Mealprep – Dad looks confused

Going vegetarian 🌱

A few posts ago I wrote about my wife going on a no meat kick, I proceeded to list a few veggies that are great sources of protein. She still does not eat meat and well after asking me to join her, I finally caved and dropped meat from my diet on November 11, 2019 I joined what seems to be a vegetation cult (L.O.L.) and my experience has been so far amazing I feel like I have more energy I have noticed I don’t get that sluggish feeling anymore. You might be wondering about thanksgiving day and trust me I struggled so much on that day for the simple fact that all year I look forward to having a huge plate of food which includes turkey and ham. Don’t get me wrong I still stuffed my face like it was my last meal but the menu did not include turkey or ham and honestly even though my mind and soul were ugly crying in their absence my stomach did not miss them. The amount of days I was able to stick with this vegetarian diet was 35 consecutive days, on the 36th I caved and had a turkey leg. I do not see this as a failure because I just picked up where I left off with this vegetarian lifestyle and started my count once again.

At this point you might be questioning as to why I decided to join my wife in this lifestyle and well here are some of the reasons:

1. Reduce the possibility of diseases- such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.

2. Weight loss- the amount of fat that is put into our bodies is reduced therefore burning body fat.

3. You cut out the added antibiotics or hormones that are added to the animal’s diet.

4. Reduce the possibility of chronic illnesses

There are some cons to cutting out meat from your diet and they include:

1. Not getting enough nutrients

2. Not getting enough vitamins such as B12

3. Not getting enough calcium

These cons can be fixed by taking supplements or finding the right grains and vegetables to eat.

Now I cannot say that I am truly sold on this vegetarian lifestyle but I do make it a goal to finish out each day without consuming any meat some days will be harder than others but I am determined

who knows maybe one day I could possibly go full vegan

It’s the small wins that get me motivated to continue but only if I take it day by day.

SHAKE IT UP

I’m not much for meal replacement shakes but in my journey to weight loss I have tried them and like I said I am not a big fan but I have stumbled across some pretty delicious shake recipes, that I still enjoy. When it comes to shakes my advice is to replace a snack instead of a meal because in my experience with shakes, hunger was always around and it felt like I was starving myself even though I was meeting my calories for the day.

Here are some great recipes for shakes that not only taste great but will help give you a boost of energy.

Cacao protein shake

one scoop of whey protein the one that I use is the optimum nutrition chocolate flavor

one medium banana

one table spoon of chia seeds

5 grams of organic cacao powder

and 1 tablespoon of instant coffee I use nescafe you can use the one that is your favorite

add desired amount of water

Throw all ingredients into the blender and enjoy

the calories in this delicious drink is 308

vanilla coffee shake

1 medium banana

1 tablespoon of coffee 1/2 cup of almond milk

vanilla protein powder

throw all ingredients into a blender and enjoy

the calories in this drink is 240

Green smoothie

one scoop of vanilla protein powder

1/2 of a large cucumber

1 cup of spinach

and 1/2 of a medium avocado

add desired water and blend together and enjoy

the calories in this drink is 321

green veggie drink

1 1/2 table spoon of chia seeds

1 large cucumber

1/2 cup of spinach

1/3 cup of strawberries

add desired water blend and enjoy

calories in this drink are 311

this drink is not for everyone it is kind of sour but I like sour my wife does not think it is very good she actuall thinks it is gross

berry shake

1 cup coconut milk unsweetened

1 tablespoon of chia seeds

1/3 cup of blue berries

1/2 cup of strawberries

Blend and enjoy

the calories in this drink are 142

Refreshing AF!

Now that summer has fully hit us i would like to touch a bit on the subject of refreshing low calorie treats I have found a few products out there that can help beat the heat low cal style.

If you are into ice cream but don’t want all of the calories that come with it, you can always have something that is not made with dairy and made with either cashew, coconut or almond milk

My favorite type is halo top which which is made with coconut milk and only has between 280 and 380 calories per pint, that’s right PINT when I first heard of this it sounded too good to be true so I decided to give it a try. I went for the chocolate flavor because well chocolate is the king of sweets and to my surprise it was amazing I tasted similar to regular chocolate ice cream and the best part was that it only contained 320 calories this is a product that I would recommend to anyone that has a sweet tooth but also wants to lose weight.

Another great dessert that is low in calories and are delicious are the outshine fruit bars these only have 60 calories per bar making them a great snack for a hot summer day my favorite flavor is strawberry although the mango and lime ones are amazing as well the these do contain about 14 grams of sugar but I would still recommend them.

Both products can be found in any grocery store near you.

The Struggles are Real: Weight loss

This week I have decided to once again share my weight loss story and the obstacles that I’ve had to overcome. Just as a reminder to myself of why I started in the first place because there are days that I cannot summon the motivation to get out and get to the gym.

There are so many social media pages where people share their weight loss stories, myself being included. The content of these pages are only before and after pictures and recipes used or workouts they do to continue their fitness story. The type of content that seems to be missing is the kind that talks about or depicts all of the struggles that comes with the journey. Whether it is with self, family and friends and in your professional life as well. I mean with all of the offers of doing good at work in exchange for a pizza party (like what are we, five?) ha ha, just kidding. Let us begin with the obstacles that we put on ourselves, for example, my biggest reason to not put in hard work was the excuses of being too “busy” or too “tired.” Once I came to the realization that these ideas were just excuses to justify the unhealthy lifestyle I was living, it became easier to start pushing myself to get moving and eating healthy. These are reasons that I see the most with people in my life, with my parents, siblings, in-laws and some co-workers. What people do not realize, and is something I learned along the way, is that working out and eating healthier makes us feel more energized and increases our desire to be more productive. Another type of mindset that holds us back is the idea that the working out can become repetitive or even monotonous. I have found that if a workout has become boring it just means that the intensity needs to be increased, in other words, it is a sign that we need to push ourselves harder. The beauty of working on our fitness is that it should be a never ending journey of growth and learning, this advice also applies to life. I am not saying that I know everything about fitness and living healthy, I mean come on there are days that when I am researching new meal prep recipes or creating a new workout plan as I am enjoying the fluffy carbs and sugars that come in the form of a donut or two. I just do not let those type of days hold me back I just keep pushing forward learning, working, planing and bettering myself.

Another obstacle that I have to overcome has been my family and friends. Now this one is a tough one because it is disrespectful to turn down food that is offered, especially in my culture. (I am Hispanic by the way) At first I felt horrible because at my in-laws’ my mother in-law would a cook an amazingly delicious meal. You know, the beans, rice, and either beef or chicken with sauce that was made from scratch, sometimes she would even have home made flour tortillas and OH BOY! Was that hard to resist. Then there was my mother’s house she would make some delicious stew with beans, bacon and strips of beef, of course everything is fried before it comes together in a warm stew, that I am pretty sure can only be taught to make by angels, ok I might be exaggerating a bit but still it is amazing. As everyone feasted on what can only be described as Hispanic cuisine glory, I would have to stick to my healthy meals that were made of veggies and low sodium chicken. When I say low sodium I mean pretty much tasteless, of course now I have grown to like my meals with no sugar, sodium, oils or pretty much anything that made food delicious but also unhealthy. Both my mother and mother in-law thought I was sick all of the time because I had stopped eating everything that they knew I liked. To this day they still wonder if I am able to eat what they made which of course the answer is duh! They still always ask because they don’t know if I am on what seems to them a “crazy” diet. One thing that I find funny is that when my family comes to visit they first tell each other that they should get something good to eat because at my place there is only healthy food that they don’t like. The best way to handle your family is by informing them that you want to live healthier and hopefully they understand. In my case they didn’t, so I just had to keep pushing myself hoping for the best, hopefully I have inspired at least one of them to make healthier decisions and to be more active.

Finally work the aspect of my life with the least importance and the easiest obstacles to overcome, well at least for me. The reason this was the easiest is because if they have food at work I make sure to moderate myself or I just politely say no thank you and go to where my five senses are not being drawn to the food. Working on your fitness and having a social life can be possible everything just needs to be with moderation. Currently I am down 120lbs from 350lbs to 230lbs and still working on my fitness. I know that this is a lifestyle and it makes me feel good in all aspects of life so I will continue to work on myself.

If you take anything from this today I hope it is this; the first step to bettering yourself starts with you! Get out of your head and get to working on yourself. I promise you will feel amazing and of course you do not have to start of working out and dieting like professional athletes. Just get moving, figure out what your body can do, find YOUR limits and push them it will improve not only your health but every aspect of your life.

Get up and get moving checklist:

1. Get out of your head just get moving

2. Ignore what others have to say about you even if it comes from your family and friends.

3. Have fun, find things you enjoy doing. (for example I found Jiu-jitsu but that is a topic for another day.)

4. If you go to the gym remember everyone is wondering if what they are doing is right! And DO NOT compare your progress to the progress of others.

And make sure to look me up on instagram and follow so that you may join me in my journey. @alejandro.gets.fit

Caveman food (Paleo recipes)

Paleo protein pancakes

Finding paleo recipes is not the difficult once you get the basic idea of what foods are ok to be eaten all you have to do is get creative and make them your own. I found a recipe for pancakes a very long time ago this recipe only asked for two ingredients and trust me it was very difficult to make because it kept getting stuck to the pan it was a mess if I remember correctly it ended up getting burnt. After doing some shopping around I found some pan spray. (like I said you need to make it your own and do it how ever works for you) I had to add an ingredient so that it did not stick to the pan.

2 eggs or 4 egg whites

1 banana

Pan spray (make sure it is the zero cal olive oil flavor one I found it at winco it works great) or 1tbsp Coconut oil can also be used it also adds calories to the meal.

1. Mash the banana until it has the consistency of pudding, then add in the eggs and mix until it has more of liquid consistency

2. Then on a hot pan spray some of the non stick spray

Should make between 4-6 pancakes depending on the size you make them.

Enjoy with almond milk

Zucchini

4lbs of Zucchini
1/2 a cube of Knorr bouillon
1 Roma tomato
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 orange bell pepper
1/2 cup of cilantro (my favorite herb ever)
1 tbsp of olive oil

1. Chop up the vegetables to the desired size make sure the zucchini is not too small

2. Sauté all of the veggies together until the are all soft and delicious looking lol

3. Enjoy

This should make about 3 servings. Calories: 164 per serving

this is great with grilled or baked chicken as a side

Paleo Approved

I’m going to start off with an update on how I am doing with the paleo diet and well I’m going to be honest it did not go well. I stuck with the diet for the first week of the month and even though it was a short run I must admit that I felt an increase in energy. But just because I did not stick to it for march it doesn’t mean that I’m giving up on it. The great thing of self improvement, is a lot like using the jump rope if you hit you foot and it stops just start up again until you find your rhythm. Due to my work schedule I have not had the time to sit and do my research to better understand what the paleo diet consists of but now that it is going back to normal I can get back at it

I have found a more comprehensive list of what foods are allowed with the paleo diet and I have found that the list is actually not as short as I thought it would be. There are the basic meats vegetables and fats.

But what types of food are all in these categories? This is a common question that has both a simple answer as well as a difficult one because there is a huge variety of foods and all we have to do is weed out the types that are accepted.

Here is a short list of approved foods:

Meats: try to make sure they are lean instead of fatty

My go to’s are beef, turkey and chicken

Other options are: rabbit, organ meats like liver, elk, deer, venison, quail, pheasant

Fish:

Wild salmon, mackerel, tuna, bass, tilapia, halibut, cod

Shellfish:

Oysters, crab, crayfish, lobster, prawns, mussels, scallops

Vegetables:

Artichokes, zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, kale, celery, onion, pumpkin,

Broccoli, tomato, eggplants, cauliflower, radish, carrots, cabbage

Fats:

Fruits:

Apples , Passion fruits, lemon, blackberries, strawberries, papaya, pears, pineapple, kiwi, apricot, banana, grapes, plums, watermelon, melon, mango, guava

Nuts and seeds:

Almonds, macadamia nuts, pecans cashews, walnuts, pumpkin seeds

Sweeteners:

Raw Honey, palm sugar, Agave syrup

Now a short list of non-approved foods:

Starchy vegetables:

white potatoes, tapioca yams

Cereal Grains:

Barley, rice corn, wheat, wild rice buckwheat and any processed foods made with cereal grains.

Legumes:

Beans, garbanzo beans, lentils, snow peas,

Fats:

all seed oils trans fats bad saturated fats

Dairy:

no dairy products such as cheese, yogurt, ice cream

And absolutely no processed foods such as candy or anything containing too much sodium such as hotdogs, salami or deli meats

Where I am>where I was

I’m still trying to work on my scheduling issue and it seems like it is clearing up so I apologize for the inconsistency when it comes to posting.

I have recently reached a huge milestone in my fitness journey which is reach an all time low weight of 222lbs and it feels amazing. Even though I knew that this whole working out and eating healthy was going to be a lifestyle for myself, never thought that I would reach this level of fitness, I currently am 2 lbs from my final weight goal and it feel amazing because I haven’t been in the 220Lbs since I was 15 years old. I also measured the percentage of fat that I am currently at and it was a total of 14%, another thing is that this last year has felt like I didn’t even have to try, exercise and smart eating has become a part of my normal life.

I have decided to repost the beginning of my fitness journey that way I can see how far I have come.

Weight Loss Journey: The Beginning

When it comes to changing from an unhealthy lifestyle to a healthy one, no one is an expert. In fact, it we all start not knowing what we are doing. Some would even say we enter this journey with a “Blank Stare.” For example when I started my fitness journey I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how to even start the machines let alone how to use them. The one thing that I did know was that I had to get started and that running was one way to get started. The treadmill became my best friend for the first part, 4.5 mph is where my challenge began. I would go to the gym every morning sunshine or not, you would find me there. I would either walk or run for half an hour on the treadmill. The process was hard to start off with but I knew I had to do it. I knew that this was going to become one of the most important decisions of my life. Being at the gym and seeing people there can mess with your head and your ego. At the start of this crazy journey I would look around and see other people that were running at a much faster speed than I was able to. Yes, this would hurt my ego like crazy, which made me increase my speed to try to match theirs. I was a beginner and there was no way I could keep up with them, this would make me feel so embarrassed. Now thinking about it this was such an ignorant thought to have. I never took into consideration the hard work that they had put into getting to where they were at. As time moved on this crazy thought started to disappear as I started to focus on myself and my progress. What I started to realize was that there is no better motivator than progress and the fact that I was starting to feel better about my image. It wasn’t long after this that I started to push my limits and not paying attention to what everyone around me was doing. As time moved forward, the more I worked at it the better I got and the faster I was able to go. I went from 7 mph for 30 seconds being my max speed. (and when I say max I mean struggling) Today I am able to run at 13 mph for a straight minute and of course this did not come over night. This took hard work and consistency in order for me to be able to reach this level. I am not saying that I was 100% consistent, I did give up a few times and when I was ready I went back 10 times stronger. This did not go on for too long when I realized that this needed to become something that I enjoyed instead of a chore. At this point everything became easier. How? You might ask, well I started to incorporate weight lifting which was something I realized I enjoyed more than running. The down side to changing my workouts was that I started from zero, meaning I did not know what to do or how much weight I was able to lift. I did not let this fear stop me from giving it a try. I started to research weightlifting and how to use the machines at the gym. My best advice for you is to do some research of your own and do not be afraid to ask for help.

DEDICATION ALWAYS BEATS TALENT. You do not have to be talented to reach your goals just be dedicated to them.

Paleo shopping list

Hello, Sorry I have been so inconsistent with the times and days I have been posting but I have been busy with work hopefully I can very soon get back on track with my posts

This week I stared a new diet which is the paleo or primal diet this diet consists of consuming food that was presumably consumed by the human race during the Paleolithic era through the means of hunting and gathering it is a simple diet with restrictions of course the restrictions are;

1. No dairy

2. No processed food

3. No grains or breads

4. No legumes

Essentially to my understanding these types were introduced in the Neolithic era when people started using farming and growing crops as the main method to get their food.

so far I have made a grocery list of what my food choices are and this is what I came up with:

i. nuts (cashew, peanuts, almonds walnuts.)

ii. Fruits (Apples, Berries, bananas, melon)

iii. Meat (Beef in any form the only thing I am really strict at looking at is how lean it is and the lowest percentage I go is 85 lean and 15 fat, chicken whole or breasts, fish such as salmon or trout and turkey)

iv. Vegetables ( carrots, tomatoes, onions, greens, and peppers.

v. Fruits (apples, bananas, pears, oranges, avocados)

vi. Tubers (potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams)

vii. Salt and spices (sea salt, garlic, turmeric and rosemary)

Now I do understand that we now have different types of fruits and vegetables available to us now compare to what they had back then but the idea is to try to eat as meals that are high in nutrients, fat and protein. I personally think that the fact that we have more foods is amazing because it allows us to be introduced to different types of fruits and vegetables, because I mean have you tried a star fruit those thing are delicious A.F. And I highly recommend everyone to try them and not just take my word for it.

We should always try to do different kinds of things because they elevate us eventually-Gladys Knight

Paleo diet. So Easy A Caveman Can Do It: I hope 😳

To start things off I am proud to say that I have lost 7lbs this month so far which makes it a total of 128 lbs pounds lost woohoo!!!
From 350lbs
To: 222Lbs

Every now and then I get bored of the recipes that I cook for myself which makes me either change up the diet or look for new recipe ideas to try. Lately I have been getting a bit bored with the food that I have been eating and I feel like it is time for a change I have been looking for new methods of dieting and there is one diet that I have heard of before but have never really looked into, which is the paleo diet. I have decided that for the month of march I will be giving the diet a try to see what effects it has on my body and how it makes me feel. As of right now I am not on a specific diet I just count my calories and stick to similar recipes so that it does not get too confusing but with the paleo diet I feel like there will be more structure because of the foods that it allows me to have. So far what I have found out, is that the paleo diet or Primal diet basically is a diet based on what our ancient ancestors presumably consumed during the Paleolithic era, hence (paleo). This diet consists of consuming lean meats such as poultry, and red meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds basically anything that was consumed during the hunting and gathering era, making sure to keep the consumption of grains, legumes, dairy products and any processed foods to a minimal.

(what?!?, you mean I can’t have any donuts? how will I survive?)

My plan going into trying this new diet (well new for me) is that I will make sure to do my research and allow myself one cheat meal per week in order to avoid any diet burnout which trust me, exists I mean nobody wants to diet 100 percent of the time. I will also be trying to keep a journal on how this makes me feel that way I can compare where I started to where I currently am. As far as my workouts I will be doing the same on that I have been doing because I feel like it is very effective and I am seeing great results.

Tips on how to start off a new diet or anything:

1. Always start with a positive attitude that Is the key for success.
2. If you mess up and eat something or some things that you should not it is ok just make sure to get back on track because that is how we learn
3. Research is important, at least know the basics of what you are getting yourself into
a. You are setting yourself up for failure if you go in blindly.
4. Consistency is key, but also you are on your own schedule not on anyone else’s
a. If it takes you two months to lose 10 lbs that is ok progress is progress.
b. Don’t give up future you will be thankful for your dedication to becoming better.

How Fast II

Benefits of Intermittent fasting

I have been fasting since the end of September 2018 at first it was confusing because I was under the impression that skipping a meal was bad, and that breakfast was the most important meal of the day but it got much easier when started to learn more about it. After reading a few articles and books on the the subject I quickly learned about the physical and mental benefits of intermittent fasting. The first two days of fasting were the hardest because I felt like I was going to overeat as soon as my window opened and I am not going to lie I did overeat a few times but once I got into a routine it became much easier. Once I was able to get past the hunger pangs I was able to notice a few differences and one of them was that any bloating that I would feel after eating was reduced. There are many benefits to fasting and once you are able to get past the hunger pangs you are able to certainly feel them.

Although it seems like Intermittent fasting like a fairly new idea, it was a method that was common in ancient life when when hunting and gathering where the only means to survive. Back then they obviously did not have a choice, because of the scarcity of the food they had to make it last.

Benefits of intermittent fasting:

1. Helps take off and keep off the weight

a. Eat fewer meals which means less calories consumed.

b. Hormonal changes, your body will adapt to fasting which in turn enhances your body’s ability to burn calories

c. It takes 10-12 hours for the energy from meal to be used up by the body and then it has to resort to the stored energy (fat).

2. Fasting will help regulate your digestive system allowing it to better repair and revitalize

a. Fasting helps the body eliminate toxins and waste from the body

3. Helps with the increase of energy, I know it seems hard to believe trust me I was as much of a skeptic until I started to feel this benefit for myself

4. It allows your muscles to recover faster.

a. This is something that I was more amazed at because I was feeling sore for less time allowing me to progress faster in my fitness I was able to increase the weight that I lifted more frequently

b. Also one of my favorite effects of this was that my joint pain decreased substantially. My knees would hurt after a good workout and after Jiu-jitsu but now the pain is low to none. This is because my body had more time to work on repairing itself rather than to try and use the energy of the food from the day before.

5. Fasting can also help build character:

a. It has helped me become more disciplined by creating a schedule in which I can be more productive during my day.

b. It has helped me become strong enough to fight off temptations outside of my cheat meal, that might compromise any fitness progress that I have made that day or week.

Overall the benefits of fasting are huge and the only way for anyone to be able to feel them is by trying it out. Yes it will be horrible at the beginning, trust me I struggled with it at first but like I said once it becomes a habit it will be much easier. You don’t have to start off with the 8hr eating window and 16hr fasting, maybe it is best if you try at first maybe 12/12. Remember the 21/90 rule? 21 days to create a habit and 90 to create a lifestyle, well this applies to fasting as well it is only hard at the beginning and eventually it will become a no-brainer.

Fasting tips:

1. Start off slow if you are not willing to test your will power

2. Eat food that is healthy

3. Skip first or last meal not the middle one that way you get the best out of this method

4. Push through the hunger pangs you will become a better person trust me.

HOW FAST?

For this week I am going to start with the basics how I found out about Intermittent fasting and other weight loss methods that I have tried and I will give you a basic idea of what exactly it is.

I have tried different types of diets in my weight loss journey and I found a few that were very effective but they always had the same results once I met my goals which was the yo-yo effect. I would always put some weight back on once I got off the diet it seemed like it was a never ending cycle of dieting and then reaching my goals only to put the pounds back on I honestly thought that I was going to have to diet for the rest of my life and that was something that I was not willing to do.

Here are some dieting methods that I have tried that have been effective

1. vegetarian diet (not vegan)- This type of dieting was the first one it was the on that started my weight loss journey and I lost a total of 50lbs but since I love steak and all of the meaty deliciousness this was not maintainable. With this diet I couldn’t eat anything that my family cooked because it all had meat it was great for weight loss and it made me feel amazing with more energy and motivation but it also made me cry because I couldn’t eat carne asada.

2. Mediterranean- essentially this diet consisted of having seafood and since I was not very experienced in cooking fish my go to was Cod or shrimp, after a while I was just not able to stand the smell of fish but it was very effective oddly, this was when I learned about veggie substitutions in plates that included pasta(such as zoodles or zucchini noodles). I lost my next 30 lbs on this diet.

3. Counting calories- this method has been the most effective one that I have used and it was super hard, I didn’t know what I was doing I just knew that I had to do this. I learned that the easiest way to keep good on you calories was by cooking all of the meals at once and having putting them away or meal prepping. With this method I lost another 20lbs.

4. Keto- well what can I say about this dieting method to tell you the truth I did not lose any weight with this because I gave up about a week into it. It looked amazing on paper, I mean you get to eat cheese, bacon, steak and ham and what not and the results of other people were great. I could not get past the feeling of it I always felt gross and it really affected my skin it was just not for me. I knew of the keto flu which was the name of the reaction and that it was normal, all I had to do is get passed the first couple of weeks and it would go away. I plan to give this method a try once again to see what results I have but it will not be anytime soon.

I am not trying to persuade anyone to not try any of these methods my point to this is to motivate everyone to try different methods. All of these worked for me it pushed me to lose 100 lbs but the reason I kept moving on and trying more methods was because I kept hitting a weight plateau which made me lose motivation which made me gain some of the weight back, which pushed me to try something different. With the calorie count method I did not plateau but it was starting to get hard and there was not way that I could do it forever and I did not want gain the weight back so I started doing some research which helped me better understand why I was not losing anymore weight. In my research I stumbled across intermittent fasting, it stated that all of the top stars in Hollywood do it and that it is a new trend, I normally do not believe those types of ads but I decided to focus on finding more information about the subject and what I found was that it was simple to do all I had to do was skip one meal a day and that it normally would be breakfast. Yes, I know what you are probably thinking WHAT, SKIP THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY? Yes that is exactly what I am saying, if you skip one meal a day a you will naturally consume less calories.

For example:

If your normal day is like this

Breakfast 500-800 cal

Lunch 600-800 cal

Dinner 700-1000 cal

You are consuming anywhere 1800 to 2600 cals per day by the way if you’re not into bodybuilding then you should probably not be having 2600 calories. Now eliminate one of those meals and naturally you will be consuming less calories, the meals that are options for cutting out are either breakfast or dinner. Since you are eliminating meals it is easier to plan out what food you will be consuming during the time you are able to eat.

So to be exact, fasting is scheduling when you eat and I do not mean scheduling like eat chicken at 3pm then at 5pm and so on, intermittent fasting is just setting a time of the day that you are able to eat for example my schedule goes like this:

(Since I work night shift I had to make two schedules one for workdays and one for days off.)

1. The days that I work I eat my first meal at 6 then I snack any time before my next meal and usually I eat it whenever I have a free minute at work. My last meal of the night is between 130 and 2 am which is an 8 hour window meaning I fast for 16hrs but I make sure that I get all of my calories in with those two meals and the snack.

2. On days that I do not work I don’t eat until either 12pm or 2pm depending on how hungry I am feeling of course my first day off I fast for a shorter amount of time but my window still closes at 8pm or 10pm putting me back on the 8/16 fasting schedule.

At first it might sound confusing but when you get used to it the schedule works great, plus fasting has been what made me survive the holidays I managed to stay the same weight and I ate everything ha.

There is so much more information that I want to share with you about intermittent fasting so keep an eye out for my weekly posts I will be going over where the idea of intermittent fasting comes from what other types of this dieting methods there are.

Prep Yourself!!

My experiences with meal prepping

For those that don’t know, I really enjoy meal prepping, I mean the act of actually making the food fills me with frustration because I just get lazy and don’t want to do it. In all honesty that is my own fault because I tend to leave meal prepping for the night or when I’m extremely tired and ready for bed, but the only thing that motivates me to keep doing it is the fact that It has been the main ingredient to my successful weight loss recipe, and no I’m not being cocky by saying successful because I have lost 120 lbs with workout and eating right. The first 70 lbs were just eating healthier and having a strong will but trust me, when it comes to food will power can be worn down. I felt like a ballon of will power and each temptation I came across was a puff of air being blown into it until POP!! I couldn’t hold any more air. When I started to prepare my meals for the week I started to see big changes, at first it was hard and confusing but I still kept on doing it and next thing I knew I had lost another 50 Lbs and my knowledge about dieting had grown. (By no means am I an expert in it but I know what works for me) It is very difficult to keep up a healthy lifestyle based on pure “will” and the continuous debate of why you should keep away from junk food makes it ten times harder. What you need is a plan to give your goals some structure and allow you to focus on meeting your goals. Well, structure is what meal prepping has created for me it allows me follow an eating schedule, and I don’t mean schedule like every two hours or set times of the day what I mean is that I have food ready for each day of my week. Did your parents ever give you the we have food at home comment as you were driving by McDonald’s? Mine did it, they usually said no because we have beans at home and as a tear rolled down my chubby cheek we drove away. Having food ready for me to eat allows me to be an adult and have the “no because I have beans(food) at home,” conversation with myself, I mean I still drive away from McDonald’s with a tear rolling down my chubby cheek but at least I know that I can meet my fitness goals.

So to recap:

yes, staying away from junk food is a great start to getting healthier but you need structure in order to meet all of your goals.

A strong will along with meal prepping and exercising can help you become a better you.

Remember to never forget why you started.

“A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.” – Harvey Mackay

I came across this quote and felt like it went well with my fitness journey, because up until I started to work on my fitness everything was just I remember being fat and wishing I was a size large in shirts instead of barely fitting into a xxl and ready to go up another size and at least a 38 in pants size instead of a 44. Now I fit into a medium but I wear large because mediums are too short ha and my pants size is 36 and it all started to come true once I made a plan to help me reach my goals.

Now imagine the weight or clothing size you dream of being, now work on creating a plan through workouts and healthy meal prepping.

Of course I am not done, yes I have reached my goals but I also have created new ones and it will be difficult but by learning and planning I will achieve them and of course with some determination and hard work.

Meal prepping Tips

Experiment with recipes you enjoy and just change some ingredients to make it healthier.
Experiment with flavors and spices you don’t have to stick to just salt and black pepper remember there are such things as herbs.
You can never go wrong with chicken.
All veggies are good for you so choose the ones you like the most (ie. I strongly dislike Brussel sprouts and will never include them in my meals)
Fruits are good for you as well, just remember that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
Try new recipes Pinterest is great for finding new recipes.
Make sure you eat enough I use the Lose it! App to track goals and calories I really love this app it’s simple and more importantly FREE.