Healthy eating is easily the number one thing that most people struggle with and I am no exception. Even though I’ve reached my goal weight and live a fitness lifestyle, I still find healthy eating difficult. I’ve just accepted that it’s just something that doesn’t come naturally for me, and that’s okay! But it means I need to regularly work on my healthy eating habits to make sure I never get too far off track. Over the past year or so, I’ve worked hard to take control of my emotional eating and to develop better healthy eating habits. And while I’m far from perfect, the eating tips below have helped me lose a large amount of weight and keep it off. Now, just because there are 10 tips below does not mean that you need to do all of them at once. Try out one or two at a time before adding on others. You’ll build up your healthy eating habits over time. Remember that tiny changes add up to huge results! Eat from a smaller plate. Eating from a smaller plate is an age-old trick that works. I often eat from a side plate when I feel tempted to […]
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This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. It’s only mid-August and I’m already getting excited about fall. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! From the cooler weather to the pumpkin spice everything, I love it all. Seriously, people can make fun of pumpkin spice all they want but I think it’s awesome. One of my favorite things to do in the fall is to make lots of yummy fall plant-based treats for my family and friends. That’s partly why I up my fitness in the fall, I need to account for all the extra baking. So I’ve curated a collection of delicious plant-based treats perfect for any fall gathering or a cozy night in. Give them a try and tell me which is your favorite in the comments! My Favorite Fall Pant-Based Treats Pumpkin Recipes: Pumpkin Spice Blondies Pumpkin Pie Cups Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Donuts Pumpkin Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust Pumpkin Cupcakes Chocolate: Double Chocolate Halloween Cheesecake Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies Caramel Pumpkin Chocolate Bars Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles KitKat Bars Apple: Harvest Apple Crisp Apple Butter Cookies Apple Pie Crumb Bars Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars Apple Cake with Cinnamon Custard […]
This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. My weight loss journey began in 2014 not long after I had given birth to twins. I was at my highest weight ever, coming in at around 249 lb. I remember the day that I stepped on the scale and saw that number. It made my heart sink to my feet. And it felt like it couldn’t be true. But when I looked in the mirror I didn’t recognize myself. I felt like I was trapped deep inside my body. And I had no idea who I was anymore. It was an exceptionally low point in my life. But thankfully the person who I was back then didn’t give up on herself. She took that dark time and turned it into something completely different. I made the decision to take control of my life. That meant taking care of my mental health, my emotional eating, and getting over my aversion to exercise. With the help of my supportive husband, some fit friends, exercise programs and anti-depressants, I was able to lose over 100 pounds. And so far, I’ve maintained that 100-pound weight loss for over a year. […]
This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Gym anxiety is a real thing. And it prevents so many people from starting their health and fitness journey. I get it, I let gym anxiety (and just anxiety in general) stop me from reaching my goals many times. I have a very long history of anxiety at the gym. All stemming from the time when my parents thought it would be a good idea to force a sixteen-year-old to get a gym membership and a personal trainer. We won’t even get into that at the moment but I’m sure you can guess where the anxiety comes from. I stilled joined many gyms over the years. Always going a few times before quitting altogether. Because at the end of the day, I always let my insecurities get the better of me. Eventually, I learned how to move past my gym insecurities. Now, I find the gym to be a place where I can relax and simply workout. But it took a change in mindset and that’s what I’m going to share with you. Overcoming Gym Insecurities Do you struggle with endless worries at the gym? Worrying about […]
This post contains Affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. It’s Important For Runners To Strength Train So to be honest, I ran for a long time before I added strength training to my fitness routine. And if I had known how important it was to strength train, I would have started much earlier. Especially when I was training for big races like my half-marathon. But I didn’t and lesson learned! Strength training is not just for people who are looking to tone muscles or bulk-up. It can play a big role in your running and your run performance. And if you truly want to be athletic, you need to do more than just run. Strength training has me focusing on other areas such as balance, flexibility, and strength. All of which makes me a much better runner. So, do you find yourself getting the same running injuries over and over? Or have you been running for a while but not getting any faster? It’s time to start strength training. Help Tight Muscles Due to the nature of running, it is really easy to overuse very specific muscles. This overuse is what leads to cramping, often in […]
Running a half marathon is my greatest physical accomplishment to date. Honestly, just thinking about all the training and effort that went into preparing for that run can still make me feel a little emotional. I went from being a non-runner to running a 10 km race and a half marathon in the same year. And doing that took a lot of work! Before I started running I had already had a weight loss of about 60 lb. I had done that weight loss mostly through nutrition and some exercise here and there. I talk more about my weight loss in this post if you’re curious. But I knew that if I wanted to take my health and weight loss even further that I needed to add consistent exercise. So to make sure I didn’t quit exercising, I signed up for a 10 km and a half marathon. I know, I’m crazy. This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. For a full year, I made running my obsession. Everything I did was because of running. I focused in on my nutrition for the first time in my life because eating crap made my runs […]
This post contains Affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Having dessert and then feeling guilty afterwards is the worst! So skip the guilt and make one of these delicious and healthy desserts instead! I’ve searched the web and found some of the best healthy desserts out there, and put them all in one convenient place. These dessert recipes are easy to make, filled with healthy ingredients and contain natural sugars. Good luck deciding which to make first! Healthy Desserts For Every Mood For the Love of Chocolate Chocolate Quinoa Crips (pictured above) Double Chocolate Chai Mousse Healthy No-Bake Chocolate Pie Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies Chocolate Covered Coconut Bars Hidden Veggies Sweet Potato Pie Bars (pictured above) Zucchini Brownies Avocado Sweet Potato Brownie Bites Chocolate Chip Sweet Potato Muffins Butternut Squash Muffins Desserts with Fruit Healthy Key Lime Pie (pictured above) Healthy Mini Apple Pies Raspberry Lemon Loaf Baked Apples with Pecan Crumble Dessert Pizza with Blackberry Sauce Healthy Cool Treats Healthy Chocolate IceCream Coconut Strawberry Banana IceCream Lemon Raspberry Frozen Yogurt Frozen Yogurt Berry Bites Espresso Dark Chocolate Sorbet Lots of Nuts Chocolate Date Nut Bars Pecan Pie Bars Healthy Peanut Butter Cups White Chocolate Macadamia Nut […]
This post contains Affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. When I first started working out I worked really hard to turn fitness into a habit. I’ve mentioned it a few times in earlier posts, but health and fitness do not come naturally to me. In fact, I spent two decades very overweight and didn’t become physically fit until I was in my early thirties! Things finally changed for me when I realized the truth about why I wasn’t losing weight. Which I talk about in this post here. Anyway, one of the things I finally realized was that I wasn’t burning enough calories each day. At least for me, healthy eating is a long road. I couldn’t rely on that as my primary way to lose weight. I needed to become more fit and burn more calories each day if I truly wanted to hit my weight loss goals. And I had huge weight loss goals. So, it came down to finding new ways to be active each day. Finding New Ways To Be Active Aside from starting a fitness program, I started trying new things to add more fitness to my day. I had kind […]
This post contains Affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Emotional eating is a topic that is starting to become a little less taboo. More and more people are admitting to using food as a self-soothing tool. Or as a means to numb their emotions. I have done both many times. And while I’ve gotten much better, I admit that it is still something I have to continuously work on. Working on my emotional eating has been a game changer in my health journey. It’s changed my relationship with food and helped me to lose weight and keep it off. I honestly believe that addressing our deeper emotions and changing how we use food is so important to a healthy lifestyle. But emotional eating still happens. And when it does, it’s important to know ways to stop. Having tools are your disposal will make you feel more confident. Plus, they will help change the way you deal with food and emotions over time. Identify The Reason For The Binge The most important things to do is recognize that you are stuck in a food binge. This might sound easy to some people but part of bingeing behavior […]
This post contains Affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Maybe it’s because I started running in the summer that I enjoy summer running as much as I do. Because despite the heat, I enjoy it much more than running inside on treadmills with the A/C. Summer running can be really enjoyable if you know how to keep yourself comfortable in the heat. I’ve talked about my first few runs and that experience in previous posts. But basically, I went into that first run without a lot of thought. It was a hot day and all I did was put on a pair of random shoes and off I went. I didn’t really think about the heat, the sun, how far I was going, and whether or not I’d get thirsty. Honestly, none of that really entered my head, I had just wanted to try running. I had a good playlist so I felt ready to go. And that would have been fine if I had been running on a treadmill. But a little more consideration needs to go into summer running. Read my tips and enjoy running outside this summer! Wear A Hat It took me […]