Hey there! First off, I'd like to see that this update is a bit overdue-- I meant to post weight loss updates every month, and so I was actually supposed to do this update last week, but I hadn't realized that it had been a month already, it went by so fast. So that being said, I have lost a total of 19 pounds since the beginning of this fitness journey. Which is really exciting, because that means that I'm more than halfway to my goal, which is 30 pounds. Unfortunately, I can't say that I've changed my lifestyle too much from my last update post, meaning that I'm still trying to walk/jog/run 5 miles a day, eat clean, sleep at least 8 hours a day, and drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water. But what I can talk about today is how I've been dealing with unhealthy foods, as well as some facts and tips about cheat meals that will hopefully be as helpful to others as they have been for me.
It is important of course to be maintaining a balanced diet composed of healthy and nutritious foods, but it's okay to have a cheat meal once in awhile as they can actually help you to lose weight for these reasons:
1) They reset hormones responsible for metabolism and insulin regulation.
2) They replenish glycogen for increased energy.
3) They keep calorie-burning and fat-torching mechanisms high.
So I was talking to someone about the adjustments I have made to my diet and they asked if I only ate clean, and I said no, I definitely believe in treating myself, and these benefits show that they shouldn't make you feel guilty when you are having a cheat meal. But there are certain things to keep in mind when you decide to treat yourself:
Know how much and how often
Try to keep your calorie count between 500-1000 calories more than your usual daily calorie intake. If you've just started working out and eating healthy, it is recommended that you only have one cheat meal a week. As you get leaner, you can allow yourself up to two or three cheat meals a week. Personally I never really plan my cheat meals, I just save them throughout the week because I'll usually encounter a meal where I didn't know where/what I was going to be eating so that I can then allow myself to indulge knowing that I have saved myself for that meal.
Eating in moderation
Don't just go to town on your favorite food, as calories can add up really quickly; so try to keep to serving sizes. I've found that if I'm craving something, usually it'll only take a little bit of that food to satisfy my craving. So if I'm having intense cravings for ice cream, I'll just have a spoon or two and then I won't really want much more-- I don't know if that will apply to everyone though. I just know that for me the following spoons aren't as good as the first ones, so it really isn't worth the calories for me to be eating more if it isn't really a difference to me, if that makes sense. It also helps to put your portions in bowls (I like to do smaller bowls, so it looks like I have more food than I would if I put it in a bigger bowl) or in plastic bags rather than having the whole dish in front of you or bringing the whole box/bag of the food with you because I find having such a large amount of food with me is pretty dangerous, if you know what I mean haha
Satisfy your craving
I feel weird promoting eating unhealthy foods, but I think that if you are really craving something you should just eat it. Because if you want a donut and choose to eat an apple instead, chances are you're still going to have that craving and end up eating that donut after eating the apple anyways!
Eat consciously
When I say this, I mean to focus on your food when you eat. Like don't watch tv and eat at the same time, or you'll eat mindlessly and before you know it, all your food is gone. Also if you're deciding to cheat, you'll enjoy your food a lot more if you just sit there and actually appreciate what you're eating. You can tell I'm a foodie because I'm telling you to give your undivided attention to your food haha
So those are all of my tips for treating yourself, now let's talk about making healthier decisions for those times when you don't have too many options for what you're going to eat, and you don't want to necessarily take a cheat meal. I think this has been one of the hardest parts of this journey for me, besides the initial starting of a healthier diet. I don't really have many desires for unhealthy food anymore, as they make me feel tired, sluggish, and sometimes even nauseous now. But for the past couple of months, which has been pretty much the entire duration of this blog, being healthy on the weekends has definitely been a struggle for me. Pretty much every weekend I've noticed that I've had some sort of event; parties, get-togethers, and trips out of town. These have really made it hard for me to stick to my daily goals because the food at parties and restaurants usually aren't the healthiest, and going out of town gave me little time to exercise. It's so ironically painful that all of these events have been occurring during my fitness journey, I almost wish they all happened before I decided to be healthy! Haha but it's okay, it's taught me how to make healthier choices in situations that I normally wouldn't, and also I don't want people to feel that they have to worry about what I'm going to eat when we eat at a place that serves predominantly unhealthy food, and I don't want to avoid eating out just because I'm afraid of letting go of my health goals. So here are a few ways that I've come up with to help make the best choices possible when eating at restaurants:
1. Research the menu ahead of time
A lot of restaurants will give you the calories on their menu online, which I think is really helpful and something I personally like to do before I go to the restaurant to be aware of some of the healthier choices I can make. I especially like this because sometimes its really hard to tell what would be a healthier option and what wouldn't be, as I've often seen salads and grilled chicken sandwiches, items that are usually associated with being healthy, being higher in calories than burgers and fries. There are also apps dedicated to menu items of common restaurants with the calorie counts that you can download, which I've also found to be really helpful as it's accessible and very convenient having the menus of all those restaurants being all in one place on your phone. All in all, it's just always good to be informed about what you're putting in your body.
2. Look for lighter alternatives
One of my favorite places to eat is Chipotle, and has been my go-to place to eat when I need to pick up something fast. Chipotle has a nutrition calculator on their website for each thing that you can have added to your bowl or burrito of whatever your getting, which is pretty cool. I also really like that the ingredients they use will still help you reach your daily nutritional needs. So when I go there, I get a burrito bowl and skip the rice (but you can get brown rice if you'd like), and get chicken, black beans, tomato salsa, cheese, lettuce, corn, and guacamole, and I only eat half the bowl and save the rest for another meal. Each of these I would eat alone if I was at home, as they all have their own nutritional benefits. Chicken has protein, beans are good for your heart, guacamole has good fats, you get the idea. Another healthier alternative that I tried recently was getting my burger lettuce-wrapped, which they call protein-style at In-n-out, and I know that Red Robin and Carl's Jr. will also make their burgers protein-style if you ask them to. I've found that a lot of menus are offering all sorts of different healthy options now, such as bottomless broccoli at Red Robin, whereas before all they offered was bottomless french fries, which actually made me really excited to discover, not going to lie. Sometimes there's even a section of the menu devoted just to lighter dishes, or you'll just have to look a bit longer for healthier options, but I'd say it's definitely worth it. All of those alternatives that I mentioned above, I really enjoyed and would definitely recommend!
3. Drink a lot of water
It's recommended that you drink at least a cup of water before eating a meal so that your stomach will be more full and that you won't overeat during your meal. I found that this is really helpful because I often don't realize how full I am eating until after my meal, and then when I'm super full it's too late and I'm uncomfortable for the next hour or even longer. But if your stomach is filled with a good amount of water, then you won't have that problem of being full for so long because water goes through you pretty quickly. This is how I survived an all you can eat Italian dinner at Maggiano's; I think I drank at least eight cups of water during that meal to keep myself from eating everything because I love fried zucchini, calamari, chicken parmesan, and pasta like it's nobody's business, haha.
All in all, I still definitely struggle with temptations when around unhealthy foods, there have been many times that I've indulged myself more often than I would like. But even when eating out so often, I haven't stopped losing weight yet-- the least amount of weight that I've lost is a pound a week, though my goal is two pounds a week. But it's okay, what's important is to remember that I'm trying to live a healthy lifestyle, and that I don't need to rush to into losing weight. I don't want to kill myself to lose the weight and consequently do it in an unhealthy way, because that would defeat the purpose of my decision to follow a healthy lifestyle. In addition to that, so far this journey has been a really positive thing in my life, and I don't want it to become a chore that I dread; I want it to continue being a change that I'm really glad to have committed myself to. So in conclusion, it's not like I'm never going to eat a cookie again, I'm just trying to make the best choices for what will make me feel the best. Even though unhealthy foods are at times more appealing, healthy foods never fail to make me feel more energized. It's also beneficial to not eat unhealthy foods as often, because then I have ways to reward myself and eating those foods is more special to me. I just want to try my best to keep a balanced diet and to be happy with myself. And I want you all to be happy with yourselves too; whatever lifestyle you want to live-- pursue it.
As always, thank you for reading.
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