Y’hello, Beastie! It’s been a while since I have updated this blog, but if you’ve been following me on social media, you know where I have been most active lately. Last week, I announced in the newsletter that I was embarking on a 60-day weight loss journey. Today, I am here to tell you about the first week and how it went.
This journey means a lot to me, and it comes with its own challenges, like any journey, honestly. I knew I wanted to jump in, but there are still a lot of things that I have not figured out. So many ideas, so less time to execute most of them. But the main things were put in place.
I unfroze my Evolution Nutrition (EN) account. This is the software that I use with my clients (and myself). Basically, I calculate your macros and calories, and the software populates meals for you based on those numbers and your preferences. I had frozen my account for a while to get a few things sorted out. Also, there was a period when I was not accepting clients. So, it made sense to freeze that one, too. Anyways, everything is back up and I had the software populate meals for me. Based on my goal and lifestyle, I have 5 meals in a single day. Through the years, I have found that this is what works better for me.
On Sunday, I meal prep. So, I made all the meals that I would have in the week, and put them in the fridge.
Breakfast
For breakfast, I had cereals with coconut milk, and a large boiled egg. Not too fancy, but hey, I eat to fuel my body, not to be fancy. I had the Nestle Fitness (original) cereals. They’re not sweet and have a lot of fiber. I grew up eating them in Switzerland, but unfortunately, Nestle does not make them in the United States. So, you have to buy them from either specialized stores, or order online, or have them shipped/brought to you from/by friends and family. They’re my favorite cereals.
Snack #1
For the first snack, I had some granny apple with some peanut butter. This is one of my favorite treats. Though, I prefer the combination with a red apple rather than the green one. I am not much of a fan of acid apples, but this time I switched a bit. If you’ve never tried the treat and you are not allergic to nuts, then you should try this one. It is a real delicacy.
Lunch
For lunch, I had a burrito! A tortilla with humus, some avocado, steamed baby carrots, grape tomatoes, and chicken. Listen, this is a dish I had never thought about until EN, and that is another reason why I use this software. Dietitians made it, and it has over 4,000 meals in its database. So, you don’t get bored. But yes, this burrito, I could have it every day, all day! I have to say, this was my favorite meal of the day this week.
Snack #2
The fourth meal was the second snack: some Greek yogurt and strawberries. Strawberries are usually not a favorite of mine, but Fred Myers had them at a very interesting price and they were very sweet too. I have them separately from the yogurt though. Somehow, I can’t convince myself that they both go together even if they go to the same place afterward.
Dinner
Dinner was the last meal of the day. Baked tilapia with rice and cauliflower. This one was very tasty as well, and satisfying.
5 meals may seem like a lot to some but these were 5 very light meals. At no point I felt hungry. Actually, sometimes I struggled to finish the lunch or dinner. This has nothing to do with the quantities but the fact that it still takes me a while to digest this many solid meals.
The difficulty during the week came from the fact that I had to work a 4×10 shift with a regular 8-hour shift on the fifth day. I am grateful that I have the ability to flex my schedule at my primary job. So, that is what I did to make up for the previous Friday when I was sick. I did not want to use a sick day. Anyways, those 4 days were very tiring. Because I was going to do that shift, I also did not actively exercise. The other reason is that working in a massive factory, I made sure to walk a lot more than the regular walks that I usually do for the job itself (and we do a lot of walking on that side!) So, that was my workout for each day. But yeah, I was always tired.
I am not new to this type of journeys; it is my lifestyle. So, I was expecting some tiredness at the beginning. I also expected some bowel movements, but not this early, right within the first week. I am not an oncology expert. Therefore, I am not exactly sure why this happens when you change your diet. However, it does make sense that it may be your body readjusting. The quality of your diet is going to impact those bowel movements and your gut in general. One thing that I have noticed through the years is that with a cleaner diet, my gut just feels better and I don’t deal with constipation or even bloating as long as I keep on track. I needed to add this last part because Friday was a bit too hectic and I had my meals way after the alarms rang, causing me to skip the timings. I paid that later with bloating. I had never noticed that before and I cannot say with 100 percent certainty that it was because I strayed a bit from the habit of having meals at a certain time. They may be related somehow. Who knows?
Anyways, this week was not a bad one. Next week, I will be back to my normal schedule, and I will resume strength workout, regular routine, you know. I always love it when my days start with a 4AM-workout. My meals are already listed, grocery shopping done. All that remains is prepping those meals. And I can’t wait!