I was scrolling through Instagram last night and I was starting to salivate over all the delicious treats that I could get after work today. Treats from local shops such as gluten free cupcakes, gluten free donuts, ice cream, the list went on and on. It took me a second, after I had planned out my whole route to purchase these items, to remember that just LAST Saturday i had done the exact same thing and I still have 3 cupcakes and a pint of carrot cake ice cream in the freezer.

I seem to do this thing where I hoard healthy food just in case one day I don’t have the time to cook, or I become poor all of a sudden and I still have that vegan chili I made a year ago (which, to be fair is probably not good anymore and just this second i realized i should eat that stuff sooner rather than later).  On the flip side though, I find it impossible to leave treats in the freezer for another day. My mind thinks,  “If it’s there, i will eat it and I might as well just eat it to get rid of it because it’s tempting me and I’ll just want more!”. (My mind works in run-on sentences). All of that is bullshit because if it’s there i’m thinking of it and if it’s not I’m still thinking of it because I am seeing it all over social media. I wish I could say I were stronger than my cravings, but i am not. So this morning, I went through my list and deleted all the accounts that post delicious, but unnecessary, treats.

So now what?

I’m still pissed about the weight I had gained thanks to the Femara but I wasn’t doing anything about it. Meaning, I wasn’t changing what i was doing. It’s so important to reassess every part of your weight loss journey because we get into this habit of thinking, “well, doing this has worked for me before so it will work again i just have to keep doing this” even though ‘this’ isn’t working anymore.  So if it’s not working, we must change it.

What I ate this week

First and foremost I always make clients record their food for 7 whole days. Why seven? because that gives me a look at their whole week including weekends. When making a meal plan and calculating macros, we always use a calculation that will make clients ideally lose 1lb a week with a 3500cals deficit. I say, ideally because nothing when it comes to weightloss is easy. Not one single person will be the same. Some clients lose weight immediately with any small changes, and others it takes us months to get the perfect plan.

So keeping that in mind, I am a meal prepper so I eat the same freakin’ thing every single day for a whole week. Let’s take a look here:

• 1 cup of coconut almond milk (80) with matcha latte (30cals)
• 1/6th of a butternut squash and veg frittata that had about 250g of feta cheese and 10 eggs (250cals)
• kale, potato and white bean stew (164cals)
• apple (80 cals)
• coconut bar (190 cals)
• broc and cauliflower soup vegan (120cals)
• Hillarys vegan burger (120cals), sauteed veggies (147cals) a fried egg no oil (72 cals) and cheddar cheese (200cls)
• handful of cashews (160cals)

total: 1383 cals for the day and I did cardio and yoga so I need to be consuming calories.

If a client sent me that, I wouldn’t say they are overeating but i would make their choices better. I would start by removing unnecessary snacking. If you find yourself snacking frequently, that is because your meals aren’t nutritional enough. I also find that I end up eating right after i ate a meal before waiting to see if I’m actually hungry.

By simply removing the morning ‘latte” and the Jennie’s Coconut bar (or larabar – any bar really) I would be saving 300cals/day. So in a week i’m saving 2100 cals which equals to 8400 cals/month which is 2.4lbs/month. I think that’s a good start.

So what is the takeaway from today’s blog post?

1. Don’t do too much right off the bat.
2. Record what you’re eating – take photos or keep track in my fitness pal
3. Assess the food quality and habits
4. If there is anything that stands out as ‘unnecessary’ – take it out!
5. Fruit and veggies are never a bad way to go when it comes to snacking, bars will always add extra calories and cravings. If you find yourself reaching for a snack bar midway through the day, reconsider adding more fiber or protein to your lunches and breakfasts