Hope you’re having a great week so far. Before I get into today’s WIAW post, I wanted to elaborate on something I posted earlier today. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen the picture I posted…

 

I wanted to talk more about my personal philosophy, as I can understand it may not resonate with everyone.  First off, let me tell you that its taken me years to get to this point. Its no secret that I’ve had disordered eating patterns at various times in my life. I’ve done diets, restricted food groups, counted calories, and competed in fitness competitions. None of which gave me a good relationship with food and body image.

Now, I firmly believe that we all have our journey, and it might take some longer than others to find their balance, and “AH HA” moment. I know myself, and I know that weighing myself, and diligently counting calories isn’t good for the “obsessive”, type A part of my personality. The mere thought of going on a diet makes me want to go eat junk food. Seriously.

Don’t forget, this is my experience, and my journey. I know many people that find balance with counting calories and being more accountable with their eating. Obviously programs like Weight Watchers are huge for a reason…it works for many people!  But, if you’ve tried all that, and yet you still struggle and can’t find balance, it may be time to re-evaluate your strategy.  Sometimes stressing about food less, and not constantly beating yourself up about not eating “perfectly” will benefit you more than you think.

Its become so automatic now that I don’t even think about it.  But times that I do struggle, I tell myself to stop thinking about it, and just do it. Seems simple right? That’s because it is. I don’t have intention, I have action. Do I love going to the gym every time? Nope! But I go anyway…its just become part of my daily life. I find I’m way more successful going to the gym vs. working out at home as I find it inspiring to be around like-minded people. But you just have to find what works best for you. Again, that might take time. I find I get bored easily, so I follow various programs and just keep up with whatever keeps me inspired and motivated at the present time. Right now I’m following workouts from joeydfitness.com.  Sometimes I like doing classes, but right now I’m just liking the weight training 4-5 x per week, and results I’ve gotten from that.  My best advice is….just do whatever gets you off your butt 🙂 If its walking, do it…yoga, do it. Catch my drift? You’re not going to want to do it if you hate it, right? If you want to do weights, but are clueless, I believe temporarily hiring a trainer at your local gym is super beneficial. Even if its for a few sessions (I know it can be expensive). Anything that will make you less intimated to get out of your comfort zone, and get you pumped to keep going with it.

With food…how do I avoid temptation? I just don’t bring it in the house. We eat treats outside the home most of the time. Like going for a burger at a restaurant, or getting take out, or having frozen yogurt at the mall.  For me, if its outta sight, its outta mind.  When I want something…I have it! I believe that deprivation makes you want it even more (and I’d probably end up eat a larger quantity of it).

I hope that explains a bit of what I mean. Its difficult to put into words. If it can help any of you in any way, that would make me so happy. 🙂 If you have any further questions, post a comment below or email me ([email protected]).

Now onto what I ate today!

Breakfast

Wish I could have come up with something more exciting to have today, but since I had protein pancakes yesterday, today I was happy to have my simple eggs and toast (1 egg, 3 egg whites). Gluten free toast, with some real butter. If you want some other quick breakfast ideas, I have a ton of them here.

Took my supplements with my food, and after breakfast, got the 5 year old off to school, and my 1 year old and I headed to the gym. Very lucky that the gym I go to 10 min from my house has childminding. There is a cost, but well worth it in my mind.

Snack

After we got back, I pulled a protein bar out of the freezer. Made a batch of “Better Than Store Bought” Protein Bars, and made a small modification of using chocolate whey protein vs. vanilla. Just as delicious!

I just picked up some Holiday Nog from the store. These were the two I saw. Decided to get them both and do a little taste test. 🙂

One is the So Nice Noel Nog (soy based), and the other is the Almond Fresh Noel Nog (almond based)

Both were delicious, but I did like the So Nice (on the left) a bit better. It had a slightly thicker texture, so it reminded me more of traditional egg nog.  The nutrition of both is quite similar. The So Nice does have slightly more sugar and cals.  So if you can do soy, I’d go with the So Nice, but if you can’t then the Almond Fresh isn’t bad either! I can’t do regular egg nog as it bothers my tummy. But if you are ok on it, low fat egg nog is a yummy choice too…for the occasional treat.

I’m planning on using the nog in a couple new recipes  😉

Lunch

It was more of a mid-afternoon lunch today, as that protein bar really filled me up! I had picked up a rotisserie chicken at the store, so I had some of the breast meat with some raw veggies, and cabbage slaw with some balsamic dressing. I always have various grab-n-go veggies on hand in the fridge. Quick and did the trick!

Dinner

It was a late one tonight. I had a hair appointment, so hubby looked after feeding the kids (yay!) and fended for himself. When I got home, I just wanted something quick.  I saw these new soup packets at Costco, so picked them up to try out.

Miso soup is usually higher sodium, but this one is reasonable. Around 300mg sodium per serving.  You just open the pack, and drop the cube into boiling water. Can’t get faster than that!  I also added in some more rotisserie chicken…this time some dark meat.

It was good! I’d get this soup again!

I still was hungry after the soup, so I took a peek in the fridge. Some Peanut Butter Bread was right there in the front, so I had a piece of that 😉

(Yes, that’s one  of my monkey’s being a monkey in the background 😉 )

Before Bed Snack

I’ve already started to think about it, as its 9:00. Going to grab some greek yogurt with some stevia drops and a big handful of granola.  Then drink some tea and call it a night.

Toodles!