After ages and ages, I've finally made the time to write AND fully complete my most asked for blog, my daily food intake!
I have had so many questions on what I eat on a daily basis... & what better way to share than on the blog.
Throughout this post I will share a few different types of meals that I eat during my week.
** TIP: First, I'll start by sharing that I recommend giving yourself a monthly or weekly budget on how much you'd prefer to spend on food & only purchase things within your budget, getting only what you need.
Tyler and I go grocery shopping about every week or two to keep stocked up on our essentials. Tyler's side of the pantry tends to stay full of cereal and pancake mix that I help myself to every once and awhile. My side is energy bars, kale crunchies, & LOTS of daily supplements, nuts, & healthier snacks. I do most of the grocery shopping while Tyler is in charge of picking out our proteins: Salmon, Shrimp, Tilapia, Beef, Ground Turkey, Turkey Bacon & CHICKEN!
When I go grocery shopping I try and mix up what we eat so our bodies are getting a good variety of nutrients from all fruits & veggies. Many people make this error often, once they find a product they like they continue to buy only that every single time. If you want to buy celery every time... DO IT because I do and it's an excellent snack to have instead of chips or candy!
I'm not saying that I don't buy tomatoes or the celery every time, because I do and I practically put them in everything I make.
I'm saying that one week I'll take celery & carrots to work for morning snacks and strawberries & blueberries for the afternoon. The next week I'll take celery & cucumbers or cucumbers & tomatoes and so on, this also helps you not get quickly burnt out on your food choices. And actually, following this routine helps me crave certain fruits and vegetables instead of cookies, chips or chocolate. My priority is to make sure my body is getting a good variety of nutrients from different types of fruit & vegetables because each one can be beneficial to our health in different ways
Out of all of the DIETS out there, I believe there is truly one simple way of aiding to your health journey. EATING RIGHT!
I 100,000 percent believe that eating cake is NOT going to make you fat. If you eat cake for every meal every day… chances are your body is going to start storing that fat and using whatever nutrients you're giving it and will all in then will end in lead to weight gain.
I am a HUGE believer in the 80%, 20% LIFESTYLE, not diet... lifestyle. My goal is not just to lose the weight or get my health on track. It's to have my weight controlled, good overall health, blood pressure, heart rate, heart, lungs, etc. This is how I plan to live for the rest of my life, making it my lifestyle not just a temporary diet. Going about my day, if I crave chocolate, I most definitely help myself to a small amount to fix that craving instead of forcing myself to hold off and then later engorging into an unhealthy surplus of chocolate. If you’re on a weight loss journey I do recommend keeping track of what you’re eating and your daily macro intake, this can really help put things into perspective for you as well as teach you the different types of carbs, sugars, diary and other healthy options you can eat other than candy, chocolate, bread, pasta, and so forth when struggling with cravings.
So, getting back on track to my 80%, 20% lifestyle, I allow myself to have one treat/goodie a day. I’ve done this for about 6 months and now notice that some days I go completely without and don’t even think about needing a sweet. I think it’s a good way to transition yourself away from eating certain crap your body normally craves.
**TIP: Never eat or make two bad choices in a row. If you ate a cookie as a morning snack, make sure you have that salad at lunch. Missed a workout Monday, better not miss it Tuesday. I started this about 2 months ago and WOW, I love it.
During my weight loss journey, I began every day with a nutritional homemade smoothie or acai bowl. Making your own smoothies at home can be extremely beneficial because you actually know the ingredients being put in. My smoothies always consist of protein, 2 fruits, 2 vegetables, almond milk *unsweetened and cinnamon, honey or both for flavor. My second meal consists of a salad, with chicken, shrimp on top or ground turkey & rice on the side. If you get tired of salad, then make sure to have at least 1-2 veggies with your meal. I also tried to limit my snacking during this period but on a normal day to day basis I have fruits or veggies in-between to hold me over until my next meal. Dinner ALWAYS consist on 1 protein, 1 carb, & unlimited amounts of vegetables.
**TIP: Fish is a beneficial source of protein during any weight loss journey or everyday life but can help aid your progress. Fish is actually among one of the healthiest foods on the planet and is loaded with a variety of vitamins.
I personally would switch of from the types of fish I ate: shrimp, tilapia, flounder or salmon. This way I never tired of eating just one kind or got bored of fish. I also would change up the ways I cook the fish, sometimes grilled others baked, or mixed in with my rice. For my carb source I mix it up from potatoes, sweet potatoes, and different types of rice. As for my vegetables Tyler & I always buy them fresh and cut & cook them ourselves. However, when I am working 7-5 and really don’t feel like cooking or doing more than I have to, I like to use the Birds Eye brand of mixed vegetables. I season them, toss some olive oil on and place them in the oven for a few minutes, it’s perfect, quick & yummy for your side of vegetables. After dinner I am normally done eating for the day unless I have not met my macro goals for the day. Please keep in mind that I do try and work out 1-2 times a day and 5-6 days out of the week... If I don’t meet my goals after dinner or feel a bit hungry a few hours after I help myself to a PB & J, OR I’ve currently really been enjoying a chalupa, beans, shredded chicken, cheese, lettuce, cilantro, tomato, shredded carrots and sour cream on top (YUM), and an all time fav a banana with either Nutella or peanut butter (SOOO DANG GOOD).
**TIP: Tyler and I have very much gotten into a habit/routine of putting vegetables into every meal we eat, including breakfast. In our eggs, smoothies, as a side, cooked and mixed into literally any meat or protein source. Remember, you can never have too much veg! I recommend trying this and see how you like it. It may or may not help you get into a better routine of consuming your vegetables.
Now that I am trying to lean out and not necessarily trying to lose weight my meals have slightly changed depending on the day and how much time I have before work. For the past few weeks I have been working out in the mornings. I have protein coffee a rice cake with either peanut butter with honey or avocado on top. After my workout I’ve been eating lunch, a salad with egg whites and ground turkey mixed with rice, shrimp and rice or just a salad. After about 2-3 hours I have a vegetable or fruit and have currently been loving celery topped with low fat cream cheese, or peanut butter, for fruit I have strawberries, cherries, or watermelon. After snack and before dinner is when I normally get my sweet tooth and to rid of this I’ve been eating the Heavenly Chunks sold at Costco made with all-natural ingredients: gluten free oats, dark chocolate, shredded coconut, vanilla extract and peanut butter. ALSO I do make these at home but for convenience I have been buying them. These are also good treats to like have before I lift or run in the evening’s as kind of a pre-workout. For dinner I have made sure to have a good variety of protein, carb, starch, and vegetables. I’ve mostly been sticking to rice because I felt like I started eating potatoes to much. With the rice Tyler & I have been mixing bell peppers and onions in with our rice and it’s so dang good. As for our side of vegetables we have been going with broccoli, corn, peas, asparagus, or green beans. Broccoli and green beans have been our most popular choice lately. Protein, we’ve really both been eating chicken a whole lot up until last week during my *TOM*. Almost every day last week I made salmon because it’s supposed to help relieve cramps. After dinner I have everyday been met my macros AND have been full so there was no need for me to snack. If I was though I would 100% go for a banana.
**TIP: Lessening your snacks/snack breaks can be extremely beneficial during a weight loss journey as many people don’t keep track or realize how much they actually intake during a snack break.
I hope this gave you all some good ideas to follow & try. My main point that I’m not sure if I’ve made.. is that it IS NOT a dire necessity to limit yourself by cutting out all the foods you love. Tyler and I eat pasta about once a week… CARBS ARE GOOD FOR YOU! Your body needs them to be live! Weight gain happens from eating a surplus of fats, sugars, or carbs and the yummy unhealthy foods over and over again. Weight loss happens from consistency by eating healthier options more so than the bad. Simply watch your portions, but NEVER feel guilty for engorging in pizza & ice cream over the weekend. It will be okay, get back to it Monday morning. Enjoy life, wake up every day thankful to be alive & ready to live! Live a healthy lifestyle, a fit lifestyle, a pageant lifestyle, Teacher, Student, Mom, whatever it may be. Make yourself a budget, set a goal and go for it & don’t give up. Consistency is key, I promise. I have a sweet almost every day, I eat pizza or pasta at least once a week, a bag of Takis at a time (REALLY BAD FOR YOU) and I’ve still lost 30+ lbs. You can no matter what you do or who you are, enjoy your life, eat the foods you love and live healthy & see results.
I know this was a long blog of me blabbering about food intake and switching topics often, BUT I really do hope this has answered all your questions on how I stick to a healthy lifestyle.
LOVE YOU GUYS!
Xoxox, Sarah Mckenzie
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