weight was a big part of my life. It taught me a lot about consistency, discipline and, perhaps most importantly, what I'm capable of when I decide I'm going to do something.

But I'm not in that place anymore.

Would I still like to lose a little from where I am now? Yes. I've got a place where I know I feel happiest and most comfortable, and I'd quite like to get there.

But weight loss isn't the main event these days. Looking after myself is.

Health looks different to me now

These days I'm far more interested in the bigger picture.

How am I eating? Am I moving enough? How's my energy? Am I getting enough protein? Am I sleeping properly? Have my routines started slipping without me really noticing?

It's less about constantly trying to change my body and more about paying attention to it. Because I've learned that habits rarely disappear overnight. They drift.

One takeaway becomes two. A couple of quiet days become a couple of quiet weeks. The jeans get slightly tighter and suddenly you're wondering when that happened.

For me, staying aware means I can make small adjustments rather than waiting until I feel like I need some enormous reset.

I'm really not interested in extremes

I've done enough living to know that I don't want my life revolving around a diet.

I want meals out. I want treats. I want days when I don't hit every target. I want to be able to go away, have a glass of fizz, eat something simply because I fancy it and carry on with my life afterwards.

And I also want to look after my body.

Those two things aren't mutually exclusive.

I'm much more interested in finding a way of eating and living that I can actually sustain than being absolutely perfect for three weeks and miserable for all of them.

Health needs to fit into my life, not take it over.

The scales are information, not a verdict

I weigh myself daily.

I know that's not for everyone, and I wouldn't tell anyone that they should do the same.

But it works for me.

One individual number doesn't tell me very much. Weight can fluctuate for all sorts of perfectly normal reasons, so I'm much more interested in the trend over time. Seeing the data regularly actually takes some of the emotion out of the number for me.

It's information. That's all.

Some people prefer weighing weekly. Some are happier staying away from the scales completely. There isn't one correct way to keep track of progress.

The useful approach is the one that helps you without taking over your headspace.

And yes, I track my food too

At the moment I track calories and protein because I like knowing roughly what's going on. Not forever. Not perfectly. And certainly not because every mouthful needs to be earned or accounted for. For me, it's simply another form of awareness.

It's incredibly easy to think we're eating a certain way without really knowing. Tracking occasionally gives me useful information about my portions, protein intake and overall habits. And once I've got the information, I can decide what, if anything, I want to change.

There are things I care about far more than my weight

I want to be strong.

I want enough energy to do the things I enjoy.

I want to keep moving and challenging myself.

I want to eat in a way that supports my body while still enjoying food.

I want to sleep well, manage stress better and look after myself as I get older.

And I want room in my life for the things that have absolutely nothing to do with wellness.

Because health is part of my life. It isn't supposed to become my entire personality.

That's what #HealthyVibes means to me

#HealthyVibes has never been about pretending I have everything nailed.

Some days are brilliant. Some are less so. Occasionally the plan goes completely out of the window. That's real life.

For me, it's about small steps, better habits and making choices that support the life I actually want to live.

No huge resets.

No all-or-nothing thinking.

No deciding you've “ruined everything” because you ate the pudding.

Just noticing where you are, making the next choice and carrying on.

And I think that's probably the biggest difference between how I approached health a few years ago and how I approach it now.

I'm not trying to reach a point where I can say “done.”

I'm trying to build a way of looking after myself that can change and grow with me.

And that feels like a much better goal.