You Can't Out Work A Bad Diet!!

I have exercised for over 15 years. Even at my heaviest, I was still running. I ran a 15K with friends in Florida. My mentality was "hey, I just ran 9 miles I can eat whatever I want".  Definitely not the case. At one point in Florida I would work out twice a day burning over 1,000 calories and the scale would not budge. Wait, it did budge...just up,instead of down. Looking back, I was ruining all my work in one meal. I would go to Panera for breakfast and get their cinnamon/sugar bagel with honey walnut cream cheese and a fruit and yogurt parfait. While it may seem healthy to some people..it's not. Those 2 items were one meal and well over 800 calories.

The biggest thing one can do is really look at what you are eating. I found that what I thought was healthy wasn't. My favorite salad in Florida was from Crisper's and had over 1,000 calories- and it seemed so healthy. It had a balsamic dressing with it! So combine my 800 calorie breakfast and my 1,000 calorie lunch and without snacks or dinner I was already at 1,800. I was also consuming at least 64 ounces of diet coke- but hey it was diet, right? Wrong.

Fast forward to today and here are some of my eating tips and tricks! Please keep in mind that everything I put here is what a perfect day would look like and many of you have been with me on not so perfect days too. The key is to have more good days than bad days. I wake up and IMMEDIATELY start drinking water. I have water bottles everywhere in my house. I try to drink 33 ounces of water before I leave for work and then have around 100 ounces for the day. On good days, I have nothing but water- but I still love my fountain diet cokes. Every day, no matter what- even bad days- I make sure to eat at least these 3 staples: kashi go lean oatmeal. It is in the organic section and a great balance of protein and fiber. An apple. I eat one apple every day. Greek yogurt. I have 2 Greek,yogurts everyday, I love Oikos and Fage, but love the new Chobani Flippers too. The key lime is like dessert and the coconut chocolate almond is amazing after being in the freezer for 10 minutes. On my really good days, those are indulgences. After EVERY workout I have a protein shake, Right now I am hooked on peanut butter cookie dough from Gaspari Nutrition. I have one to two scoops with Chocolate PB2 and water mixed in. If you don't know what PB2 is...I love it. It is powdered peanut butter and I add it to oatmeal, protein shakes...and for a "dessert" fat free cool whip. I love PB2. I truly believe that consuming the protein right after my workout is key to building muscle and warding off that feeling of wanting to stop at McDonalds on the way home. Don't judge: i,would totally go to McDonalds or Taco Bell after my workouts in Florida..remember "I Deserved It"
I stay away from dairy milk and drink almond milk. I also love pop chips!! They are gluten free-if that is important to you- and low calorie. They have a great crunch for when you want something crunchy and salty. I eat a lot of salads with dressing on the side. I also like Subway, but I get a turkey and ham in wheat with all the veggies and mustard. It is filling and good! Another staple is hummus with veggies or pita chips.
Another great treat are these frozen Chocolate Bananas on a stick. They look ridiculous (and inappropriate) but are so good! They have 130 calories and the dark chocolate is good for you. I think they are called Diana's frozen banana's. They are sold in the ice cream novelty section and are in a
Green box.
Another tip is water, water, water. The more water I drink,the leaner I look. I promise just a week of the diet coke binge can make a difference.
Thank you all so much for asking about diet tips. If you are curious about something in particular let me know. Tomorrow I will talk about weight training in general and then begin sharing more details on my journey to lift heavy!