Diets, Detox and Dry January - Some of us hashtagged it, the others complained about it.

Hey, Amydot speaking...

It's what filled our newfeeds at the new year, #newyearnewme seemed to be the claim of more people than ever and everyone was talking about it.

Dry January kicked it all off with many claiming that New Year's day didnt really count... yeah of course not you wouldnt want to start the new year drinking tonic now would you, especially when you have that bottle of gin from Christmas, but once thats gone we swore its dry from then on.

I chose not to partake in the challenge as I promise every damn hungover day I wont be drinking again and still find myself reaching for the rosé on a Friday.

I didn't want a Detox or a diet, I was looking at the bigger picture. My diet on a whole could be summed up, at best, as convenience food. A medley of pierce it, heat it, eat it or order it. Which I knew for certain I had to get out of the habit of. I needed to learn to cook.

Now I've never cooked. To be honest I don't even remember my home economics classes. I work full time in an office and had talked myself into the belief I simply don't have time and can't afford to cook every night. Something I've come to learn this last month is a pitiful excuse.

Generally, the things I've learned to cook in the past weeks take less time than it would take for a delivery. Now do I accomplish much whilst waiting on my food to arrive? Absolutely not. I dare not move incase I miss the door and mainly spend my time watching something I'm not interested in and counting the minutes since I've ordered... That in itself isn't healthy! 

I've always thought healthy eating was expensive... Not the case. I can spend £20 on a takeout curry for 2 with the trimmings. I made a curry from scratch for 4 for less than a fiver and LOVED IT! Like really loved it!!! 

I'm enjoying food more. It's actually pretty much all I thought about the first couple of weeks. Not cos I'm hungry, Im excited about what to try and make and I'm proud of my meals. I think this is one of the reasons I'm sticking to it, it's a lifestyle change after all.

My change in diet is based around calories, I found a calorie counting app was the perfect way to keep an eye on this and understand food more. Low carb and fad diets have never worked for me, I needed to be food conscious. I use My Fitness Pal as it does everything I want it to. But there's plenty out there.

I never committed to social media I was going to: lose a stone, I would go to the gym 3 times a week, I would drop a dress size or drink a green smoothie every day. But neither did I critise those who did, I found this to be most disheartening. I believe if someone wishes to change themselves for the better, then good on them for giving it a go, you have a right to change and for yourself, not at the judgement of others. 

This doesn't mean I didn't have goals, I just wanted to have smaller more achieveable aims:

1. Make food more colourful 

2. Feel better 

3. Learn to cook girl! 

After a month I've decided to create a diary. I think committing to a blog enables me to share recipes, keep them all in one place, and I'm more likely to keep it up. Not cos I need the encouragement of others but maybe seeing what I've achieved for my own personal benefit may be encouragement enough and maybe there's something here that someone else may like to read.

I'm a month down the line and it's going good! 

This girl can cook!