Are you in place right now where you know you don’t want to be, but don’t necessarily know how to move forward to reach your goals? Or maybe, you do know the steps you need to take, but where you want to be compared to where you are seems so far away, that you want to give up before you even start?
I’ve gotten great responses from this series and I’m looking forward to sharing how I exercise with all of you. I want to preface this blog by saying, although exercise is an integral part of a healthy life and a huge component of the weight loss equation, you can never outrun a poor diet. If you exercise and expect to be able to eat whatever you want, you will be in for a rude awakening. What you eat is one of the most important things when it comes to your health, especially if you want to lose weight. That being said, you can eat super clean and still not be at your healthiest if you fail to incorporate adequate amounts of exercise each week.
Hey everyone!
This is part 2 of my series on how I lost 45lbs without dieting. If you’ve yet to read part 1, please click here and give it a read before you move on.
There have been SO many different things that have contributed to my overall body transformation, that it’s hard to know where to begin. I will be discussing all aspects that I changed, including physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects. Let’s begin at the physical and go over what I eat, how I exercise and daily habits that have really helped me get lean without consciously trying to lose weight.
45lbs. Well, actually 48lbs (but who’s counting)?
It sounds like a lot of weight. It is a lot of weight. I never imagined that A) I needed to lose 45lbs, and B) that I could without dieting.
In our ever-increasing airbrushed society, everyone is seeking after things that will make them happier. We look at other people’s lives and we see endless pictures of parties, fancy dinners, exotic trips and families are smiling, that we immediately feel like our lives are lacking. Our continual pursuit of happiness may be the problem though. And in our relentless search to uncover happiness and grasp for it makes us feel more and more despondent.
It would seem that eating sub-optimal food is a right of passage for a man. Chicken wings, hot dogs, pizza, chips, and of course beer, all accompany your typical North American Super bowl Sunday (or any day that involves watching sports). To eat a clean meal while getting together with your male friends almost seems taboo, like you just shouldn’t do it. I may be a woman, but I grew up with brothers. I see this in my male clients and friends, through the men in my family and watch my husband struggle with the same mentality-real men eat whatever they want.
One of my favourite snacks has always been crackers. Unfortunately, most crackers are pretty unhealthy and not a great source of nutrients on their own. Crackers from a box are processed, refined and stripped of their nutrient value. On top of that, they are often filled with vegetable oils like canola, safflower, sunflower or cottonseed oil which are unstable inside the body. Most boxed crackers are full of refined carbs and unhealthy fat but have little to no protein or fibre content- the more you eat, the more you keep eating!
I am absolutely IN LOVE with these fish cakes. They are so easy to make and they taste like they're straight out of a restaurant (if I don't say so myself)! I created these because I wanted a variation on salmon that tasted great and wasn't so boring. These will definitely hit the spot! Here's the ingredients you'll need:
I'm 29 years old.
In my short time on Earth, I've lived quite a full life. I've had to face hardships from a young age and continuously jump over hurdles with every passing year. Every time I had a goal or a dream, it seemed like there was always a million obstacles in my way. From tangible obstacles to mental obstacles, I've had to push through adversity time and time again. Now, I find myself face to face with my next challenge; going back to school to eventually get my masters in Psychology.
"I do so well with eating during the day, but then I end up eating all night and can't seem to stop".
This is an issue I used to struggle with and a complaint I've heard hundreds of people make when it comes to their diet. Why do we end up binge eating in the evening despite our best efforts and success throughout the day? Eating at night can be a habit we've adopted, but it could also be the cause of other reasons. Find out some of the reasons you binge eat at night and what you can do about it!
When I first got into fitness, I fell in love. I loved the way I felt, I loved how strong I was getting and exercise became my escape. When I started to see the benefits of exercising four times a week, I thought that if I did six times a week, the greater results I'd experience. I religiously went to the gym six days a week and reluctantly took the seventh day off- in my mind, more equaled more. I carried on working out like this for many years and over those years, I developed an abundance of injuries. The first injury I got was a stress fracture in my tibia (shin bone) from excessive running and jumping. At that time, running made me feel alive. I had gone through so much pain in my youth that running made me feel like I could escape everything for that moment. I would run 10-15km a day on top of weight lifting for another hour. The impact my body was taking was too great and eventually it broke down the best way it knew how.
This weeks recipe turned out SO good! I didn't know how they were going to turn out because I've never not cooked lentils before I've eaten them, but wow-I was shocked! These lentil wraps are super easy and quick to make. They are also naturally gluten-free, high in fibre, high in protein and make the perfect accompaniment to a beautiful side salad or a ping hot bowl of soup.
Hello everyone!
I've been having such a great past couple weeks hearing that (almost) everyone has gotten their copy of Food Rehab for Food Junkies. I can't even begin to describe what an incredible and terrifying experience it's been to have my story and work out there. I have received the most wonderful and heart warming feedback from so many of you-thank you so much.
It seems like every time you swing your hot designer handbag, there's a new diet exploding in the media. This time I've heard it all- The Pegan Diet. What the H.E double hockey sticks is the Pegan Diet, you ask? It's a combination of a vegan diet mixed with a paleo diet.
"The matrix is all around us”, Morpheus declares to Neo after he’s made the conscious decision to take the red pill, offered to be shown only the truth.
After choosing to take the red pill and deny the blue pill-along with going back to his “normal” life, Neo awakens to find himself in a pod amongst millions of other pods containing humans that have no clue what their reality truly is. While these human beings exist in a state of delusion by being plugged into the matrix and seeing that which has been programmed for them to see, their bodies waste away and are being used as an energy source to run machines- artificial intelligence that’s taken over the world.
IT'S HERE!!!
Today is the official Amazon launch day for my new book Food Rehab for Food Junkies! I have spent 2 and half years writing this book, plus 6 months in the publishing process. It's been a long time coming, but it's been so worth it!
It's almost here!! The official release of Food Rehab for Food Junkies is on Tuesday, January 30th. I'm so excited that in just two days, my story and knowledge on how to help people change their relationship with food and with their body will be available everywhere!
It's no surprise that dieting for long-term weight loss, doesn't work. We know this by study after study showing that over 95% of people who lose weight on a weight loss diet, will gain the weight back in less than 3 years (if you can keep it off that long to begin with). Most people gain the weight back within a few months, truth be told. I have worked with so many clients that are frustrated and ready to give up all together after being through the dieting-weight loss-cycle over and over again.
Have you ever struggled with being authentic? I am a person who likes to please people. If I feel that someone doesn't like me, I take it harder than other people I know. This insecurity has lead me down some pretty dark paths where I did whatever it took to be popular and feel wanted.
I got into drugs at the age of 17, not just because I was running away from the pain of my past, but also because I wanted people to think I was cool- I wanted to fit in. I went home with a stranger because I wanted to be desired, and in the end, I was raped.
I am so excited to release my book Food Rehab for Food Junkies to the world, and I'm honoured you've come on this journey with me. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be sending you small changes you can make right now, that will have a huge impact on your health.
How many of you live your life at hyper-speed? It seems like no matter who you ask, "how are you?" to, the response is always, "busy"! We treat being busy like a badge of honour, and because society tells us we're lazy or unproductive if we're not busy, we're starting to reap the drawbacks of living life at this level.
When we race through life, we miss out on all the beautiful things around us, and tune out of our body. Our bodies are relaying information to us all the time, but if we're never listening, we will never become more aware of how we can heal our body.
Some of our symptoms could be:
- Insomnia
- Binge eating
- IBS
- Digestive issues
- Skin conditions
- Emotional eating
- Weight gain/loss
- Fatigue
- Cravings
- Anger or rage
- etc.
We try to mask our symptoms with things. Maybe if I just take a pill for that, or exercise harder, stop eating ___. If we are always burning at the end of our wick, we can never hear why we're experiencing these symptoms. The symptoms themselves aren't the issue, after all, they are the solution to what's really going on.
If you struggle with your weight, health or body image, it's time to slow down and tune into your body and the areas of life where you're running on empty. Take time to sit still for 5 minutes every day and ask yourself, "what do I need today"? Where can you take more time to rest, even amongst a busy day? Can you slow down when you eat and remove all distractions so you can be present for the eating experience?
When we eat in front of the television, computer, phone, etc, we will always over eat and not digest our food properly. If we rush through eating, our food will not digest properly and our bodies won't change or be healthy.
Slow = progress
So many of us don't want to be present because it means we have to face some harsh realities. We'd rather tap out in front of the television with a big bowl of chips instead of dealing with all the stresses of life. Slowing down and being present is hard work, but makes such a huge difference in your health.
Your body will find it's natural weight when you eat slow because you'll be able to tune into what your body actually needs, and your natural hunger cues that tell you when you've had enough to eat. No more worrying about portion control!
When you slow down, you take your body out of chronic stress, and into parasympathetic dominance, where you can digest and assimilate nutrients properly. Not only that, but you'll gain mental clarity, be able to sleep better and be more emotionally stable because your not living your life with excess stress hormones floating around.
There are so many benefits to slowing down in every area, that I could go on for days. Make slowing down a practice that you prioritize in your life, and see what happens. Your body, mind and spirit will tell you exactly what you need to do to heal the areas of your body and health that are broken. You need to be present in order to hear.
I leave you with this thought;
Awareness Cures. What can you do to slow down with eating, with stressing, with living life on edge or hyper-speed? What will awareness cure for you?
Please leave me your comments below to let me know how you slow down and what it does for you!
All my love,
LJ