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…Portion Sizes…

When it comes to starting a new health and fitness routine PORTION SIZES are SO SO SO SO important.  You have to be able to know what is the right amount to have with each meal so you are not over eating.  Over eating will cancel out the hard workout you have that day! The key to losing those unwanted calories is working off MORE calories than you are consuming.

DO NOT starve yourself! Find healthy LOW CALORIE snacks you can have during the day to help you stop those hunger feelings and to get you to your next meal.

Here is a guide i found online…hope that it is helpful with helping you decide you portion sizes when preparing you meals

 

The goal to reaching your fitness goals is to set some goals, stick to them, stay focused, and work hard! Hard work will pay off! Passing on that key lime pie you like to have for dessert and having a bowl of fruit will help you to obtain those health and fitness goals you set for yourself.  It is OK to treat your some sometimes but not ALL the time.  Be mindful of the things you are putting in your body.

You have to make sure that you are eating enough AND also eating the right things throughout the day.  Yes you can consume less calories BUT if all of those calories come from poor quality foods it will not allow you to  reach your health and fitness goals as quickly as you would like.

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…When is enough food enough?…

When you go out to eat at almost ANY restaurant, the plate of food that you order is almost ALWAYS more than the suggested serving size.  As a culture we are all wanting to get the best and the most we can out of our money.  But is that necessarily the healthiest thing for you?

One of the things you can do to help you start learning what is enough is learning what the correct portion sizes are! You can look at my post HERE to get a sense of what is the correct portion size for most meals.

Learning what your body NEEDS and not what you want (or what you are craving) is a hard thing to do!  Some people crave food because food can be a comfort for them.  Emotional eating is one of the top listed reasons as to why most people gain the unwanted weight that they do.  To get over this, it helps to plan out your meals, try to have a variety of items when you do eat meals and snacks, and learn your biological food clock.  This “clock” is the indication of when you should eat food to nourish and replenish the body.  Not just because it is 3:00 and you want a candy bar.

Example…here is my biological food clock…

I usually get up around 7AM. When I wake up in the morning I usually eat within 1 hour of waking up.  If not, my stomach will be sure to let me know.

I always have a mid morning snack around 10 AM. This snack is a SMALL snack (which is about 300 calories).  It is only a filler until lunch time which is around 12:30.

After lunch I usually have a mid afternoon snack around 3.  This is an important snack for me because I usually work out around 5 so this snack usually has a few more calories to help me through the day and to help me through my workout.

After my work out I usually have dinner.  Depending on how heavy or light my lunch was will depend on how heavy or light my dinner is.  When I refer to how “heavy or light” it is I am speaking of if I have a meal with a lot of meat and starches for one meal I will try to refrain from having those things again with the next meal.

 

Learning your clock will take some time and you will have to learn what it feels like to eat until you are satisfied.  If you feel full or over embellished with your meal you have eaten more than you should have.

Another thing to be mindful of is what your body is telling you…not necessarily how full or empty your plate it.

Example:

If I have prepared a meal with correct portion sizes and I get done, I usually have something to drink to make sure that I am satisfied.  If I still have an unsatisfying feeling I will add a few more veggies or something not so “heavy” to my plate.  I am NOT a big fan or advocate of starving yourself if you have reached your daily calorie intake.  But if you do consume those extra calories you have to be mindful to eat healthy things that will not make you regret eating the extra food.

It is also suggested that if you start to get on a regular eating schedule it will be easier for you to know how to handle your cravings and how to consume your meal portions correctly.  Also, DRINK WATER!! It may be a form of cheating…but it has also been found that if you consume water regularly through your meal it will help you to realize that your stomach is full and to help limit the probability that you will overeat during your meal.

Here is an important tip for those who go out to eat regularly…when you order your meal, as soon as it comes to the table split the meal in HALF! Only eat HALF of your meal.  If it is hard for you to stick with that ask your waiter for a to go box before you start to eat and put half of the meal in the to go box so you do not have to see it on your plate.  This will not only help you stick to your portion sizes but it will also help you to have another meal for the next day!

Hope that some of these tips helped you to get a better understanding what kind of eating habits you have.  It is about eating food that will satisfy and nourish your body.  Consuming excessive amounts of food helps to account for gained weight.  Embarking on your own health and fitness journey will take a lot of work until you get use to your body and what you need!

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…Knowing what you eat: Counting Calories…

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Do you know exactly what you are putting into your body?  Do you even know how much food you are consuming each day?  It is said that most people consume as little as TWICE as many calories than they actually need each day.

One of the most important things you need to do to help you reach your goals is to figure out what you are eating and how much you are eating!! There are DOZENS of applications you can download onto your smart devices and they are also accessible on your computer.

You can find an easily accessible and FREE calorie counter site at: http://www.nutracheck.co.uk/

Once you get singed up with these programs feel free to play around with it!! You need to get use to how the program works so you will become efficient as being able to navigate and use the program properly.

Using these types of programs will allow you the change to closely monitor HOW much food you are eating and what kind of foods you are eating.

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I suggest a few things:

– when you decide you want to make a healthier change, sign up for one of these programs and track what types of food you eat for a FULL week

– when the week is over go back and look at what you eat a lot of and what you need to eat more of.  You will be surprised to see that you consume too much salt, sugar, or another type of food.  You will also be able to see that you do not eat enough veggies, fruits, or protein.  This will allow you the change to actually see what areas you need to improve on.  

– next find some healthy recipes and go shopping! You have to find recipes that will be fitting to your needs!  Usually breakfast will be around 300-400 calories  snacks will be around 200-300 calories, and lunch and dinner should also be around 300-400 calories!  The goal is to spread your meals out throughout the day so you do not feel like you are going hungry!  YOU DO NOT WANT TO SKIP MEALS!! THIS CAN HINDER YOUR WEIGHT LOSS!  You want to try to stick to a regular eating schedule.  I would suggest eating about every 2-3 hours.  have breakfast, and then a small snack, lunch, another snack, dinner, and if you are still hungry in the evening have another SMALL snack.  You want to try to stop eating about 2-3 hours BEFORE you go to bed.  But you do not want to go hungry and you should try NOT to skip any meals

-keep track of what you eat in these applications.  They will let you decide if you have the right serving size or more than the suggested serving size.  If you stick to the proper serving sizes, a steady workout routine, and drink water you should start to see results in about a month!

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Reaching your goals will take TIME! You will have to be patient! You can not eat healthy for a week and expect 15-30 pounds to just vanish!  Yes that would be nice but it is not realistic.  You have to stay consistent with eating right AND working out.  Eating right is the MAIN priority.  If you are not feeding your body the right foods it will hinder the results you want to see!! You can spend all the time you want in the gym, but if you eat junk food all of that hard work will go to waste.  So this is why it is SO important to get your diet under control so you are able to reach the results you want.

And there you have it! I just gave you the tools you need to help you jump-start your new health and fitness journey!

Any day is a great day to start living healthier…why not start today!?

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