Good morning!
Let me ask you something. When you hear the word "diet", what comes to your mind? For me, I immediately cringe, roll my eyes, and think of the word "temporary". Because that's exactly what a diet is. Have you ever seen anybody go on a diet, and eat that way the rest of their life? Not me. Diets are a FAD. And half of the time they aren't even good for you. Every person I have seen, including myself, go on a diet, either does really well, loses weight fast, goes off the diet and the weight comes right back. OR if you are anything like me, I only lasted about a week of being miserable and hungry. I have tried every diet out there, from KETO to HCG, starvation, meal replacement smoothies, yadda yadda yadda.
Nobody likes being told they can't have something, especially when it comes to food.
When it comes to eating healthy, and living healthy for the rest of your life, you don't have to cut out junk food completely. It's called MODERATION. All things in moderation. With anything in life. I love the 80/20 rule. You can apply it to anything, especially food. 80% nutritious foods, 20%... not so nutritious. But let me tell you something, when you pair daily exercise with your new lifestyle of eating good foods that fuel your body, you crave the junk food less. I still eat ice cream here and there, or cookies when my Mama bakes them. Fries, chips, pizza..you get my drift. I just don't eat them all the time. One day of having some pizza, or a burger and fries is not going to throw you off track! I always got so frustrated when we would have family gatherings, and I couldn't eat whatever food was prepared because it went against my "diet".
When I really started researching food, and what it does for the body, eating healthy became exciting and interesting. I love to cook, so coming up with ways to make veggies delicious was a fun challenge for me. I now love vegetables and can even sometimes get my picky eaters to love them too. Key word, sometimes. I'm still working on them, haha! There's a really good rule of thumb when going grocery shopping. Stick to the outer edges of the store. That is where all of your non processed foods are going to live. In the cold sections, and the produce area. Obviously I'm not saying to never go into the middle area, remember the 80/20 rule? Apply it to your groceries ;).
Below is an example of what I usually eat in a day:
- Right when I wake up I chug some water, this gets your organs a good jump start after resting all night.
- Then of course I drink my coffee with collagen and creamer. I love the Chobani Creamer. There are zero chemicals, low sugar, and it contains real cream. It's delish.
- After my workout, I make a protein smoothie. It contians spinach, a cup of frozen fruit, a banana, vanilla protein powder, and a cup of water. Blended up into a thick, creamy smoothie.
- I'm not going to lie, lunch time is hard for me. I'm not usually that hungry around lunch so it often consists of either a protein bar, an apple with peanut butter, yogurt, something more snacky!
- If I am hungry though, I make a turkey sandwich or avocado on toast. I keep it sweet and simple. Busy mama means the simpler, the better!
- I tend to make a lot of the same things every day. I switch up dinner time every now and then but it's a consistent rotation of the same things. I love me some grilled chicken, a sweet potato, and some roasted veggies, usually broccoli! Sometimes I get fancy and make goulash, or chicken enchiladas with pineapple and spinach (my newest obsession). I will make a posts of each recipe I love and make often, with some pictures!
