Where do I start?
It’s the new year and you want to start a new healthy lifestyle. New year, new me, right? You may have big ambitions for yourself and your fitness or health journey, but the first thing we need to do is set an obtainable goal so you’re setting yourself up for success.
Let’s go though a few questions you need to ask yourself before you get started.
- What is your goal? Is it weight loss, maintenance, or bulking?
- Are you making a realistic and LONG TERM goal? I’ve seen so many people try a 30 day diet, feel super accomplished at the end, and then go back to their old habits.
- Do you have a nutrition plan? Are you taking baby steps like cutting out soda? Or are you committing to whole 30 or counting your macros?
Don’t put a timeframe on your health. You should always aim to make healthy habits that you can maintain long term.
Start Simple
When we get on health kicks we tend to go balls to wall. We go to the grocery store, buy all the healthy food, and buy weird expensive food because it’s labeled as “healthy”. I’m going to tell you know, you don’t need to do all that. Start simple.
I went through a paleo phase several years back. I found a bunch of crazy recipes, went to the store, and ended up spending an insane amount of money on almond flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, and ingredients that I’d never even heard of before. Looking back, I can’t believe I had the mindset that I needed those things to be “healthy”. I was trying to cheat my way into eating brownies by making “healthy” brownies that cost $70 and had probably the same amount of calories as box brownies from the store.
Here’s what I know now- simple is best. I typically buy the same thing each week on my grocery trips. You can buy simple things and still make them taste good. And that’s the trick – make it taste good! No one wants to eat bland chicken and rice for every meal.
Here’s what my typical grocery list for the week looks like-
- Protein source – chicken breast, ground turkey, steak, eggs, yogurt
- Carb source – fruits, oatmeal, bagels, potatoes, rice
- Fat source – nuts, peanut butter, cheese, butter (yes, you can eat cheese and butter)
- 2-3 veggies (broccoli, brussell sprouts)
Outside of that, I always get a couple snacks, because I’m not crazy. I set myself up for success by not restricting myself from things I like. For example, I love Oreos. So I buy them and eat 1-2 every now and then. By not making them “forbidden” or labeled as a “bad” food I don’t feel guilty eating them nor do I feel depleted and have the urge to eat a whole sleeve in one sitting. Learning to stop labeling food as “good” or “bad” can help you build a healthy relationship with food.
Make your food taste good!
The biggest reason diets fail is that you just don’t want to eat it. Who wants to feel like your force feeding yourself bland chicken and broccoli or every meal? Not me. Let seasonings become your new best friend. SEASON EVERYTHING. I season eggs, chicken, broccoli, potatoes. And don’t just use salt and pepper. Get you some garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, taco seasoning, marinade packets (I just use this as dry seasoning-no oil). Trust me – season the dang food.
Start something you can keep up with
This is the most important aspect of dieting. You shouldn’t be fixated on a diet that lasts 30 days. Want to know why? Because that gives you a short term goal, and when you’ve made it to 30 days, now what? Do you say “ok I did it” and just go back to your old habits? Most people feel a little lost after they’ve made it to that point. Being healthy is more than “dieting”. It’s creating new habits that you can maintain long term. And a bonus is your body starts to notice when you’re feeding it well. You’ll start to see huge improvements in your physical and mental health.
What you want to think is “What I can keep doing for months at a time?” This may be small steps like cutting out sodas and eating a vegetable with every meal.
It could also be counting your calories. If you’re counting your calories I would recommend using a TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator to figure out a baseline for what you should be eating (https://tdeecalculator.net). The amount of calories your body needs on maintenance may surprise you. Your body CANNOT survive on a 1000 calorie diet. I typically eat anywhere between 1900-2300 calories depending on my goals. You need to eat the food. Restricting your caloric intake drastically will not be sustainable which is why you need to set your calorie goal at a healthy number to start.
Tracking your calories is a great way for you to be aware of what you’re putting in your body. I use My Fitness Pal and enter in my calorie goal. Then I track each meal I eat so I know how much food I’m putting in my body. This can be super eye opening for anyone who hasn’t done this before. And it’s a great way for you just to educate yourself of the food you’re eating.
Meal Prep
This is the last step in setting yourself up for success. Meal Prep! Sundays are a great meal prep days. We’re typically pretty motivated for the week, so this can put you in a great mindset.
Go ahead and cook all your food. Cook your chicken, veggies, rice, potatoes, anything you’re wanting to eat that week for lunches or dinner. I just cook in bulk and then store them in containers in the fridge. One thing I do not do is separate all my meals into meal 1, meal 2, meal 3 containers. I’ve done this before and honestly, it’s just exhausting and overwhelming. I hated having 100 containers in my fridge labeled “lunch”, “dinner”, “snack”. So instead, I just keep all my bulk food in separate containers so I can make whatever meal I want for lunch and dinner. I’m not restricted to whatever I had labeled for the day and each day I can pack what I’m feeling for the day.
I hope this helps! Visit the Shop tab to see what I use for my meal prep. Comment below if you have questions or any other suggestions for success in your new healthy habits! Good luck, this is YOUR year!
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