You often ask me how I changed my eating habits and how I’ve kept the results for years. So here is my journey, honestly and from the beginning. This isn’t advice from a nutritionist, just my personal experience and what helped me. 🤍
I never liked diets
I don’t think diets bring anything good. You starve yourself, you struggle, and the lost weight usually comes back once you return to old patterns. What needs to change, gradually, are your habits and your awareness. Awareness of what you eat, when you eat and how much.
I’m the type whose post-pregnancy weight didn’t just disappear on its own. After my first baby I never got back to my starting weight, and then I was pregnant again. Six months after my second baby, once the weight that leaves by itself had gone, I was still 14 kilos above where I wanted to be. I really had to roll up my sleeves.
I started training early, but not regularly enough. Only once I began training at home, at least four times a week, did it become much easier to organise. I wrote about how I stayed motivated in Motivation to work out.
September 2021: an app and the first step
I remember it like it was yesterday. A lovely woman told me how she had started changing her eating habits and sent me a video. After that I decided it was time.
I downloaded a food-tracking app and started logging everything I ate. I’d recommend this to anyone, because it makes you aware of what you’re actually eating. You’re surprised how many calories some foods have, so you cut them down or leave them out.
I chose to lose weight very slowly, about half a kilo a week. And that’s how the journey began.
I was never hungry and I didn’t give anything up
This is the most important part: I was never hungry, and I never felt I was missing out. I still ate pizza when we met up with friends. I’d just be aware that evening that I planned to eat more, so I’d be a little careful during the day, or eat a bit less the next day. That’s how I balanced it.
I ate sweets too, in normal amounts. I’d log that little chocolate bar, the coffees, everything.
In the evenings I loved snacking on sunflower seeds while watching a series, so I’d leave a little room for the end of the day. Maybe that’s exactly what helped me stay consistent. Today I don’t snack in the evening at all. That habit faded later on its own, without forcing it.
I logged everything for a month, and then you somehow learn your rhythm. You figure out how much of what to eat. After that month I stopped logging, and the weight kept coming off slowly.
Nine months and a completely different life
It took me nine months to reach my goal. But in those nine months I completely changed the way I live.
- Breakfast changed by 180 degrees.
- Bread: I almost never eat it at home, I don’t need it.
- Pastries don’t even cross my mind anymore. (Except burek after a night out. 😅)
- Meals are healthier and keep me full for longer.
Of course there are always exceptions. But I know how much better I feel after a good breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’ve kept that weight all these years without even thinking about it. And I have to say: I’m a big foodie. I’m the first to reach for the food at gatherings and I really enjoy a good meal. Even so, this felt easy and natural.
It was never only about the kilos
It’s about the confidence you build by taking care of yourself. And self-care isn’t only food. It’s training. It’s a better choice on your plate. It’s the time you consciously set aside for yourself.
That confidence carries you further. It starts to remove the fears that held you back and gives you the courage to take steps you’ve been putting off for years. It’s all one big chain. One change leads to another.
How my e-book was born
As I changed my eating habits and shared recipes, more and more of your questions came in. The idea of gathering all my breakfasts, all the combinations that helped me, in one place wouldn’t leave me alone. Many times I told myself “who am I to make an e-book”. But that voice was persistent and I decided to listen to it.
That’s how my e-book 30 recipes for a better breakfast (in Croatian) came to be. It took a year from idea to launch, and today hundreds of you have it.
A recipe for you: quinoa, tuna and vegetable salad
Prep: 20 min · Serves: 1 · about 350 kcal
Ingredients:
- 50 g quinoa
- 1 small carrot
- a little fresh cabbage
- ½ bell pepper
- 2 pickled gherkins
- a little pomegranate, sweetcorn and chickpeas
- 1 can of tuna in brine
- olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt
Cook the quinoa for about 20 minutes in salted water (2.5 times as much water as quinoa). Meanwhile, chop the vegetables and grate the carrot and a little cabbage. Add the pomegranate, sweetcorn and chickpeas, the drained tuna and finally the cooked quinoa. Dress with olive oil and balsamic, season with salt and enjoy a salad that keeps you full for a long time. Feel free to add whatever vegetables you have at home and play with the flavours.
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Follow your voice. Follow your KOE. 🤍
Slađana, founder of KOE
