When I made the commitment 2 years ago to truly lose the extra 20 pounds I was carrying, I would’ve considered myself a fairly healthy eater. I was a very active person cycling, running, going to the gym, and practicing yoga! wasn’t eating pizza and pretzels every day and I only drank soda about once a year. But the truth is, I knew nothing about nutrition until I began my health program.
During the initial weight loss phase, I ate five small replacement meals and one carefully measured self-prepared meal per day (lean protein and vegetables). I ate within an hour of waking up every morning and then again, every 2.5 to 3 hours until I went to bed.
Nutritionally, the replacement meals combined with the prepared meal had perfect macros and easily guided your body into a mild fat burn.
Within FOUR days of starting on the health program, I was dropping pounds on the scale!
More significant than the pounds were the ongoing benefits of eating 6 small nutritionally packed meals gave me some serious non-scale victories, enough so that I was locked into this program and eventually became a health coach myself!
BEING IN FAT BURN IS A BLISSFUL STATE!
You can literally feel your body working to consume its own stored energy (fat). Being in a calorie deficit with perfect nutrition, my body recognized that it needed more fuel so it went after the fat stored in my body, without impacting the muscle mass.
Within a couple of weeks, I began to really notice the benefits of “perfect” nutrition.
INCREASED ENERGY!
Like, crazy energy!!!
There were times that I actually felt like the energizer bunny. I woke up early ready to conquer the day. Eating six times a day, I never experienced the highs and lows of glycemic crashes. I was stable throughout the entire day. I walked a bit faster than before; I may have even had a little pep in my step.
SLEEP QUALITY!
I have always been a fairly solid sleeper, but my sleep quality definitely changed when I had my nutrition dialed in. I still needed 7-8 hours of sleep a night, but once my head hit the pillow, I didn’t stir until morning, not one bit. It’s hard to describe what truly restful sleep is if you’ve never experienced it, but it 100% rejuvenates you. I could open my eyes at 5am and get straight out of bed eager to begin the day.
MENTAL CLARITY!
YOU KNOW THAT BRAIN FOG? BEING DISTRACTED…
With perfect nutrition, I was shocked to experience very clear mental clarity as a benefit of what I was fueling my body. At work, I was focused, efficient, and worked seemingly effortlessly. I had increased recall on memories or events that were fuzzy before. Sharp and on point!
GASTROINTESTINAL ISSUES!
I have always, and I mean always had belly issues. I was irregular, to say the least. My stomach often hurt. I was never diagnosed with any sort of food sensitivities or intolerance, but I often suffered. Once I made it through the first four days of detoxing my body and getting rid of all the excess I had built up, my gut issues started to go away. It did take a couple of weeks to experience total relief, but when you have suffered your whole life, a few weeks go by pretty quick. The relief in my belly was so dramatic, even my husband noticed (less complaining I guess).
CONFIDENCE!
No one in my life would’ve ever called me overweight and at first, I didn’t even tell anyone that I had joined a health program. I guess it felt a little vain. Yet, when I finally lost that extra 20 pounds, slept like a baby, experienced restful sleep, and healed of my nagging gut, others noticed. I didn’t have to tell anyone! They could see it, physically of course, but in my overall presentation of myself. We are encouraged to live our health out loud and I began to do so!
I love inspiring people with my health journey!
Dialing in my nutrition, taking control of my health journey has been life-changing. I was definitely not the biggest loser, but I gained so much in the process.
Email me at joey@livetobeoptimal.com for more information.
