It is okay if... 5 Tips for your First Week of Eating Healthy

I remember when I began my eating healthy journey, I was so excited because nutrition was something I always struggled with and honestly I have not 100% conquered. Even though I have been breastfeeding officially for a little over a year now, I would find myself emotionally eating which doesn't hinder your breast milk but it can cause a lack of energy within your body and weight gain to become prevalent. That is one of the beautiful things about breast milk, it will always contain nutrients for your child that are necessary. Though I am not saying eat fast food everyday, but I am also saying do not stress if whether or not your child is being supplied with the right amount of nutrients because he or she is. But that is another blog for another day.

Anyways, on my fitness journey I would hear people say "It is all about diet". So since I wanted to work on losing my post- baby weight gain, I began searching for ways and tools to do so. Meal planning has become my best friend. Once I constructed my meal plan for the week using portion control containers I felt as though I can conquer this thing called dieting. But during the first week of eating healthy, I found myself questioning certain things. I am a person of freedom and I don't like being restricted so I tested the waters for myself.

Here are 5 Tips for your First Week of Eating Healthy:

1. It is okay if you eat more than the portion you are "suppose" to be eating. After day 4, my metabolism skyrocketed. I was counting down for the next meal or snack time. So I decided that I would eat my regular portions first and if I was still hungry I would fix myself a plate that is about half the portions from the first. Usually I will focus on just adding vegetables and whatever meat when I would go for seconds.

2. It is okay if you incorporate more snacks in between meals. Once again my metabolism skyrocketed once I began eating healthy. So I decided to incorporate more snacks in between meals if I was hungry. This actually would cut down on me eating more during the meals and being totally satisfied after eating my portions.

3. Please Please Please... this is a major one. It is okay if you EAT. If you are hungry please eat. The one misconception about dieting is you have to stop eating a meal or rule out certain foods and that is so not true. It is all about what you eat and how much of a particular food you are eating. When you starve your body, it goes into what I call "survival mode" and will store your fat. You do not want fat storage in your body because then your body will store it in places that you do not want like tummy, inner thighs, sides of of your back, need I say more.

4. If you are meal planning, then you know first hand that everyday is basically laid out for you. But it is okay if you swap days and even the foods that you put on your meal plan. Like I share with my clients, please do not take the meal plan and think these are your boundaries. If you feel like eating shrimp instead of chicken for dinner, it is okay if you make that change. It is still protein.

5. It is okay if you slip up. I slipped up during my first couple of days because it was something different. I was the kind of person who would eat things based on my cravings and/ or emotions at the time. I would find myself falling back into the old habit of doing this but it is okay. We are all human. But I picked up the pieces and started from where I left off. Each day I grew stronger to fight those cravings or old back from emotionally eating. So each day you will grow stronger and hold back from those factors that are trying to hold you back. You got this.

In the end, listen to your body and not your cravings. Inputting nutritions into your body is very important. I have been incorporating what is called Shakeology into my meal plan and have noticed a difference as well in the reduction of my cravings. If you are interested in more information about Shakeology, email me and I will get back with you on the details.

I hope these tips have encouraged you to keep going on your eating healthy journey. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or just want a one- on- one encouragement... We are in this together.