Question: Do you have any nutrition tips that I can follow (daily meals) that would assist with weight loss?
Answer: This is a loaded question, but a great question. There’s so much more you can get out of your workouts if you’re eating healthy too, so why not include the whole fitness package in your plan, so you like your whole package – your body!
First off – screw diets! No one should be dieting or restricting themselves from anything. Healthy eating for a lifetime comes down to conscious eating by listening to your body, and eating to be healthy and a practice of self-love. Weight loss or getting to your set-point naturally comes with that – I promise! I could rant on and on about this, because I am so passionate about the food people are eating and what it does for their body but to make it simple, I’ve outlined some tips for you:
- EAT WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY. You will always find a freak of nature that can simply be slim no matter how much they eat, and you will also find others that barely eat anything and somehow lose weight and keep it off. For the majority of us, you need to eat often to keep your blood sugars stable, to increase your energy, to burn fat, to help control cravings, and to help reduce the bitchy feeling we get when we haven’t eaten (hangry anyone?!) For me, to feel my best, I eat healthy foods every 3-4 hours and that does wonders for my energy and did wonders for my weight loss – you just have to change your concept of eating less is more. It’s definitely not. It’s quality over quantity!!
- DRINK LOADS OF WATER. Drinking water throughout your day helps to keep you energized, releases toxins from your body, and helps to obviously keep you hydrated. One of the main causes for midday tiredness comes from dehydration, and in turn makes people hungry, and reaching for the wrong foods. Opt for 1 + litres a day if possible.
- MAKE MOTHER NATURE THE MAIN COOK IN YOUR LIFE. If Mother Nature didn’t create it, then it probably isn’t stellar for your health or waist line. Lean Cuisines, lunchables, granola bars, fruit loops, and frapaccino’s have little to no nutritional value for you…and regardless of the fact that some may claim to be “low in calories, low in fat, Keto, whatever”, they are loaded with things that make your body toxic, and then in turn make you hang on to fat, or gain weight. Whole grains (brown rice/quinoa/oatmeal), beans/legumes, nuts/seeds, vegetables, fruit and animal meats were here thousands of years ago for us to eat…and you know what, that’s what your body wants, and more importantly, that’s what your body best respond to when it comes to weight loss.
- CONSCIOUSLY EAT WHAT YOU WANT. We put so much goddamn pressure on ourselves to be perfect with our eating, or perfect with our bodies for that matter!!! It’s too much on us physically and emotionally. When you put the pressure on, the guilt comes into play when you have a little “slip-up”. The guilt can make you have the “well who gives a shit attitude, I can never do this” and you go and eat whatever you want for the next 3-14 days. Completely ruining any advances you’ve just worked so hard for. To avoid this, allow yourself to indulge, whether it’s one big one, or a couple small ones throughout the week. Don’t feel bad – you’re human. No one is judging your slip-ups more then you are. Be nice to yourself, and enjoy a small piece of that Pumpkin Pie this weekend!
TIPS ON WHERE TO START:
If you wake up, and try to focus on giving yourself at least 2 healthy meals per day that Mother Nature has provided you with, you will eventually want to make meals 3-6 that way too. Listen to your body; if you get tired, cranky, dizzy, are craving the wrong foods at the wrong times of day, and are never seeing much change in your body – then it’s time to switch the focus. Focus on eating healthy, rather than eating for weight loss. If you focus on things you can’t eat…you’ll just want them more. If you focus on eating for health with things that Mother Nature has given us…you’ll feel good about treating yourself right, and you’ll want to continue doing it. Not to mention that insane amount of energy you’ll have, as well as the non-bloated stomach you’ll have at the end of the day!!!
HARDCORE ASHLEY – Above and beyond all the things listed above, I’ve also restricted myself from eating too much gluten or lactose milk. I’ve noticed a HUGE difference in my waist with eliminating those two things alone and so have most my clients. I eat Ezekiel bread products (which you can find in the frozen section at any grocery store that has organics) as well as almond breeze and soy milks found in the organic section.
Doing the same thing over and over again and looking for a different result is the basic definition of insanity. You must do something different in order to see a change in your body.
– Albert Einstein
Showing you the difference between liking and loving your body,
ashley dale roy
