Week 1
So the first week was great, as it always is. I managed to eat within 1500 calories each day, ate a balanced fat/carbs/protein diet, drank around 6 cups of water each day, and exercised 4 times during the week. My sodium was a tad higher than what I wanted, going upwards of about 2,300mg on a couple days. However, I was really happy that I was able to meet my other numbers really closely. By the end of the week, I was able to zip and button the jeans I had bought from Kohl's, which I wasn't able to do just a week prior! Not only did the jeans fit, but I also noticed that eating healthier, drinking more water, and exercising definitely boosted my energy significantly. I realized that I didn't need coffee first thing in the morning and that I was able to concentrate in class without it. Drinking water is something that reaaaaallly helps, especially if you have a lot of bloat like me. Even if you have a hard time following a strict diet, drinking at least 6 cups of water a day helps reduce some of that water weight, makes you less bloated, which just makes you feel a lot lighter and "skinnier".
Week 2
Alright so the second week is always the hardest. My first week was excellent, but my cheat day was Sunday of that week. I'm a firm believer that every dieter should have a cheat day that they can eat anything they want, just so that they don't jump off the healthy lifestyle bandwagon because they feel deprived. However, the biggest problem with cheat days is that it can be really really hard to go back to eating healthy again the next day. That's what happened this week. Although I was eating relatively well and didn't have any binge eating episodes, I did not exercise at all this week. My salt intake went a little higher than usual and I found myself making excuses to abandon my diet and just "eat those fries" even though they were covered in fat and salt. Not good! I was having some relationship issues, but that doesn't excuse my diet derailing. Overall though, I managed to keep my intake at 1,500 calories on 4/7 days this week, and ended up cheating on 3 of the days.
Week 3
Ultimately, you have to realize that part of adopting a healthy lifestyle is to accept the mistakes, learn from them, move on, and try to avoid them in the future. Although I might have messed up my diet last week, I shook it off and started fresh this past Sunday. I went back and reviewed where I went wrong and tried to stay clear of them this week. And I'm doing pretty well! I've exercised 4x already this week (going to be 5 this afternoon) and my diet is again calorie and sodium controlled. As far as weight loss, I don't know exactly how much I've lost since I don't like weighing myself. I can tell that I have lost some weight based on how my clothes fit -- the skinny jeans fit, my other jeans seem a bit looser, and my face seems less full. However, the benefits I get from a higher self-confidence, stamina, and energy are invaluable. I feel so much lighter, healthier, and happier when I do eat healthy and exercise. I've found that I really enjoy cooking and coming up with healthy meals to make for myself. As silly as it sounds, it combines my love of cooking and shopping, and I find it fun instead of draining. Pinterest has been a great source for quick recipes, and I may do a post on that soon!
The Low-Down on Food
I wanted to write a bit more about what I've been eating on my diet. I've been tracking all of my food intake on the MyFitnessPal app. I love that thing! For my main meals, I have been making them all at home. Although I'm able to cook more right now because I have more free time, I realized that taking one day during the weekend or week to make big batches of breakfast and dinner for the week really helps. For example, last Sunday I made my own healthy breakfast sandwiches for the entire week. For dinner, I've found a ton of great healthy recipes on Pinterest. Some of my favorite discoveries have been oven-baked chicken fajitas, baked chicken parmesan, and coconut curry chicken. For lunch, I usually just reheat and eat a serving of these dinners I made these all from scratch so I could control how much sodium, fat, and carb goes into each dish. Honestly, I found that even though most of these dishes only had 300-400mg of sodium per serving and lots of protein with little fat and carbs, they were still heavy on the flavor! Cooking at home has saved me so much money and helped me discover a new hobby! It's definitely healthier than take-out or frozen dinners. However, I know that things can really get busy sometimes, leaving you with no time to cook. For those days, I love keeping some "back-up meals" in the freezer and pantry. This requires some time hunting for healthy options at the grocery store, since a lot of boxed and frozen dinners contain tons and tons of salt and fat. Right now, my favorite backup meal is the Trader Joe's Shittake Mushroom and Chicken. It's a frozen chicken dish that only takes roughly 10-15 mins to cook, but it's healthy, especially when paired with brown rice, and the sauce comes on the side. I only use half the sauce packet and find that it's still very flavorful at only 400mg sodium and 20g protein per serving. Another favorite pantry item is Annie's Macaroni and Cheese with Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs. Although it's slightly higher on the sodium, it's a great comfort food and still relatively nutritionally balanced. I also love reheating chicken nuggets when I'm in a rush, and the Trader Joe's Chicken Drummelas are the healthiest nuggets I have found on the market -- 4 nuggets carry 15g of protein with only 240mg of sodium. I love pairing these up with some Alexia Sweet Potato Fries. If you do have a busy lifestyle and can't always cook at home, I encourage you to see if there is a Trader Joe's in your neighborhood and if there is, check out their frozen aisle. They have the best frozen foods section by far at very affordable prices! They even have recipe ideas on each label at the store, if you need a little bit more inspiration :)
Snacking is something that I'm very guilty of and has been the death of diets in the past. So I knew I had to spend some time at the grocery store finding good snacking alternatives. I'm veeery picky when it comes to snacks too! I have a huge salt tooth, so I love salty and crunchy snacks. One of my faaaaavorites has been the Brown Rice Triscuits with Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper -- I featured these in my last monthly favorites. They taste soooo good by themselves but go great with cheddar cheese or hummus on top too. The Tostitos Oven Baked Scoops satisfy my chip craving without adding a ton of calories, fat, or salt. Lastly, my recent discovery has been the Trader Joe's Reduced Guilt Air-Popped Popcorn that has very little butter and salt, but still packs a ton of crunch and flavor. This is my favorite late-night snack since I can eat a ton of these for very little calories. I also made sure to eat one serving of fruit and one greek yogurt every single day as a snack. I stay away from nuts because they just don't fill me up and are high on the fat and calories.
Lastly, water intake is something that I've found to be very important. Like I mentioned above, it reduces all that bloat and if you do go a little high on sodium one day, drinking water helps flush it out. I used to haaaate drinking water, but I keep one of those tumblers around me when I'm home and sip on it throughout the day. I try to drink two tumbler-fulls for a total of 6 glasses per day. Or, if I know I'm going to be out in class or something all day, I carry around a 33oz plastic water bottle that gives me 4 glasses of water per bottle. I find that having larger bottles of water help because you don't have to refill them as much. Another thing I've been wanting to try is fruit-infused waters, which I hear is another trick to help fulfill your daily water requirements.
The Low-Down on Exercise
Exercise is something that I've always hated. The thought of driving to the gym, spending 30 minutes huffing and puffing, and the thought of more fit gym-goers judging you always drove me to skip the gym and just sit at home watching Netflix. So yes, I know how hard it can be going to the gym when you're overweight like I am. However, realize that everyone who is at the gym is there for a reason -- to make themselves feel and look better. Some people want to gain muscle, others want to lose weight. There is nothing wrong with you being at the gym -- in fact it shows your motivation and dedication! Plus, there is always one other overweight person at the gym, so you're never alone. I've found that exercise has soooo many other health benefits than just helping you lose weight. Even though I've only been exercising for 2 weeks now, I feel like I have more stamina, more energy, and just a more positive attitude. I try to do cardio 3-4x/week for 30 minutes each -- mainly the elliptical, but sometimes a high incline walk on the treadmill or a YouTube cardio workout. And then 1-2x/week, I do a body-toning workout, usually one I found on Youtube. I've been loving Ellen Barrett's Burn & Firm Pilates, but there's countless other ones. Fitness Blender have over 500 videos of different lengths, target areas, and levels, so if you're bored of your current routine, check out their page! Oh, and if you do miss a day (or hell, even a week) of workout, don't beat yourself up for it. Instead, get back to it on the next day and try to stick to a routine. You are your only judge.
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