Are you trying to lose weight, but
- You still want to eat delicious food,
- You don’t want to cut out any food groups,
- You need to learn strategies to stop overeating and practice portion control,
Then counting calories just might be the perfect weight loss solution for you!
It was for me!
After 3 decades of trying to control my weight with all the latest fad diets, I finally got serious (and honest) about how many calories I was really consuming. I have always been a healthy eater, and I love exercise, but I just ate too much food.
It wasn’t until I started following a low calorie eating plan that I not only lost weight, but I also got on stage in a bikini at 46 years old (the first bikini I’ve EVER worn in my life). And you can lose weight over 40 too!!
Recap of my weight loss success journey
- Part 1: My first successful weight loss at 45years old. The first 20 + lbs, through mindful eating. Just paying more attention to my distracted and impulsive eating.
- Part 2: The last 15 lbs to get lean for a bikini show at 46 years old! This was only possible through calorie counting.
- Part 3: Maintenance! Staying lean for 2 years and another bikini show at 48
Ready to start your new healthier life?
My best weight loss advice in summary
- Find your target calorie range for fat loss (calculator here)
- Plan and prep your meals.
- Record all your meals in a food tracking app (like MyFitnessPal)
- Practice, practice, practice strategies to stick with it. The more you reinforce giving into impulsive cravings, the stronger it gets. The more you practice creating boundaries around mealtime, the stronger that gets.
The Weight Loss Mindset:
- Start by paying attention to WHY you are eating. It’s rarely because we’re hungry.
- Listen and question your internal dialogue. When you decide to overeat or eat off your plan, dig deep into what you told yourself that made it OK for you to choose to be impulsive rather than intentional.
- Be patient! Weight loss doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen in a linear fashion. I quit perfectly good plans way too soon because when I wasn’t seeing results, I decided, ‘this must not be working.’ When I finally focused on consistency, rather than judging each day by the scale, I finally lose weight, and it took several weeks for the scale to start moving.
- Discover your WHY you want to lose weight! You don’t need a “big why”. You might need many why’s to get through different situations and seasons in your life. Here’s a list of questions to help you think of some reasons for your why.
- Podcasts and books that have helped me with weight loss mindset (coming soon)
Weight Loss Meals, Food, and Recipes:
Currently, I eat 1200-1500 calories to maintain the weight. I split it with about 125 g carbs, 150 g protein, and 30 g fat. My meals consistently looked like this:
- Breakfast: Egg whites and oatmeal with fruit (breakfast recipes here)
- Lunch: Chicken on a green salad or with a side of sweet potatoes (Lunch ideas here)
- Snack/Dessert: Protein ice cream, shake, or protein bar (snacks & protein shakes here)
- Dinner: Ground Turkey, rice, and veggies (Dinner ideas here)
- Calculate your personal calorie and macros here
- Find all my meal plans (free and paid) here.
- Print this one page spreadsheet of meals with recommendations fork variety.
- My go-to grocery list. Almost every recipe on this blog uses this basic grocery list.
- Portion control– If you aren’t ready to dive into calorie counting, you can start by eating 3 balanced meals a day, (or four meals) with no snacks in between!
- Aim for 100+ grams of protein per day. Here’s my favorite foods to hit the protein target.
The Workout:
I started to run when I was in my 20’s. It was mostly as an escape from the daily pressures of being a young mom. I loved and craved the time I had with my own thoughts. In almost 30 years, I’ve rarely taken time off of running (despite my weight fluctuations). (read, why I run, and it’s not about weight loss)
It wasn’t until January of 2020 I began lifting weights, and now, I LOVE that too! I don’t write a lot about exercise on this blog, although I would like to.
But until then, my strength training workouts look like this:
- Monday: Leg Day
- Tuesday: Shoulders and biceps
- Wednesday: Back and triceps
- Thursday: Leg Day
- Friday: Shoulders and abs.
Cardio: I run or walk most days of the week, for about 45-90 minutes.
I enjoy bodybuilding AND marathon running, and that’s OK! Some people say you can’t do both. But my philosophy is, I’m not an elite athlete, so why not?
And the truth is, I’ve never been faster in the marathon IN MY LIFE. I recently qualified for Boston. And, the last two years I’ve added almost 10lbs of muscle. I’ve had a Dexa scan and a body pod scan to prove it. (soon I’m writing a post about how thin the research is that you “can’t build muscle if you do too much cardio”, cause it’s just not true.
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