Nutrition: The Real Key to Success

I'm sure most people have heard this or something similar: "Weight loss is 90% diet, 10% exercise". Honestly, I have found this to be quite true. If you are trying to lose weight, you absolutely have to adjust your eating habits. It is just not possible to lose weight in a healthy way by eating a box of doughnuts and exercising like crazy. Who would really want to? I've learned the most efficient way to lose weight is to eat a proper diet full of fresh, whole foods. GET RID OF PROCESSED FOODS! Seriously, I cannot emphasize that enough. Also beware of fat-fee foods, these are sometimes pumped full of sweetners to make the product taste better. Always read food labels! A good rule of thumb is if you can't pronounce any of the ingredients or there are more than five ingredients, put it back! Joining a food tracking site was extremely helpful to me. You need to make sure you are eating enough calories (starvation does not equal weight loss, sometimes it's the opposite!) and keeping the right balance between your carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Play with your ratios until you find one that makes you feel best! Most people seem to prefer 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat while others prefer higher protein levels.

Finding the right combination of foods has been extremely difficult for me. Starting in high school, I began to have stomach/intestine problems. I often had strong pains (like cramps) in my abdomen and had no idea what was causing it. My mom and I came to the conclusion that perhaps I was lactose intolerant. I still believe I am lactose intolerant but not all dairy affects me the same. I handle skim milk pretty well, but I get really sick after having a milkshake. Perhaps it's nature's way of keeping me away from those fatty drinks. In college, I was still having digestion issues. I thought perhaps I had IBS, which seems to have evolved into a blanket term for a bunch of symptoms with not a lot of options for treatment except diet restriction. When I first adopted my healthy lifestyle, I relied heavily on whole grains. Every one of my five small meals a day had some form of wheat in it. Toast, cereal, & pasta were all staples of my new diet. It baffled me that my digestion issues increased enormously when I started eating better. I thought it was just my body adjusting and so I gave it time. But when three months went by and I still wasn't getting better, I knew I had to look into other possible causes. It was only recently that it occurred to me that I might have a gluten sensitivity. These past few weeks, I decided to test my theory by cutting out all wheat products and replaced them with other sources of natural carbs, like fruit and quinoa. I feel so much better and no longer have any digestion issues, which is so so so amazing to me! My new gluten-free & eating-clean diet combined with Beachbody's Shakeology meal replacement (yummy and fills my nutritional gaps!) have helped me quit my need to depend on caffeine to get me through the day. Anyone who knows me know that I have an addiction to Pepsi. Seriously, that stuff is like cigarettes to me. When I was in high school, I would drink a 20 oz bottle to get me through the school day and then drink three cans when I came home. But when I cut Pepsi out of my diet, I went through serious caffeine withdrawal and started to drink large amounts of coffee to compensate for it. Now after adjusting my diet I am so happy to say I wake up earlier, stay awake longer (no naps!), and sleep better at night. Finding the right nutrition for your body will make you want to do your own little happy dance because it makes you realize how slow and tired your body felt before you made the change!

To happy life and good health,

Erin