Healthy eating you say…. So from time to time and more and more lately everyone seems interested to know what I eat and how I stay healthy. I finally decided to just write it all out for you so that my healthy life style and possible be adapted to your life and can help you be healthy. It all started about 4 years ago after a very close family member past away at an early age do to high cholesterol and an often unhealthy life style. My world came tumbling down and I realized that eating healthy and maintaining a healthy weight all the time was the only way to prevent such tragedies as this. If they had of just eaten healthy and exercised more often this problem could have been prevented. I know that sounds like a pretty crazy statement because sometimes things just happen and loved ones are stollen from us al the time. But in the hopes of living the longest life I can I decided that I needed to change my junk and fast food ways and start paying more attention to what I put into and what I do with my body. Thus started the cross over to a healthy life.

Now keep in mind that I didn’t just flip over night and that it was a struggle for a while to get use to the foods that were healthy for me and to stop eating the things that weren’t. It took a while of weaning myself off certain types or categories of food. I started by trying to make one healthy choice over a bad in every meal. Rather than order fries I ordered a salad with dressing on the side and used very little dressing. I had carrot sticks for a snack rather than chips and I tried to cut candy and chocolate out completely. I know this sounds extreme, but honestly it’s only bad for about 2 weeks and then your body stops craving the bad things and it starts to get easier. I started cutting out unneeded sugars from my diet and switched to more natural substances like honey and then later to splenda. I am now trying Stevia which a natural sweetener and not a chemical compound like splenda. I also cut out all sugary pops, juices and drinks. Switching in ice cold water with a twist of lemon or lime to make it more interesting for my taste buds. I cut out red meat and pork and substituted chicken or fish as much as humanly possible.

Possible the biggest change and the healthiest one you can make is to cut out sauces. That’s right NO SAUCES OF ANY KIND!!! ok fine you can have mustard, salsa and hot sauce but that’s it! Most sauces are made up of some kind of mayo like oil based product and contain a lot of fat and a lot of waisted calories. Instead I put mustard on everything (sandwiches, dipping my chicken in, ect). Rather than have dressing on my salads I have lots of veggies and black pepper. I know that seems crazy but if you start by getting 1/2 the amount of dressing you had before on it and then slowly move to just using a smige on the side, then none your body will thank you for it. When you add a dressing to a salad (yes even a oil based one not a cream) you are at least doubling the calories. And thus turning your healthy 300-400 calorie salad into a 800-1000 calorie meal. Your body can really only process and use about 300-400 calories at one time, anything over that is automatically getting stored as fat. So next time you eat a cheese burger with fries think about how many calories that is (just a guess in the 1000′s not the 100′s) think about how much you can actually use right now (300-400) and think about how much fat your body just made to store for later (roughly 500-600 calories worth). On an average day I usually consume about 1100-1300 calories. I have found that that is what my body likes and what makes it happy while still being able to maintain and trim when I hit the gym.

Now I know your thinking that your metabolism plays a big part in this and it does, but 300-400 calories is an average. If your a guy it’s a little higher and if you excursive or do a sufficient amount of cardio (meaning you have elevated your heart rate and been sweating for at least 20 mins) a day it’s a little higher but honestly not by much. Keep in mind next time you go to the gym and do 30 mins on the tread mille, take a look at how many calories you are actually burning. I bet you it’s no more than say 200-300. Which isn’t even a full small meals worth. It’s still an excellent idea to work out and go to the gym. Its an awesome way to relieve stress, but don’t think that just cause you did 20 or 30 mins of cardio you can go on a huge binder afterwards.

I live on the theory that I am never hungry and never full. I eat 6 meals a day. Keep in mind 3 of them are small meals and I space them out over a period of 12 hours and I eat roughly 2-3 hours apart. I stop eating 3 hours before bed. I always start my day off with 2 cups of hot water and no coffee. Hot water helps to flush your system out, wake you up and start the digestion process before you start eating. Water is another huge thing in my day to day routine. Because I don’t drink pop or juice of any kind I drink anywhere from 8-10 glasses of water a day (a glass being 500 ml, so roughly 4 L total) it seems like a lot and probably is. Yes I go pee a lot lol at first but your body gets use to the amount of water you intake and adjusts. Increasing your water intake is great for you skin and getting rid of excess tummy flab.

An average meal plan for me usually look like this ::

6:30 Breakfast – 2 cups hot water b4 eating anything

• 1/2 cup oatmeal (rolled oats found in the bulk section, not instant) mixed with raw sesame seeds, ground flax, cinnamon and a tsp of splenda. 1 banana or 1/8 cup raisons or cranberries on top   

9:30 Snack time – at least 1 glass of water (that’s 3 glasses already)

• usually a piece of fruit like an apple, orange or banana

12:30 Lunch Time – at least 2 glasses of water with lunch (that’s 5 now)

• 1 chicken breast or piece of fish (1 full can of tuna) grilled or baked with just a little paprika and pepper on it, 1- 1 1/2 cups steamed or cooked veggies (broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, carrots, corn or green beans, sometimes peppers if I make a stir fry), and 1 cup cooked brown rice. (not instant and with no butter or soy sauce on top)

3:00 Snack Time #2 – at least 1 glass of water (that’s 6 glasses)

• a small handful (usually about 18) raw almonds and a piece of fruit (apple, orange, banana, pineapple, strawberries, ect)

6:30 Dinner Time – 2 glasses of water with dinner (that’s 8 glasses)

• 1 chicken breast or piece fish (1 full can of tuna), 1 1/2 cups cooked veggies (corn, green beans, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, ect) and a small salad (lettuce, spinach, peppers, cabbage, tomato, raw sunflower seeds) with no dressing

8:30 Snack Time # 3 – at least 1 glass of water (that’s 9 glasses so far)

• a piece of fruit (apple, banana, orange, pineapple, ect) or cold veggies (carrot sticks, snow peas, celery, peppers)

I usually have a glass of hot water before bed because it is soothing and relaxing for me.

Now I know you are looking at this and thinking OMFG there is no way you can follow that. It takes determination and it took a bit for me to get use to this diet. I do cheat from time to time and have say toast for snack #2 or a little bit of brown rice with dinner (like a 1/4 cup cooked) but I try my best and understand that no one is perfect. Also keep in mind that the darker green your veggies, the healthier they are for you. they also usually contain more fibber, calcium and iron which are important in a healthy diet. I eat healthy all the time and hit the gym anywhere from 5-6 times a week so that on a day when I cheat I don’t have to feel bad. If your are healthy the majority of the time then the time that you are bad aren’t that big of a deal. If your unhealthy the majority of the time and being healthy only sometimes then you aren’t really making any difference in your body. Just remember that a happy body will loose weight and trim down, an unhappy body (ie beating yourself up for eating bad or punishing yourself for a week cause you had one chocolate bar) is counter productive and won’t loose anything. Just remember that tomorrow is another day and you can start fresh and be better. Try to push yourself a little each day and it will get easier and easier.

Now with all that said it is Friday today, which means…. cheat day Yes I have a cheat day and I love it!! it helps keep me sane and it helps me not cheat all week long. Keep in mind I didn’t always have a cheat day. It’s only been in the last 6 months that I have felt that I have reached my goals and can relax a little when it comes to my training and dieting. So only recently have I let myself have a cheat day. What I do is if I have a craving for say pancakes, I write it down and eat it on friday instead. That way I still get to indulge just not every day. I don’t go crazy though. I keep in mind that if I eat 10 000 calories today that’s still bad. So I start my morning off with the same breakfast and I keep 2 of my healthy snacks and I simply have 2 bad meals and one bad snack. Now I do watch how much of the bad stuff I take in. I don’t stuff myself full, I just eat enough to feel comfy. That way I don’t feel like I’m going to burst or be sick and I won’t feel as guilty. I still keep up with all my water and don’t drink pop or juice all day too though.

So I think that’s everything lol, I’m sure I’m missing something and I’m sure there are still a million of questions but I hope this helped a little. Just try to be healthy. Keep in mind it is what we do to our bodies in our 20′s and 30′s that comes back to haunt us in our 40′s and 50′s. We only get one body so don’t be too mean to it cause it’s vengeful and your stuck with it for life

Have a steller Friday guys, I’m off to get my nails done this afternoon and then it’s time for my traditional Friday night dinner. Pizza, beer and a DQ blizzard for desert. Don’t hate come on have you looked at my usual diet??? I deserve this today is the day I give diet and excursive the middle finger and run the other way. The trapped little fat kid in me is soooo loving it!!! Fridays make her happy lol Don’t worry I’ll never not look healthy I like being healthy way too much to not be.

XOXOXOX

Katie