So I went back and forth on sharing this with you ALL because this is usually something I share with just my challengers...but I started this blog to HELP as many people as possible and I know having something like this when I first started would have helped me out a ton so I hope you all find it beneficial!
Okay: I know this is a lot of information but I really wanted to help you with the area that’s most difficult for the vast majority of people—FOOOOOOD!! I will share some great links full of TONS of info but this is what has worked for me! (I can buy all of this except Quest Bars (GNC or Vitamin Shoppe) from Kroger—just wander around the “health section” and get used to it ;) )
The app My Fitness Pal is extremely helpful for tracking your food intake and you can see how your nutrients break down- highly recommend using it daily!
My typical grocery list:
Shakeology (not from the store lol learn more about it here)
Grapes
Strawberries
Organic bananas
Watermelon
Organic apples
Spinach
Celery
Baby carrots
Bell peppers
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sweet potatoes
Frozen mixed veggies (I like California style)
Frozen peas & carrots
Hummus (my fave is roasted pine nut)
Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Greek yogurt- plain (I like Greek Gods brand)
Eggs eggs and more eggs
Light (part skim) string cheese
Parmesan cheese
Free range chicken breast
Uncured, nitrate free turkey bacon
Natural almond butter (Trader Joe’s) (only ingredients should be almonds and salt)
Barilla plus pasta (yellow box) (it has protein! and other healthy stuff!)
Quinoa
Pistachios
Sunflower seeds
Old fashioned oats
Organic low sugar raspberry vinaigrette
Quest bars (only a couple per week if any. these are a great option but still have a couple ingredients I don't want to be consuming on a daily basis.)
Seasonings: Mrs. Dash, organic vanilla extract, maple flavor, cinnamon, pepper, Cholula hot sauce
Other healthy options:
Lean meats
Almonds
Any fruit or veggie
Cottage cheese
Whole grain English muffins
Ezekiel bread
I usually buy everything organic & non-gmo. The more you learn about it, the more you will, too. (About to go on a little tangent here lol) Study this or save it to your phone so each time you hit the grocery store, you know you want to find that Dirty Dozen with the ORGANIC sticker. I know, it's like, "really? as if this isn't difficult enough!" but this is the way our culture has come to create our foods- mainly because of the big population expansion and needing to make MORE food FASTER, but the FDA is many times NOT on the side of true, long-term health. This is why it's so important to take our health into our own hands and research research research!! If you haven't yet, I highly HIGHLY recommend checking out the first 20 minutes (you just give them your email address to get the link) of the Hungry for Change movie at hungryforchange.tv ...it's SHOCKING what you'll learn from that I bet it will convince you even more that this needs to be a true lifelong change for you and your family. BUT ANYWAY :D use this as a guide to know which produce you should start getting organic right away. Who wants chemicals with a side of apple? No, thanks. Not I.
Now, realize there are a million different healthy "ways to eat." There's gluten free, organic, clean, following macros (iifym), carb cycling, paleo, vegan... There's also a bunch of baaaad fad diets out there. This list I'm giving you is just what I have found successful FOR ME. I've tried different things but clean, organic eating is what I believe in. I believe you should fill your body with nutrients that are meant to be digested by our bodies…not chemicals someone made in a lab. If you want more info on any of the other ways of eating (I don't want to call it a diet because it's a lifestyle change!) then just let me know and I'll hook you up.
I try to eat my complex carbs & fruits in the morning and at lunch. For dinner and night snack I stick to mainly proteins and veggies. I don't eat things high in sugar and try to stay away from refined sugar and highly processed stuff. And yes, this includes drinks! No kool-aid, no sweet tea, no diet coke for me! I drink water, shakeo, milk, and unsweet tea only.
Now I know me, and I knew that if I tried to ease into it or allowed myself some cheats here and there, I would get frustrated by not seeing the results I wanted. (Also, the addictive stuff that's found in these "unclean" foods make it WAY harder to get back on track.) So, I dove in full force. (When my goal is to lose body fat:) I only have 1 cheat meal every 2 weeks. That may be unrealistic for you! Be honest and be careful! The last thing you want is to deprive yourself and make yourself suffer so much that it leads to binge eating. When I have those moments when I just want to stuff my face with something, anything, I do so with strawberries or carrots. When I'm feeling weak, I remind myself to FOCUS on what I want most versus what I want now. The "yummy" foods will always be there. You can wait until you are on a cheat meal or until you are down to a weight you're happier with and they’ll STILL BE THERE. It took me about 3 weeks to legitimately not crave the bad stuff anymore. Shakeology helps me with this because there are so many guilt-free sweet options to create, plus filling your body with these super healthy nutrients helps you not crave the fake stuff. Once I was seeing results, I craved more results, and when I would see something like cake I would think, "Oh man, that sounds good! Wait... No.. Not really. Plus it will veer me off course of my goals. I'll just wait till my cheat day and see if it still sounds good." Crisis averted. It’s the old “you want what you can’t have” trick that your mind plays on you..you’ll realize this when you do get a taste of it and it’s really not as yummy as you built it up to be in your head.
Here is a typical day for me:
Breakfast: Vanilla shakeo with banana, vanilla unsweetened almond milk, ice
Snack: Apple with almond butter or sweet potato with cinnamon
Lunch: Grilled chicken, mixed veggies, quinoa, hot sauce (clean “fried rice!” load up on the veggies more than the rice ;) )
Snack: Greek yogurt, string cheese
Dinner: Scrambled eggs w parmesan, turkey bacon
Snack: Raw carrots & hummus (pine nut is my fave!) and/or another Shakeo if I'm really hungry or craving something sweet!
Is this helpful?? I hope so!! Hope you all are having a great week!
Okay: I know this is a lot of information but I really wanted to help you with the area that’s most difficult for the vast majority of people—FOOOOOOD!! I will share some great links full of TONS of info but this is what has worked for me! (I can buy all of this except Quest Bars (GNC or Vitamin Shoppe) from Kroger—just wander around the “health section” and get used to it ;) )
The app My Fitness Pal is extremely helpful for tracking your food intake and you can see how your nutrients break down- highly recommend using it daily!
My typical grocery list:
Shakeology (not from the store lol learn more about it here)
Grapes
Strawberries
Organic bananas
Watermelon
Organic apples
Spinach
Celery
Baby carrots
Bell peppers
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sweet potatoes
Frozen mixed veggies (I like California style)
Frozen peas & carrots
Hummus (my fave is roasted pine nut)
Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Greek yogurt- plain (I like Greek Gods brand)
Eggs eggs and more eggs
Light (part skim) string cheese
Parmesan cheese
Free range chicken breast
Uncured, nitrate free turkey bacon
Natural almond butter (Trader Joe’s) (only ingredients should be almonds and salt)
Barilla plus pasta (yellow box) (it has protein! and other healthy stuff!)
Quinoa
Pistachios
Sunflower seeds
Old fashioned oats
Organic low sugar raspberry vinaigrette
Quest bars (only a couple per week if any. these are a great option but still have a couple ingredients I don't want to be consuming on a daily basis.)
Seasonings: Mrs. Dash, organic vanilla extract, maple flavor, cinnamon, pepper, Cholula hot sauce
Other healthy options:
Lean meats
Almonds
Any fruit or veggie
Cottage cheese
Whole grain English muffins
Ezekiel bread
I usually buy everything organic & non-gmo. The more you learn about it, the more you will, too. (About to go on a little tangent here lol) Study this or save it to your phone so each time you hit the grocery store, you know you want to find that Dirty Dozen with the ORGANIC sticker. I know, it's like, "really? as if this isn't difficult enough!" but this is the way our culture has come to create our foods- mainly because of the big population expansion and needing to make MORE food FASTER, but the FDA is many times NOT on the side of true, long-term health. This is why it's so important to take our health into our own hands and research research research!! If you haven't yet, I highly HIGHLY recommend checking out the first 20 minutes (you just give them your email address to get the link) of the Hungry for Change movie at hungryforchange.tv ...it's SHOCKING what you'll learn from that I bet it will convince you even more that this needs to be a true lifelong change for you and your family. BUT ANYWAY :D use this as a guide to know which produce you should start getting organic right away. Who wants chemicals with a side of apple? No, thanks. Not I.
Now, realize there are a million different healthy "ways to eat." There's gluten free, organic, clean, following macros (iifym), carb cycling, paleo, vegan... There's also a bunch of baaaad fad diets out there. This list I'm giving you is just what I have found successful FOR ME. I've tried different things but clean, organic eating is what I believe in. I believe you should fill your body with nutrients that are meant to be digested by our bodies…not chemicals someone made in a lab. If you want more info on any of the other ways of eating (I don't want to call it a diet because it's a lifestyle change!) then just let me know and I'll hook you up.
I try to eat my complex carbs & fruits in the morning and at lunch. For dinner and night snack I stick to mainly proteins and veggies. I don't eat things high in sugar and try to stay away from refined sugar and highly processed stuff. And yes, this includes drinks! No kool-aid, no sweet tea, no diet coke for me! I drink water, shakeo, milk, and unsweet tea only.
Now I know me, and I knew that if I tried to ease into it or allowed myself some cheats here and there, I would get frustrated by not seeing the results I wanted. (Also, the addictive stuff that's found in these "unclean" foods make it WAY harder to get back on track.) So, I dove in full force. (When my goal is to lose body fat:) I only have 1 cheat meal every 2 weeks. That may be unrealistic for you! Be honest and be careful! The last thing you want is to deprive yourself and make yourself suffer so much that it leads to binge eating. When I have those moments when I just want to stuff my face with something, anything, I do so with strawberries or carrots. When I'm feeling weak, I remind myself to FOCUS on what I want most versus what I want now. The "yummy" foods will always be there. You can wait until you are on a cheat meal or until you are down to a weight you're happier with and they’ll STILL BE THERE. It took me about 3 weeks to legitimately not crave the bad stuff anymore. Shakeology helps me with this because there are so many guilt-free sweet options to create, plus filling your body with these super healthy nutrients helps you not crave the fake stuff. Once I was seeing results, I craved more results, and when I would see something like cake I would think, "Oh man, that sounds good! Wait... No.. Not really. Plus it will veer me off course of my goals. I'll just wait till my cheat day and see if it still sounds good." Crisis averted. It’s the old “you want what you can’t have” trick that your mind plays on you..you’ll realize this when you do get a taste of it and it’s really not as yummy as you built it up to be in your head.
Here is a typical day for me:
Breakfast: Vanilla shakeo with banana, vanilla unsweetened almond milk, ice
Snack: Apple with almond butter or sweet potato with cinnamon
Lunch: Grilled chicken, mixed veggies, quinoa, hot sauce (clean “fried rice!” load up on the veggies more than the rice ;) )
Snack: Greek yogurt, string cheese
Dinner: Scrambled eggs w parmesan, turkey bacon
Snack: Raw carrots & hummus (pine nut is my fave!) and/or another Shakeo if I'm really hungry or craving something sweet!
Is this helpful?? I hope so!! Hope you all are having a great week!
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