Progress | Fit & Healthy

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone is having a great weekend - I've had so much going on. Friday night I got to see Jana Kramer live!! I love her music and when I found out she was coming though Oklahoma I had to buy tickets! Then yesterday I got to meet up with one of my old roommates. She is super preggo! She invited me over to catch up and to help decorate the nursery. #BABYLOVE It's the first nursery I've helped with - so I'm really excited about it. Currently I'm watching the Seahawks & 49ers game. I'm a huge Bronco's fan and just got home before this game started. I really love the Seahawks too so I'm really hoping they pull this one out.

I wanted to do a quick post today about my progress on my weight loss and healthy habits. Since the first of November (it's been a total of 77 days) I've lost 9lbs and 9.5 inches overall! Typically I workout 4-5 times per week but I skipped 2 weeks while I was in Seattle and this week I only did 2 days because I started having pain in my low back after a couple days of planks. I took the rest of the week of to rest and stretch it. My eating habits were still pretty good over Christmas and now that I'm back I've been able to get back to it. Are you ready for the secret on my success? Here it is.... PLANNING. Yes, that's right - I owe my progress to planning.

Every morning I wake up just 10 minutes earlier to get my food together for the day. Bringing my meals and snacks to work really help! Below are some of my favorite options for snacks and meals.

Quaker Weight Control Pre-Packaged Oatmeal

Greek Yogurt
Fresh Fruit & Veggies
2 Eggs w/ Chopped Bell Peppers
BioTrust Protein Shakes
Raw Almonds & Roasted Pistachio's
Think Thin Bars
Rice Cakes
Baked Chicken
Baked Potatoes w/ Lots of Veggies
Homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup
Naked Juice
Grilled or Baked Veggies
Chicken Chili

I'm not saying that you have to eat these options to get these results. This is what has been working for me and I'm going to continue with. Sometime's I don't want oatmeal or greek yogurt so I'll warm up some soup. Eat what you want but make sure you aren't over eating. It's best to eat meals that have low sugar and high protein to help keep you full longer. Plus eating 4-5 small meals per day or 3 meals per day with snacking in-between can really help boost your metabolism. It never made sense to me to eat more and then I would lose weight but it's true-as long as you're eating the right kind of food. Eating fast food every 2 hours won't do the trick :) CHOOSE FOOD YOU LIKE! I found out that when I wait longer then 3 hours between snack and meals my body goes into starvation mode and starts storing fat! I now have reminders that pop up while I'm at work to remind me to grab something to eat. It's amazing what a little determination, hard work and PLANNING can do. Challenge yourself. Do it for 6 weeks and I can guarantee you will see a difference!

                                                               xo, Erica