HOW TO: sustainably diet

last week i wrote about WHY you should sustainably diet... this week i'm gonna give you the HOW. 

what exactly is a sustainable diet? 

under my definition, it is a diet that you are able to do for a long duration without burning out and without feeling restricted. 

and it will look different for everyone. for some people that will be a paleo diet, for some people a lower carb diet, and for others its just general portion control.

 so here's how you figure out what a sustainable diet looks like for you: 

1. figure out how you're currently eating and what needs to change. the easiest way to do that is to totally track your food for a few days (being sure to track at least one weekend day). maybe (most likely) you need to reduce your intake or maybe you snack more than you realized or drink high calorie juices or coffees and things you wouldn't usually think of. so knowing what you currently eat can help you to see the issues that may be causing the weight gain. 

2. figure out what is most important for you to keep in your diet for you to stick with it. is that getting to eat hella pasta or other carbs? or do you need your chocolate fix every night? know what is important to you so you can plan how you eat around those requirements to not feel restricted. 

3. which brings me to part 3... plan, plan, plan. at least at first make sure you are planning as much as you can so you don't go off track due to laziness. make yourself a menu, have your snacks portioned out, meal prep if that's something you need to do. make sure you have your plan in place so you can enjoy the foods you want to while also staying within whatever goals you've set for yourself successfully

4. have goals. clear cut, written, achievable goals. that could be staying within a calorie range or no sodas or no eating out during the week or no chips with lunch or eat a veggie at dinner or try a new fruit/veggie every couple of weeks. have set goals for each month that you can achieve and stick with them. 

5. and finally...if you slip up (and you will) don't let that run you off the rails. change takes time and you will make mistakes. and that is OKAY! but do not let that mistake turn into a whole day or week or whatever of going off track. 

so that's how you do it! make your plan and stick with it. eat your healthy foods and protein and enjoy your treats in moderation. 

you can do it! 

but if you need help/have questions/want some ideas follow me on facebook and instagram! send me a message or leave a comment with any questions! 

the importance of sustainable dieting

starting a diet is intimidating and overwhelming. you feel like you have to make an entire re-vamp of your life just to lose weight. 

i have great news... you don't! weight loss and maintaining that loss is not a sprint...it's a lifelong marathon. so any program or tea or pill that's promising your whole life to change or to lose 30 lbs quick...it's probably full of shit. 

cause you may lose that weight in that moment or for that week or month that you are able to follow whatever strict diet or afford whatever crazy program you need to... but what about after that? what about the weeks, months, and years that follow the intense diet you followed to a T?

you go back to your old diet habits. probably not all at once, but after a couple of months you're most likely eating like you were before you had your strict diet wondering why you're gaining weight again. 

this can start a diet cycle that many people suffer through for their entire life. a cycle of yo-yo dieting, of restriction and binge eating, and of losing and gaining the same weight over and over again. 

but there is a different way to diet! and it's a WAY better option than eating no carbs or cutting out every food that you enjoy for forever. 

and the difficult part is... it looks different for everyone. which no one wants to hear. people want to be told what to do and that it's worked for all these people and it will definitely work for you too. if you want someone to tell you what to eat... go find yourself an actual dietitian or nutritionist. they are literally trained in figuring out diet plans for people and are the only people who should be giving you rock solid recommendations for food. 

beyond finding a nutritionist... YOU have to figure out what works for YOU. and it takes time and effort and consistency but it's so worth it. 

this isn't a "how to" blog so i will write on this more later... but the basic start is really figuring out how much you are actually eating...and then how much you actually should be eating and then working your way to that until you hit your goals. 

but the important part is to not eliminate all your foods that you enjoy and to try to incorporate more nutrient dense ("whole") foods. 

what does that look like???

-it looks like making conscious food choices and eating mindfully (not hand in a bag of snacks while watching tv)

-it looks like still having food and drinks that you enjoy (yes you can still have beer and wine... just not multiple glasses every single night) 

- it looks like a long term lifestyle change instead of a crash diet that you can only do for a few weeks before you fizzle out

avoid diets that force you to: 

-only eat a few set meals/proteins/veggies/etc and that's it

-cut out an entire macronutirent (carbs, fats, or protein) 

- cut out a whole food group (diary, meat, sweets, etc) for forever (i'm not including whole30 in this, because this is specifically only a short term diet)

what's the harm of crash dieting? 

you will not hit your goals... and if you do you won't maintain it.

it creates a terrible cycle of restricting foods and then binge eating on those foods. (not great for weight loss)

it will hurt your metabolism in the long term. if you are constantly yo-yo dieting your body and your metabolism will adapt to that and it is not beneficial for weight loss. 

you are more at risk for a myriad of different diseases (heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc) 

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eat foods that you enjoy mindfully, drink hella water, and eat some veggies and you'll be on your way. do not think of dieting as a quick fix, think of it as a long term health journey. 

in the next week or two i am going to have a blog out on HOW to figure out what a sustainable diet is for yourself!

until then... do you have any questions about sustainable dieting and crash dieting? let me know in the comments or send me a message on instagram or facebook! 

HOW TO: break a weight loss plateau

it happens to the best of us... you're working out and eating well and losing weight consistently and then all of a sudden a week goes by with no loss... and another...and another with no losses and you're sitting there like wtf am i doing wrong?? 

well let's figure that out. plateaus are THE WORST and can feel like they're never ending but they'll end! you just gotta step back, re-evaluate, and be patient.

first things first... is this really a plateau?

if you haven't had a loss in a week or two...this may not be a plateau. sometimes you just don't get losses every week. it sucks but it happens. stay consistent and if you continue to stay at the same weight (or even slight gains) for like 3-4 weeks that's when you should take a look at the following things. 

weight is effected by SO MANY things. so take a look at these things: 

1. are you eating more salt than usual? salt will cause you to hold water which means it will look like you're not losing weight. so take a look at your salt intake!

2. did you start eating more carbs lately? carbs hold more water than any other macro so, once again, it will look like you aren't losing when really you could just be retaining water. don't cut your carbs though! give it a little more time and allow your body to adjust to the additional carbs. 

3. how much are you sleeping? sleep is wayyy more important than people give it credit for during weight loss. make sure you are getting a full night's sleep and that helps the weight come off. your body NEEDS sleep for it to function properly...make sure you are giving it the rest it needs.

4. how stressed are you? stress physically effects your body in a lot of ways... one of those ways is holding onto weight and water retention. so 1) stressing out about your weight loss will 100% not help you lose weight and 2) if you have external life stressors (we all do!) take a step back and try to make adjustments so that stress does not effect you as much. 

5. are you weighing yourself at a different time of day? keep your weigh in days/time of day consistent so you can see if your weight is ACTUALLY fluctuating. your weight will vary several pounds throughout a single day... so keep it consistent!

6. how is your fiber intake? real talk, if you're constipated you are holding onto extra weight! eat the right amount of fiber for a few days then see if you still have a plateau.

7. are you accurately tracking your intake? as people continue to lose weight, they can get lazier with tracking. it has happened to all of us. so take a few days to track your intake properly and see if maybe you're just eating more than your calorie deficit allows for.

8. drink more water! seriously. water is SO important for all around health and absolutely critical for weight loss. drink enough water!

9. ladies, is your period about to start? or are you on your period? that'll cause bloating and it'll look and feel like you aren't losing/you are gaining weight. (personally i do not weight myself the week before or on my period just to keep myself sane)

OKAY

so you've checked that all out...and you're STILL in a plateau... there are options, friend! 

here's what you gotta do: 

1. stay consistent! don't throw everything out the window because you haven't lost the weight you wanted to. take a deep breath, remember why you want to lose the weight, and keep pushing forward.

2. workout more/more intensely. maybe you're working out 3 days a week for 45 mins... add another workout day into your routine or add more time into your workout. 3 days at 60 mins or 4 days at 45 mins. OR if you are not able to spend more time at the gym... work out at a higher intensity. add hiit (high intensity interval training) into your routine. do your reps faster or run/walk at a faster pace. or maybe you need a total revamp of your workout routine! try out a whole new workout routine and that could break the plateau! 

3. adjust your calorie intake. as you begin to weigh less, you need less calories to function properly. so make sure you are tracking properly and then reduce your intake by 10% and keep on tracking and staying consistent. 

4. focus on protein! so maybe you're tracking your food and staying in a deficit and that works well for the first 40 lbs, but the last 10 are the hardest. so you may need to focus on what those calories are made up of more than before. so take a look at your protein intake and try to have protein make up 30-40% of you daily intake. 

5. take a break! seriously. take a week off of training and calorie counting. i know, it seems counter-productive. but sometimes you need to take several days off so your body can totally recover and then be ready to take on more training. fun story, when i had my wisdom teeth removed i was not allowed to workout for a week nor could i eat normal foods for several days. and i was eating just as many, if not more, calories as i was while i was recovering and i actually lost weight and then came back to training and hit PRs on my running and lifting the next week. 

here's what not to do: 

1. freak out and cut calories dramatically. 

2. weigh yourself every day/ several times a day

3. stress yourself out about it

4. give up

none of that will work y'all. promise. it may be a temporary fix... but it will not work long term. 

there ya have it. if you do all of that... the weight will start coming off again. it's hard to overcome a plateau, but it can be done. 

side note... over the past month and a half i have been stuck at a higher weight than i would like that i gained over a couple months while moving due to stress, eating out a lot, messed up workout schedule, and all sorts of fun stuff. and i followed these tips and this morning i broke that plateau! it was frustrating, but once i refocused... i took a few days off of lifting...started tracking accurately and being consistent... the weight came off! it works. it's an annoying and frustrating process but there are many ways to to make the progress come back again!

do you have questions or did i miss something that worked for you? let me know in the comments below or on my instagram or facebook!