back in weight-loss mode

So I gained a few pounds. There. I said it. This can be expected with so many changes happening like an engagement, a new house…planning a wedding. Yes, it is a happy time, but also a stressful time. To deal with all this stress, I do what I always do…I eat my feelings. The month of May was a whirlwind of cookouts, birthdays, and celebration. I drank more than usual, I ate lots of burgers and hot dogs (with buns), and I indulged in dessert…a lot. Though I kept up with my regular gym schedule, the shift in my eating habits caused me to put on some extra fluff. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to make me uncomfortable. The wake-up call was when I tried on my bridesmaid’s dress for a wedding this coming August. I knew it would have to be altered no matter what, since my top half is three sizes smaller than my bottom…but when I tried it on, it was just a bit too snug. Yep, baby got back.

I’m glad I didn’t hold back on the celebrating part, but that’s not what caused this weight gain. It was the trips to the vending machine at work, the late night treats while I was home alone and overwhelmed by all there was to do around the house. The stress-eating.

Now that the excitement has fizzled and the celebrating has died down, I can get back on track. We have chosen a wedding venue, which has significantly reduced my stress level, and I feel like I can finally see the horizon. The weather continues to get better every day (except for the layer of yellow pollen everywhere inside and out), and my body naturally craves lighter meals this time of year. I’m not going to follow a specific diet, but I gave myself a few key rules to lose this extra weight:

• no processed foods
• minimal grains, if any…and only in the morning
• only natural sugars like maple syrup and honey, but kept to a minimum
• EAT ALL THE VEGGIES!
• EAT ALL THE PROTEIN!
• GRILL ALL THE FOODS!

These rules have worked for me in the past, so I’m going to try my best to make it work again. I’m also trying really hard to wait for my hunger cues and listen to my body. It’s extremely difficult to remember to be aware of these things 24/7!

Sorry for the extra-long post…but let’s get to the whole point…the food! I haven’t participated in WIAW since Mother’s Day, so it’s been over a month! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen some of these things I’ve been eating lately:

I am obsessed with sunny side up eggs in the morning. I sometimes eat them with some toasted Ezekiel bread to sop up the yolk, or I just top them with sprouts and have at it. So good.

I had a lot of dill leftover from a recipe, so I ended up using it on my eggs with some goat cheese. Such a great combo!

I bought these cherries for a day at the beach last weekend and have been enjoying them as a sweet snack at work. I forgot how good they are!

Loving the smoothies as usual…this one especially:
Energizing Blueberry Maca Smoothie: 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup almond milk, 1 tsp maca powder, and 2 tbsp vanilla protein powder.

Speaking of smoothies, I’ve had a few questions about the things I add to my smoothies. I always add chia seeds, ground flax, and just recently, hemp hearts. These things give an extra boost of nutrition and also make it more filling.

Sweet potatoes at work! I love buying the microwaveable kind because they’re so easy. I just put a little coconut oil on it and it’s like dessert for lunch.

That’s it! Thanks to Jen over at Peas and Crayons for hosting this week’s What I Ate Wednesday!

What have you been eating?

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foods I hate that everyone is obsessed with

We made it halfway through the first week of March! Congrats. For this week’s What I Ate Wednesday, I decided to do a special theme. I guess if you want to get all technical, today would be “What I won’t eat Wednesday.”

Every so often I’ll come across someone who claims they’re “just not an ice cream person.” Um, what? Seriously? I can’t relate to those people. Which is probably why I don’t associate with them very often. Then again, there are a lot of foods I don’t like that everyone else raves about. Such as…

1. Buffalo Chicken

[Source]

Not a fan of spicy foods, but this is just beyond spicy. It’s like…weird spicy. There’s something else in there. It is not enjoyable for me.

2. Sriracha

[Source]

Okay, I’ve never actually tried this…but it’s very spicy, and me no-likey spicy things.

3. Avocados

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This is a texture thing for me. I actually do love guacamole, but sliced avocados by themselves or in sushi? No way, Jose.

4. Quest Bars

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I was super excited about these because everyone says such good things, but when I finally tried them, I was disappointed. They are SO chewy and make my jaw hurt, and they don’t taste too great. I can taste the funky artificial flavors, which is why I prefer to just make my own snack bars!

5. Pepperoni

[source]

I’ll eat a greasy cheese pizza all day long but if it has been within the vicinity of pepperoni…fahgeddabadit. People say “Oh, sorry, I only ordered pepperoni…you can just peel it off.” Um, no. The taste still lingers on that precious cheese and I will not touch it.

What about you? Any foods you dislike that others rave about?

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Confession: I don’t always eat healthy

Kicking off hump day with another What I Ate Wednesday! Thanks, Jenn for hosting! (Technically this is what I ate yesterday/Tuesday) I also want to take this opportunity to explain that I don’t always eat 100% healthy. If I did a WIAW post last week, you would have seen the countless brownies I stuffed my face with while on a photo shoot for work. It was catered, so there was a lot of tempting food around, and I couldn’t resist. I had a bagel (gasp), some munchkins (oh, the horror!), a mystery wrap (tuna, I think), chips (at least they were multigrain?), and lots of cookies and brownies. I felt awful physically and mentally because I totally went overboard. I don’t eat those types of foods too often because of their sugar content, so my body was acting like a drug addict that was relapsing and kept going back for more. These days happen, but they remind me why it’s so important to eat healthy. I’m back on track this week, and I feel like a different person. No mood swings and no bloating, and most importantly I am back from my brief blogging hiatus. This proves that the key to creativity is to maintain a healthy lifestyle! Now, on to the eats:

• 5:30am // PB on ezekiel bread to fuel my morning workout
• 7:30am // another version of my cinnamon protein pancakes, this time with blueberries inside, topped with almond butter, sliced banana, and maple syrup
• 9:00am // green tea!
• 11:00am // a sad looking jar of greek yogurt and thawed out mangoes and raspberries…with a slight coffee flavor because the lid of the jar had been used for a jar of ground coffee and wasn’t washed, oops!
• Noon // handful of almonds
• 1:00pm // leftover stuffed squash from the night before…this photo was from that night since the squash stuffed into my tupperware wasn’t too appetizing looking, but tasted great! One half was a perfect portion, it’s a lot more filling that it looks. This also got rave reviews from the boyfriend, claiming it as the “best rice I’ve ever made.”
• 2:30pm // carrot sticks and hummus! Guess my lunch really wasn’t so filling after all?
• 5:10pm // went for Mexican with some coworkers after work. In an effort to refrain from dumping the chip basket in my mouth, I put some on a napkin. But then three hours later we were still there and I went back to the basket anyways. I tried, right?
• 5:30pm // ordered a veggie burrito sans the wrap, it was delicious! I could only eat about half of what you see in the photo. So much food.

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don’t diet, change your diet

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Diets don’t work. You can’t simply restrict carbs or sugar for a few weeks and expect to lose weight and keep if off when your diet ends. I’m sure most of you know this by now, but the information is confusing. If diets don’t work, then what does? Isn’t “eating healthy” still considered being on a diet? There is a huge difference between being on a diet and your diet. Being on a diet means you are limiting your food intake as well as your food choices, but only for a certain amount of time. It’s not a permanent thing, so you keep telling yourself “no cookies for two weeks!” and when that two weeks is up, you eat two boxes of cookies in five minutes flat. Sound familiar? Then you need to think about changing your diet instead of being on one.

When you eat nutrient rich foods, you don’t have room for all that junk that contains no nutritional value at all. If you fill up on meat, veggies, and whole grains, you won’t want that giant bowl of ice cream afterwards. Maybe you have a few bites of it, but that’s okay. I find that sweet potatoes are particularly filling and keep my junk food cravings at bay, especially if I’m eating plenty of protein. On days that I don’t eat enough protein, I find myself searching for an unhealthy snack or candy bar.

You’ll need to learn what is healthy and what isn’t. This is hard because the food industry can be very deceiving these days. There are so many products labeled “low-fat” or “reduced-fat.” Do not trust anything that claims it’s good for you. I try not to buy too much processed food, but when I do, I go by my one rule: the lesser amount of ingredients, the better.

Sometimes you won’t have control over what food is being served. This is where I compromise. Let me demonstrate: This past weekend when burgers and grilled veggies were on the menu, I took a large helping of veggies, and a burger sans bun. Since I didn’t have all the empty calories from that bun, I let myself have a small slice of cake afterwards. And I was satisfied.

It might be hard to find a balance at first while you have the previous mindset of dieting. You’ll want to restrict some foods subconsciously, and you might binge on them later. Just don’t give up. It’s a learning process, but it’s worth it in the long run.

fitness survey

I keep seeing this survey out there on the bloggersphere so I decided to give it a go. Hey, why not?

1. What did you eat for breakfast?

Protein Pancakes, going on ten days now and still not sick of them!

2. How much water do you drink a day?

Let’s see…I drink about a cup before the gym, then another mixed with protein after, then a whole nalgene container during the day at work, and another glass during dinner. Soooo…that much.

3. What is your current favorite workout?

Right now I’m enjoying my Livefit program more than any other workout I’ve done!

4. How many calories do you eat a day?

Not sure, but to give you some perspective I ate 600 calories before 9:00am yesterday.

5. What are your favorite healthy snacks?

A spoonful of peanut or almond butter, hardboiled eggs, peppers & hummus, almonds, larabars, grapes, apples, watermelon, it just goes on.

6. What do you usually eat for lunch?

I eat salads in the summer, and in the winter I bring soup or leftovers.

7. What is your favorite body part to strength train?

Legs! I don’t know if it’s related to the fact that I don’t do cardio when I do legs, but I sure love leg day.

8. What is your least favorite body part to strength train?

Triceps or abs. Ouch.

9. What are your “bad” food cravings?

Cookies. Chocolate. Cake. Brownies. Ice cream. All of it.

10. Do you take vitamins or supplements?

I take a women’s vitamin that has calcium and vitamin D, and I take a protein shake after workouts.

11. How often do you eat out?

We try to limit it to once a week, but usually birthdays and holidays happen and next thing you know we’ve eaten every meal out during the weekend.

12. Do you eat fast food?

In emergencies I’ll grab a feta wrap at Starbucks, but I stay away from the burger joints, Dunks, and even “healthy fast food” like Panera.

13. Who is your biggest supporter?

My best friend Steph and I have similar interests when it comes to food & fitness. If one of us is having a rough time, we’ll text the other for some words of encouragement.

14. Do you have a gym membership?

As of last month, I sure do!

15. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

It varies, but I usually get my 8 hours

16. Do you have a “cheat”day?

No, because I “cheat” just about everyday. I try not to think of it as cheating, because I’m not committing a crime…I just want a cookie, gimme a break!

17. Do you drink alcohol?

Yup. I have a small glass of red wine on Tuesday night’s at my pottery class, and sometimes on weekends I’ll indulge in a martini or two (or six depending on the occasion).

18. Do you have a workout buddy?

No, I go solo.

19. What is the best thing that has changed about your life since committing to a healthy lifestyle?

I’ve accepted my body and feel confident. Yes I went down a few pant sizes, but I just feel so much better now. Knowing I’m being healthy and making good choices makes me feel successful in life.

20. What was the last healthy thing you did?

I drank a cup of yogi green tea.

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There you have it. I’d love to hear some of your survey answers, please comment!