I sit here writing this post feeling proud of myself. I’m proud not because of how much weight I lost or the number on the scale, but because I made a commitment to myself and I kept it. When I was living in Miami, the majority of the time I felt pretty isolated and depressed, as a result I stopped taking care of myself. By the time we moved back to Dallas my body had transformed into something I didn’t recognize. When I started working out at @themoveproject I felt very out of my element. I’ve been naturally thin the majority of my life, so making health and fitness has never had to be that big of a priority for me. Thankfully I was able to workout in a gym full of some of the kindest, funniest people I’ve ever met. They made my workouts something that I looked forward to and I never felt judged for my lack of knowledge about certain exercises or strength level. Since May I have consistently worked out at least 3-4 times a week and that in and of its self felt like a major win!
Another piece of this puzzle was starting to watch what I eat. I am no stranger to a late night Uber Eats or regular trips to Chick-fil-A for a number 3 twelve count with a large fry and coke. For the first time in my life I really started analyzing what I was putting into my body and I was shook. I had no idea quite how bad the nutritional content of some of my favorite foods were. I used the ‘lose it’ app in the beginning because it can be a great resource to see how much your actually consuming in a day because it really does all add up. However, once I started to see myself getting a bit obsessive over it, I took the knowledge I gained from the app and deleted it. My goal was to educate myself not to deprive myself. I wanted to achieve more of a balance. I needed to eat healthier but I didn’t want to get sucked into unhealthy patterns or diets that would ultimately set me up for failure.
*So here is what I did:
1. Intermittent fasting: I only eat between 12pm & 8 pm (I am a little more flexible if I’m traveling or have an event over the weekend, but this is generally what stick to). I’m not a morning person, and rarely eat breakfast anyways, so this schedule was pretty easy for me to adapt to. Once I cut off late night snacking I lost 10 pounds very quickly. I plan on keeping this structure long past the wedding because it really does help me maintain a healthy weight. The Body Fast app is a great way to get started with Intermittent fasting if you’re a newbie!
2. I cut wayyyy back on bread, sugar, and dairy. Not only did I feel less bloated but my skin has cleared way up. I’ve been doing a lot of bun-less burgers. If I do eat carbs or bread, I try to do it at lunch. Again I’m not trying to completely deprive myself, I’m just being more mindful and strategic about when and how I eat.
3. I also have upper my fiber & protein game during this process by way of inulin powder, gg crackers, & orgain shakes after my workouts. All of these things have helped keep me fuller longer and the urge to snack has gone way down.
4. This sounds like no brainer, but finally I made sure to get plenty of sleep and drink a ton of water. When I’m tired and dehydrated my motivation for working out (or anything for that matter) goes way down.
5. And finally as I mentioned I‘ve been working out 3x a week with my trainers at the Move project (Seth and Lauren), and then doing Isometrics on my own daily, and then trying to get at least one other work out in, even if it’s just a long brisk walk. I was tracking my activity with my Apple Watch, but again when I started noticing myself taking a turn for the obsessive I stopped wearing it.
The past few months have been some of the hardest of my life. I’m so glad to that I could turn health and exercise as this amazing therapeutic outlet. When you have so much pressure to look a certain way at your wedding, and just in general as a woman, it’s so easy to fall into unhealthy patterns and develop food issues all under the guise of “being healthy”. I won’t lie and say I was able to tune that noise out completely, but I definitely went into this process very aware of certain things that could trigger destructive behavior for me. I tried to keep as good of a head on my shoulders as I could, and I think I succeeded. I can honestly say that I love the way I look. I worked hard, and I feel strong.
*I am not a doctor or a nutritionist – I am just sharing what worked for me.
Ps. Kate of Lonestar Southern wrote a great post on this topic that I very much related to and is worth a read 🙂
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