You are what you eat. We have all heard it, but how many of us have really taken that into consideration when we are shoving cupcakes or macaroons down our throat simultaneously asking why we don’t look like Halle Berry in our bikinis? I am not suggesting you banish your sweet tooth all together, in fact I think that depriving ourselves of cravings actually leads to binging excessively! So where is a happy medium?!

Personally, I have found that small compromises make a big impact! For example, I like to eat a lot of eggs. According to authoritynutrition.com they are high in protein as well as B vitamins, they lower your BMI and contain 9 of the necessary amino acids that are necessary for a health diet. That being said, I am not a big fan of eating eggs plain. Normally Ketchup was my go to, but I have found that Salsa has twice the serving size, half the calories and 1/4 of the sugar! Click here for one of my favorite Omelet recipes! 

If you look at your daily diet you can find a lot of ways to trim the fat so to speak. Cut out that extra cup of coffee, or switch to espresso. While coffee only has about 1 calorie, 1 tbsp of creamer has 35 and lets face it…how many of us only use 1 tbsp?!Brown rice has way more nutritional value that white rice, and to quote Chip from Mountainside Fitness ‘if you are going to eat white rice you may as well just eat cotton candy.’

Try limiting your portions and eating more often.  What? Eating more often will help you loose weight?! Yes. Now I am not saying go eat 6 sandwiches a day, but eating six times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2-3 snacks) can help you speed up your metabolism and also lose weight. As Chip explained it to me, think of your body as a furnace. When you consistently feed a furnace small logs it burns steady as opposed to throwing one log on the fire and watching it consume the log then burn slower and slower.

Now when I say snacking, be careful with this one. Snacks are not bad, just the wrong kind of snacks are bad. Try packing a lunch with healthy snacks options like a piece of fruit or some almonds or both. By giving the body a variety of nutrients it will actually stay full longer because it is working to break down different components (think of it as your body multi-tasking).

Personally, I love to take a mason jar salad, a piece of fruit and a protein shake to work. My protein shake can be a mid morning snack, my salad is my lunch and the piece of fruit serves as a really yummy dessert. Speaking of dessert, try to limit actual desserts to once per week and go for the healthiest version possible Also make sure you are drinking TONS of water. Many times our body confuses thirst with hunger. If water isn’t your fave bevy don’t fret, read my latest blog feature for Mountainside Fitness for tips on how to infuse your water with some fruity flavors!

Stay Stylish,

XOJ