What's Your Biggest Downfall To Eating Healthy This New Year?
Jan 1st hits and we all feel insanely motivated to eat healthy and get back on track...so we opt for chicken and broccoli, it lasts about a day, and we end up feeling hungry, deprived and defeated! When we fall off the wagon, our first instinct is to immediately go cold turkey which in most cases just isn't sustainable. Here are a few of our top tips for easing back into a healthy and SUSTAINABLE eating lifestyle:
1. Healthy Fats are your friend! Oils (avocado, olive, coconut), natural nut butters, avocado, etc are wonderful sources of healthy fats that will leave you feeling full and satisfied. Be sure to pair with a protein, complex carbohydrate or both.
2. Eat every 3-4 hours. By eating 5-6 smaller meals per day and spacing them out every 3-4 hours, your blood sugar levels will be more stable which will prevent intense cravings and overeating.
3. Find foods that you ENJOY! Eating healthy does not need to be boring, redundant, or feel miserable. There are a million healthy recipes that are absolutely delicious. Since Lauren and I still workout at a high intensity, plain chicken and veggies just doesn't cut it. We love energy-filled yet simple recipes such as Overnight Oats, Chia puddings, loaded salads with Primal Kitchen Dressing (made with avocado oil), Fish/sweet potato fries etc.
4. Be realistic with yourself and make small changes. Do you drink a glass of wine every night? If so, drop this habit to 3-4 nights a week instead of 0. Do you have sweets multiple times a day? If so instead of going cold turkey, limit yourself to a small amount, one time per day. Do you workout once a week? Aim to make that 2-3x a week instead of everyday. It's not to say that we can't all make huge changes, but when we set goals that are doable, we feel accomplished and motivated to make more and more positive changes. Set yourself up for a series of successes rather than failures.
Even as trainers and healthy eaters, we face the same obstacles as everyone else coming off of the holidays. Overindulgence in sweets, appetizers, alcohol (ha I suppose that's just me not pregnant Lauren!) etc. and all we want to do is forget about the damage we've done and reverse it ASAP! Finding healthy, satisfying options and making small attainable goals is always the way to go that will lead to sustainable results.
Here are a few of my personal January goals:
1. No alcohol except for 2 glasses of wine per week, max. Instead of going cold turkey, this makes me really think about when I want it rather than autopilot filling a glass while I'm cooking dinner and not even enjoying it.
2. Cooking 2 recipes per week and freezing leftovers. This week I made a white bean, turkey chili and egg cups, I usually enjoy about 3 meals of each until I'm over it so I anticipated this and froze the rest.
3. Read and finish 1 book. At any given time I'll be reading 3-4 books so setting the goal of finishing 1 helps to keep me on track to my ultimate goal of 12 per year.
It would be easy to say no alcohol, I'm prepping every. single. meal. and I'm going to read 5 books...but like ya right! Could I accomplish all of these if I set my mind to it? Sure but it's not going to make me happy and if I slip up I'll sure as heck feel defeated rather than motivated. Keep it realistic, feel happy doing it, and crush 2018!