Inflammation: The good, the bad, the necessary??

February 12, 2021 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 60 Comments

Over the past three years, I have witnessed my body changing and responding in amazing ways to the consistent exercise and the much healthier diet that I have adopted. I have been able to transform my outward appearance, which was of course the original goal when I started out on this journey, but what I have come to realize is the changes that have occured from the inside out are the ones that have had the greatest impact on my life.

Putting the physical changes aside for the moment, one of the most striking ways my body has responded to this new lifestyle is through the noticeable reduction of inflammation that used to plague me on an all too regular basis. About ten years ago, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC), an inflammatory bowel disease, that would leave me just about bedridden for weeks at a time. I struggled for a while to get it under control, trying several different medications, and combinations of medications until I finally found one that would successfully send it back into remission.

The medication, however, didn’t stop the flare-ups, which would happen several times a year, it just treated them when they did occur. I won’t go into the details of what those flare-ups consisted of, but needless to say, they were very unpleasant and would leave me feeling drained, uncomfortable, and sometimes even in pain until I was able to get my hands on the very expensive pills I needed to fight back the inflammation causing all the issues.

The inflammation associated with my UC and other types of inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s Disease is what is considered Chronic Inflammation. The other main type of inflammation is Acute Inflammation. Acute Inflammation is the type you might be more familiar with so let’s start there. Acute Inflammation is actually the way our body fights infection, foreign bodies, and also how it begins to heal itself immediately after an injury. This is the inflammation I was referring to when I mentioned the word “necessary” above.

Think about what happens when you say, get a splinter? Almost instantly, the area around the splinter turns red, gets warm and the skin around it might even start to swell up. That is your body’s immediate and very normal reaction to such trauma and is a sign that healing has already started to take place. Acute inflammation happens very rapidly and usually only lasts for a max of a couple of days. Chronic inflammation, again like the type that causes my UC, tends to come on more slowly and can last for months and even years.

The cause of chronic inflammation, while not always known, is often a direct result of your immune system mistakenly attacking normal tissue. Other causes are also thought to be obesity, smoking, intaking too much alcohol, long-term exposure to certain toxins and/or irritants, and even chronic stress. No matter what the cause, think of chronic inflammation as a response from your immune system that doesn’t turn off when it should. It is inflammation that hangs around long after an initial injury, infection, or exposure to a toxin is over.

Chronic inflammation is particularly scary because it can actually alter your DNA and can play a role in the development of pretty serious and sometimes deadly conditions such as:

Heart Disease
Diabetes
Depression
Lung Issues like Asthma and COPD
Cancer
Alzheimer’s

Pretty serious right?! So now that we know how damaging chronic inflammation can be, what are some ways we can fight it? Well, the reason that I brought up my UC at the beginning of this article is that for the past two years I haven’t had one single flare-up! Time for an obvious disclaimer here…I am not a doctor. I don’t even play one on TV, but I do know my body. And I while I can’t say with 100% certainty that starting to and staying consistent with exercise has been the magic solution, I do believe it has helped immensely.

Exercise for me is not only really great for my physical health but works wonders as a stress reliever as well. And you guessed it…keeping stress to a minimum is another crucial way to keep inflammation out of our bodies. Meditate, take a long, hot bath, dedicate 30 minutes to getting outside and taking in some fresh air, roll on the floor with your dog, do whatever makes you feel happy, and helps you to unwind. Stress is a killer in so many ways, so limiting it through whatever means works for you should always be a top priority.

The third and probably most impactful way I have been able to get my inflammation under control is by cleaning up my diet. I have cut out red meat, greatly limited how much processed food I eat and have made a huge effort to include more whole fruits and vegetables into my diet. I have also added a daily dose of turmeric, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar to my regimen all of which have strong anti-inflammatory properties. Food, you guys, can either be your best friend or worst enemy when it comes to inflammation, so choose wisely! I created this handy-dandy little chart below for more information on what foods can help and hurt in the fight against chronic inflammation:

Keeping my chronic inflammation at bay is probably going to be a lifelong battle for me. For whatever reason, I am prone to it, suffering as I mentioned not only with UC but also with tendonitis, allergies, and even stomach ulcers a few times in my early twenties all of which have roots in an inflammatory process going on in overdrive in my body. The good news, in setting out to lose a few pounds, I ended up creating a lifestyle for myself that fights the good fight for me. This is just yet another example of how adopting healthier habits can have such unexpectedly amazing benefits. Once again you all, the moral of this story is to treat your body with just a little bit extra TLC and sit back and watch how it repays you in spades!!

Be kind, be well and eat your veggies!!

Xoxoxo,

Beth

Monthly Goal Intention – May is for Macros!

May 6, 2020 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 50 Comments

A big reason I started this practice of setting a monthly goal intention was to hold myself accountable to learning, growing and bettering myself all year long, not just at the beginning of the year for like 30 days or until I got distracted by a million other things that life throws at us. I thought setting a goal each month would re-focus and force me to really take the time out to zero in on something I could be doing better or maybe something I have been meaning to explore or try to implement into my own health and fitness journey. Well May’s intention falls into the later category of something I have been really interested in learning about and potentially introducing to my new(ish) healthy lifestyle, and that is the idea behind counting macros.

If you are even remotely involved in the health and fitness world, chances are you have heard the term macros at some point and probably also know that people count and track them as part of their nutrition program. That right there was the extent of my knowledge on the subject before I sat down to write this post. I knew enough to know counting macros was a way to track how much of what nutrients you were eating at any given sitting but not much else. As I have mentioned before, my main focus these days is to really get my nutrition in line. I have found, fallen in love with, and gotten great results from a pretty full-proof workout program that I can do at home which has really saved me considering the current circumstances we are living under (for more info on these workouts click here!), so I have really turned my attention to bettering how and what I am eating. While I have cleaned up my diet substantially since my drive thru for every meal day’s, I feel like I am still pretty far away from where I want to be. With my workout program, there is no guess work. I show up, press play and the platform takes literally all of the researching, planning and guesswork out of my hands. Unfortunately, when it comes to my nutrition, being left to my own devices hasn’t been working out as well for me.

One of my main goals for this year is to build more muscle. In order to do that I knew for sure I was going to have to up my protein intake and balance out how many carbs I have been eating. The problem was I had no idea how many grams of proteins, carbs, fat, etc. I was actually taking in and what my target numbers should be. Enter tracking my macros! I had heard plenty of people talking about doing this as a way to ensure they are getting the proper mix of nutrients to meet their own goals so I figured this would be a good place to start to get myself on track and take a more scientific approach to my own nutrition.

I thought I would share here today a basic overview of what I learned through doing my own research in case you all might be interested in this topic of counting and tracking macros as well. Let start at the beginning with….

What are macros?

The term macros itself is short for MACRONUTRIENTS. Macronutrients are in essence tiny little molecules that our bodies rely on to give us energy and are what make up the calorie content of our food. The three main categories of macros that you want to be aware of are:

Carbohydrates

YOU NEED CARBS! Let me say that again….YOUR BODY NEEDS CARBS! They are not the enemy and should not be treated as such. Here again it is time for a disclaimer….when I talk about stuff like this I am referring to most people. If you have underlying medical conditions, food allergies, are on some certain types of medication, etc. this may not apply to you, but in general what I am talking about applies to the majority of the population. Ok, back to carbs. While carbs often get a bad rap as a major contributor to all of our weight gaining issues, really they are the most important energy source our body has. When we take them in, our bodies break them down into sugar and we use that to fuel just about everything we do, especially those high intensity workouts that I have really grown to love. On top of giving us all that energy they also make us happy! 😊 Yep, carbs are linked to the production of serotonin in our bodies which as you may have guessed is the hormone that makes us feel happy! Now of course there are good carbs and not so good carbs. For instance, fruits, veggies, beans, lentil = good carbs. Cookies, candy, fruity beverages, chips, french fries = bad carbs. Put the good in, get the good energy, happy feelings out!

Protein

Fantastic for building muscle but did you know it also does some other pretty cool and not to mention important things for our bodies? Like what you, ask? Well it helps to transport oxygen through our bloodstream which creates energy for us. It also helps to build and repair our tissues and muscles, makes enzymes in our bodies which power our chemical reactions like hormone production and release and also regulates blood sugar to prevent insulin spikes. Not to mention protein is a building block of such things like our hair, nails, bones and even skin. As a bonus, eating protein even makes us feel fuller with less food! When we ingest protein it actually slows our digestion down, keeping the food in us for longer and then of course in turn making us feel fuller longer.

Fat

Fat, just like carbs, gets a bad wrap but we do need to intake a certain amount of it to keep our bodies happy. It has some of the same benefits that protein does in that it helps to stabilize blood sugar and is also slower to digest which keeps us fuller longer. Now fat does have a higher calorie count than both protein and carbohydrates so you have to be careful not to over do it, but it does also help in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K which in turn does promote healthy weight loss. Fat also does wonders to keep our bodies insulated and our temperatures maintained as well as our hormones regulated and in addition it helps to promote brain and nerve health. Sources of good fat are nuts, avocado and fatty fishes.

How do you go about counting them?

Counting macros can be a little tricky but a good place to start is knowing how many calories are in 1 gram of each of the three types. The breakdown goes like this:

Now that we know that, another good piece of information to keep in mind is the general recommendations for how much of each nutrient to try to shoot for each day. While individual goals may differ from person to person depending on what you are trying to achieve, in general it is recommended that adults aim for the following:

Now, for instance, if you are like me and are focused on building more muscle while staying lean, you might want to shoot for something more like this:

If you are simply focused on losing weight, this is what is recommended:

So let’s say you shoot to intake about 2000 calories a days. If you were following the guidelines that I am for adjusting your macros to gain more muscle, that would mean that 40% of your 2000 calories should come from protein, 35% from carbs and 25% from fat. Once you decide on that, the next step is to break down those percentages into how many grams of each nutrient that equates to, which would look something like this:

Carbs: .40% x 2000 calories = 800 calories from carbs

Protein: .35% x 2000 calories = 700 calories from protein

Fat: .25% x 2000 calories = 500 calories from fat

But wait, there’s more….you then have to take the total calories and divide them by how many calories per gram each nutrient has in it to get how many grams you should be eating each day.

Carbs: 800 calories ÷ 4 calories/gram = 200 grams

Protein: 700 calories ÷ 4 calories/gram = 175 grams

Fat: 500 calories ÷ 9 calories/gram = 56 grams

Whew ok, that was a lot of math and I am not a fan of math. It was my least favorite subject in school and the only class I ever got a C in. I’m ashamed of that till this day, but luckily for me we live in a world where instead of pulling out my #2 pencil and graphing calculator every time I want to track my macros, I can pick up my trusty smartphone and download any number of apps to do all the hard work for me! There are lots of app choices out to help you count and track your macros, but the top 3 I have come across in terms of popularity are:

MyMacros+ (This is the one I use!)
MyFitnessPal
LoseIt!

The basic idea is that you enter in all your stats, like age, weight, activity level, etc. to get set up and then you record what you eat throughout the day. Out pops a nice little pie chart like the ones above that tell you where your numbers fell that day. The first couple days I started using the MyMacros+ app I was pretty surprised how far off target I was in terms of my protein intake. Even though I do consume a superfood protein shake a day and eat a good amount of fish and veggies I was still coming in lower than I needed to be to build the muscle I want. I have since started to sneak more protein rich items into my daily meal plan and am slowly getting closer to hitting my numbers.

Pluses and Minuses to Tracking Macros

Pluses:

Much more purposeful eating – I am finding this is a HUGE benefit for me! I think a lot more about what I am going to eat now during the day because I know I will have to track it in my little app and I want my calories to count. It’s not that I didn’t want that before, but there is definitely another level of accountability when you are actually logging your food choices in and can see how well you are doing throughout the day.
It’s sustainable and flexible without being restrictive – I can still eat things I like such as my dark chocolate and occasional glass of red wine so it doesn’t’ feel at all like I am dieting because well I simply am not. Where counting macros differs from counting calories is you not counting how many calories you are eating, instead you are focusing on what type of calories you intake to make sure you are getting the proper mix of nutrients. You can still indulge in treat foods if you build them properly into your count which is the part that makes this technique sustainable where traditional calorie-restrictive diets in my opinion are not.
You can lose weight or gain muscle depending on how you tailor your numbers This is an actual tool to help you achieve your goals! Much like my workout programs that have been developed by actual fitness professionals and only require me to show up and press play, counting macros takes a scientific approach to nutrition and the guesswork out of it almost completely. I now know exactly how much of what I should be eating each day and if I find myself off track throughout the day I can load up on what I am missing and/or cut back on what I am getting too much of to keep myself aligned with my goals.
Ensures you are getting the right mix of nutrients to maintain a healthy lifestyle – Tracking and counting macros is a great tool to ensure you are getting the right mix of nutrients in order to reach your weight loss and/or body goals. But aesthetics’ aside, getting the proper mix of nutrients is important for a variety of other health reasons as well. Hitting your macro goals each day ensures your immune system is functioning optimally (super important right now, don’t ya think?!), gives your metabolism a boost and also increases your energy levels. And just as a side note, while there are a variety of supplements you can take to help meet you numbers, it is always best to get your nutrients through food simply because you body can more easily and effectively absorb them.

Minuses:

Potential to trigger disordered eating – If you have a history with or a tendency towards disordered eating, counting macros might not be a great idea. While it is not about restriction, you are focusing on the calories in everything you eat. Being that focused on food could be a slippery slope if you are someone who has struggled with an eating disorder in the past.
If you don’t set proper goals you can end up missing the mark nutritionally speaking – Like I mentioned above, you can still build in food you enjoy eating as long as it fits into your numbers for the day. What you need to be careful of is that you are eating foods that not only fit into your goal numbers but are also good, quality sources of the nutrients you are aiming for. For instance, as I mentioned above there are good, complex carbs and bad carbs, good, healthy fats and bad fats. If you are eating the right amount of carbs but they are all coming from “junk” food like potato chips and cookies well then you really aren’t doing yourself much good. Try to eat as many whole foods as possible and stay as far away from the processed foods as you can!
Be careful of nutrient deficiency – Much like eating the wrong kind of foods, you need to be careful your macro goals don’t lead you down a path where you are restricting one or several kinds of foods too much and in turn become deficient in certain nutrients. Nutrient deficiency can wreak all kinds of havoc on your body from causing fatigue to having brittle hair, nails and bones, to even causing personality changes and anxiety and depression. Make sure you are still eating a well-balanced diet while trying to keep in line with your goal numbers.

It’s always a good idea to speak with a doctor or nutritionist before starting any kind of eating/meal plan but I hope you were able to learn something about what macros are and how useful it can be to track and count them from the info above. I sure learned a lot writing this and as I have been tracking my own macros now for about a week I have learned a lot about how far having the right information at hand can go when trying to meet my own goals. I feel so much more empowered now to make better food choices simply because I am paying so much more attention to the quality of the food I am eating. I feel like with this new tool I am on track to eat more consistently, reach my goals quicker, and even get to know my body better. Knowledge is definitely power when it comes to our health you guys! The more you know the better able you are to live the healthiest, happiest and most fulfilling life possible!

Xoxoxo,

Beth

Non-Scale Victories!

December 26, 2019December 26, 2019 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 39 Comments

As the New Year is rapidly approaching, I have of course been thinking about all the things I want to accomplish in 2020. In starting to set my intentions for the next twelve months though, I suddenly realized how important it also is to take a second and reflect on all goals I was able to cross of my list this past year. I think sometimes in the crazy, hectic, fast-paced world we live in we don’t spend enough time absorbing and praising ourselves for our successes before hurriedly moving on to the next item on our checklist. In thinking about the ways that I have grown and evolved this year, I was struck by how setting out on my journey to lose ten pounds almost two years has created such an unexpected but extremely positive ripple effect on my life. Two years ago my one and only motivation was to lose weight. I had no clue whatsoever that I would end up gaining so much more than I lost.

In taking a second to reflect back, the things that I have gained can’t really be qualified by a number on the scale or the size of the pants I now fit into but they have come to mean so much more to me than any number possibly could. I think back two years and I shake my head a bit at who I was then not because I had gained weight but because the only reason I decided to get in shape was that I was ashamed of the number staring back at me on the scale. It wasn’t because I was sick all the time. Or almost at the point of being a shut-in because my anxiety was so bad. Nope, it was because I was horrified that I had to buy pants two sizes larger than I thought I should be wearing. I quickly though remind myself that if it wasn’t for that version of me, the more superficial version if you will, I would not be here today wanting to shout from the roof tops about how making that decision to lose the weight was one of the best decisions of my life.

So today I wanted to talk about what has come to be commonly referred to as non-scale victories. If you have never heard that term before, it truly means exactly what you would think…. successes that have nothing to do with that stupid number on a scale. For me, when I sat down to write this post I was almost instantly overwhelmed by how many things popped into my mind when thinking about all of my own non-scale victories. I even find myself getting a little emotional sitting here writing this post today because these successes truly mean the world to me. I want to share a few of the NSV’s that have come to mean the most to me in hopes that if you or someone else out there is just about to embark on your own journey for the first of fourteenth time you will maybe be more inclined to stick with it even on the days you just don’t feel all that motivated to do so. So in no particular order, see below for my top 3 favorite NSV’s:

I regained a healthy relationship with food…

For years and years, food was my enemy. I hated to eat. I obsessed over everything I did eat and I was sure to count every gram of fat in everything that did make in onto my plate, every single day. Looking back now I probably had a borderline eating disorder. Ok, maybe not so much borderline. There was a while there I was sub-100 pounds and most definitely struggling with my body image in a major way. And then it was like a switch flipped. Because I had been so strict with myself for so long, because I had deprived myself for years and years, all of a sudden, I did a 180 and started eating anything and everything I wanted. For the year or so before I made the decision to lose the weight I had put on, my daily diet basically consisted of fast food for breakfast, fast food for lunch and Chinese take out for dinner. Oh, and don’t forget the two Venti Starbucks Caramel Macchiato’s I washed everything down with. Every. Single. Day. No surprise I gained those ten pounds huh? When I finally got fed up with myself and decided to start exercising and watching what I ate again, I was able to find a healthy medium. Nowadays, I don’t deprive myself or obsess over every calorie I eat but I do for the most part focus on eating whole, nutritious food that facilitates my ability to workout consistently, keeps my energy levels up and helps keep me healthy all the way around. Over the past two years, food has slowly but surely become my ally, not my enemy. I have started to really enjoy cooking healthy recipes and meal prepping so I am sure to stick to my goals even outside of my house. I eat without guilt. And I respect my body enough to be careful about what I am putting in it not because of how afraid I am to gain a pound or two but because I treasure my health so much that I want to do everything I possibly can to take the best care of it possible!

Got my mental health under control…

As I have talked about in previous posts, I have struggled with anxiety and panic attacks for many years. In the year or two before my “get healthy” journey started, I was REALLY struggling. Like at least one pretty debilitating panic attack a day struggling. Most days it was more than one. I was almost at the point that I was afraid to leave my house because it wasn’t a matter of if an attack was going to happen, but when and how bad would it be. I was embarrassed. I was shutting myself off from people because having an attack in public for me was completely mortifying. I felt weak, out of control and ashamed. A few months into me working out consistently and eating better I noticed my anxiety lessening. Over the past two years, I have weaned myself off the anxiety meds I was taking almost daily and to date haven’t had a full-blown panic attack in months if not maybe over a year. The most beautiful part is I feel fully in control of my life again. If you suffer from mental illness of any kind and have come out the other side of it you know how amazingly freeing and truly priceless having that control back is. Your mental and physical health are so intertwined you guys. Sometimes you don’t even realize how much your mind is craving an outlet for the stress it is under on a constant basis. My daily workouts are such a huge stress reliever for me and give me that outlet that keeps me calm, happy and feeling like there is nothing I can’t deal with anymore.

I am so much more driven to succeed…

In the past two years I have gotten a promotion, completed 2 certification courses and am currently working on a third, bought a car and even bought a house. Oh, and I started a blog! 😊 I truly feel like the sky is the limit for me at this point in my life and I honestly don’t think any of those things would have happened if I hadn’t decided to get healthy. Basically, pre-happy and healthy Beth, I was just getting by, barely getting by at that. I didn’t have much ambition, I wasn’t all that motivated to better myself or advance my life in any way, and because I just generally didn’t have much energy most days, I just tried my best to make it through the day. I was surviving you guys, but by no means thriving. Fast forward to the present day and I am almost bubbling over with energy and excitement about knocking down more of my goals. I want to use every second of every day putting energy into things that bring me one step closer to achieving the all the things I once thought impossible. I have grown and accomplished so much over the past two years that I now know there really isn’t anything I can’t do if I set my mind to it. Probably most importantly, I’m proud of myself for the first time in a long, long time. And oh man what a cool feeling that is!!

And those are just my top three NSV’s! I am also sleeping a ton better, I get sick significantly less that I had been before, and I’m all around just a happier, better human being. It really hit me how far I have come emotionally and mentally on this journey when I went to the doctors the other day to get my knee looked at (anyone out there have any advice about re-occuring knee pain when running I would love to hear it!) and of course got weighed upon arrival. I actually have gained about four pounds over the past six or so month and not only am I ok with this I am actually happy about it! I am putting on muscle mass and muscle well just flat outweighs something. It actually weighs more than fat so it makes perfect sense that the number on the scale is higher than it has been in a while. Seeing a higher number on the scale and not instantly freaking out is so telling of how far I have become because my previous self would have been utterly freaking out at seeing that I had gained weight. I probably wouldn’t have eaten anything but crackers for a week and obsessed about the calories even in those. The new and improved version of me gave myself a mental high five and thought how happy I was that the strength training program, Hammer and Chisel, that I had just completed over the past 8 weeks had paid off!!

What is comes down to you guys is that I am a much healthier version of me all the way around…. mentally, emotionally, and of course physically. I am focused on being healthy, not skinny. I have made the connection between my mental and emotional health and that of my physical well-being. My goal weight now is healthy, not rail thin! So now I want to hear about you!!! What are you proud of that you accomplished this past year? What are some of your resolutions for next year? Do you even make resolutions? I would love to hear about it all!And finally, Happy Holidays you guys!! Thank you as always for all your amazing support over this past year…here’s to a happy, healthy and successful 2020!!

Xoxoxo,

Beth

My Favorite Gluten-Free Products

October 22, 2019 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 28 Comments

I was diagnosed with a boat load of food allergies about ten years ago. I mean a whole slew of them….wheat, oats, nuts, soy, barely, malt just to name a few. The one that changed my life the most, however, was probably my allergy to wheat. Being allergic to something like wheat wipes out a whole heck of a lot of food options that I had previously survived on. Now ten years ago the notion of a gluten-free diet wasn’t all that common and the product options out there for people who suffered from this food allergy were pretty slim. Fast forward a decade and with more people being diagnosed with allergies and some who just want to live a gluten-free lifestyle for the perceived health benefits the options have happily grown exponentially. Having been on the hunt for tasty gluten-free products for a while now, I wanted to share today some of favorites in case anyone out there has been newly diagnosed with the same limitations I have or may just be in need of some good go-to products. Let’s start with…

King Arthur All-Purpose Flour

My mom, who is the most amazing woman on the face of the earth and is constantly on the hunt for new products I can eat and cook with, found this flour just a few months ago at Wegmans (I have also since found it at Safeway). GAME CHANGER! For a long time I was using alternative flours like coconut, chickpea and cassava and while they are okay substitutes they are a tad bit hard to cook with because of consistency and aftertaste issues. This King Arthur flour, which is made primarily from rice, is fantastic. It behaves just like actual wheat flour so I am back to baking all my favorite recipes. Most recently I used it to make my mom’s Pumpkin bread recipe…so yummy and a great treat for this Fall season.

Modern Table Complete Protein Pasta

With 20 grams of protein per serving and great taste this pasta can’t be beat! With only three ingredients, lentil flour, rice flour and pea protein, this pasta is healthier than the traditional alternative without tasting it. As a complete protein source, this pasta not only tastes great but helps you body repair and rebuild muscle which is super helpful for me after I get done lifting those weights. I always have a couple boxes in my pantry to throw on the stove when I need a quick but healthy meal. I really like cooking it up and mixing it with veggies like broccoli or peas. A little bit of olive oil, garlic and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese makes a delicious and healthy dinner.

Udi’s Bagels

Udi’s makes a lot of great gluten-free products from sandwich bread, to dinner rolls to pizza crust and while they are all good, the bagels are by far my favorite! I was a HUGE bagel lover in my pre-food allergy life so when I learned bread was off the table for me bagels were a big loss. A few years ago I found these bagels in Safeway (I have also found them at Wegmans) and I almost wept tears of joy after buying a package, running home and immediately toasting one up. Now it has been a decade since I have tasted a real bagel but if memory serves these Udi’s bagels are pretty damn close! My favorite variety is the everything bagel and with a little bit of butter on them, oh man I am one happy girl in the morning!

Beyond Meat Sausages

So just like the Udi’s brand, the Beyond Meat brand is another favorite of mine. I stopped eating red meat over a year ago in an attempt to lower my borderline high-cholesterol without having to use medication so I turned to plant-based meats as a substitute. When I am craving a meat fix these sausages do the trick! They taste surprisingly similar to actual meat and of course they are also gluten-free, soy free and contain no GMO ingredients. I usually throw them in my air fryer (which I love btw) and prepare them in a variety of ways. Sometimes I serve them with homemade sauce over spaghetti squash, or cut up and mixed with rice and veggies or sauteed with some onions and a nice salad on the side.

RW Garcia Organic Lentil Turmeric Crackers

I am a self-professed snacker by nature, meaning I really like to graze on food throughout the day as opposed to eating a couple large meals. These crackers, which I have only been able to find either at Costco or on-line at Amazon are delicious and a regular go-to snack of mine. I eat them plain all the time but also really like dipping them in hummus or topping them with a little bit of cottage cheese for some extra protein. Made primarily out of lentils and corn, they are not only gluten-free but are also cholesterol-free which is super important to me as well as I mentioned earlier.

Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Pizza Crust

There are a lot of options out there now for alternative pizza crusts but this one from Trader Joe’s is one of my favorites. I really like buying the plain pizza crust (which you can find in the refrigerated section) and then throwing on all my favorite toppings. I usually make it with some homemade sauce, fresh mozzarella and a variety of veggies like peppers, broccoli and/or spinach. With only 80 calories per serving and made primarily of cauliflower and corn, it is a quick and relatively guilt and gluten-free way to enjoy pizza when the craving hits!

Living with food allergies requires a little extra diligence and sometimes some creativity but it doesn’t have to mean missing out on taste or our favorite foods. With the increased awareness of food allergies these days there are a lot of great products out there that can helps us sufferers lessen the impact of an allergy diagnosis. As opposed to ten years ago when I was first diagnosed, I hardly feel the impact of not being able to eat “normal” foods anymore as there are so many great gluten-free substitutes. Anyone out there who would like even more suggestions on good gluten-free products or would just like more info on how I navigate my own food limitations please feel free to reach out at any time!

xoxoxo,

Beth

P.S. I would super appreciate you taking a few seconds and clicking below on what you would most like to see on this blog…your opinion means everything to me! Any other suggestions welcome as well! THANK YOU!

Why can’t I take this weight off?!

July 3, 2019 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 61 Comments

I hear this a lot. “I am working out. I am eating healthier. I think I am doing all the right things but I just can’t seem to lose the weight”. I hear this from people who are new to their fitness journey and equally from people who have lost a significant amount of weight but are struggling to lose those last ten or so pounds. My very first “client” aka. friend of mine who has joined me in doing the same workout programs I do as well as drinking the daily superfood shakes has to date lost 26 pounds! Pretty amazing right?? He still, however, would like to lose another 10 but has been struggling to do so. This is not an unusual problem or something unique to him by any means. This happens quite a bit to people even despite having the best of intentions! And in his case, I know he is putting in the work because as his somewhat overzealous and borderline psycho accountability partner, I am ALWAYS checking in on him and even doing a lot of the workouts right alongside of him! 😊

Whether just starting out or well into your journey like my friend, stalled weight loss or the inability to even start losing weight can potentially be caused my any number of factors. They seem to generally fall into two categories, however, at least as far as I can tell: Physical Issues and Lifestyle Choices. Physically there might be something going on with your body…think an imbalance of hormones or a vitamin deficiency of some sort which could be due to a variety of reasons which I will talk about in a bit. The second category is lifestyle choices. You may just be missing the mark somewhere in your everyday life, particularly with your nutrition or in the manner in which you are approaching your workouts. Now there is a third possibility which is you really just aren’t putting in the effort you should be and maybe sorta kinda lying to yourself about it. I want to skip talking about number 3 because really there isn’t much to say about it. Just get you butt in gear and don’t cheat yourself. Ok that’s all I’m gonna say about that, I promise!

Let’s focus on the two reasons that have nothing to do with motivation. I started looking into this topic again because as I mentioned above my friend/client hit that dreaded plateau and has been unable to lose the last ten pounds he set his sights on shedding and I was trying to figure out what the cause might be. What I found out reinforced some of things I already suspected, but I also came across some new information that may be helpful to him as well as anyone else who is in the same boat. So as usual, I thought I would share some of this info with you guys! Happy reading! 😊

Physical Reasons:

You aren’t sleeping!! OMG you guys I can’t emphasize enough how important sleep is to well just about everything health related but definitely to losing weight! Not getting enough sleep affects your body in two major ways when it comes to shedding pounds:
1. If you are not sleeping, your body is not repairing itself. Without being able to repair, it can’t continue to perform at peak levels and sustain a workout regimen that is doing any good. Also, without being able to repair itself, you are more prone to injuries that will just set you back even more.
2. Your hormones get altered if you are not sleeping enough. And not just any hormones, your hormones that are responsible for controlling your hunger sensations. It becomes harder to tell when you are hungry and full when these hormones are affected by continually getting poor quality or not enough sleep.
You are stressed out! Aren’t we all?? Chances are at some point, yes. The problem becomes when we are chronically stressed out our hormones get thrown all out of whack just like they do when we aren’t getting enough zzzz’s. When talking stress and hormones, the main hormone affected is cortisol. Being stressed out is linked to higher levels of cortisol which in the long run can cause your blood sugar to be elevated and your waistline to expand. And of course high levels of cortisol cause us to gain weight right in the lower stomach region in particular. How convenient right?? Couldn’t have helped me gain weight say in my butt could you cortisol! All joking aside, the good news is exercising is a great way to reduce stress. So find a workout routine that works for you and stick with it! Your body and sanity will thank you!
You are deficient in Vitamin D – So about a month or so into my own health and fitness journey I woke up one day and thought I really needed to go get my Vitamin D levels checked. You guys, I still to this day have no idea why that thought popped into my head other than I just had a feeling. Sure enough, after going in a getting it tested I as low, like really low. I immediately started supplementing my diet with Vitamin D pills and got my levels up to normal again. I bring this up here because I found out that a lack of this particular vitamin can cause fatigue, sluggishness even depression all which can negatively impact your ability to be active and drop the unwanted pounds. There is some controversy about whether Vitamin D deficiency actually leads to weight gain, but in one study of women over 65, it was shown that the women who were deficient in Vitamin D gained more weight than their counterparts who had normal levels of the vitamin. Either way, you want to make sure your levels of this vitamin are where they should be along with your levels of other key vitamins and nutrients.

Lifestyle Choices:

You are eating more than you think! – Ok so this one goes back to a topic I wrote about a little while back about how important PORTION CONTROL is! I won’t go into the whole thing about how out of control our portions have gotten these days, but needless to say most of us are actually eating way more than we need to because we have been conditioned to think we have to eat massive amounts of food every time we sit down to a meal. Distracted eating plays a role in this one too…think about how easy it is to overeat when you are sitting in from of a TV snacking on your favorite chips or pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream (my personal fave). Just being mindful of how much you are putting on your plate is a great start. Weighing food is another technique or using portion control containers (that are used in one of my favorite workout programs, 21 Day Fix) to start re-training your brain and stomach to the correct amounts of food needed are also two good ways to be mindful of your portions.
You are trying to out-exercise a bad diet! – Along the same lines as you may just be eating too much, exercising a whole lot but then neglecting your diet is also another common problem. Sometimes people think if they spend hours on a treadmill that they get a free pass then when it comes to what they are going to eat during the day. Sadly, (and I truly am sad about this) it doesn’t work like that. You need both consistent exercise as well as a healthy, balanced diet in order to see results in the weight loss department. This includes getting nutrients from all 5 of the food groups, in the right amounts on a consistent basis. Of course, with any good nutrition plan, there is that all important cheat day where you can binge on some of your favorite foods just for sanity sake, but in general you need to eat healthy, whole foods in order to lose the weight. This leads me nicely into my next topic…
You might be doing the wrong exercises! – While it is wonderful that you are committed to exercising, you just way be going about it in a way that is not beneficial to your body…and oh boy I would not blame you! There is a TON of information and opinions out there are about what the best type of exercise is to lose weight. There is so much it is almost overwhelming, especially when you are just starting out on your journey. I can relate to this one so much it’s crazy. For years and years and years I believed cardio was the holy grail of weight loss. I was one of those people who hit the treadmills and stationary bikes religiously only to waste a lot of time, get frustrated and quit. In fact, my journey this time started out much the same way until I realized I was again beginning to spin my wheels and headed for another failure. Being wholly dedicated this time around to getting my butt in shape, I did some research and realized I needed to not only add much more weight training to my routine but I also needed to add variety to it. This was also the point in time when I stumbled upon the workout programs I do now and realized it was exactly what I needed. With over 700+ different workouts that include a variety of exercise types (cardio, weightlifting, Pilates, yoga, HIIT training, just to name a few), and meal plans to go along with it, I knew there was no way for me not to get results. The best part, I don’t even really have to think about it. The workouts are all planned out for me so all I have to do is show up, press play and follow along. The point is, don’t just rely on one type of exercise alone to do the trick. Your body and mind need the variety!

You guys there are a ton of other reasons in addition to the ones I went into detail about above that might be causing you to struggle in the weight loss department, such as:

Being dehydrated
Not focusing when you are working out (think scrolling through Instagram to kill the time at the gym instead of actually working out)
Not having a well-thought out workout plan
Being sedentary for too many hours during the day
Overdoing it with sugar
An issue with your thyroid function

And those are just to name a few more! Now there is one more option for people who have been working out for a while and still not seeing the number on the scale drop. You might actually have lost fat, just not weight! You may even look and feel thinner but the darn scale just does not seem to be moving in the right direction when you are stepping on it. That is because muscle tissue is denser than fat! You very well may have lost the bad fat and replaced it with good muscle! This is yet another reason I avoid scales at all costs….they aren’t necessarily accurate in terms of how healthy you are or the progress you may actually be making!

If you are concerned about not being able to lose weight, whether you are just starting out or well into your health and fitness journey, I would recommend getting a baseline physical to begin with. Rule out anything going on with your body that may be contributing to either a sluggish metabolism or unintended weight gain. If all looks good there, examine your lifestyle. Pay attention to what and how much you are eating, what kind of workouts you are doing and then tweak and/or tailor those things to work as effectively as possible for your body’s needs. Most importantly, DON’T GIVE UP!! If you need any extra encouragement, guidance and are in the market for a slightly psycho accountability buddy please feel free to reach out and I will do my best to help as much as possible!

Xoxoxo,

Beth

The “Un-Diet”

April 23, 2019 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 43 Comments

Coming off a long holiday weekend (I hope you all enjoyed yours as much as I did mine!!), I have been thinking a lot of about eating. Makes sense right? I mean it seems like every holiday, social gathering, night out, celebration of just about anything revolves around food and getting together for a meal. Also, my pants are fitting a little snugger today than they were last week so that is also probably why I am thinking about food right now! Luckily, I can wear yoga pants to work so I am not totally uncomfortable but I definitely indulged a bit this weekend which led me to think about what my relationship with food used to be like and what it is now. That train of thought led me to want to write about the topic of this post: Intuitive Eating also know as the “Un-Diet”. In a world full of fad diets, get skinny quick ideas, fat burning teas, juice cleanses and all the other crazy things you can name that promise to be the solution all your weight loss problems, my question is, “When did we stop simply listening to our bodies”?!?!

If you have read any of my other posts that talk about eating and nutrition, you may recall I am completely opposed to the concept of dieting. After all, the first three letters of the word spell out D-I-E for heaven’s sake! Even the word itself is trying to warn you that it isn’t a good idea to buy into what it is selling. I dislike the whole idea of dieting so much I try very hard to remove it from my vocabulary altogether. To me “dieting” is a dirty word. I personally don’t believe in restricting yourself so much from a particular food group or groups that life becomes miserable and food becomes the enemy. Food should be a tool. It should be something that if used properly helps your body each and every day feel its best and function at its highest levels. Food can be an incredible ally if we treat it correctly. The problem has become we use food for all kinds of reasons other than what it is really intended for. Eating shouldn’t be an activity you do when you are bored. Or happy. Or sad. It should be something you do because your body is telling you it is time to eat.

Now I don’t want to come off sounding like a party pooper here. I am not saying you shouldn’t eat that piece of birthday cake being passed around at the office party or go out and enjoy a nice dinner for a special occasion or heck even reward yourself after a long week with an ice cream cone. Those things are perfectly ok to do in moderation. What I am talking about here is the other 95% of the time when you are just deciding when to eat and what you will be reaching for on any given day.

Before I go any further, I want to make sure I state that this method of “un-dieting” is how I prefer to eat. It works for me and my body and my mind. It may not be for everybody and I am not saying if you are doing it a different way than you are doing it wrong. And like any philosophy of eating, getting healthy, exercising, or losing weight there are pluses and minuses to this technique as well. That being said, I LOVE the idea behind Intuitive Eating which in a very drilled down manner basically entails you eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full. On a deeper level what intuitive eating encourages is you being in tune with your body… and that I am a big fan of!

The concept of Intuitive Eating was born from the minds of Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, a well-renowned dietician and nutritionist respectively. I heavily gravitate toward this way of eating because for me it just makes sense in ways traditional diets don’t and here’s why:

Where traditional diets tell you to ignore what your body is saying and asking for by restricting, counting and/or weighing everything you eat, Intuitive Eating says that is crazy. It asks that you simply listen to your body and eat until you are full.
Where traditional diets tell you to ignore your hunger, Intuitive Eating says pay attention to and honor that hunger by eating so you don’t end up starving and then binging later on.
Where traditional diets seem to make the food the enemy, Intuitive Eating say oh heck no! Food is something that should be enjoyed and eating should be a pleasurable experience.
Where traditional diets tell you it’s all about the number you see on the scale, Intuitive Eating says you are much more than that! It asks you to respect your body no matter the shape, size or weight and just to fuel it properly so it can take care of you.
Intuitive Eating even addresses exercise with the philosophy that you don’t have to go workout for hours on end every single day or be in the gym lifting the heaviest weights possible to be healthy. It encourages you just to move your body in ways you enjoy for reasons other than how you look on the outside such as warding off chronic diseases, feeling healthy, strong and energized.

What is not to love about this concept?? Eat because your body is asking you to. Enjoy the process. Stop when you are full. It is a simple idea and again for me just really makes a heck of a lot of sense. I also really love this idea because it emphasizes your overall eating patterns as a predictor of your health. And what does that mean to someone like me who is currently sitting at her desk feeling a little bit rounder than I was at the end of last week? It means don’t worry about it!! One holiday weekend of eating more than I normally do isn’t going to derail my progress or force me into a tailspin that I can’t recover from. Intuitive Eating simply says go back to listening to your body today and eat when you feel hungry. No need to freak out and starve yourself or go run ten miles (not that I would make it ten miles at this current juncture) or otherwise beat yourself up because of a that half of a pound I might have gained. What a beautiful and freeing feeling!

Food was the enemy for me for years you guys. Because of that I mistreated my body, basically starving it and in the process making my life in general pretty miserable. Since I adapted the concept of Intuitive Eating my life has changed in hugely positive ways. I have been eating like this for about a year now and I can honestly say in conjunction with being active 4-5 times a week I have never felt better. I have a MUCH healthier relationship with food these days, one that I probably haven’t had since I was a kid when everything we did was instinctual.

I know I have said this before…just listen to your bodies y’all! It knows what it needs when it needs it and I promise you it won’t steer you wrong! Below are some pics from my weekend…let me know how yours was!!

Xoxoxo,

Beth

Portion Control: Know When to Say “When”

April 5, 2019 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 44 Comments

Any phrase with the word “control” in it automatically doesn’t sound like it’s gonna be much fun and honestly I don’t want to lie to you, what I am about to talk about here really isn’t all that “fun” per se. It is, however, super important and something I think gets overlooked way too often these days! In writing my last post (In Honor of National Nutrition Month) which was about the importance of nutrition in getting and staying healthy, the thought crossed my mind that I wouldn’t be doing justice to the topic if I didn’t talk about how crucial it is to not only eat the right foods but also to eat them in the correct proportions. As I got to thinking about it more and more, I decided there was too much to say on this topic not give it its own post. So here we are! Excited yet…?

One of the biggest culprits that has led to 1 out of 3 American’s being overweight is the fact that people simply eat more than they really to. Aside from reaching for unhealthy food choices too often we are also putting more food on our plates than our body requires. And who can blame us? We live in a hectic, fast-paced world where we are often eating on the run or being in pulled in so many different directions that what we are eating and how much of it just becomes an after-thought. Sometimes we end up skipping meals altogether and then later gorging ourselves because we are starving. Or we sit in front of the TV binging on our favorite Netflix show and before you know it an entire bag of chips disappears. And how often do we find ourselves going out to eat because it is just simpler than cooking after a long day? I actually blame going out to eat for a lot of our struggles with portion control and here is why…

Studies have found that when you dine out more often than not the portions you are being served are so much larger than what you really should be consuming in one sitting. Even simple items like pastries (think bagels, muffins, croissants) are hundreds, yes hundreds, of times larger than the actual portion should be when you get them from restaurants or takeout establishments. Let me say that again because I was shocked when I first found this out…they are HUNDREDS of times larger than the true portion should be. The same goes for full meals we go out to enjoy such as those delicious, heaping bowls of pasta you order for dinner or the overstuffed sandwiches you grab for lunch. After getting so many of our meals out or on the go how could we not have a warped sense of portions or be expected to have any clue what the correct portion size should be??

You may even go out to eat and think “Ok, I am going to be healthy and just order a salad.” Great. But beware, often times restaurants give you such a large portion of even salad that you are still taking in more calories than necessary. And don’t get me started on salad dressing and all the extra toppings like croutons, bacon and cheese they sneak in there. Before you know it, your “healthy choice” turns out to have just as many if not more calories than many other menu items you passed over with the intent of picky something healthier. A useful tip especially when eating out, split an entrée with your friend/date/companion or ask for a to-go container and put half of the meal away for later as soon as your meal is served.

I myself am a grazer, always have been. I like to snack so generally I eat about 6 small meals a day which I have found works really well to keep my hunger in check, my blood sugar stable and helps me avoid overeating because I am typically never really starving. Eating small meals throughout the day also is a great way to keep your metabolism going. Even though this has always been my eating MO, before I started paying attention to WHAT I was eating I would just grab for a bag of chips or a milkshake from the drive thru on the way home and before you knew it, I was ten pounds overweight and my cholesterol was through the roof. For me, it was about changing what I was eating and making sure I was eating those things in the right proportions. But if controlling how much you are eating is something you struggle with see below for some useful tips as to how to control those portions:

Don’t Skip Meals – Not eating regularly will leave you feeling tired, affect every organ in your body negatively because they rely on sugar for energy to work properly, and totally derail your metabolism. You also quite often end up binging on unhealthy foods/empty calories when you are starving. You end up reaching or whatever you can get your hands on the easiest and quickest because you are just want to get food in your stomach. Portion control and getting in those 5 food groups goes right out the window when you are overly hungry.
Pay Attention to Serving Sizes – When you are eating/using packaged foods be sure to read the nutrition labels. These labels will tell you the serving size and the servings per package among other important things such as the calories, calories from fat, and the amount of cholesterol the product contains. If you want to start getting a good idea what one serving on your favorite food is this is a great way to become familiar and educate yourself.
Use Portion Control Containers – A great example of this are the containers that go along with the current program I just started:

These containers will take all the guess work out of what and how much of each food group you should be eating. Just fill the respective containers up with their matching foods and are you good to go! If you guys want more info on these containers in particular or the program I am doing follow the link or just send me a message:

21 Day Fix!

Measure Servings Accurately – Use measuring cups so you get to know proper serving sizes. A handy little way to think about theses sizes in terms of the 5 Food Groups (courtesy of the Mayo Clinic) is:
- Fruit – 1 serving should be about the size of a tennis ball
- Veggies – 1 serving should be about the size of a baseball
- Carbs – 1 serving should be about the size of a hockey puck
- Protein – 1 serving should be the size of a deck of playing cars
- Fats – 1 serving should be about the size of a pair of dice
Eat Veggies and Drink Water – Ok this one may seem a little weird or out of place but stay with me…both water and veggies will fill you up without a ton of calories. If you eat veggies or drink a cup of water before meals, you will be much less likely to overeat. Plus both those things are good for you so it’s a win-win!
Just pay attention to your body! – You guys your stomach knows when its hungry and when it’s full. Listen to it and eat when you it needs fuel but stop when your body is telling you that you have had enough. This is the simplest non-diet out there and a concept that I truly believe in! Listen to your body…it knows what it needs, when it needs it.

A lot of the ways to control portion sizes are simple concepts but by no means does that make this an easy lifestyle change. Controlling HOW much we eat on top of WHAT we eat, however, is critical to achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight and just good health in general. Paying more attention to portions and making an effort to not over eat can make such a huge difference in reaching your goals. All it takes is a little extra attention, some practice and in my opinion most importantly being in-tune with your own body!

Happy Friday yall!!

xoxoxo,

Beth

The top 3 health & fitness related mistakes I have made….

January 30, 2019April 7, 2020 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 73 Comments

…up until this point anyway! I wanted to write this post because one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place was to hopefully help someone else who was struggling the same way I was. I was tired, sick, uncomfortable in my own skin and just generally living a blah life before I decided to embrace getting and staying healthy. I am hoping that my ups and downs, struggles, mistakes, successes and eventual results can help and inspire other people to never give up on themselves.

This journey I embarked on about a year ago is one that I have become extremely passionate about and have loved living and sharing since pretty much the day I started. I wouldn’t be doing justice to my story or the process though if I didn’t talk about a few of the ways I almost derailed myself along the way and how I overcame those obstacles. I am hoping that by sharing the top three mistakes I have made in the past year below that I can help someone else navigate around them and have a slightly easier time of it than me. Here ya go…

The first big one I made was falling into the good ole cardio trap. Somewhere along the way it became beat into my brain that spending endless hours on a cardio machine was the only way to lose weight and I don’t think I am alone in this thinking. It wasn’t until I hit my first plateau about three months into my journey that I realized what I believed just about all my life was wrong. I started doing some research into how to effectively get toned up and lose the fat and suddenly my mind was blown. All the evidence pointed to strength training as the answer! Since that day, I haven’t looked back! Now that’s not to say I don’t still incorporate cardio into my routines but I have shifted my focus and fallen in love with lifting weights and my body has responded in ways I didn’t even know it could! I also credit this as the reason that I haven’t abandoned this journey yet like everyone other one I started and gave up on in the past. Weight training for me isn’t boring at all (like spending endless hours on a treadmill or pedaling a bike that isn‘t going anywhere)! I genuinely look forward to getting those weights in my hands and pushing my body to get stronger and fitter…keeps me coming back for more! It also conveniently leads into my second mistake…
I overtrained. Yep, the dreaded overtrain. This is really a testament to how much I fell in love with this process, but also a really important lesson I had to learn the hard way about listening to my body. About four or so months into my new “Get Beth Fit” endeavor, after I had discovered weighs, but before I found the programs I am currently following, I was going to the gym every single day, lifting weights but not really following any sort of planned out routine. I was winging it I guess you would say. I wasn’t paying attention to what muscle groups I was training on which days or how often, I really would just walk into the gym and start doing whatever exercises seemed like fun at the moment. What ended up happening was I was working out too many of the same muscles and neglecting other ones to the point I ended up injuring myself. And not only did I injure myself but I felt like something was wrong, proceeded to ignore the discomfort, continued working out and ended up in a brace for weeks. While I would not recommend learning lessons in this manner, I did get a lot out of this particular setback. I started doing a lot of research into the proper ways to train, found a great program that basically allows me to just show up each day and follow along to make sure I am doing things correctly but I also learned the importance of resting when my body is screaming at me that it needs it. Pushing yourself is not a bad thing but also allow your body time to rest and recover. That recovery time is just as important as training is for avoiding injury and building strength and muscle…your body will thank you for it!
Taking vitamins/supplements without researching thoroughly! Yikes, this is a big one! I have become very careful about what I am putting into my body but towards the beginning of me trying to take better care of myself I started buying and popping vitamins/supplements like my life depended on it without doing a whole lot of research into how to do it safely. I figured if they sold these products in a store where anyone could get their hands on them they must be safe to use, right? WRONG! It is so important to know what your body needs before throwing a whole bunch of stuff at it that may be doing more harm than good! I read casually about some of the vitamins and supplements that might help me get some of the desired results I was chasing after but what I didn’t do was pay attention to the dosage information or even check to see if I was deficient in any particular area before deciding I needed it. Needless to say, I started having some peculiar and not so pretty side effects (that I will spare you from having to read about) from popping too many unnecessary pills. I finally got smart, did the research, had a full physical and blood work up and now I only use the vitamins and supplements that I need in the dosages that are correct for my body. Luckily, I caught on early with this mistake and made the necessary corrections but it sure was a wake-up call to be more careful in the future! Just because they sell something in a convenience store, grocery store or on the internet doesn’t make it safe to just blindly use. Do your research, make sure you know your own body and then decide which vitamin or supplement is right for you.

I am nowhere near the end of my journey, frankly because there is no end when you are talking about living a healthy lifestyle, but I have come a long way and learned a few valuable lessons through making those mistakes above. Just like I celebrate my successes I also celebrate these setbacks because they were invaluable in leading me to where I am today…happier, healthier and so much more knowledgeable about the right ways to take care of myself. If you take anything away from this post its that mistakes and setbacks are bound to happen. The real choice you have to make is if you are going to let them derail you have you throwing in the towel on the whole process or if you are going to embrace them and use them to make you even stronger.

Let’s keep growing, challenging ourselves and loving this process mistakes and all, because after all perfect would be a little boring, don’t you think?

Xoxoxo,

Beth

Cheat Day? More like cheat weekend…

August 20, 2018 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 24 Comments

Yep, I am sitting at my desk this fine Monday morning feeling a little puffier than usual! I didn’t go into this weekend with any real plans other than a family dinner on Sunday and this was honestly a welcome break from the overly scheduled past few weekends I’ve had. I was also on a two day break from the workout program I am following but I hit the gym Saturday to get some treadmill time in because my next 5k race is fast approaching!

Other than knocking out a few miles Saturday morning, the rest of the day was dedicated to flea market shopping and furniture hunting. After hitting a few stores we stumbled upon this great little health foods market and got probably the healthiest meal of the weekend. I had a hummus and veggie sandwich made in a coconut wrap. I didn’t even know coconut wraps were a thing but it was a great gluten-free alternative that actually tasted really good! It also came with a side of cucumber salad (pictured below) which was really tasty and light as well. I would say that meal was a 10/10 on the health scale!

Saturday night found us venturing out downtown to walk along main street and grab some dinner. Originally we were planning on having a light seafood meal but we ended up getting caught in a downpour and as luck would have it we were right in front of a Mexican joint when it started to really come down! Well of course in seeking shelter and waiting for the rain to pass we figured we might as well partake in a few adult beverages, aka. margaritas, while we were waiting. The rain lasted so long though that we got hungry and ended up munching on a boat load of chips and salsa and some yummy shrimp fajitas. I am full all over again just thinking about that meal but it was good!

Sunday was another pretty relaxed day that included some grocery shopping for the week and just some laundry, house cleaning, meal-prepping, etc the rest of the day. Grabbed a quick bite to eat at the sushi place up the street for lunch which is always a nice, light option but skipped the gym/workout altogether on Sunday as I always take one day a week off to let my body rest and recover. Sunday night was dinner with the family, including mom, dad and brother at my parents house. Dinner at my parents is a guaranteed face stuffing event as my mom would never let us leave with anything but a full stomach! Dinner was fairly healthy with the exception of the ten pounds of mac and cheese I couldn’t seem to stop eating. Other than that, however, the rest of the meal which consisted of salmon, asparagus and a few scoops of my favorite coconut milk ice cream for dessert was light and healthy. See below for a few pics from my adventures with food this weekend:

Needless to say, I enjoyed myself this weekend and what’s even better is I don’t feel guilty about it one bit. I know I will get right back into my workouts and healthy eating now that’s it’s Monday and I didn’t have to deprive myself or even worse starve myself to stay on track this weekend. Being fully committed to this healthier way of life means I no longer worry about if a cheat meal or in this case a cheat weekend will derail me or blow all the progress I have made so far. I know I will get right back on track because this journey is so important to me and really now at this point has become a lifestyle not just a workout kick or crash diet.

Along with not feeling deprived and running the risk of blowing your whole program because you just can’t keep up a super strict meal plan, cheat meals are also actually good for your metabolism! Yes, you read that right…good for your metabolism! 🙂 I talked about this briefly in one of my earlier posts which dealt with hitting that dreaded fitness plateau. One of the reasons for this plateau is after a while of following a more calorie conscious diet your body gets used to the deficit and your metabolism in turn slows down. This can be frustrating because you are still eating healthily and working out but you aren’t losing the pounds like you were in the beginning. A cheat meal is a great way to jump start your metabolism and get it used to burning those higher calorie amounts again instead of being permanently adjusted to the lower intake.

For me personally, these cheat meals now also just seem to taste better! There is something about knowing that I worked my butt of most of the week to earn that meal that makes it all that much more enjoyable. I am now able to eat foods like fajitas and mac and cheese without the guilt I used to have and on top of that I get a nice mental break from being strict with my diet the rest of the week. The bottom line, like most things in life and especially when it comes to nutrition and fitness it is all about finding a healthy balance. A good rule of thumb and one that I myself generally follow is the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time I eat healthy and pay attention to my calorie intake and 20% of the time I allow myself to indulge a bit. This keeps my body and my mind happy and allows me to stay on track and able to keep knocking out my goals!

So cheers to a new week of hard work and reward! Happy Monday y’all!

xoxoxo,

Beth

Why I don’t like the word “diet”…

June 5, 2018June 5, 2018 by FitAmbitiousBlonde ♥ 9 Comments

Let me preface this post by saying that all the things I talk about on this blog are things that I have found that work and don’t work for my own body and life. Everyone is different and every body is different so when I talk about exercising, eating healthy, using shakes, etc. it is in hopes that maybe some of the things that have worked for me can possibly work for someone else as well!

That being said, I absolutely hate the term “dieting”. Don’t get me wrong, I am huge proponent of feeding your body healthy, nutritious food and drinks but I personally feel that anytime you put crazy restrictions on what you will and won’t eat you are setting yourself up for failure. Now, I have so many food allergies it is almost comical but other than the foods that I don’t eat because they will make me sick or possibly kill me (nuts, wheat, oats) I choose what I eat carefully but not to the point that I am miserable and starving everyday. I wasn’t always like this. As I think I mentioned before, I used to be obsessed with fitting into my size double 0 jeans. This obsession was so out of control that there was a period in my life that my main, go-to meal each day was fat-free saltine crackers topped with fat-free cheese slices. I’m not joking….I ate that for lunch on a daily basis. Usually I skipped breakfast with only one or two cups of coffee holding me over until I allowed myself the luxury of eating those crackers. The craziest things about this was I actually felt guilty even taking in those few calories that that meal was even costing me. I would obsess about every single calorie, every bite of food I allowed myself, and every imaginary pound I thought I would gain if I ate anything other than fat-free foods.

This was obviously not healthy, but health wasn’t my priority at the time. Needless it say, I had zero energy, was getting sick constantly and generally was hating life because all I was doing was spending each day obsessing about food. Now this is one end of the spectrum. I know for lot of people it is the opposite…where food is a source of comfort and happiness and eating things that taste good is what it is all about while not paying attention to if it is good for you or not. You guys, there is a middle ground. Today, I am CAREFUL about what I eat but I don’t obsess over it. Most of the time, I eat healthily, focusing on getting the nutrition my body needs to work at it’s best. I watch how much fat I am taking in, I very rarely if ever eat anything fried or super greasy and I make sure I drink a shake a day to make up for whatever nutrition I am not getting in the foods I am eating.

I don’t however, deprive myself. I have a small amount of chocolate everyday ( I am obsessed with Junior Mints). I drink wine a few times a week. I treat myself to gluten-free pizza every once in a while. I eat chips and popcorn. But i do all these things in moderation. And of course, I exercise. If there is one thing I have learned along the way, life is too short to be miserable. But it is even shorter if you don’t take care of your self. Respect your body enough to care what you are putting into it.

Crash dieting, fad diets, overly restrictive meal plans, in my experience always fail. You end you with the mentality that food is your enemy and the diet becomes so unbearable we often end up quitting soon after we start because it isn’t a realistic way to live. Here is another instance where listening to you body is key. If your body is craving something salty, allow yourself some almonds or my favorite a pickle slice. If you want chocolate (which lets be honest, we all do) eat a few pieces of dark chocolate. You don’t have to completely deprive yourself to live a healthy lifestyle. In fact, I think it is unhealthy to do so. You are in essence setting yourself up for failure and there is no chance you will be able to sustain a diet where you never feel satisfied.

You don’t have to make major changes to see results. Start small if you need to. Try incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet. Replace that mid-afternoon soda with a class or two of water. Replace that breakfast sandwich with a shake. Take a few small steps to start with and I promise you will see a change. Hopefully, as it did for me, seeing a small change will encourage you to keep at it and change up some other unhealthy habits we all pick up at one time or another. Before you know it, these small changes may become a lifestyle that you are truly proud of and can maintain!

xoxoxo,

Beth

Life…Take 2!

I hope that someone sees this page and decides not to give up.

Tag: diet

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