*You Are What You Eat*

So to me, being defined by what you eat kind of bites. (No pun intended)

MY #1 RULE = Don't skip meals and don't do meal replacement stuff!!!

Why not?

Because...it's dumb. Seriously. 

(Read my post "You Always Want What You Can't Have" for further explanation.)

I guess I never really understood the depth behind that annoying phrase "you are what you eat" until I got serious about losing weight. I used to be annoyed when someone said something like this around me because then I felt guilty for eating what I wanted. With the old me, I liked eating what I wanted, when I wanted it. A quick stop by McDonald's or Taco Bell on the way to wherever was a frequent occurrence for me. That meant, a small burger sounded good or something and I stopped for it. No one would see. No one would judge me. I didn't have to tell anyone. 

Am I really the one who had this problem?

When I started running more seriously, I realized very quickly that what I put in my mouth affected me through my workouts. If I ate a huge meal at dinner until I was gutted or had a #1 Whopper meal with cheese for lunch, I most likely wasn't about to run that day. Why? Because too much food or the types of food I ate caused me to feel...lethargic and lazy, which was the physical part. It also made me feel worse about myself and the way I looked, which was the emotional part. It's kind of a sick cycle, huh?

I mentioned in my first post about my fitness journal that I bought from GNC. I started writing down what I ate, and eventually started counting calories. I am currently on my 5th journal, and I can't imagine training without one. I seriously recommend this to anyone. Writing down what you eat can really help you phsycologically to see what you're taking in and how much. It really feels good to look at your day at a glance and see good choices and good amounts of those choices. It makes you feel pretty gross to look on the page and see all the bad choices you made that day. Psychological = Feelings. A lot of us eat based on Feelings.

I recommend reading this website before you start. It really helped me get started. http://www.stepbystep.com/how-to-keep-a-fitness-journal-81530/

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OK. Now to the "What To Do Next" part!  I can't guarantee that it's going to make you happy at first becuase you are used to eating what you want. I won't sugar coat anything either. You're not going to hear me saying, "Oh, go ahead and have that Krispy Kreme in the Teacher's Lounge or Break Room for breakfast. It's not going to hurt." Instead you will hear, "Don't make that choice because you will not feel good about yourself when you have to write it down in your journal and see how many meaningless calories you just ate because of food lust."

Bottom Line =  If you want to see your body change, then you have to change what you put into your body. PERIOD. Your food choices are literally 50% of the weight loss journey. 

The following criteria are things that you HAVE to do in order to get the results that you want:

1) Plan your meals for the week and ONLY buy those items at the grocery store (not just what looks good on the shelf)

2) Eat clean meats as in Salmon, Chicken breasts and some lean beef. (Clean just means more fresh and nothing processed)

3) Always buy fresh veggies and fruits. Spend most of your time and money in the produce isle. 

4) Don't eat out much! (If it can't be avoided, just order a small, more fresh choice)

5) Count those calories! (I will explain...)

Instead of going on and on about menus and meal plans, I think giving you a list of thing to buy at the grocery store will be most beneficial to get you started. Too much at the beginning of your journey can be overwhelming!

To lose the most weight the fastest, here are the 4 food groups that need to represent your fridge and pantry:

PROTEIN = eggs, chicken breasts, canned tuna, wild salmon, lean red meats, greek yogurt and protein powder (I use GNC brand of Wheyabolic Protein. I buy it at Sam's Club for about half the price than it is at GNC).

CARBS = Old fashioned oats, sweet potatoes, black beans

FATS = Coconut oil, avocado, flaxseed, almond butter or natural peanut butter, almonds, almond milk

PRODUCE = spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, cucumber, apples, blueberries, bananas, coconut water

~Since I'm a visual person, here are some photos of what I eat throughout the day:

Breakfast = 1/2 cup oats with a little 

almond milk, 1/2 cup blueberries,

 coconut water (280 calories total)

Snack = Greek Yogurt (200-220 calories total) 

This brand is my favorite, but any kind is ok

 as long as you're getting 10g+ of protein.

Lunch = Green Protein Shake 

(I know it's green, but keep reading for ingredients! It's soooo yummy!)

Handful of spinach, 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 banana, 

1/2 cup berries, apple or peach, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder

(300 calories total)

Snack = Sesame almonds *my favorite*

(I get these at whole foods stores)

1/4 cup (140 calories)

Dinner = Teriyaki Salmon and sauteed zucchini

*OMG* sooooooo yummy!

1 portion of salmon, 1 cup of zucchini (315 calories total)

I don't eat anything after dinner, but I drink a lot of water to help digest all the food from the day. So let's count the calories from these example meals...and we get 1235-1255 calories total! Of course, I only drink water throughout the day so you don't have to add calories from drinks! :) This is a great way to start thinking about your calorie intake. I limit myself to 1500 calories per day, so this type of example would be perfect for me, plus maybe one more snack or protein shake!

If anyone is interested, I can help you develop a great eating plan! 

The biggest thing is to not just do this some of the time, but CHANGING your eating habits to these examples INDEFINITELY!!