Ever since deciding to redirect the focus of this blog toward fitness and healthy living, I’ve completely fallen off. Selfishly, I thought this would be a great way to hold myself accountable for living the healthier lifestyle we all know is best. I wanted to provide the best recipes, at home workouts, motivational tips, and mental and emotional clarity advice to my followers. Unfortunately, my plan hasn’t been as successful as I’d hoped and a fitness focus hasn’t been what I intended.
The Lifestyle
Somehow, over the last three months, I actually managed to put on weight and developed even worse eating habits than before. How on earth did that happen? With meal prepping each week and going to Pure Barre classes on a pretty normal schedule, how had my healthy-ish lifestyle made a complete 180?
As it turns out, I wasn’t eating as well as I thought and my workouts weren’t happening as often as I liked to think. Something finally clicked in my head about two weeks ago. Eating well for breakfast and lunch and then totally blowing it once I get home from work just doesn’t work. When you’re wanting to shed pounds and just feel better, you’ve gotta watch all day long. Crazy how that works right? As with the rest of life, it’s all about balance. And my diet had absolutely no balance at all.
A Balanced Life
About two weeks ago, I realized my snacking habits are the biggest downfall. With salty and sweet snacks everywhere we turn, I know I can’t be the only one who struggles with this. Anyone?
Over the last two weeks, altering meal plans has been the biggest game changer. Ensuring I have a full serving of protein, two servings of veggies, and one serving of a complex carb has helped immensely. I stay fuller longer and don’t have those crazy cravings for everything sweet and salty when I get home from work.
Picking up the habit of taking a multivitamin every day has also made a huge difference. I just take one women’s multivitamin, store brand, nothing fancy. By getting all the vitamins my body is lacking, my cravings are held to a minimum. I should note that getting your vitamins from real food is more preferable than from a pill. But many of us just aren’t able to incorporate all the vitamins we need into our diets, especially when we’re first starting off.
I’ve also replaced my daily latte with daily matcha. Matcha provides an all day boost of caffeination instead of a jittery temporary boost like coffee. Matcha is totally natural, coming from the leaves of green tea plants. It has tons of antioxidants and provides all of the benefits of green tea, plus so much more! I know that making my own matcha has been an insane difference in the way my body feels too. Making a green tea latte is so easy, ya’ll. I just add about 12 ounces of unsweetened almond milk to 1 tablespoon of organic matcha.
The Results
By eating whole meals with all the right foods, I have been feeling like a new woman. In just two weeks, making three changes to my diet has made a life changing difference. Taking a vitamin and replacing sweet and salty indulgences with complex carbs like spaghetti squash or butternut squash has made my body love me again. Incorporating whole and natural foods while eliminating processed and greasy foods has shown another new light on why I feel so much better each day. Drinking matcha with collagen peptides has made my joints, skin, and hair feel like I really am a new woman.
During that two month period when my eating was spiraling out of control and my workouts were few and far between, my body showed me that I wasn’t taking care of myself appropriately. I wasn’t sleeping soundly and would wake up with sore muscles and bones that no stretch was able to resolve. I was convinced I needed a new mattress because I was waking up so stiff and sore every single day. Over the last two weeks, I have slept better and woken up feeling more refreshed than I have in literally six months. Everything points to healthier habits all around.
The Raw Details
Instead of pretending like I eat well all the time and actually make it to every single workout class I sign up for, I’m just going to share the raw details of being a healthy living blogger. I’m not a body builder who only eats protein and has tons of great tips like I want to share. But I’m still going to share the details of my journey. I’m still going to encourage you all to continue making progress on your journey.
At this point, it’s not just about eat this, not that, or do this, not that. It’s about making progress. No matter where you are in your fitness journey, there’s still progress to be made. There are still days when all you need is a cheeseburger. I get it. The results we long for can be found with balance. It’s all about balance.
One or two cheat meals a week aren’t gonna kill you. You’ll likely feel crappy when you’re finished, but hey, it happens! My fitness focus is going to be working through the stuff other fitness people may not share. I’m going to be vulnerable with you. I’m going to share the days when I ate too much at family dinner or indulged in barbecue kettle chips. I would love you all to do the same. No matter what your goal is, where you are in your journey, or what program you’re following to healthy living, share with me. Share your goals, your defeats, and the raw details of your fitness focus. I can’t wait to interact with everyone on this!