She has been sharing her day-to-day since 2009 and, currently, she has become one of the most followed (and loved) content creators in the virtual world . Isabel Llano, better known as Isasaweis , began by posting videos of makeup and hairstyles, but little by little she expanded the themes, adding posts on food, sports, personal care tips… and everything, based on her own experience. That is precisely one of the keys to the success of her new book, Eat Great and Never Diet Again . ” I believe that when someone discovers something good in their life , the best thing they can do is share it. And, knowing that there were so many people interested, the idea was clear: write a book to be able to share with others what I did, in case I can give that little push to whoever wants to take care of themselves and embark on this path of eating healthy and exercising”, tells us. We have spoken with the Asturian influencer about false myths, about her opinion about the new ‘fashions’ in the world of food and, of course, about what made her ‘click’ in her head so that she wanted to change her mind. habits and achieve her goal: to be the best version of herself.
Isabel Llano (Isasaweis)
What led you to write Eat Great and Never Diet Again ?
I really made a change for the better in my life. I always tried to eat healthy, play sports… but there were certain things that changed and that made me feel better, with more energy, with more strength… and it was reflected in my publications, my photos… The people who They continue to appreciate the change on all levels, not only that I was slimmer, but that I had more energy, I exercised more… and they immediately began to ask me how I had done it.
– In the title you have included the word ‘diet’, which causes so much rejection in people who want to lose weight…
Well, yes, precisely for that reason, I have included it to reject it. The concept of diet as we understand it colloquially, that is, restrictions, forbidden foods, impossible combinations…, from my own experience, it does not lead to anything good. First psychologically, because one gets overwhelmed and immediately leaves it, and secondly because the results that you obtain based on restrictions and things that you do not want to maintain for the rest of your life, because they do not make you happy or because they are a series of sacrifices that do not they can be maintained over time, because they are useless. You do not learn habits, you will return to the usual and all the effort will have been useless.
– Betting on real food with products that we can all have in the pantry, do you think that part of your success lies there?
Yes, I’m going for real food in terms of food, but also real in terms of being realistic. That is to say, many times for wanting to do everything from ten we end up doing it from three and a half. For example, I use chicken broth bought in bricks, which I think is a great option for a quick soup or something like that, and obviously it is much better to buy the chicken carcass and vegetables, boil it for an hour, wait for it to cool, remove the fat from above, strain the impurities… and we will have a wonderful broth, but if we always want to do it that way, half the time we will end up using something precooked because we haven’t had time to buy the chicken or the vegetables, put it to boil … So I also throw in these things that solve our lives. And that not all products that come in a brick or in a can are bad, not much less. They help us take care of ourselves by adapting to the reality of our time.
In addition, you say that you are tired of this fit trend that has become so fashionable, which promotes foods such as sweet potatoes, avocado…
I’m not saying I get tired, because I think it’s great. For starters, I think they’ve done a lot of good because they’ve made a lot of people who may not have been careful about their diets learn a lot, so I think this trend has done a lot of good. But what I claim is that there is much more, because there comes a time when it seems that everything can only be done with crushed dates, avocado, sweet potato, edamame and oatmeal… and it is not like that. In our country we have a very rich gastronomy and what I vindicate a little is that, for example, we cannot deify the sweet potato so much and revile the potato, because nutritionally they are similar. It is true that the sweet potato has a lower glycemic index than the potato, but in a diet, in the global calculation, that is not significant. Suddenly you can’t even try potatoes and sweet potatoes can be added to everything, even making sponge cakes with sweet potatoes. It’s a bit of that, that we have many ingredients at our disposal and that we can have a varied, healthy, wholesome and rich diet, and we don’t have to stick to just those four or five ingredients, it seems that now everything has to be done only with it’s.
– Are we going a little crazy demonizing the foods of a lifetime?
Look, I just answered you. I think so. In fact, many people tell me that they have gone back to eating like at home, like their mothers or grandmothers cooked, but adapted to modern life. And that is a bit what I want to convey with my book, right? our usual kitchen but adapted to the reality we live in, that many of us work outside the home and have little time, we often have to improvise meals… And in my house I use the usual ingredients. Sweet potatoes come into my house, but so do potatoes. That is my philosophy.
– You have started what you have called: ‘The revolution of pibones pine nuts’, what does it consist of?
Pine nuts is something that came up in my community without thinking. It was because of an anecdote with a friend, who told me in the morning on WhatsApp: ‘Come on, let’s go, pinion’, and I said to her: ‘What do you mean, pinion’?, and she told me: ‘I want to put pibón and corrector puts me pinion’. So I told this one day and people found it very funny. That’s how my community began to be called ‘los piñones’.
In that concept you use the word ‘pibones’. Do you think that the physical is the most important thing to look good?
Absolutely. The ‘pibones piñones’ thing does not mean that we are spectacular regarding the physique. It’s feeling like a babe inside and out. A hottie is not only the one who looks at herself in the mirror and sees herself beautiful and likes herself, she is also the one who is comfortable with her life and with the things she does, the one who feels accomplished, satisfied… and, yes, no, fight to get it. And that involves many areas: the family, the couple, the work… and the inner life of oneself, above all. Feeling hot goes much further, no matter how good you look physically, if you don’t look good inside, you don’t feel comfortable with how you treat yourself and others, you don’t like your job… you don’t leave to feel pibón
– Didn’t you look pretty before?
I don’t think it has to do with before or after, I think they are times of life. I feel much better now, but simply because of that point that age and experience give you. Stop caring about the opinion of others, what they will say… you do things for yourself. Now I feel better, not more beautiful, because I feel better, because I am comfortable with my life, with how I carry things and how I do them… and that makes you feel beautiful.
– In your case, you have lost more than 20 kilos and now everyone asks the same question, how did you achieve it?
Well, as I tell in the book and as I have told and continue to tell on my social networks. Based on exercising, especially incorporating strength exercises, which for me has been the biggest change. We girls have always been told that to get in shape we have to do cardio, and that has been banished for a long time. Strength exercises are essential not only to gain muscle tone and shape, but also energy, stability… Sport influences many things physically but also mentally. Then the food too. I ate healthy but also with restrictions and that sometimes leads you to eat more than necessary.
– What led you to change the chip?
The experience, the years, realizing that the concept of diet that we have is useless because you constantly return to the starting line… Nutrition and sports are fields that interest me a lot, and in the end when something interests you Well, you read a lot, you do a lot of research, you practice a lot… well, I learned to eat the way I felt best and to do the exercise that made me feel the best, and little by little I found my balance point.
You say that your change has not been only physical, in what else have you noticed it?
I notice it in everything, because being physically well really influences everything, you even have a different attitude towards life. You solve problems in a different way, I think you become less dramatic… My change has been in every way. I do sports in the morning and when I can’t do it I miss it, but not because I need to be in shape, but much more because of my head, because it helps me. I leave the gym and eat the world, I am full of vitality and energy, I feel like making a thousand plans… Sport has totally changed me and eating well, feeling comfortable… makes you live a fuller life and happier.
– What message would you give to all those who do not feel good about themselves but do not finish taking the step?
Simply reading the sentence: “If you don’t feel good about yourself, do things to change. What things in your life don’t you like? Well, sit down and think about what you are going to do to change them, because you can’t live like that. Life alone there is one and you have to live it in such a way that you are happy.
– In most cases, we start very motivated but end up throwing in the towel. What do you think we failed?
Look, I think it’s the other way around. I think that when you really find that point where you sacrifice yourself but not in a disproportionate way, but in a ‘wearable’ way, let’s say in your life, that rewards you and motivates you. When does it fail? When you impose things that are not for you. For example, you know you have to play sports and suddenly you go running and it’s a sacrifice, a burden, you don’t enjoy it… well, you’re going to end up quitting. They have to be things you can keep. Obviously they have to bring you a sacrifice, but well carried, that you can keep it in your life. We fail to impose things on ourselves that do not go with us.
– Sport has also been fundamental in your change, how did you manage to incorporate it into our routine?
Realizing how good it made me feel. Many years ago I played sports to enjoy, then I think you stop doing it for that reason and you do it out of obligation, and with age you get back to it and do things to enjoy. I really enjoy doing sports, but it’s also hard for me. This morning I did a spinning class and it was hard, I had to make a big effort. I was on the bike and I could only think when it was going to end, because I couldn’t take it anymore. But the feeling at the end is a prize. Feeling strong and energized, the focus it gives you to focus on things… it’s brutal. What I did is be constant and persevering.
– Just as following a balanced diet requires effort, exercising too. What is your trick for those days when we are very lazy?
My trick is not to consider it, that is, I have to do sport yes or yes. Just like I don’t consider going to work, for example, sports the same. We should all be obliged to do sports daily by medical prescription, and sports being understood as anything that you enjoy, that requires an effort, but that you enjoy. It is true that there are days that I feel like it and other days that I don’t, but I don’t consider the possibility of not going.
– You also demystify that doing strength exercises makes women too muscular, has it been a discovery for you?
Absolutely, but it’s been many years… I think I’ve been practicing strength exercises for six years in which I take on a lot of weight. My body has totally changed. I have a different figure, but above all I have more energy, more strength, more stability… it’s good for everything. Doing strength exercises has many benefits for both men and women. I combine cardio and strength, which from what professionals say, is ideal. I usually do Monday, Wednesday and Friday strength, and Tuesday and Thursday cardio. But if I had to give up something, it would be cardio and I would replace it with a few good walks.