All things weight loss and wellness.

Greetings, fellows. Ready to talk the good, bad, and ugly? I’m exposing a lot about myself in this post so I genuinely hope some of the info you find here is helpful on your journey, and I’m very excited to hear feedback and results.  National statistics In today’s post I’m going to address an epidemic. A nationwide epidemic. As of August 2017 the obesity rate exceeded 35% in 5 states, 30% in 25 states, and 25% in 46 states. West Virginia whops in with a 37% rate, and Colorado slides into the lowest rate spot of 22%. Basically, ¼ of the country struggles with obesity. About 610,000 people die of a cardiovascular disease every year. Every year 610,000 people die of heart disease. 70% of Americans are overweight, or obese which puts 70% of Americans at risk of developing a cardiovascular disease. Pause for effect. That is just heartbreaking to me. I can attest to the struggle of weight loss. When I graduated high school. I weighed around 170lbs. I’m about 5’10”. Even at that height, 170lbs a lot. I got picked on a lot in school, especially elementary school until I started to lengthen out, but it still led to eating disorders, and unhealthy habits. My weightloss journey In college, I dropped about 40lbs thanks to spin classes, Zumba, yoga, and various attempts at becoming a runner. I was still eating poorly. Not junk food poorly, like barely enough to survive poorly. I Zumba and starved my way into a size 2, and hung out there until I got pregnant. What I didn’t know at the time was that your body gravitates toward your heaviest weight when you get preggers. At the end of my first pregnancy I weighed 198lbs. At the end of my second I weighed 210. And the weight didn’t come off as easily after the second babe as it did after the first. It just refused to come off. I managed to get back to pre-pregnancy weight (164) after a few months, but hung out there for the rest of that year. Cue wake up call. My eating habits weren’t healthy in college. Starving or purging yourself aren’t good options. Frankly, they kind of sucked. Over exercising isn’t healthy either. Finding a balance between nutrition and exercise is key; however, you can. not. out. exercise. a. bad. diet. You just can’t. You can work your heart out on that elliptical, but that does not make eating a big Mac for supper a good choice. My husband packed on sympathy pounds with me throughout each pregnancy. So, about a year ago, we started a weight loss/get our shit together thing, together. We didn’t determine anything specific at that point, we just made a decision to get “healthier.” Sound familiar? Want to know what happened? Not much. Maybe a few pounds came off. An inch or less off our waist bands, but otherwise not much happened. Sound familiar? How often have you made a decision to “get healthy” which really meant “lose weight,” but when you “got healthy,” you didn’t really lose that much weight? I weigh 139lbs as of this morning. Im 5’10”. And that puts my BMI at 19.9, and in the normal range. I’m about 4lbs away from my goal weight. I’m comfortable in a size 3-4, eating regularly, and exercising on a manageable schedule. It’s definitely cumbersome to set up the habits to be successful at this, but once you do you’ll see results. Also, we maintained all this while I was working full time. Not home. Don’t use work as an excuse not to meet your goals. Tips and tricks to help Here is a list of what helped us with recipes, meal plan ideas, and workout schedules below: 1) Identifying the differences in a man’s    

    dietary needs and a woman’s 2) Meal prepping 3) Green tea 4) Eliminate temptation 5) Cut back on alcohol 6) Adopt low carb options 7) Stick to serving sizes and portion sizes 8) Water. Water. Water. 9) Apple cider vinegar concoction before 

     breakfast 10) The Asana rebel app (yoga) 11) The Aaptiv app (all other fitness) Hubby needs to maintain a different diet than I do to achieve his goals. It makes meal prepping more cumbersome but why do it at all if it isn’t going to be effective? Men need more protein than us ladies do. In fact, an active young man needs to maintain a caloric intake of around 3000 per day to remain healthy. Protein is essential to weight loss, and meeting nutritional goals. I use to worry I’d end up looking like a beefy bodybuilder if I ate too much protein. That was false. When I actually started incorporating enough lean protein in my diet I got better muscle definition, and lost fat. For the men: “The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reports that men need 1.4 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day to build muscle mass. This means active men trying to build muscle should consume 0.64 to 0.82 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day.” Okay ladies: “The US Department of Agriculture recommends that all women over the age of 19 should get at least 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day (or 0.37 grams per pound). That means a woman who is 130 pounds should get at least 48 grams of protein, which could look like 7 ounces of salmon or 7 eggs.” 

When we were both managing full time jobs I prepped 4 different breakfasts, and 4 different lunches for five days of the week every Sunday. I also prepped and stored the diced onions, the minced garlic, the diced veggies, chicken breasts, turkey burger patties (prep and freeze). At first it took me about 3 hours on Sunday after church. 3 hours seems like a lot, but it will keep you on track and once you find a rhythm you can cut that time in half.  Drinking 3-4 cups of green tea a day can boost your metabolism by about 4% and help you shed unwanted fat, especially in your core. Drinking a decaf cup before bed helps propel weight loss even further. 

Eliminate the junk food. You don’t need chips, or pop. Switch to water, and reduce the amount of snacking you do. Snacks are goal killers. If you have to have something between planned meals choose carrots and hummus, an apple, 1 oz of cashews or pistachios, choose better options. The hubs and I love a good IPA. They’re some of the higher carb and abv beers, but we’re suckers for them. We don’t drink multiple heavy beers daily. Any amount of alcohol every day isn’t healthy. Seek help if you’re worried about overconsumption. In moderation a few beers, a glass of wine, a cocktail, etc. aren’t things I personally worry about. I’m careful enough in other areas that if I choose to drink a beer I know it’s okay. It’s a myth that beer gives you a gut, but message me to get details on how to pour it effectively to reduce bloating and discomfort. Serving sizes and portions are critical. We stuff ourselves in the States. When I was still teaching I had a foreign exchange student and at some point during his first week I asked him what he thought about the US, and we got on the subject of food. He said, “you really have big options here in America, I mean the hamburgers are huge.” He’s not wrong. 4 oz red meat, and 4-6 of chicken or fish is a serving size. Read the labels and eat accordingly. Grocery list and meals No matter what your day to day looks like right now it’s easy, and honestly cheaper to reduce snacks, and switch to more holistic options to meet those caloric needs. The basic staples to our diet are: almond milk, coffee, green tea, peanut butter powder, turkey, chicken, sausage, steak, salmon, tuna, nuts, sesame sticks, vegetables, oats, oils (olive, avocado, sesame), cauliflower rice, steamable vegetables, eggs, cheese, honey, and fruits. *We don’t buy bread because one of our favorite staples are spinach wraps. You can get them at Aldi which is where we do all our shopping. Strongly recommend. Also, store bread has so many preservatives and chemicals. You can make bread with 5 ingredients. Go check your bread. If it has more than 6 ingredients, thrown it out, and message me. I’ll make you a homemade loaf to try and give you the recipe for a few bucks. Okay so our breakfasts look like this: *apple ciders 15 min before breakfast. I drink green tea with breakfast, and hubs drinks coffee. Apple cider vinegar drink: 2 tbsp ACV 1 fresh squeezed lemon (or 2tbsp lemon juice) 1 tbsp honey. *I heat it up for about 25 seconds to get it to incorporate together, fill with water, and drink it in one chug. Breakfast Hubs: Sausage patty with a piece of Colby jack cheese, a piece of turkey lunch meat, and an over easy egg on top. Me: serving of oatmeal, with almond milk, 2tbsp peanut butter powder, 1tsp cinnamon, 1tbsp honey, and various fruits. On days that I run I use a banana, otherwise I use blueberries or raspberries. Girls: homemade almond flour, and flaxseed chocolate chip or banana pancakes. *Stay tuned for that recipe in a future blog. Lunch Hubs: spinach wrap with turkey, cheese, spinach, and mustard. Me: salad with romaine lettuce, chopped carrots, broccoli, sesame sticks, fruit (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries) with a garlic and oil based dressing. Girls: whatever they’re hungry for (today they had grilled chicken breasts (pre-prepped) with carrots and hummus. Dinner Ranges from turkey burgers, tuna steak, salmon quesadillas, chicken salads, chicken/steak burritos, pepper/veggie burritos, Brussels sprouts, roasted broccoli, and a bag of Cauliflower rice. I dropped about 8 pounds (the drop from 147 to 139) after I’d plateaued, after incorporating cauliflower rice into our daily eats. *for any recipe that calls for flour switch to almond flour to reduce carbs. You can buy a big bag on amazon for $20. If you buy bread find a brand without chemicals and preservatives, and stick to whole wheat.  *egg, and spinach wraps have become my absolute favorite on the go meal substitute. Message me for details on that. 

Workouts A 1 hour workout is only 4% of your day. The aaptiv app has revolutionized our workouts. Some readers who know me personally will attest to the fact that for years I built my own regimen. It worked at the time, but it wasn’t sustainable long term. My workouts were far too long and rigorous, and when I started running* I exhausted my body into fatigued states, and wasn’t present or fun to play with our oldest daughter, and now that I have two offspring I need to be doubly present. The aaptiv app offers a range of workouts from beginner to advanced options, with various time frames, and includes: cycling, running, strength, yoga*, rowing, and programs built for your specific goals. Hubby loves it too. We both use it every day. I don’t get paid to promote it. It legitimately just works. 

Aaptiv homepage Asana rebel is what I prefer for yoga because there are videos, and the practices range in skill level as well. They’re fantastic off day workouts, as well as after running stretches. *I have ten free passes to aaptiv for the first ten people who ask. Hit me up. 

*I run 4-5 miles every other day at between 7 and 7:30 minute miles. When I started out, I couldn’t even run 3/10 of a mile without stopping. Message me if you’re plateaued, wanting to start, or need tips on incorporating sprints or increasing endurance.  Wrapping up How many of us will admit to the fact that if it were easier, we’d workout more frequently, and eat better? *raises hand* But here’s a secret. If it were easier, everyone would do it. As a nation, we need a wake up call. It’s not easy, but the increase in wellness you’ll experience for making a little extra effort is well worth it. Hit me up with any questions especially ones that deal with running (how to start, how to advance, pacing, strides, etc.) any recipes or help utilizing all those fresh, new ingredients, or for any other fitness/nutrition related advice. My Pinterest page has motivational boards, recipes, and tons of other cool stuff. 

Follow me at Mrs_Beck011412 on Pinterest or message me on IG @rmariewrites, or on Facebook on my page Renee Writes for more ideas and inspiration. Thanks for reading!