DISCLAIMER: weight and body image discussion incoming… and I am not a nutrition professional, all suggestions are opinion based on previous personal experience.
I have been struggling with my body image and weight for the last five years. Maybe it’s being a certain age. Maybe it’s more. I was under a lot of stress and suffering from extreme anxiety in the Spring of 2019 when my dad was diagnosed with cancer and passed away ten months later, right before the start of the pandemic (which didn’t help matters). While I spent a lot of time pouring myself into home projects as self therapy, I also did a bunch of comfort/emotional eating.
Since then I’ve reached my highest weight, and I can’t seem to get a handle on it. That is, losing much, if any, of the extra pounds. If I’m being honest, I haven’t made the actual effort, or at least not consistently and wholeheartedly enough, to make a difference. The truth is while I want to lose weight to both feel better in my body and to improve my health, I really don’t want to go through the discomfort of the process…and the key components, diet and exercise, are not comfortable.
I know exercise is important and I do feel better when I do it. Getting started is my biggest hurdle. Staying consistent with it is my second. So when I let these two things get the better of me, I don’t see much progress.
Morning is the best time for me, but I’m often cold, hungry and tired when I climb out of bed. What a combo! But I’ve committed to a 100 day challenge (for the last 100 days of the year, 9/23-12/31), to do a treadmill walk every day, for at least 15 minutes. I know it’s not much, and I definitely could do more (and some days I do), but I believe it’s better than nothing and it’s building the habit that is the first key step for me. I’ve only missed two days so far.
While that’s all well and good, this post is about nutrition. And I know that what I eat, and how much, is just as important to this process, if not more so.
So this month I’ve been trying to focus on my diet. My intention was to spend November documenting my go to meals, and logging pertinent info (calories, macros, etc) into a database that I can easily reference to create balanced weekly meal plans in December, into the new year and beyond.
Nutrition Hacks
Even though I haven’t built or populated my database yet, I have been trying to implement a handful of hacks into my weekly meal planning and prep, and I intend to continue using them as I crack down on achieving my weight loss goals, so I thought I’d share them here today in case you need or want some inspiration:
- Have fruit with breakfast – sometimes I crave something sweet at breakfast, but pastries or waffles (even the Kodiak protein variety) never keep me full for long. Having a piece of banana or a handful of berries with my breakfast adds a little treat to my morning meal, and has the benefit of adding a bit of fiber too.
- Eat something green with lunch everyday – this usually looks like a cucumber salad, but can also be a side of broccoli, asparagus, or zucchini as well. Or if I’m having a salad as my main lunch component, mission accomplished!
- Include indulgences in your meal plan – this can be a slippery slope… I hesitate to put it here because I don’t know if it’s helpful, but I do think it prevents me from binging on treats, so in that regard I will keep it on my list. I usually bring one Hershey Milk Chocolate Nugget as my dessert after lunch. I’ll also ease up on my restrictions for Wednesday and/or Saturday dinners and I’ll allow myself to enjoy dessert on Sunday evening.
- If I feel hungry between meals, I drink water first – before I resort to hitting up my snack supply, I’ll drink my water or electrolytes, or make a cup of tea and then see how I feel. Often, it’s dehydration and not hunger, that’s plaguing me.
- If I’m still hungry, I’ll eat a protein rich snack – I try to bring a healthy option like carrots and hummus or apple and some nut butter, but sometimes a Greek yogurt or chocolate protein shake will work in a pinch.
- Prioritize protein, fiber and healthy fats – I have been trying to eat enough protein with every meal. It makes a big difference in how sated I feel. Typically I’m having beans, chicken or seafood, egg whites, yogurt, cottage cheese and nut butter. I also try to add fiber to each meal with either fresh fruit or veggies, and healthy fats in the form of avocado or mixed nuts.
- Create themed days for go-to lunches – while I like to try new recipes and switch up my weekly menu from time to time, sometimes I get stuck and it’s been helpful to have a go-to healthy meal for certain days of the week— like meatless Monday, a salad on Wednesday, and a tuna wrap or bowl on Fridays.
- Use smaller plates for portion control – portion size is something I struggle with, especially when I eat at my mom’s and we serve our dinner on larger plates. Using smaller plates looks like you’re having a full portion, but can actually help keep it under control. As long as I don’t go back for seconds…
- Prep ingredients (if not entire meals) – maybe meal prepping a full week of meals isn’t your idea of a good time, but if you prep proteins and veggies and maybe a fiber rich carb on the weekend, it can make putting meals together throughout the week simpler and also serve as a choose your own adventure.
I’m hoping that these hacks and tools will set me up for success as I really commit to my health and body transformation next year, and beyond.
Nutrition goals for the rest of the month
- Create a capsule menu – similar to a capsule wardrobe, this is going to be a list of go to proteins, fiber rich foods and healthy fats that I can mix and match to create a variety of meal options.
- Meal Matrix – like my themed lunches for the work week, this meal matrix would be a rotation of breakfast and lunches I can default to if inspiration is lacking and time is short. I also plan to create one for my mom with a rotation of dinner ideas she can pull from.
- Macro Database – I currently have the premium subscription to MyFitnessPal which is nice for easy reference for a food’s macros and calories per serving. I would like to cancel the subscription as I ebb and flow with actually using it, and instead create my own database of my go to foods that I can reference when I’m planning my meals each week.
Do you have any helpful hacks for keeping up with a healthy lifestyle?
Photo by Badulescu Badulescu on Pexels