Spring is only three short days away, friends! Who else loves the spring/summer months the most?
I’ve been working the past few months to really get back on track with my diet and exercise routine. I’ve focused lately mostly diet, because I’ve always loved and made the physical aspect part of my weekly lifestyle. But, honestly, the food train had seriously gotten derailed, you guys. One minute you’re watching everything that goes into your mouth and the next you’ve started cleaning your kid’s plate for them. Yikes! Happens to the best of us, right?
Well, I’m happy to report that I’m back on track again and feeling better than ever these days! I’ve had so many of you guys ask me over on Instagram what all I’m doing these days in this area.
A year or two ago I started Faster Way to Fat Loss and it really changed the way I thought about eating. On the program I discovered intermittent fasting, which has since become a real buzz word, so you’ve probably heard of it. It involves windows of time that you allow your body some digestive rest time, AKA eating nothing over 50 calories (black coffee is ok!). While it was a bit scary at first, I quickly learned that I really thrived on it! I can be a bit of a structured person when it comes to diet, so I loved knowing my exact fasting beginning and ending times each day. To start, that meant putting down the fork at 7pm each night and not picking it back up until noon the following day, which gave me a seventeen hour fasting window.
Now, that doesn’t just mean I eat whatever I want when it’s time for a meal. There is some carb cycling involved that kept my body ‘guessing’ and in fat burning mode. But, over time, and on some days, I’ve been able to stretch out that fasting time a bit longer and once a week I’ll do a 24 hour fast. Again, scary at first, but it definitely gets easier, promise!
So, because so many of you have asked, here’s what a typical eating day might look like for me.
9am
My one coffee for the day. I go for iced cold brew with a splash of almond milk and stevia.
1 or 2pm
Typically, this is the time I eat some type of lean protein and a green vegetable. I’ve been binging pretty hard on these from Target lately. I love the convenience and no added sugar on the ingredient list.
4pm
Some type of small snack to get me through until dinner. (fruit, nuts, yogurt, cheese, etc.)
6pm
With Pete’s food restrictions for his heart and diabetes condition, our meals are always SUPER simple at home. Chicken, fish, turkey (no red meat), a green vegetable (broccoli or green beans typically) and some nights brown rice or whole wheat thin pasta.
(A few things on our regular rotation include ground turkey tacos, ground chicken spaghetti, chicken marinated and put on the grill, BBQ chicken pizza on a thin crust and a baked whole chicken.)
As a general rule, I try to finish all eating by 7pm each night and let my body do some digestive resting.
And while this schedule might seem to be a bit restrictive, please understand that this is what a ‘good day’ looks like for me. There are always those days that I let loose a little and be more flexible depending on what’s going on! There are always exceptions, guys, but I find if I stick with this schedule MOST days, I feel energized and so much better, physically.
As far as the workouts go, I really love switching it up throughout the week. Every week I make sure to make it to my regular weight classes twice a week and do night runs in my neighborhood. Those are definites for me. Weight training and running are my favorite activities, by far. The rest of the week may include a weight session with Sabrina, my personal trainer and/or a class at my local Orange Theory Fitness.
Thankfully, because I love being physically active, the looseness of my workout schedule has never really been an issue for me. I honestly find that when I’ve been away from it for more than a couple of days, I quickly get the itch to get back to it. I guess it’s just become a habit over the years.
Soooo, the long and short of it for me lately has been 90% diet related. At this point in my life, I find that I HAVE to really watch this area or I quickly get off track with where I want to be. No magic pill, unfortunately. Just really watching the intake, doing some fasting, and staying active is what works for me.
Ok, so that’s it, in a nutshell, guys! What questions do you all have for me that I didn’t cover? Let me know below or shoot me an email! I’d love to hear from you!
(Photography via Alyssa Fisher Photo)
Top || Leggings || Sneakers
*Post may contain affiliate links. This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase through these links. I only feature products and brands on my site that I truly love and use. Thank you for supporting this blog and the brands that make it possible.
Thanks so much for sharing!! I have been wondering what you were doing too! You look absolutely fantastic! I have been on the ledge about starting g FWTFL and I feel like after seeing your results I’m ready to pull the trigger next round!!
Author
Thank you, Leah!! Can’t say enough good things about the FWTFL program, honestly! It really helped me understand so many things about food intake! Let me know how you like it if you decide to do it!
So glad that you posted this! Been following you for awhile and definitely noticed how fit you had been looking!! Congrats on all the hard work, Girl!! I know it’s never easy!! You look amazing!! Super inspiring! And thanks so much for sharing!
Author
Brooke! Thank you SO much for this!! You made my day!!