Recently, a friend of mine who is
working on getting her life to a healthier place asked me how I got started on
my journey. After thinking for a while, I actually had a hard time remembering…
it literally feels like an entire lifetime has passed between the ‘old’ me and
the ‘now’ me! So, I went back and re-read some of my very first blog entries
and wow – I don’t even know that person anymore! I found a person full of
excuses and complaining about having to ‘dance around the meatheads’ in the gym…
ha! And now, I’m one of those meatheads! Lol Anywho….
The first step to changing your
life is probably the hardest – making the decision to change and committing to that decision. Before
finally committing to my decision, I made quite a few failed attempts at
changing my life… failed attempts because I never fully committed to the
changes and I always regressed. While it may seem like an easy thing to do,
this is one of the most difficult aspects because you are committing to
changing everything. Your eating habits, your lifestyle/activity habits, your
mindset etc – and those are big things! I hear a lot of people saying that they
are ‘making healthier choices’ and while that is commendable and definitely a
step in the right direction, keep this in mind: if you want to see a big
change, you have to MAKE a big change!
Once you’ve made the decision,
you just have to honestly evaluate your life as it is… what are you eating? How
often are you moving? Why have you not made any changes up to this point? Once
you figure out the honest answers to these questions, make a plan of attack to
decide how you’re going to approach your new life! It takes some work – do the
math to figure out how many calories you need per day and how you’re going to
get those calories in the most nutrient-dense way. What kind of workouts do you
want to do? It’s important to stay positive and re-train your brain to think
positively and proactively. Don’t make excuses to skip workouts or cheat on
your diet – remind yourself of reasons why it’s important to stay disciplined
to those changes!
Food:
Food has always been the hardest
part for me, as it is for many people. The majority of the population looks at
food as this beautiful romanticized thing that can bring you so much pleasure
through your taste buds and blah blah… (which is good considering I’m a chef
and my career depends on this lol). BUT as a person on a plan to improve their
health, your mindset has to change. Remember this: FOOD IS FUEL. Your body is a
machine and the food that you eat must fuel your body appropriately to give
your machine the power that it needs to achieve your goals. This may sound asinine
to some, but it is a necessary way of thinking. Now, just because we are now
using food as a fuel source doesn’t mean that it has to be bland and taste like
crap! There is certainly a way to eat healthy and still enjoy what you are
eating.
My nutritional habits have
changed many times over the years. While I have had a relatively stable
nutritional personality for the last year or so, it took a lot of experimenting
to get to this point! When I started my Losing Path, I was mostly just watching
the labels… trying to keep my calories, fat, sugar, protein and sodium in
check. While I still keep all of these things in mind when I choose my foods, I
also take into account the QUALITY of food that I am eating. While a Lean
Cuisine meal may be in line with my calorie/fat goals, the food is shit and I’m
not adding anything to my health by eating processed stuff. I can get the same
amount of calories/fat etc by making the food myself using whole, natural
ingredients... so I’m benefiting my overall health while still adhering to my
goals.
So, what to eat? In order to help
your metabolism speed up, it is important to let go of the ‘3 Meals a Day’ standard
mentality. Split your meals into 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day. Eating
on this schedule will help jump-start your metabolism and get to burning that
fat! Personally, I eat 5 meals per day, spaced 3 hours apart. Currently
weighing roughly 235lbs, I shoot for around 1,600 calories per day. Each meal
has a lean protein source and a complex carb. I get my carbs from vegetables,
brown rice (½ c per day), black beans (1/2 c per day) and oats (1/2 c per day).
Your lean protein source can be boneless/skinless chicken breasts, lean turkey,
lean ground beef (although I am never a fan of red meat), lean fish, eggs or protein
powder. As I said, I use mostly vegetables for my carbs but it is important to
use low-glycemic veggies. For instance: broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, leafy
greens, green beans etc. It is super important to measure your portions when doing
your meals as well! There’s no sense in spending the time to calculate
everything just to approximate on the actual amount you’re putting in your
body!
Something else to consider is
what you are drinking! For me, my only options are water, black coffee, organic
unsweetened green tea or my supplements (protein, glutamine etc). Stay away
from juices, soda etc... So many hidden calories/sugars/sodium! Shoot for 1
gallon of water per day… you’ll be peeing a lot but that will help to keep you
hydrated, keep your belly full and flush out some bad stuff!
Exercise:
Frankly, this is the easy part. Its
pretty simple- just move! When you’re starting your journey, you have to decide
what is right for you. Although I wasn’t in good shape when I started, I have
always been a relatively active and athletic person and always really enjoyed
working out, so it wasn’t a big deal for me to get back into the gym. Some
people just aren’t gym people, though! Figure out something you can do to get
your heart rate up that you will enjoy! Take a walk, ride a bike, go to zumba
etc… Just start somewhere. When I started, I got on a treadmill and could only
run 2 minutes before I had to stop. So I would get on that treadmill a few
times a week and continue to push myself and eventually I got to the point
where I could run 5 miles. Consistency and persistency is so important when it
comes to fitness! Also – keep in mind that while cardio workouts are important,
strength training is super important as well! Lean muscle mass helps to burn
fat… so the more muscle you have, the more fat it is going to burn! I’m not
recommending that everyone jump into the weight room and start bench pressing –
just doing some sort of strength training (which includes body weight
resistance training) should always be a portion of your fitness plan.
While I realize this information
is all relatively vague, it kind of has to be. Every person is different and
will require a different plan to achieve their goals… this is just a guideline!
If anyone has specific questions, feel free to contact me! I’m always always
happy to help and to answer any questions! My Facebook page is Ali’s Losing
Path.
A before/after from before I began my journey to now :)
That’s all for today, folks! Keep
it happy and healthy!
