The Healthy Life - "It's not just about losing the weight; it's about losing the lifestyle and mindset that got you there."-Dr. Steve Maraboli

So I think our family is finally getting back into our routines after the Christmas break and a couple of "cold weather" days where they cancelled school! It was starting to feel like they were never going to go back to school! ;) 

Hopefully the initiation of counting calories is underway and you've found a way to document them that works for you! Again, it's all about tailoring this process to work for you! 

My emphasis was definitely on counting calories when I started out, but I also worked on reading labels and trying to maximize the nutritional value of what I was eating. This table is a nice comparison of the importance of choosing your calories wisely: 

Reading labels can be very overwhelming and I am by no means an expert at it, but a few helpful tips might provide you some focus when you're starting out. I would highly recommend doing some reading to help you learn more about reading labels. One thing that would be good to focus on sooner than later would be protein content. Protein provides many benefits, including keeping you feeling full for longer periods of time. Foods that are good sources of protein are seafood, meats, dairy products (including yogurt with Greek yogurt having more than regular), eggs, beans, and nuts. Forty-six grams of protein per day is what's recommended for adult women and 56 grams is recommended for adult men. This amount can vary depending on health conditions, how much you workout, etc.

Portion control is a huge part of this. When I started out, I counted and measured everything I ate. I know this seems tedious, but for me, my serving sizes were a bit off! There are many foods that provide you lots of benefits, but only in moderation (nuts, hummus, edemame, avocado, etc). I found it to be easiest to plan my food the night before, especially with having to be at work early in the mornings. So the night before, I would plan out my meals and snacks for the next day. I would get all my food measured and counted so all I had to do was put the refrigerated stuff in my lunch bag. (This also helped me stay on track since I didn't even have to think about it.) Measuring and counting food is not something you'll have to do for ever. After a while, you'll be able to gestimate your serving sizes! 

I'm pretty much the meal planner in my family so I try to plan meals for about two weeks at a time. Cooking for my family and trying to incorporate healthy substitutions deemed to be a bit challenging for me. My family consists of my amazing, wonderful husband, my 17 year old stepson, my 13 year old stepdaughter, my 6 year old daughter, and my 3 year old daughter. As you can imagine, they were not 100% on board with all my healthful implentations (although they are great supporters of me, especially my husband - did I mention he's amazing??); however, I was able to find a few healthier options that they were ok with (or at least they don't know any better)! Some of those include: switching from regular pepperoni to turkey pepperoni, switching from regular fries to sweet potato fries, using fiber enriched pasta (they have no idea when I do this), reduced fat shredded cheeses, etc. I also found it useful to make this menu board (thank you Pinterest) to help with my meal planning:

This is a good reminder of any prep work that needs to be done for the meal. It's easy to forget to lay out meat to thaw and then fall back on ordering pizza. 

I had to train myself to eat snacks through out the day. It's highly recommended that you eat smaller amounts all through out the day to curb getting overly hungry for meal time and to rev up your metabolism. It didn't take me long to start doing it like clockwork and it always helped that I had my snacks for the whole day planned out (and measured out) for me. There wasn't any rummaging through the cabinets! I kept my snacks between 100 and 200 calories and had one around mid morning and again in the afternoon. Here are some things that I like to have as snacks:

Fruits and veggies are always good snack options as well! Veggies with hummus or guacamole is very tasty! Other options would be yogurt, edamame, rice cakes, pistachios, turkey pepperonis (usually with cheese), trailmix (you can even get crazy and make your own), or cucumbers marinated in light Italian dressing. I try to change up what I keep in my pantry for snacks so I don't get burned out on things. I also keep an extra nutrition or granola bar in my purse in case I forget a snack! Pinterest has lots of ideas for snacks, including some pretty creative ones. It's also nice to just go to the grocery store and browse around for different things to try (yes, I have kids and yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds)! 

Although eating at home tends to be healthier than eating out, avoiding eating out entirely is pretty unrealistic. The best thing I can recommend for this: look at the menu and nutritional information before you go! I didn't come across a single restaurant that didn't have nutritional info posted online. (Is that a requirement for them now??) When I got to the restaurant, I didn't even open the menu so I wouldn't get deterred from my original plan! If you're not going out to eat very often and you want to splurge a little, feel free! But remember to still record your calories (make yourself be accountable even when you're not right on track) and try to only eat half your meal, as servings are very large at most restaurants. Some people like to pack half their meal in a to-go box before they even get started so they won't over indulge. I also don't recommend starving yourself all day so you can "eat more" for a certain meal! That usually ends up in you eating even more calories for the day because you're SOOOOO hungry and you end up being miserable!! 

In order to maintain a healthy diet, you're likely going to have to go out of your comfort zone a little bit and try new things! Have fun finding and experimenting with new healthy options! 

Kelly Shea

"Keep running the race that is before you with endurance." Hebrews 12:1