Eat Your Breakfast!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...we have all heard this, but how many actually follow it? When you are in a rush in the morning or running late it can be super easy to skip this meal. Eating a healthy nutritious breakfast not only kick starts your day but can also help you feel fuller through out the rest of the day. It is so important to make time to eat a well balances breakfast and not just grab a coffee and doughnut.  I am not a huge breakfast person myself in that I do not eat the traditional bacon and eggs. However, my usual breakfast that I eat almost every morning gives me the kick start I need for the day.

My favourite breakfast includes cereal, non-fat yogurt, some fresh fruit, and flax seed. This breakfast includes 3 of my food groups and has some added good fats. I like to eat my carbs early in the day as it gives me the rest of the day to burn them off. This breakfast can have so many different combos with different cereals, flavor of yogurt, and a variety of fruit. When choosing a cereal go for a healthier option with at least 4% of your fibre intake for the day (fibre will make you feel fuller for longer) and stay away from the sugary cereals. You could also switch out the fat free yogurt for some low fat or fat free Greek yogurt to get that added protein as well.

Breakfast doesn't have to be hard. This meal only takes a moment to put all together in a bowl for a nutritious breaky.

Ten Pounds Down!

Finally I have lost 10 lbs!!! I am so very happy with myself and what I have accomplished so far. I still have 20 more pounds to go till I reach my ideal weight. It has been a slow process, but I am glad I have some results to show for!

The Beginning of March 2012 at 155lbs...                           Now July 1, 2012 at 145lbs!!

Tips for Successful Weight Loss!

While I have been going along this journey trying to lose weight I have discovered a few tips to help the process. I find the best way to stick to making a healthy lifestyle change was implementing these changes one at a time over a course of time. Waking up one morning and doing a drastic change in lifestyle may be hard for people to stick to and follow...but slow changes over a time period can help you stick to it! So here are the changes I have made to my life to help lose weight:

Number 1 which was the biggest change NO MORE POP! I have cut pop completely out from my diet and now only drink water and milk. Pop is loaded with sugar and really was doing nothing nutritionally for myself. I used to be a big pop drinker....like a can a day big!  I found this change to be hard at first as I would crave its sweet taste. However now I don't crave it anymore and I am so glad I have cut it out of my diet. Switch out that sugary sweet drink for WATER! Our bodies need water and I make sure I drink my 8 glasses a day!

Next change was cutting out the junk! I put those bags of chips down and stopped eating fast food. We all know fast food is totally unhealthy and is full of salt, carbs, and fat, but sometimes it is easier to grab it while your on the go. Again this change was difficult as I would crave the salty taste of these foods! But with time the craving goes away...for the most part... there are still days when I wanna chow down on a bag of chips (especially in the evening).

Which leads into my next tip...no eating after 7pm! I am still struggling with this as I am sucha grazer with my food and I find myself starving in the evening for those snacks! If I find myself with my tummy grumbling I will chug back some H2O and have a light snack like an apple or a couple of crackers.

One of the most important tips is meal planning! I was big on mindless snacking and eating whatever whenever. Once I started writing down what I was eating on a daily basis I realized I was eating way to many carbs! Almost everyone of my meals and snacks included some sort of carb! So I have limited myself to 2 servings of carbs a day (I don't want to completely deprive myself) and I have pretty much stopped eating bread. I may have the occasionaly slice, but mostly now my carbs would be whole wheat pasta and only a small amount of it as well (around 1/2 cup). Planning out your meals does take some time, but knowing what you can eat will help control mindless snacking and ensure you get all your food groups in a day.

I am no expert... these are just some of the changes that have worked for me in losing weight :)

3 months

This is just going to be a short update. It is mid June and I started this journey back in March. By this point I was hoping to be down at least 15 pounds....and I am around the 8-10 lb mark... not to far off from my goal. It seems my body just doesn't want to lose this weight at all. There have been weeks were I lose a pound then the next gain it back. Not to mention my weight fluctuates so much during the day. It is frustrating with all the changes I have made to my diet and giving up on delish grub! You can really eat so much salad before it gets  repetitive and boring. Ok well I will keep at it..no point in falling back into old routines and being back to square one!

Update!

I know I have been slackin on writing my blog the past few weeks, but there are reasons! First off this past month has been crazy busy. I went on a lil vacay a few weeks ago which was totally fun! But of course with travelling and being away from home my diet and exercise took a back seat...so when I got back my weight jumped back up a couple of pounds which I was not impressed with. On a positive note however I did work it off! So far my total weight lost has been 7lbs. Doesn't seem like much since I have been trying since March and it is now the end of May. It has only been over the past month that the weight has started to come off.

In my last post I mentioned about trying on my wedding dress.....and omg it is more fabulous that I remember! I go back next week for alterations. The dress was a bit small around the bust, but I am totally confident when it comes to August the dress will fit perfectly!

Well I am not sure when I will get to post again as I have another busy couple of weeks coming up. I am just trying to stay on track with eating right and working out.

Parmesan and Rosemary Pita with Hummus

Here is another delicious and healthy snack idea!

Baking the pita bread give it a tasty crunch which makes this more like chips and dip!

Ingredients needed:

1 whole grain pita

1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Rosemary

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the pita on a baking dish. Brush the top side of the pita bread with the olive oil. Next sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and rosemary. Cut the pita bread into 8 portions. Bake in the oven for 6-8 min. Serve with some hummus for dipping.

Enjoy!

Week....7?? 8?? wait...what?

Well it IS the end of week 8.... I didn't post anything last week only cause there was nothing really to write about... I have been finding it very difficult to lose weight. I honestly didn't think it would be this hard. I assumed with exercise and no more junk food I would start losing weight real quickly.

So the past week I have really been watching what I eat and planning my meals ahead of time. As well, I have been drinking more water and wouldn't you know it I have lost a pound this week! This whole experience has been slow steps and lots of learning on how to eat more properly. I am such a huge snacker....especially when I am sitting around. That has been the hardest part is no more mindless snacking and not eating after 7pm.

I got the call that my wedding dress is in and will be going to try it on tomorrow! So excited and nervous! I don't remember what size I ordered it in and I hope it will fit! Will talk about that experience in next weeks post.