Healthy Weight Loss

Wouldn’t it be great to have energy from morning ‘til night without the 3pm crash where you start searching for snacks and coffee to boost your energy? I do too! You might feel good, but it’s time to feel GREAT.

In part 3 of our 6 steps to getting lean and healthy, we’ll be discussing how to eat, what to eat, how much, and how to make it work with your crazy busy schedule. Yes you do have time to feel your best and be full of energy, it just takes a little strategy. I’ll get you started on the process here.

If you haven’t read part 1 or part 2, you can get caught up using the links below.

#2 Eating

Eating can be a very stressful situation or something you don’t realize is happening because you’re so busy you forget to eat or scarf something down when you have 5 minutes in between meetings. Sounds like your boss needs institute lunch meetings. 🙂

But what if eating, and eating well, was a habit? Something stress-free and enjoyable? Read a little further, and I’ll show you how it can be a lovely experience even if you only have 5 minutes between meetings, you’re eating in the car, or at your desk.

Slow down and eliminate distractions. You know how it goes, you’ve got a project deadline fast approaching so you decide to eat lunch at your desk so that you can keep working but also feed your body. You’re eating so fast, that your lunch is gone before you know it. And you’ve been checking and responding to emails that you don’t even realize you ate your food. 20 minutes later, you feel like crap, you’re tired, low on energy, and beyond full. Which makes it even harder to work on finishing that project on time. So what happened? You ate too fast and weren’t aware of it because you were also checking your email. And now you feel miserable. If you want to feel great and full of energy after eating lunch, slow down! Take your time to eat your food. 20 minutes is ideal but probably not feasible every day. So start with adding a couple more minutes to your meal. Those extra minutes aren’t going to kill your work flow. And while you’re at it, stop working and just focus on eating. Enjoy your food, and you’ll be less likely to overeat.

Eat your protein. Listen up ladies because we tend to miss the boat on this one. We women don’t eat enough protein to sustain our body’s functioning. This is key to feeling our best and increasing our energy. So here’s what you can do. Add protein to each of your meals. Too big of a goal? Start with dinner, and make sure you’re getting a serving in. If you look at the palm of your hand, that’s considered one serving and since it’s your own hand, it’s specific to you and your body. Include the length, width, and thickness of your palm as your serving size. Eat protein at every dinner, then start building up to lunches, breakfasts, and snacks. If you eat out a lot because of lunch meetings, vendor lunches, clients that want to wine and dine you, or you travel often, get a meal that has protein in it.

Get in your vegetables. Your mom and grandma were right when they told you to eat your vegetables. Vegetables pack a nutrient punch of vitamins and minerals you need every day that your body can’t produce on its own. Additionally, they’re very filling and make you feel full for longer. The combination of protein and vegetables can even help reduce the sugar cravings you get at 3pm. Add 1-2 servings of vegetables to each of your meals with the goal of 10 servings a day. I know that’s a lot, especially if you’ve been avoiding vegetables like the plague. But start small, have 1-2 servings at dinner every night and then work up to incorporating them into each meal. A serving of vegetables is the size of your fist. One thing I like to do to make sure I’m getting my vegetables in when I’m eating out is to swap my sides for vegetables. I’m a sucker for a good burger, and I really love fries. So I’ll still order the burger and get a side salad instead of the fries and hope someone else at the table orders fries so I can steal a few.

Eat for your body type. As a student of Precision Nutrition, I can’t help but share this article about fixing a broken diet in 3 easy steps. They also talk about eating for your body type. This was a concept new to me, but after studying with them and just about to become certified with them, it makes total sense. Our bodies handle foods differently, and it’s essential to keep that in mind as you make changes to your own eating habits.

I believe it’s possible to be busy and successful in your career AND take care of your body and improve your health. It’s not “either” “or” but AND! The best part about it is it can be simple, and it can fit your schedule. No need to over complicate the simple things. Like we discussed at the beginning, both you and I want to feel our best and have more energy than ever before.

In part 4 of this series, we’ll be discussing exercise! The good news is that you can start where you are and start to see improvements in how you feel and your energy almost instantly.

Now it’s time to take your next step.

Want your kitchen to work for you and your health goals? I offer virtual kitchen clean outs to get you started on the right foot. You want to be successful, and I want you to be as well. Take action, click here to sign up.