The interesting thing about being so active on social media is that people can watch you through every stage of your life. Like most other women I know, every stage of my life has involved fluctuating weight.
A couple of years back I wrote about how I had learned to maintain my weight. It was an important journey for me and I wanted to share the truth about what it took to go from a size 10-12 to a size 6-8. In the years since then my journey to understanding my health and diet has grown even more and so I thought it might be helpful to share with you how my eating habits have changed. And also, how the change in my diet brought me down to a size 2-4. At the end of the day, my weight (or yours) has nothing to do with who we are or what our worth is. But altering my diet has utterly changed my energy level, my skin and how great I feel. So if you’re curious, this is what I’ve done over the last nine months to bring me here.
I Limited Dairy – Yes, me. The Diary Queen, the lover of all cheese– I have limited my dairy intake. This was probably the hardest change to my eating style I’ve ever made because cheese is my favorite food. But last year my skin kept breaking out which is something I’ve never had trouble with before. A lot of it was stress but the more I read up, the more I started to wonder if it might clear up if wasn’t eating string cheese three times a day. So just like years ago when I gave up Diet Coke, I went cold turkey. I gave up dairy for three weeks and saw a drastic change in my skin and my stomach. Nine months later and I have cheese in moderation and I substitute almond or coconut milk in my lattes. With anything in life when you’re consuming a ton of it, it can’t be good for you…. well, except for water.
I Gave Up Meat – I know what you’re thinking… who are you and what have you done with Rachel!? I limited my dairy, now I’m giving up meat?? Me, who loves cheeseburgers more than anything on earth? Yes you guys, it’s true. Recently someone challenged me to try give up all or at least a large portion of the meat I eat, for ten days just to see how I felt. We did it as a team at Chic HQ (you may recall that dreaded juice cleanse) and we were all shocked at how much better we felt. Our energy level went through the roof and — sorry to be weird — but my digestion was great! It’s been over a month and I eat fish, eggs, beans, etc for protein but haven’t had anything else and honestly, I don’t crave it.
I Truly Embraced Meal Prep – I really believe that you must prep for anything you want to do well. To that end, I prep meals and snacks on Sunday so I’ve got healthy options to reach for all week long.
I Started Eating Bread Again – For years, whenever I wanted to lose weight I’d go on a high protein diet. ALL the meat, cheese, eggs and no bread, pasta, rice, etc. The more research I’ve done about eating healthy, the more I’ve learned not to fear healthy carbs or healthy fats. All that matters is that you have the right kind of carbs and fats. Most days for breakfast I have scrambled eggs or toast with peanut butter. I eat these sprouted grain tortillas and this seed bread that’s yummier than any sliced bread I’ve ever had! I also love brown rice and quinoa but I tend not to have any of these more than once a day.
I Made my “diet” Simpler – 75% vegetables. It’s that simple. It’s so much easier for me to think in terms of eating veggies most of the day and then supplementing with protein and healthy carbs. I drink a lot of green juice (this is my favorite recipe to prep at home) and eat a TON of salads. I love hummus, nuts, beans, and almond butter to mix things up but basically I’m a rabbit now.
