#iworkouttoeat

I was a little bit nervous when I decided to write a blog entry about health and “fitness”. Let me be clear, I am in NO way a fitness guru nor do I want to portray as someone who know exactly what she is doing when it comes to healthy eating and “lifting some iron” but since about two years ago, my passion of living a healthier lifestyle has grown.

Once I had reached my 30s, I realized that I had changed my outlook on the future and how I want to be the example to my son of healthy living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

So I set foot in a gym about two years ago during the summer…. The first month was of me wandering around the gym, trying out equipment (falling off equipment was more like it), lifting weights that were too heavy for me (in resulting to not being able to move for what felt like the next month), and dropping the 45 lb bar on my face while doing a bench press (don’t worry, a nice man came and helped me. I considered not showing my face there again, but good thing I can just to laugh at myself).

I started to research lifting and searched out advice from close friends (they will be introduced later in other blogs yet to come) and just come up with a plan. I began to follow workout routine role models on Instagram and snap chat and I finally came up with a routine that I have been following for the last 2 years.

It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t jumping up and down when I first started to notice definition and results on my arms and legs. And it would be a lie to say it wasn't challenging. After a year of lifting and eating fairly healthy, I noticed that my workouts began to plateau and I was kind of getting discouraged that I wasn’t seeing results and the motivation was slowly decreasing. However, I am a woman of routine and habit so I kept going. The #iworkouttoeat was no longer working for me!

It was this year that, after the help of a close friend, I needed to 100% dedicate to meal prepping with clean eating, adding more cardio to my work outs, and upping my weights. So I hopped on Amazon, ordered a food scale and meal prep containers.

Just your every Sunday night here at my house!

I have been doing this clean eating for about 2 weeks now and have lost about 2-1/2 lbs. I am feeling a lot more energy now and my motivation for my gym days have skyrocketed. I still have some ways to go to get to my ultimate goals. I want to share with you what my work out routines are, how I prep my food, who I follow etc….because maybe it will help someone out here get started! I know that I would have LOVED a “I want to start a healthy lifestyle but I have no idea what I am doing” blog.

So here it is:

Workout routine

-I consistently go 4 days a week because of how much time I can dedicate and still keep a balance of everything else in my life. If I have an extra day that I can go, then I do!

-Consistent days are:           Sundays (Legs and chest)

                                                Mondays (Biceps and back)

                                                Wednesdays (2-3 mile run and abs)

                                                Fridays (triceps and shoulders) 

-I do cardio at the end of every lifting session

-My gym time usually runs for 1 hour. Honestly, I don’t have a lot of time to spend more than an hour there.

Here are the gals I follow on Instagram and who have great examples and videos on different work out routines and ways to use gym equipment. Check them out!

-Cristina Capron

-Sarah Bowmar

-Faith Leatherman

-Shonda1020 (snapchat)

Healthy Eating:

-I use the app Myfitnesspal to help track all of my meals.

-I eat five times day that includes, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner

-I prep all of my meat on Sunday or Monday and then weigh and divide all out for the week

-It is easier to eat clean and keep track of your calorie intake when you are eating one ingredient dishes (advice from my friend!)

-I keep track of all of my macros on the fitness app

-I try to eat a ton of protein in my food prep so I do not have to supplement, however after doing this for two weeks, I am going to start exploring the option of supplementing with a protein powder

-To keep my sanity (and Tony’s) I do have one “cheat meal” and one “cheat dessert” per week and it has been working well for me!

-I gave up all cocktails and my best friends marge and rita (margarita) ended our friendships. I’ll have a mimosa once in a while with brunch

-I DO make somewhat separate meals for Tony and Donovan but for the most part, they are eating a lot healthier now a days.

That's a lot of meat!

Chef Tony helping out!

So that’s my healthy lifestyle.

I know this blog post was bit longer and I thank you so much for taking the time to read it! I hope you have a wonderful work week!

XOXOXO
Tiff