Recently in my DM’s, there have been a lot of questions surrounding my diet, my recipes, and my relationship with food in general so I wanted to create a blog post with some details on how I maintain my healthy lifestyle. If you missed it, I have already written blog posts about
How I Healthy Lifestyle and How You Can Too, as well as Tips to Stay on Track. I still stand and live by all of these tips and suggestions, but today I want to talk a littler further in to maintenance, recipes, snacks ideas, eating out guidelines, and ingredients I personally avoid.
MAINTENANCE | The number one recommendation I have for maintaining a healthy lifestyle is routine. So this is a pretty broad term, so let me elaborate. I have found that getting in to a routine with where, what, and how I shop for food is very important. Every Monday, I plan out what meals I am going to make for each day as well as pre-plan what day we are doing left-overs or going out to eat. I shop from the same places and have essentially the same set of groceries I buy each week when it comes to quick and easy meals as well as snacks. I also rotate the same recipes throughout each month. It is essentially the same when it comes to eating out. We eat at the same five-ish places, all at which I have a favorite healthy item off of the menu that I eat each time we go. As I stated in my “tips to staying on track” blog post, repetition is honestly key. You have to be ok with eating a lot of the same things weekly and sometimes daily. I will include some of my repeat recipes and snacks below of course.
If you are working full time or just consistently on the go it is also wise to always make sure bring food with you. If you are going somewhere with a microwave, simply bring leftovers from the healthy dinner you made the night before. If you are on the move and no have resource for reheating your food, pack items that travel well, such as yogurt, protein bars, protein shakes, salads, or trail mix.
EATING OUT GUIDELINES | Save your “cheat” item for when you are out and about. I never cook or bake anything unhealthy at home in order to preserve my “cheat” items for restaurants. Some of my favorite cheat items at restaurants include chips and salsa, fried cauliflower, and alcoholic beverages (usually a margarita on the rocks). I try to limit myself to one or two cheat ITEMS a week. I emphasized items because this is key. When I use the word item in terms of food, I am meaning one thing or one course. I do not recommend having two full cheat meals a week.
RECIPES | I get a lot of my recipes from Pinterest and then just tweak them to my liking or my personal lifestyle needs. I chose not eat meat (other than fish) or dairy so I either search for Vegan meals or I make replacements within the recipes. I also love when recipes are quick, easy, and not a lot of mess, which is another reason I usually choose to tweak recipes I find on the internet. You can find a lot of my personal favorite recipes in my highlights on Instagram. In the highlights, I walk you through exactly how to make my recipes and even give you suggestion if you are not dairy or meat free.
SNACKS | When it comes to snacks, I like something super easy and filling. My go-to snack is a protein shake because it fills me up the most and it takes two seconds to make. I simply just use two scoops of my favorite protein powder in 10-12 ounces of Unsweetened Original Almond Milk. When I want to switch it up, I will make a Peanut Butter Banana Protein shake – this recipe can be found I my reels on Instagram. This shake has ice in it so it is a great treat for warmer months in my opinion.
I like to have variety when it comes to what I have in the afternoon versus what I have in the evening so I like to keep a few different healthy snack items in the house. My current obsessions are Lenny & Larry’s Chocolate Chip cookies, Vegan Robs Dragon Puffs, and Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. I also love and honestly prefer the Unreal Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups (they are dairy and soy free), but they can sometimes be difficult to find.
Some other snacks I love: Trader Joe’s Trek Trail Mix, Larabar Peanut Butter Cookie Bars, Smart Sweets Peach Rings, Smart Sweets Sourmelon Bites, Jolly Llama Vanilla Fudge Sundae Cones
Healthier Beverages I love: Poppi Strawberry Lemon Soda (the other flavors are good as well but this one if my favorite), Spindrift Orange Mango Sparkling Water, Zevia Cream Soda
INGREDIENTS I AVOID | I personally choose to limit the amount of sugar in the items I eat but I most definitely avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup. Sources on the internet state that High Fructose Corn syrup is terrible for you in more ways than one and honestly in my opinion is just not a necessary ingredient. I also choose to not to eat dairy for a couple of reasons. One, I don’t think it is beneficial to my health, two I can’t stand the thought of eating things that could cause animals pain, and three I am breastfeeding and my baby girl has a dairy intolerance. I have found so many great dairy alternatives to add in to a few of my recipes, but I do try not to use them excessively. I really try to keep my diet full of real, nutrition ingredients and food, such as veggies, fish, and beans.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. I have put a lot of thought into it, but if I missed anything or you have a question, please comment below!
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