'Tis the season for New year’s resolutions, and while we’re
all still motivated to keep them up, I thought I’d talk about the most popular
resolution, getting healthy.
So I was talking with one of the ladies I work with the
other day, because she’s trying to loose weight. I always like to talk about
stuff like this, not only because I find it interesting, but because I know
what these people are going through. Not too long ago, I was pretty fat, until
my church started a program called C3Fit, where the whole church would come
together and try to live healthier. (Your body is a temple, etc. You get the
idea.) Doing that through my church kick-started my interest in health, and to
date I have lost 45 pounds, solely with exercise and eating healthier
foods/portions.
I want to say something right off the bat. I am not a
vegetarian or a vegan, and I don’t eat super healthy organic everything all the
time. I had Taco Bell last week. So I just want to let you know that you can
live a healthier lifestyle and not deprive yourself, or be that friend who is
always complaining about how they can’t have what their younger friends are
having because they’re a victim of a slowing metabolism, or whatever. I have
had to give a up a few things, but I found in the long run that I didn’t even
miss them or want them.
I guess I’ll start with the foods I gave up, but it’s a
small list, so don’t panic. I stopped drinking soda and eating candy. I still
will have those things now and again though. I’ll have a glass of soda maybe
when I’m eating out…and you gotta have soda when you’re eating pizza! They just
go together! But I was drinking three or four cans a day, and that’s a lot of
fructose, which is what causes belly fat. When I gave up soda, I actually did
it because I read somewhere that drinking it was bad for your skin, and I had
really bad skin at the time. So I decided I wasn’t going to drink it anymore,
and I gave it up cold turkey, fully expecting to go nuts craving it within
three days. But you know what? I never had any cravings for that soda! Now I
feel like I can enjoy the soda more now, because I’ve made it a treat.
The candy was something I started eliminating from my diet
when my parents made me do this fasting thing(Which was horrible.) As I was
going through this fast, my youth group had a pizza party that I didn’t know
about until I got there(Doesn’t that just suck when you’re on a fast?!) And,
knowing I couldn’t have any of it, I was eyeing the pizza, and soda, and all
the things like that, but I realized I wasn’t even interested in the bowls of
candy, and it got me thinking…I wonder if I could give this up? I know it’s not
good for me. I think I’ll try it! And just like with the soda, I found I didn’t
even miss it after about a week. I know the vice for a lot of people is the
candy, but let’s face it. Chocolate is better anyway!
Those were the only things I really “gave up”. With
everything else, however, I just cut WAY back on my portions. I think this is
the only way I was able to loose weight at all, and it’s also one of the
healthiest, because you’re changing your lifestyle, but it’s not a diet. Like
my mom says, “You can’t go off your diet if you were never on one!” Eventually,
though, I did start incorporating some healthier alternatives into my diet.
First, and probably most important, I started drinking
smoothies for breakfast every morning. People drink smoothies at any time of
the day. I chose breakfast for a couple reasons:
1-It’s the most important meal of the day!!!
2-I wasn’t eating breakfast. I would always just wait for
lunch. Mostly because I liked to sleep in and wouldn’t be hungry for breakfast,
but also because all that heavy breakfast food would fill me up, and then I
wouldn’t feel hungry for lunch, so then I would eat WAY too much for dinner. And
that is really bad for you.
Anywho, so I have smoothies for breakfast. I bought myself a
nutribullet and started experimenting with different fruits and veggies. FYI, I
love my nutribullet. It is SOOOO much better than a blender, I can’t even tell
you. Seriously. When I started, I didn’t like many veggies, so I would add as
much fruit as possible and leave the veggies as almost an afterthought. As time
went by, and my body got used to eating healthier foods, however, I started
adjusting my fruit-to-veggie ratio, and now I’m almost entirely veggies, with
the fruits acting as flavor. I made a video showing how to make my favorite
smoothie that you can check out now:
When I was fat, I thought the only way to loose weight was
to starve yourself, and I was pretty sure I would never be able to do it. But I
started doing my research, and I discovered snacking.
Best. Discovery. Ever. To supplement my smaller meal portions, I started eating
little snacks throughout the day. Little things, like a Clementine, or a
handful of carrots or apples, or, my newest discovery, dates. While having a
small snack a couple times a day has been proven to be a healthier way of
eating, I had to be careful what I was snacking on. It’s really easy to go for
chips, etc. That’s a snack food. I had to do a lot of reading, but I did
eventually find several things I could snack on that wouldn’t blow my whole
day.
Do you ever watch those healthy cooking shows where they
make holiday favorites like mashed potatoes, but they use cauliflower instead
of spuds, and you just sit there like “No.” Because we all know it’s not really
mashed potatoes! DUH! One of those foods I didn’t believe in was Spaghetti
squash. It’s supposed to replace pasta, hence the name. But I saw it on an
episode of Doctor Oz, and I trust what he says more than those pinterest
recipes, so I thought I’d give it a try. If I don’t like it, I don’t have to do
it again! But here’s the thing. Spaghetti squash is freaking amazing! Like,
something that isn’t pasta shouldn’t taste that good. My personal favorite way
to eat it is by making mac and cheese, with the spaghetti squash as the “mac”,
and then I just make my own cheese sauce. From this experience I learned to try
new things! Sometimes I failed epically, but I found a lot of new foods that I
really liked!
Along with eating healthier, I very recently started
counting my calories, purely because I was curious about how many calories I
was eating. I found an app called
My Fitness Pal that not only counts my
calories, but keeps track of my water intake and how many calories I burn with
exercise!
Which brings me to exercise. Anybody who’s put any kind of
thought into weight loss knows you can’t get fit if you don’t exercise…which
was a hard concept for me. I am probably the laziest person in the history of
the world…no, I take that back. My sister took the trophy when she started
texting her kids(in the same room) to go get her something(also in the same
room). But I’m up there in lazy!
I don’t really have any advise about exercise, except to
just grit your teeth and do it anyway. And make it fun. I knew I wasn’t going
to do it if I wasn’t enjoying myself. I tried pretty much everything, but I
found out I liked Zumba WAY more than I liked Pilates. But my mom prefers
Pilates, so you just have to try it all and see what you like best. I was also
able to find exercises that I could do in front of the TV, meaning you never
loose sight of the screen, and I knew that would work really well for me
because I watch a lot of TV. Just do your research. Pinterest has been a huge
source for me, for sure!
As I began to get more into a routine with my workouts and
was able to do more, I started looking for harder workouts. This past summer, I
got into running, and I really love it. Cardio is REALLY important to weight
loss. You can build all the muscle you want, but cardio is what will melt the
fat so you can see that muscle. I used the C25kfree app, which was a life
saver. My first time running was with my neighbor, who’s idea of a beginner’s
workout was four miles. Yeah no. But I randomly found this app, which starts
you out slow, and with only one mile. It’s a 9-week program, and I think the
first week was to walk five minues, run one minute, walk five, run one, etc.
for 30 minutes, and then slowly build from there. At the end of the program,
you should be able to run a 5k without any walking. If whatever day I was on
was still really hard, I would just keep doing it until it wasn’t hard anymore,
which is why I’m still using that program. But you can listen to your own music
and it tells you when to walk and run, and when you have a minute left. It’s
really great! If you’re thinking about taking up running, I recommend the
C25kfree app!
I know that running isn’t for everyone, and I didn’t want to
run every day, so I found MANY youtube videos and pinterest pins with
non-running workouts that I would do on my non-running days. Eventually, I
happened upon another app, called the
Wherever Workout. And that’s just what it
is. It’s an app full of 20 minute workouts designed for small spaces with
almost no equipment. All you need is a chair, and the kind of space a hotel
room might provide. It also has stretches for if you’re taking long car or
plane rides. This app was kind of like discovering gold, to be honest! And all
these apps are totally free! SCORE!
I know that, when you’re first starting out, any kind of
drastic change is daunting, and you’re like, “I can’t do that! I would be
wanting to give up like every day!” And I did. Still do. When I literally roll
out of bed in the morning, I have to have a debate with myself because I really
want to sleep longer, but I also don’t want pancake butt, so I have to decide
what I want more. Bleh. In order to let my healthy side win that argument, I
had to give myself a day off. I chose Sunday because it’s the day of rest, and
because I was already using that day to do absolutely nothing at all, but everybody
has their own “off” day. I told myself I was going to be good all week; get up
early, exercise, eat right, etc. every
day; and then Sunday I wouldn’t exercise, I would take naps, and, if I wanted
to, I would have that s’more, gosh darn it!
I think if you’re not going to go crazy doing this, you have
to give yourself an “off” day, where you don’t have to think about what you’re
doing and eating…at least for a day.
And that brings me to my last tip. Do this every day (except
your “off” day). One bad meal doesn’t make you fat, just like one good meal
doesn’t make you skinny. It took me two years to get to where I am
today…because I had to make this a lifestyle, not a diet. I had to get in the
habit of doing all of these things every. day.
If you’ve been thinking about how to live healthier, I hope
you found this helpful! Living healthy is better with a friend, so make this a
community, comment and tell me your story, or any advise you may have for me!
I’m always learning and changing, and eager to hear more! Let’s make this year
the year you actually go through with your new year’s resolution!
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