eating healthy – Page 3 – sassyfitnesschick

Is Good Nutrition The Fountain Of Youth?

You don’t have to look far and wide today to know there is a big push on looking younger and all kinds of ways people are trying to accomplish that.

Botox and plastic surgery, magic creams and treatments the list is long…..

Aging is just a fact of natural life. I get that. At classic “middle aged” status I do get it. Wear and tear on your body is pretty normal and to be expected. All I want to do is age gracefully and take the best care of myself that I can.

I do not want to do things that make me start to not look like myself, or plastic and stretched or whatever you want to call it.

I will say this though. I don’t know why people overlook what I think is, the most important thing to looking healthy and keeping a younger appearance.

Are you ready?

Food. You know that old adage “you are what you eat”? holds a lot of truth.

A diet that is high in sugars, processed, refined or fast foods and alcohol will take a toll on you leaving you not only puffy and sluggish but it can overall affect your appearance.

A diet that is high in fruits, veggies, and lean protein will not only keep you lean but change your outer appearance too. Loaded with vitamins, minerals, and tons of good nutrients our bodies need these foods. It makes logical and natural sense to eat them…. they were created for us to eat!

I guess the most relevant illustration I can share with you is a couple months ago I was in a department store at the make up counter talking to a young girl about doing my makeup for my sons wedding. When I shared my age with her she said ” I don’t believe you” I laughed and told her I wasn’t lying.

Her next words? ” Can I please ask what you use on your skin?”

My response? I eat lots of healthy foods and drink a lot of water.

20150505_223119 — Some of my fav snacks….

She went on to tell me she didn’t eat that great and maybe she needed to try that… I encouraged her to give it a try. It’s certainly not an overnight treatment program, but more like a lifelong treatment program that with consistency and time, you will get results.

Not only that with improved healthy eating it will change your body composition ( lose fat), give you energy, and internally you’ll get better lab results.

Gosh this sounds like an ad for one of those “health” products 😉

Ok so here’s my pick for top 5 foods for looking fresh….

Blueberries…. antioxidants banish free radicals keeping skin cells healthier

Salmon…. a 4 oz filet has a few days worth of omega-3’s. They’re found only in the oily part of the fish but actually help clear pores

Avocados … my fav….. are a good source of Vitamin E so they help block UV rays and prevent dry skin. Halve an avocado and it mash on toast or fill with fresh salsa. I’ll pretty much eat it any way possible 😉

Carrots… your mom was on to something. Say yes to them for smoother skin. This veggies Vitamin A helps fight off wrinkles.

Spinach…. another daily fav on mine…. it’s packed with Vitamin C which helps produce skin firming collagen. Not only that you can eat vast amounts of this super food for virtually no calories =) It is now what I use for “lettuce” in salads and it’s a regular in my morning sautéed veggie mix =)

of course, there many more great foods to enhance your health…. strawberries, black berries, sweet potatoes, broccoli, all dark leafy greens, squash…the list goes on… and again… you can eat lots of these things for minimal calories…. win/win 😉

Try incorporating more of these great foods into your daily diet… you’ve got nothing to lose.

What about you ? Have you seen a visible health improvement in how you eat ?

Calories For The Athlete

Hey boys and girls!

So if you read my last post, I talked about counting calories, or for me, the fact I don’t. I say that until last year when I was in the heaviest training I’ve done since I started getting all athletic(y).

When you’re pushing your body hard most days of the week it comes into focus that your nutrition and caloric needs need to be brought up to speed too.

I was eating healthy but quickly realized on some days my caloric needs were going to be greater than other days. It meant taking a look at my caloric output for the day (roughly) and adjusting my needs accordingly.

No, I didn’t start counting but knew I had to realistically eat more food. The tricky part for me as a distance runner is that it usually shoots my appetite. After a long run I often drank/ate because I knew my body needed it for recovery versus true hunger ( ha that often came hours later 🙂

If you have days of high intensity workouts, you need to make adjustments to your overall intake. Obviously, a day I’d run 20-23 miles my needs were greater than a day I only ran say, 4 miles.

I was recently asked how many calories I took in on those high mileage days. Technically, for my personal age and size, after a 23 mile run it was pushing 3,000 calories…. of which I can tell you I didn’t tap into. I ate as my body was hungry and feed it good food when I did.

Although, I have to say there were times when I felt like a bottomless pit haha

It’s very helpful that you understand what your BMR is. This is the number of calories you need to maintain your body doing pretty much nothing all day. I did a blog on this before or you can google up the harris- benedict calculator to find out your exact caloric needs. It then helps you figure what you need with your daily work and purposeful exercise.

I know my BMR is roughly 1500 calories ( can you see why I never managed to exist on diets that let me eat that…all day long ?? It’s not enough food!) quick figuring also showed me based on my day and my physical active level I could take in about 2,400 calories… yes!

A quick assessment if I knew my day was much more physically demanding than the “norm” told me I’d take in about 2,900 calories. I will say, I really don’t consume them all, but on some days maybe I should. It’s just hard for me to eat when I’m not hungry, even understanding at that point, food is fuel to help my body recover from the demands I put on it that day.

The beauty of this is understanding and adjusting your needs based on your exercise level. I really am addressing high intensity and duration workouts here ( long cycling or running) usually lasting over an hour or more.

By understanding this, you can feed your body adequately on hard work days, and cut back on easier days.

I found two books to be extremely helpful in the past year as I’ve plowed through my training.

20150924_175442 Whereas I found this book helpful athletically, it’s also written and is good for the rest of the world too. Solid, sound nutritional advice can guide an individual to successful weight loss.

If I could pull one chapter out and make everyone read it that would be Chapter 15… “How to lose weight without starving” Nancy Clark offers sustainable and realistic nutritional advice and expertise. It’s a book well worth having in your personal library.

Of course she covers meals and nutrition for the athlete, the importance of good fueling for success, snack ideas and lots more.

endurance book This book I picked up training for my marathon and 50K. It gets into the science of nutrition for endurance athletes, the need for good fuel, ways to understand and know your fuel needs, how and what to eat for training and everyday life. Areas covered are running, cycling, triathlons, mountain biking, swimming and rowing. If you’re an endurance athlete I highly recommend it. There is a new edition out, but the one I’m showing I got on half.com for .75 plus shipping… what a deal!

Ok… I’m done plugging books haha 😉 I only plug ones I think are super helpful and beneficial.

You don’t need to count calories as an athlete, but being educated and understanding your nutritional needs is key to success in whatever activity you pursue.

If you do endurance activities, do you follow a certain plan ? Do you adjust your days nutritionally depending on your training ?

Freedom With Food

Food…. I think I may have mentioned before… I kinda like the stuff.

And I don’t mean stuff I shouldn’t eat (much) but the fact I appreciate and enjoy all the healthy good foods.

OK… disclaimer… this week I kinda got on a little baking/sweet treat binge. Chocolate chip cookies… peanut brittle … ( which I typically make at Christmas) but hey… I like shaking things up…

Can I just say… peanut brittle… is crack. That is all.

And this… when you don’t eat much sugar… and have “samples” of what you’ve made… it makes your tummy feel….bleh….

Is that a good or bad thing ?? 😉 I definitely am not tempted to eat much of it.

Food, I think we can all agree, is something we have total control over in our lives. Do we not ?

We have the freedom to eat when, how much or how little and what kinds we want to have. No one controls that.

To one extent, some use it as a source of power. It is the one thing they have absolute control over in their lives and sometimes it goes to the extreme, an eating disorder. It can also go in the other direction, eating what you want and how much with no accountability can lead to obesity and another type of eating disorder.

Food can definitely be a control/power issue.

Yet somewhere in those two extremes most of us are seeking to find a balance and order… a freedom with food that allows us treats on occasion but overall healthy eating the majority of the time to sustain life, give us optimal energy and health as well as maintain a ideal weight.

A couple years I started hearing about this rule… and well… if you know me by now… I’m a tiny bit rebellious against some rules.. especially when they involve food. Yet, somehow, this one didn’t repel me. In fact, it seemed to fit into my current philosophy on eating and getting all healthy and fit and stuff.

I started hearing about this thing called the 80/20 rule… meaning you eat good, healthy and balanced meals 80% of the time allowing in your week that 20% would be allowable for those things we really enjoy in life but have in moderation.

Birthday cake. A special dinner out. A couple of our most favorite, ever made cookies.

Just name your poison.

It seemed reasonable and sound, right ?

The other alternative thrown around I never got into the idea of, mainly ’cause it seemed so counter productive….

Cheat days.

A day set aside to eat whatever and how much of whatever… with no guilt. What if I didn’t feel like cheating that day ? What if my craving for a cookie hit…. on a different day ? Not only that, but why shoot an entire day down the toilet…not to mention how it will make my body feel.

No….. that seemed like not the best fit for me.

So over time… I’ve eased into a unstructured plan of eating although honestly at this point I probably eat more of a 90/10 rule. Not to be restrictive or crazy… I just feel better when I eat well all the time.

In an athletic way… food fuels my activities and sustains me for what I do.. as an athlete I understand I have to eat well to perform well.

You know why this idea works ? there’s such a freedom to allow you to enjoy eating what you like and to find your own healthy balance. And if you’re like me and don’t care so much for rules… this allows you to develop your own.

And no, you won’t go all crazy and eat stuff you don’t need…. after all you’re a smart grown up aren’t you ? But you can build your own plan and you will learn to be selective about the food choices you make and really determine what treats are worth having. Hint: a treat is something to have occasionally.

And as you do that you’ll find a new freedom with food you’ve never had. You’ll have power, but in a good way.

What works for you ? Have you ever tried one of the “food rules” ?

Those Necessary Vitamins And Minerals

It’s an interesting thing when hubby is in the medical field and I drag home my lab reports like a lil kid wanting to flash a report card with all “A’s” to their parents.

I show it to him letting him do his own professional look over when he proclaims that, yes, my HDL (good cholesterol ) at 80 is pretty amazing and everything else does look awesome but, “my potassium is really on the low end of the scale…. I need to eat more bananas or foods to push that up a bit.

For the record, mine was 3.7 with the low number on the scale being 3.5.

Ok, so maybe he was right. That was hovering right around the low end and those numbers don’t even reflect my body when I’m in the midst of heavy training.

Whoa…wait… maybe my dear 1.5 readers you’re sitting there scratching your head thinking… “what is potassium and why do I need to be concerned over it?”

Simplified, potassium along with sodium and chloride is one of your bodies most important electrolytes which are minerals in your blood, urine, and bodily fluids that contain an electric charge.

No kidding right ?? You’re ….electric 😉

Nearly 70% of your potassium is found in bodily fluids like plasma, blood and sweat, while the rest is stashed away in your bones. The adequate daily intake is 4.7 grams but most Americans don’t get enough in their diets… remember it’s flushed from your body in several ways making it a daily ongoing renewal.

This mineral does a lot of other things, like keeping your blood pressure in check among others.

In an average day we lose potassium through urine and sweat, but here’s where I sat up and paid more attention.

Athletes can have a higher loss due to more sweating, more so if you really sweat out a lot ( which I do). Lower potassium levels can decrease your endurance and energy. Specifically, potassium works to regulate the nerves and muscles, it is also involved in the storage of carbohydrates to fuel your muscles. You need to consume potassium rich foods every day, especially if you’re an athlete.

It definitely is something I will be making a more intentional focus on especially as we move into warmer months where sweat abounds in physical activities 😛

So what will my strategy be? I’ve made a list of high and medium potassium foods, the majority of which I eat. Bananas are a high potassium food so I’ll be intentionally hammering out two a day.

Todays afternoon snack was a banana with some raw almonds =) I’m just going to keep track daily for awhile to see what my intake actually is.

I’m not getting all crazy over it… just some purposeful eating and then careful attention to my performance to notice any changes.

Who would think a mineral could make such a huge difference in the performance of your body?

And remember boys and girls the BEST way to get all of your vitamins and minerals is eating real food….not through shakes, pills, patches, powders or other random drink things.

This is ends your public service announcement 😉

Fuel Your Body Right

Food.

It’s no grand secret it’s the key to life 😉 I really kinda like the stuff too.

I mean seriously, when you are honest to goodness hungry and you want to eat the first thing that moves, doesn’t food taste… amazing ?? I don’t feel like that if I’m not hungry.

Give me an hour after an intense workout and I can do food like a piranha.

piranaha — Attractive, I know. Me….a couple hours after a serious long run….

And there’s sooo much deliciousness in this world we can choose from… vast amounts of food to handle our daily needs… aren’t we blessed?

Now here comes the trickier part… if we keep in mind that food is fuel for our body… to give us energy, balance, and stability for our day…we need to consider how we are fueling.

That can require some thought and preparation so when we are in full blown hunger mode, we can still make smart choices.

One thing I’m starting and it’s not a novel idea is chopping up all kinds of raw veggies and tossing them in a Ziploc bag. Now I know people do food prep and have cute little containers for the week or day, but I think it takes up to much space and my veggies don’t mind gettin’ all close and comfy in the same bag together 😉

This is handy in several ways for me. If I need a fast snack and those veggies are ready to go, I am way more likely to graze on them ( instant gratification) and if I’m super on top of things, I’ve also whipped up some ranch dip made with plain Greek yogurt to have with them, if I’m so inclined. On the lunch menu, I really love salads so having veggies I can just toss in with my spinach and not have to cut and chop is a huge bonus.

Now all of you out there who’ve ever wondered how you get your veggie servings in … a super salad at lunch can just about get your there.. and you can snack like a ravenous beast on veggies…wheelbarrows full for minimal calories and huge nutritional benefits.

What? You can’t do it? Don’t like them so much over say, chips? Remember that habit thing we’ve been talking about ? Just start small, with what you like, and go from there.

Veggies are a wonderful fuel source for your body, and so good for you too. I love being satisfied, but not feeling lethargic, from a good lunch. The foods we eat can make us feel good, energetic, and stable or they can leave us feeling full, sluggish, lethargic and not energetic. Consider your meals and how you feel after… determine where you might need to make adjustments.

Remember the fuel illustration. If I had a high performance sports car, I wouldn’t put junk fuel in it. Take the same approach to your body.

Food prep comes in handy to help you make good choices when you need them and gives you the ability to make wise fuel choices when you might be weak. It all keeps coming back to the habits we build…. train yourself to reach for good foods.

Other things you can consider:

Hard boil eggs for a quick protein snack or to add to a salad.

Have cheese cubed for an afternoon snack with some fruit.

Make your own snack mix with raw nuts and craisins ( I like the 50% less sugar ones) keep in small bags for when you’re on the run.

Greek yogurts… ready to go.

I love sweet potatoes. I usually roast extra at night so I can use in salads or for breakfast.

Mix up tuna with avocado. I love it by itself with some fruit or you can have it on a sandwich.

Keep fruit washed in ‘fridge so it’s ready to grab.

I know when I’m hungry I’m less likely to take time to do certain things, so if I’ve prepared in advance, it definitely helps keep me on the right eating track. Making good choices makes me not just feel better physically, but mentally too.

Do you do food prep? If so, what tricks do you have?

The Great Diet Debate

Diets. Diets. Diets.

They abound everywhere, do they not ? There are the ones that seem to have been around forever, there are the ones that are major “companies” where you get support systems and eat their food, let’s not forget the current trendy ones all over internet, or ones that your neighbor is hawking.

All of them structured plans with the ultimate goal, to get you thinner, and more fat free.

In my past life when I participated in the diet games I’d find whatever might look promising in a magazine and give it a try…..for a week…or two… if I could grind it out that long.

You know what I finally realized ? I really HATED being told what I had to eat, when, and how much I could have. I HATED the idea that foods I loved were “off limit”. And I really HATED the whole feeling of deprivation and lack of fun that went along with it.

Why did something that was supposed to help me feel so…. life sucking ? Confining? Annoying?

I finally got it. I think it’s important to really understand yourself, how you roll, what makes you tick. Sometimes it might take awhile, but you get it.

I’m a total free spirit and a self confessed often rebel at heart…. no wonder conventional structured “diets” worked against everything in me.

I rebelled against being boxed into someone else’s food plan and ways of eating. I didn’t want to be nailed down to “a plan”.

When I decided to take control of my life and not be locked into a structured system of eating, here’s what I realized.

Taking away things I loved, or even things I randomly ate if I felt like it, made them way more powerful in my life than they needed to be ’cause it made me think of it more than I needed to… like “I can’t have these things…therefore…I want them”

Seriously, who wants to spend their mental energy thinking of food ?

That’s when I took my power back. That’s when I realized I really was a grown up and declared nothing “off limit”. If I wanted a piece of chocolate, I’d eat it and move on. I trusted myself that I really wouldn’t eat a whole bag if I wanted a piece ( disclaimer… I never ate a whole bag of anything 😉 haha

I remember about a month in to my experiment. The fam wanted to go out for a burger. My previous “diet girl” mode would’ve been to scope out a salad, eat it, and feel deprived and left out. No… I got my burger…and fries… and enjoyed myself… and kept rolling with my plan. I got up the next morning, business as usual. No beating myself up or over crazy workouts to “compensate” for it (as if).

A couple months went by and I was losing weight AND happy at the same time ( what a concept) overall I was making good food choices, eating normally, and allowing occasional treats …. those are the things that allow you to still feel normal while your in the process of becoming more fat free 😉

Then, along the way, I came across this verse from a man named Paul, who was an apostle I the Bible.

It said “All things are permissible but not all things are beneficial”

That really resonated with me and my current thoughts on eating and losing weight. All food was permissible, it just wasn’t all beneficial for me to reach my health and fitness goals.

It’s still a reminder to me. I don’t like labeling foods “good” or “bad”.

However…… I choose to examine it in the context of is it beneficial for me? For my overall health? for my fitness goals? for how I feel ?

I’m not sure where you are on your fitness and health journey. Maybe your doing just fine or may these words might be helpful to you in your process to lose weight.

All (foods) are permissible, but not all (foods) are beneficial. (mine)

Take your power back.

Cookie Cutter Diets Part 3

Diet, diet, diet.

That’s all that can often consume our minds when we’ve got some weight to lose, isn’t it ? Which one to do ? Which might offer the biggest bang for our time and investment of energies and most of all yield the biggest rewards?

As you read in part two of my series, sometimes the idea of starting a diet was a better idea than well, actually DOING the diet. And the best part was when I painfully struggled to the end and cried “Uncle” when I finished… or when the diet finished me…. whichever came first.

Losing weight isn’t easy. It requires work and sacrifice and determination to make it happen.

Often though we go about it by trying to fit into a plan that isn’t made or designed for us. We try to adapt and follow a set of rules someone else has made with food choices they have selected and we try and be good and make it work…. we do. Some of us might be successful, but for the most, it’s a reverting back to our old ways of what we know, and what we eat.

What if perhaps, there was something that was more made for us as … gasp… individuals ? Something that took in to account our unique likes and food preferences ? Could we, maybe then, have success ?

When I started on my health and fitness journey, there was one thing I determined early on. I was not going to make any food “off limits”. I understood that I was an adult and quiet capable of controlling myself and not splurging on the whole carton of ice cream. Somehow doing that took the power out of those foods. Knowing they were still there IF I wanted them seemed to put them in a proper place. No one was taking anything away from me. I could completely have that chocolate shake….. if I wanted it.

Now I was in control. Those foods were there but I didn’t have to eat them.

Imagine my delight years later finding out that even high level fitness trainers didn’t restrict themselves from occasional treats. If I had a moment I wanted something, I allowed myself a little, and moved on. Doing that didn’t cause binging or make me feel deprived or majorly crater my day…. and I moved along like that every single day.

Along the way I’ve learned that my body has specific caloric needs to sustain life AND specific needs for my athletic life. Every single day can be different depending on what I’m doing.

You, my faithful reader, are no different. If you’ve done your homework from the past two parts of my series, you’ve assessed the WHY of wanting to lose weight, and you were also to consider your daily life and activities as well as foods you enjoy eating. You will have set out some short and long term goals for your journey.

Because now you’ll need to figure the calories YOU personally need on a daily basis to do the things you’ve listed.

How? You might ask ? We’re gonna use a calculator to help determine your needs for daily living and any purposeful exercise. Be honest with yourself. If you don’t do any physical activity (yet) don’t plug in that you are moderately active. I’ve found the link below very helpful for figuring my daily caloric needs

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

Calculating your caloric requirement will then allow you to build your own nutrition plan based on your daily needs.

To lose weight, take your total daily number and reduce by 20%.

Keeping a food log for a few weeks will help you assess where your strengths and weaknesses are. What nutritional dense foods do you eat ? What is more empty calories? What do you need to let go of ? Where can you make improvements ?

I think it’s also important to think about that “thing” or two that you absolutely love and build a small portion of that into your weekly plan. If you don’t want it, fine. But if you have a craving, allow yourself and move on.

With practice you will begin to figure out what foods you can eat and stay within your daily calorie intake. Don’t get all crazy and think you have to keep it an exact science.

The goal is to build a sustainable plan you can keep at day in and day out and steadily, consistently lose weight. Enjoy foods you like while making intentional changes to remove or reduce foods that are not as nutritionally beneficial.

In time you will train your body to want healthier foods making it easier to maintain your new lifestyle =)

Cookie Cutter Diets Part 2

Hey! welcome back to the next part of my little series =) I thought this would work better than writing a novel you’d be reading for days…. if you missed part 1…. scamper over and check it out first.

I wanna set the stage here for you… since we’re talking about diets…. maybe you’ll relate. This was my strategy for success years ago.

* determine I was tired of being fat (yes, I’m using that word)

* decide that, “Monday was gonna be it…time to start”

* proceed to eat all random, crappy, junk type food I could shovel in to “get rid of it” over the weekend ( because all that food would never, ever be available to me again. Ever.

* decide which seriously calorie deficient diet I was gonna do, and there were LOTS to choose from.

* start on Monday with lofty expectations of being slimmer by the next weekend. Engage some furious exercise. Think of all the foods I was gonna miss.

* Tuesday… hunger is my new best friend. Food is always on my mind and I have fantasies about my next meal more than a teenage girl does Justin Bieber. Get on scale and check for weight loss. Get mad when it hasn’t changed.

*Wednesday hop onto scale… first thing early… naked… carefully balancing and holding my breath. Yay… a pound or two gone. It’s gonna be a good day. I can do this. When do we eat again ?? Weigh again later in day hoping for more good news…think about when it’s over…

* Thursday no new change in the weight. I’m getting kinda sick of a piece of fruit, an egg and water for breakfast and similar things rest of day. Hunger sticks closer than a bee on honey. I think about…cake… and cheeseburgers… and all things fat.

*Friday almost have a week down. I’m getting used to the light headedness from not enough food… besides the scale told me another pound was gone… I can handle being hungry…. I’ve been thinking about “when this is over” and getting back to normal.

* Saturday… I’ve been good! I deserve a treat, or two, or three… right ?? And the whole day turns into a happy eating feast of all things that have been banished in the past week. OMG… it all tastes sooo good.

*Sunday… I’m not realllyyyy needing to lose weight, am I? I mean, I never will be able to anyway…so… I might as well just do what I’ve been doing…. maybe I’m supposed to just be like this. I just don’t have the will power or strength to be successful.

* Monday…. resume my old ways. Resolve to try again another day.

Do you relate ? Have you done things like this ? You can tell me in the comments section.

I’ve since learned a lot. There were several flaws with my plan for weight loss.

→ Not understanding my needs or exactly how many calories my body required to just be alive on a daily basis. At the time 1200 calories was standard diet fare ( sadly it still is today) If you were living large, 1500. Imagine my shock when not to long ago I learned that my daily BMR (basal metabolic rate which we’ll talk about later) was actually 1500 calories. This is if I were to sit on sofa doing nothing and to support the normal functioning of my body. No wonder I was hungry all the time! There were no extra calories for my daily living or exercise built in.

→ Removing, depriving and taking away everything I perceived as “bad” Giving power to foods and not keeping them in a proper perspective. We are living life and have to allow for it even as we pursue our weight loss goals. Occasional treats keep us on target and cut off binging. Putting foods on a banished list only made me think of them more.

→ Not treating my body with respect by giving it adequate food for health and living. Being hungry is a God given signal to feed our body.

→ Not having realistic goals for myself. I would not reach a slim status in one week. That set me up for failure…. as if not enough food wouldn’t.

→ Not setting long term, permanent, life goals instead of just weeks out goals.

→ Trying to fit my body into that standard diet and not knowing my own needs.

When you and I began to grasp and understand that we should be focused on all of our lives and not just a few weeks or months, we’ve made huge progress. Eating well and movement are, or should be, what we do all our life.

Now, remember your homework you had from last post ? You were supposed to set a goal and determine what your weight loss fitness goals are

Now along side that I want you to consider what your needs are. Could you relate on any level to my story above ? What mental changes do you need to make for success ?

Finally, think about your life. Your work , activities, hobbies, exercise etc. and consider what kinds of food will give you energy and help you on your weight loss journey.

In our next post we will look at how to figure how many calories you personally need to reach your goals and most importantly how to make it your plan for success.

Cookie Cutter Diets Part 1

As I shared with you in another post, one of the questions I get from seeking people is :

What do you eat?

They know I’ve been on this journey for a few years now and they are wondering what “formula” I use and would that be successful to help them achieve their fitness/health goals.

Overall, I think I eat fairly well, but will freely admit I haven’t “arrived” in a perfect nutritional way ( I still like my occasional treats 😉

I don’ t micro manage macros and micros and obsess over every single calorie. Personally, I find that really freeing, but it is a process I’ve learned for myself these past few years.

Now keep in mind, I certainly wouldn’t be offering them a horrible food plan. In fact, it would (overall) probably be very beneficial to them. I have enough knowledge to help them figure out basic daily calorie needs and how to operate within that structure.

But here’s the deal. Just because what I’m doing works for me…. doesn’t mean it will work for every person who approaches me. I’ve really developed my own thing over time that allows me to live my life, and do my athletic(y) stuff too. I’ve gotten a pretty good balance of how much food I need to lose or maintain my weight and operate in those boundaries.

You know what that’s called? Sustainable.

I’ve worked out a healthier way of eating and living that is easy enough for me to keep at day in and day out. It allows me to eat overall healthy 90-95% of the time and still lets me have some of my fav treats when I want them ( like those Peanut M&M’s 😉 and I’ll tell you, the less you eat it, the less you want it. Your tastes really do start changing with a healthier diet.

As far as nutritionally from an athletic stand point, I’ve really had to teach/train myself more to take in adequate food for training because my needs really can vary day to day. Obviously, doing a 20+ mile run will require more than a 4 mile run. It really becomes a matter of learning to fine tune what each days needs are. And I’m pretty sure, you, my lovely reader, are no different.

So what would tips/suggestions or helpful advice would I offer up to someone asking ?

First, let’s start with this. It’s important to really know and understand your goals. What are you wanting to achieve ? Have something clearly defined… write it down or post it where you can see it.

Is it primarily weight loss with the goal to improve your lab results? to lose fat, lower blood pressure, prevent disease, to have more energy, less aches and pains, and better quality of life ? To just… move better ?

Do you have a specific athletic goal in mind ? Training for a 5k, or maybe a longer race? Maybe you want to learn to run. It could be cycling or maybe a triathlon. It could be you’re wanting to get stronger, build some muscles. Perhaps it’s just to get out and walk for a couple miles and not be out of breath doing it… or hurting and exhausted.

You might be at a place where your weight is managed but maybe you’re wanting to focus more on building and defining what you currently have. More aesthetics. You could be highly motivated and want to do figure competition.

Defining your goals are very important to help identify where you want to go before you just jump into a standard 1200 calorie per day diet ( please, please don’t do that.. we’ll talk more on that later)

There’s a reason I titled this Cookie Cutter Diets our nutritional needs are not all alike! And depending on what our lives involve, those needs can change day to day.

I believe one of the keys to success is not just jumping into a horribly restrictive food plan, cutting out all things you love, and hoping to grind it out for maybe 2 weeks, getting frustrated you don’t see instant results, and then **with a sigh of relief** at the end of those weeks, you go back to what you know and what you’ve been comfortable in.

Once again you…. abandon your weight loss attempts and determine it’s to hard and you’ll never accomplish it.

BUT, if you make small gradual changes, and add slow and steady exercise that doesn’t kill you on day one, your chances of success greatly increase.

Now, you’re job is to determine what you want and how to go after it.

That’s your homework.

Think on it, and come back for the next part where we figure out what kind of calories you really DO need each day to reach your goals, and sustain them.

So Much Food. What To Eat ?

So today’s post is coming from questions I sometimes get… and there can be some interesting ones 😉 one that has come up several times is this :

In regards to health and wellness, it’s the “what do you eat / do for meals ?” question

Let me say first, what works for me, might not be the “thing” that works for you.

Also, on any given day what I eat depends on the training I’m doing. Obviously, my needs are greater with a 20+ mile run, versus a strength training day so my caloric intake can be quite different.

And the other thing…. it will also depend on our likes and dislikes and overall personal tastes. I don’t follow any current “trends” of don’t eat this or that. Unless you have a food allergy/health reason, eat the food. It disturbs me how many people today follow a certain trend without even knowing the why’s of doing it….

…

There are some things that I do which, I believe, are beneficial to everyone….

I rarely eat fast food. I don’t do a lot of processed, refined or fatty foods. I keep sugar to a minimum. I don’t drink alcohol or sugary drinks or fake sugars. I skip creamy stuff like mayo, spreads, and those sort of items. I prefer whole grain/brown foods over “white”.

I do drink a ton of water (’cause I really do like it and it’s the best thing for your body)

Side note…. I don’t use bottles… I really run around with a big glass full of ice water.. it travels everywhere with me.

20150317_085321 — One of my fav healthy breakfasts….

Fruits and veggies make up a large part of my daily nutrition. Not shown here are sweet potatoes. Such tasty little suckers. I often roast them with some olive oil for dinner, and use the cold ones with my breakfast or toss them in with my lunch salad. These are a great nutritional super food.

I believe dairy is important (especially for women) so I try and get in a couple glasses of milk a day and my Greek yogurt snacks 🙂

20150324_200546 — seriously, the best. I also add a few roasted coconut almonds into it for a tasty midafternoon snack

Protein is very important with my training to make sure my muscles have enough to grow on =) I know it’s not currently trendy, but I love real milk. No apologies.

Eggs are a perfect breakfast food for me. I also keep them hard boiled for afternoon snacks. I eat the whole egg… the most important nutrients are contained in the yolk. I find protein does a much better job to keep me feeling satisfied and “level”.

I have no issues with “grains” and enjoy multi whole grain breads/bagels, oatmeal and some cereals.

20150324_200856 — Keeping foods that are easy to quickly grab in your ‘fridge is a first step to making good snack choices =)

Basically, I try and eat, the majority of the time healthy foods. I don’t believe in eliminating food groups unless you have a valid health reason to do so.

Oh, and some treats are allowed and completely enjoyed at times =)

And of course, this is always a part of my day. Isn’t coffee a food group ??

I’ll tell you this, of myself and people I know who have it going on nutritionally, they have a strong foundation in their daily diet of lots of fruits and veggies. These not only fill you up with less calories, the nutrients they deliver to your body contribute to your overall health,wellness and appearance.

If you don’t currently eat a lot of these tasty food items do this:

Start by eating more of what you like.
Try something new every day or two.
Cook veggies in different ways. I love roasting or sautéing mine
Experiment with new recipes to get more veggies in.
Do fruit salads instead of veggie salads in your meals.
Reach for these things as snack items…understand you must train yourself to do so.
Stop treating these foods like they are the enemy…they are health and wellness for you.

Oh, and if you can’t STAND a certain veggie/fruit… then.. don’t eat it! There’s a lot more out there to choose from.

Making slow shifts in your daily diet and replacing not so good foods with better choices will get you on a healthy lifestyle path =)