My Why...

Hi, there.

I'm Hollie behind Blondie and the munch. Welcome to my world of navigating through healthy eating, weight loss, exercise and general wellness.

It's cliché but it got to the point where I didn't recognise my reflection, I hated having my photo taken (unless I could carefully angle out my lesser flattering features – no one wants to see a double chin) and my clothes weren't fitting me as they should. What was worse is that I couldn't enjoy shopping anymore because most of my favourite shops stopped at sizes that were too small. Something I hadn't experienced before and, as a fashion and shopping addict, really brought me down. (We will get on to clothes sizes and lack of inclusivity another time.) In short I wasn't feeling like myself and hadn't been for a while. 

So, 2020 began and I was determined that I was going to change how I looked and more importantly, how I felt. My mental health wasn't at its best in 2019 and a string of events led my mind down some dark paths that I thought I had closed off a long time ago. All of this contributed to me finding solace in food by comfort eating and ignoring my growing waist.

A health check was the shock I needed to see how much I weighed (I didn't own scales then and so had no idea). Overall, thankfully, I was in good health but my weight was an issue for me. My lovely health provider suggested WW and I just said, yes! I was signed up like that and had my first weigh–in towards the end of January. And that's where everything changed. I had a plan, I had support, I had resources and, most importantly, plenty of determination. My head was in the right place to make positive changes once and for all.

To keep me accountable and make things more interesting, I decided to start photographing each meal. It became a competition almost for myself to create something different, healthy, colourful and yummy each day. In the end my phone was full of pics so I started posting them on instagram and getting great feedback. Instead of writing essays on IG, I've decided to start posting on here to explain a little better what I'm cooking. I'm all for sharing recipes and would love to know your top tips for low-fat alternatives, so please get in touch!

#transformation #weightloss #weightlossjourney #weightwatchers #ww #wwuk #bodypositivity #bopo #bodypositive