The number one diet tip is writing down everything you eat. You do not need to write the calories, just jotting it down and holding yourself accountable is enough to help shed pounds. In fact, it’s been proven to double the amount of weight you lose. [Source]
My favorite slim down success story featuring a celebrity (without a paid endorsement) is Carrie Underwood. When she first came on to the scene, she looked like your average sorority girl who liked her booze and cupcakes. Then, all of sudden, WHAM! she has these hot legs that came out of no where! What is her secret? Yep. You guessed it. In every interview she gives, she always credits writing down everything she eats. She is a vegan as well I should mention, but she steers clear of starchy carbs late at night and loads up on veggies.
Since getting back from my vacation, I’ve been lazy about work and what I eat. For most people, this doesn’t matter but for me it’s my job. If I don’t look the part of a fitness professional, I don’t get the gig. I am kicking my eating habits into self-discipline mode until April 22nd (which coincidentally is when I leave for another vacation).
If you think this is excessive vacation time, I agree. I, however, have a friend who has a timeshare and I all I had to do was pay for a flight. I’m 28 years old and in a few years, hopefully I’ll be starting a family and won’t be able to do this sort of thing. Not sure why I am explaining myself but I’m going away again, this time sitting in a bikini for 7 days!
So here goes, after the first two days of writing down what I’ve had I’ve lost 5 lbs of water/glycogen storage weight. Kind of a lot, so I’m curious what happens next. I chew a lot of gum. I hate this because it’s the only bit of artificial foods that I really eat. I am curious if it affects my sweet tooth cravings so I’m even writing down I have a piece. I am not writing down the calories as I go through the day. At the end, I roughly write a number down and add it all up. I’m aiming for 1500 calories this week, and once I hit my goal, I’ll up it back to 1800. So what am I eating…
A protein pancake was for breakfast both days, the first with Jay Robb Vanilla whey protein and the second with Vanilla Vega, a double shot of espresso with stevia and shortly after 2 TBSP of apple cider vinegar with 1/2 lemon juice and dash of cayenne pepper. A couple of hours later I had a 1/2 a grapefruit.
For lunch both days, I also had a tuna melt with The Laughing Cow new Smooth Sensations Cream Cheese in Veggie 1/3 less fat on a slice of Ezekial bread and a side salad with veggies and balsamic vinaigrette. I wanted something sweet afterwards so I had the other half of my banana from my morning pancake with some peanut butter.
For a snack, I had the JCore Body-Lite snack replacement drink mix which is made a with a patented appetite curbing product called Fabuless. I’m not sure what it is and I’m really not trying to sell this to you, but it amazingly keeps me feeling full from 4 pm until dinner at 8 pm. I just put a serving in a small Tupperware that is usually reserved for transporting dressing and dump it into my water bottle at the office. It’s awesome. It’s pricey but there are 30 servings in a bag which comes out to a $1.67 snack for 100 calories. Understanding macros for weight loss female can help you optimize your snacks to fit into your overall plan.
Dinner has been boring. That’s when you know I’m eating clean when dinner is boring. I made Jamie Eason’s Turkey Meatloaf muffin Monday night and it was my best batch yet! So good. I paired it with just asparagus the first night. The second night I added a 1/4 cup of cooked quinoa.
Both nights I also had dessert, banana froyo! This stuff is addicting. I used about 1 small banana, 3 tbsp of unsweetened almond milk and about a tablespoon of vanilla protein powder. Blended it together with my immersion blender to create soft serve ice cream and topped it with a few walnuts.
I ate the same thing both days because I felt great both days. I have tried writing down what I eat before and never get past 3 days. I’m excited to take on this challenge and encourage you to do it with me for 10 days. I can’t stand putting my food journal into an iPhone so it’s paper and pen with me all the time. Do you keep track on paper what you eat?
