Thursday, May 10, 2012

"Diet" Update

I've been eating healthy for about a month now, and I thought I'd give you guys a little update in case you are curious!


Since January, I have been very very busy with new clients and was often driving around all day long.. I had gotten in the habit of eating fast food 3x a week (!!!!!). Then one day I woke up and decided that it's time to change what I put into my body. My friend Erin really pushed me to do it.. she had started eating "whole" back in February and it had been such a positive change in her life. Well here I am a month later, and I have to say it has been a very positive change in my life as well! I do NOT consider myself on a diet, I just make better choices now.

Here are some of my favorite meals and recipes from the past month:

Turkey Meatballs with Whole Wheat Pasta
For this Tostada, Matt grilled a corn tortilla to get it nice and crispy... no frying involved. I also made "refried" black beans by simply heating up black beans in a saucepan with about half a cup of salsa. So easy and good!
Healthy Egg Salad: NO Mayo involved... and I actually preferred it without the mayo. For the whole batch I used 3 Egg Whites, 2 Whole Hard Boiled Eggs (with yoke), and about two tablespoons of 2% Cottage Cheese and some Sriracha (I love spicy). It lasted me three days and it was amazing!



Salmon with Avocado Salsa


Whenever I was craving dessert, I chopped up a banana, sprinkled cinnamon on it, and drizzled it with honey. This is so, so good and really tastes like dessert.

Here are some products that I have become staples in my pantry:

My Favorite Granola brand.. I think it's the toasted coconut that does it for me.

I tried three kinds of fruit strips, this is my favorite.

Harris Teeter (here in Charlotte) has these hummus and pretzel chips packs and they are SOOO good for when I am on the go! Same goes for the KIND bars. I just throw them in my purse when I am headed out for the day.

My Splurges:

Diet Soda: I'm still working on cutting out soda completely. On a normal day, I used to drink 2 cups of coffee in the morning and a Pepsi Max every afternoon. On a bad day, I would drink 2 cups of coffee in the morning and a LARGE Diet Coke from McDonalds in the afternoon. Yikes! I still drink 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning, but I have cut my soda intake to about 2-3 regular cans of diet soda a week. I don't beat myself up about still drinking the soda.. at least I have cut down my intake by at least 50-75%. And surprisingly, the taste isn't as appealing to me anymore.. so I have wanted it less and less.

Frozen Yogurt: Since my MIL has been here we have been getting TCBY frozen yogurt quite frequently. BUT I really don't feel too guilty about it.. it's somewhat healthy (for sweets) and I only have toasted coconut and a little bit of crushed graham crackers on the top. No chocolate and candy bar chunks like I used to do ;)

Eating Out: I still go out to eat and enjoy it. I just eat less and don't leave the restaurant with that stuffed feeling.

Life Changes: 

When I started this, I didn't do it to lose weight, I just wanted to be healthier. But I knew that being healthier and cutting out fast food and cookies and candy would give me positive results. In the past month I have lost around 5 lbs!

I really feel GREAT. I have more energy (which is surprising since I don't drink as much caffeine) and I feel so satisfied when I eat. I get excited about figuring out what to eat. I even like going to the grocery store now and my husband and I have gotten in the habit of going together. I used to HATE IT!

For the past two weeks I've also started a running routine.. so that has been great too. I have been enjoying running in the fresh air 3x a week.

I'm sorry this turned out to be a novel!! I hope you find it helpful and I really encourage you to try this healthy thing out :) You can continue to follow my journey on my food blog here.

8 comments:

  1. Yum! The food looks delicious. I've been eating healthy since January as well. I've lost 20+ lbs so far. I recently started working out - which I hate - 4-5 times a week at home.

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  2. I will have to try the banana thing! I do pretty much whole foods for us, but my sweet tooth (and love of baking) gets me in trouble! And you're so right about losing the sodas, the less you drink them, the less you want them. I used to love a Dr. Pepper, but now it just looks so unnatural to me (not that I don't have treat every now and then!).

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  3. So proud of you Bryn!!  And super excited you are seeing the same positive changes!  Love you tons!

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  4. That is great!! It sounds like you're doing really well and sticking to it! I'm going to have to steal all these recipes they look delicious!

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  5. Well done, Bryn!  Your food looks so delicious!  Thanks for sharing this bit of your life!

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  6. Excellent job Bryn!
    I have lost 55 pounds as of today by eating whole & taking some amazing supplements that fill every metabolic function in my body, raises my serotonin (makes me happy!!) & gives me endless energy....never felt better. 
    I was out late one night at a conference, it was in a rural town & it was late. I was starving as I hadn't eaten for almost 6 hours. All that was open was a McDonalds. I ordered a double cheesburger with no bun (ok, I should of had the chicken hind sight!!!) I took one bite and could not believe that I use to eat that stuff! It was so loaded with salt & is that really beef???!!! not to mention the grease, fat was putrid tasting and I couldn't get it out of my mouth....I am so glad that I switched to whole foods...it is easy now to distinguish the fakes!
    Keep up the great work Bryn!!
    I would love for you to follow my weight loss journey @DomestiCate Blog Dawn https://www.facebook.com/LivingIt4Real  - no worries I DO NOT sell any products on there...it is my journal & weight loss inspiration page with a ton of tips for emotional eating, great whole foods & soul!

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  7. Go Bryn!  Those foods look delicious!  One trick I've found is that I try to eat 2-3 apples EVERY DAY and it makes me want to eat healthy.  Now I can't go a day without having the apples (and other fruit).

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  8. Go girl! These are the kind of things I'm always meaning to do but often failing to really incorporate. That egg salad looked delicious and I am definitely going to give it a try!

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THANK YOU for taking the time to share your thoughts. I appreciate each and every comment.