Holy cow guys, I have had an overwhelming amount of people asking me what I'm doing in the gym and what I eat in a day. In case you missed it, I've lost 20 pounds in the last two months. As someone who has never been through a weight loss journey, you can imagine how tough this is!
DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional!! I do not do this for a living!! I am just a girl that figured out what worked for her to lose weight. When I first started, I wished I had some kind of guidance and someone to watch and see what their doing, so I hope I can be that for someone. Of course, I do recommend consulting with a doctor or nutritionist before making major changes to your lifestyle! LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. If it is hungry, feed it!!! Start slow to make sure any fitness or nutrition changes work for you :)
So on top of the six days a week that I spend in the gym, which in itself is a total lifestyle change, I've also had to completely do a 180 degree switch on my diet. I'm not a huge lover of sweets, but something about eating healthy all day makes you crave sugar at the end of the night, don't ask me. My biggest struggle in the last two months has been the carbs. I have no intentions of cutting out carbs, bread is my life, and if that means I have to go double time in the gym, then that is fine. I have had to dial it back, no more mid-day sandwiches, no more breakfast toast, I've had to learn to do it in moderation. If a diet is telling you to give up carbs altogether, run.
It's hard to believe there was a time in my life that I'd eat two packs of hot fudge sundae pop tarts a day, or a time that I'd eat an entire back of cheeto hot fries in one sitting... But gone are the days.
Not only has my diet done a crazy turn for the healthy, I've also been intermittent fasting. To make a long story short on what IF is- it's when you don't eat anymore after 8pm and do not eat again until noon or 1pm the next day. There are a million health benefits, weight loss tricks, and all around good things that go along with IF but again, I'm no doctor or professional, so you can learn more about it from one here. We eat breakfast because we are wired to think we need it, but if we aren't hungry until around 11am or noon, then BOOM you're probably already intermittent fasting and you don't even know it! This is a blog post for another day if you'd like more info on how I got into IF and how to do it as a beginner.
I'm going to break down what I eat in a day into breakfast (more like mid-day snack), lunch, dinner, and snacks. I'm not a huge dessert person, so I don't really have a category for that but if you haven't tried Yasso ice cream pints & bars, I highly recommend!! Only 100 calories :)
WARNING: A big part of this weight loss journey for me has been cutting out alcohol ALTOGETHER. Like I'm talking one or two glasses of wine on a Saturday night is the MOST I drink anymore. I'm sorry you had to hear that, but alcohol was the biggest root of evil when I was gaining all of my weight. And naturally you don't see it until after the fact, so here I am.
Breakfast
This varies depending on how much time I have, what time I get up, and where I'm headed. Again, we eat breakfast because our bodies are used to us feeding it the minute our feet hit the ground. But as you begin your intermittent fasting journey you realize that you truly don't become hungry until much later in the day.
If I do need breakfast, say for an early workout, or I know I will be too busy to eat much later I will have one of the below:
-1 packet of quaker oats instant oatmeal
-2 scrambled eggs, light himalayan pink salt for flavor
-1 nature valley cashew granola bar
-1 Noosa vanilla yogurt cup with 1/4 cup berry granola
I like to alternate through these options on days where I do need to eat earlier on. And often times I find myself eating one of the above around noon and it ends up being my lunch. Don't get too hung up on what time of day it is though, especially in the beginning your body is going to tell you it needs food at 9am and girl you better feed your body!! Other days your body will be full from dinner and be good until noon, but just eating because it's 9am and you're supposed to eat at 9am is not the key to losing weight.
Lunch
As I said previously, some of my breakfast options get placed in this category, I also have plenty of friends and family who aren't big fans of lunch and would rather snack their way to dinner. That is a totally fine option, but be careful of what you grab when hungry- those snacks throughout the day make a huge difference!
If I do have lunch, or start my day with lunch I'll usually have:
-1 tomato basil wrap with ham, cheese, a little mayo & balsamic glaze (probably not healthy, but good), and a cup of kale chips from trader joes
-1 nature valley cashew granola bar and an apple
-1 salad from Chopt. Pretty much the only food that I will purchase out, they're just too dang good.
Dinner
My most planned for, most anticipated, largest meal of the day. I eat very small amounts throughout the day compared to dinner. I have tried multiple times to go full vegetarian, but when you date a man like mine you know there will always be meat in the house and meat to be made for dinner so there's not much of a point. Klein goes to work at 2am every night so dinner has to be healthy, hearty, and something that will last him through the night. Dinner is also the only meal that I purposefully buy groceries for during the week. Dinner varies every night when we make it, and throughout the week we have a few specials at favorite restaurants that we might enjoy if we're too tired to cook or too busy to prep it.
Some dinners that are regular for us during the week:
-1 salmon filet, a veggie, and rice
-Shrimp or steak stir fry with asian noodles, carrots, and zucchini
-Steak, baked or sweet potato, and a veggie (we do this every Sunday night)
-Zoodles with a ground beef or ground turkey red sauce
-Shrimp tacos with the veggie fixings
-Meatloaf & veggies
-Meatloaf & veggies
Snacks
I try not to snack as much as possible, but if I'm having a busy day or get a craving, it's bound to happen. I do have some healthy go-tos that I try to keep on hand at all times.
-Salt & vinegar almonds
-Cucumbers soaked in vinegar (like pickles, they're so good!)
-Peanut butter on ritz crackers
-Peanut butter on rice cake with a honey drizzle
-Chug water (this curbs a lot of cravings, surprisingly)
And while it should go without saying, but during a time where you're trying to lose weight you should be drinking AS MUCH WATER AS POSSIBLE!! I cannot stress this enough. Get used to the bathroom breaks, but as time goes on you get a little more used to it and you'll notice obvious changes in your skin, hair, nails, body, etc.
Let me know in the comments some of your favorite healthy snacks or meals, I'm always looking to add new things to my rotation! And anything else you are interested in, just shoot me a message!!
No comments