Hey everyone! I hope you are having a great weekend!
I have been running more than ever due to the tendonitis in my right hand. I am missing lifting, but luckily the weather has been beautiful and I am enjoying getting back to running. I used to run every single day, and I missed it a lot. Needless to say – I will be running a lot more. Plus today was the Eugene Marathon, so seeing all the amazing runners is super motivating! Doing a marathon is definitely on my bucket list.
Since my weight loss has stalled (I have only lost 3lbs – but feel much better), I started to get a little frustrated. My friend Lena from work, who is amazing and teaches Zumba at the University of Oregon, shared something I really needed to hear. She said she had been frustrated after returning from Italy that she wasn’t losing weight as fast as she wanted. Then she realized that it was such an achievement to stop the weight gain, and maintain. She reminded me it doesn’t come off overnight. It takes time to change our habits from eating more than our bodies’ need (leading to gain), and then to eating less (leading to loss). I really needed to hear this! It is so much more important to change habits for long term than do something that is a quick, fast fix.
This sparked an idea. How can I cut calories doing things I do already? I did some research and thought of ways to cut calories effortlessly. Here is what I came up with:
Latte: Use nonfat milk, get a smaller size (Starbucks has a “Short” size), use half the pump of syrup (or eliminate it all together), order a cappuccino instead of a latte (uses less milk). Grande Vanilla Latte has 250 calories, a Tall Nonfat Cappuccino? 60 Calories. Savings of 190 calories!
Sandwiches: Use mustard instead of mayo. Use provolone, Swiss or mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar cheese, or no cheese if you’re really good. Use turkey instead of ham, low carb wrap or lettuce instead of bread, or if you really love your bread, have it open faced with only one slice.
Breakfasts: If you’re a bagel person, either have half of the bagel, or dig out the insides of the bread to take away some of the carbs. Use turkey instead of pork products for sausage and bacon. Try my banana pancakes instead of regular! Have oatmeal instead of cold cereal.
Snacks: Always go for whole fruit instead of juice! Pack two hardboiled eggs instead of a protein bar, carrot sticks or Popchips instead of regular chips, fat free popcorn instead of regular, try my green smoothie instead of a Jamba Juice (so many calories – you don’t want to know)
Toppings: Swap nonfat greek yogurt for sour cream, balsamic vinegar instead of other dressings, mustard instead of ketchup, avocado slices instead of guacamole, on salads, skip the croutons, stick to no or nonfat cheese, no bacon, but swap more cut vegetables and a tablespoon of nuts instead. Use salsa instead of guacamole or any type of creamy dip. Check the calories on sauces for pasta, and stick to marinara (should have only 50 calories per half cup) instead of alfredo or pesto.
Working out: When running on a treadmill, put the incline on 1.0 – you won’t even notice! If on the phone, walk around, add sprint intervals into your jog, when weight training, use heavier weights, add 5 extra minutes to your cardio, and add cardio intervals when weight training. You get the idea.. crank up the intensity!
While eating: Leave two bites on your plate at every meal, drink a huge glass of water ten minutes before every meal, eat with your non-dominate hand to slow you down, and brush your teeth after dinner to ward off a sweet tooth
I definitely will be implementing some of these tips!! Choose one or two at a time, and they can add up to a big difference over the course of a week. In a day, if you add 5 extra minutes to your jog, that is 50 extra calories burned. Swapped your morning latte, you saved 190 calories. Swapped the mayo on that sandwich, too? That saved an average of 200 calories per sandwich. Over the course of a day, you saved 440 calories! Over the course of the week, that is 3,080 calories you omitted – that is almost an extra pound! Over the month that is four extra pounds with very little effort.
Little changes add up to big results!
xo,
Hayley