Normally my weight goes in cycles throughout the year – I’m typically at my lightest during the summer months, and tend to gain about 10-12 pounds in the winter months, reaching a peak around December-March. I don’t really diet or do any intense exercise regimes, but I think a combination of being outside more (and therefore being more active) plus eating more fruits in the spring and summer months helps me lose that winter weight.

Something changed this year though; I’m not quite sure why, or how it happened, but it’s the middle of summer and I’m currently at my typical winter weight. At a height of 5’11”, 150 pounds really isn’t a lot, and I don’t think the extra weight really shows, but I have a pair of shorts that fit me last summer and they aren’t quite as comfortable now. Since I’m not really one to eat a lot of junk food, I’m not quite sure how this happened. It really just snuck up on me over the past few months. Although I have definitely been eating more carbs than I used to, another possible explanation I can think of is that some of the weight may be muscle, since I started going to hot yoga again and playing tennis on a regular basis. That, in combination with a daily conditioning routine (crunches, squats and arm exercises) has helped me tone, but could potentially be the source of at least a few of these extra pounds.

Regardless of the cause of the weight, I decided it’s time to fix the problem. As of today, I’ve implemented a healthy (well, healthIER) eating regime that I’m hoping to stick with for at least a few weeks.

The goal: I realized I’ve been eating more carbs than I’d like to be eating. I never used to eat bread with my morning serving of eggs, but now I eat a bagel. Sometimes that isn’t enough and I’ll throw in a bowl of cereal as well. Since I’m on the go for most of the day, my eating habits tend to get shaken up, and I end up having a big lunch, snacks in the evening, and sometimes a late dinner when I return home around 8 or 9pm. Other times I’ll have a bowl of cereal around 9 or 10pm. It’s really a habit I’d like to break, so for the first week of this regime, I intend to cut out the majority of my carbs. Once I start getting the results I want, I can return to eating a few more carbs, though I definitely don’t want to get into the habit of eating as many as I was before.

Here’s a look at what I ate today, along with the approximate calorie counts for good measure (this is honestly the first time I’ve counted calories, so I don’t really know how it compares to my typical intake).

Breakfast:

• 2 eggs, scrambled (200)
• 2 small nectarines (100)
• a handful of cherries (48)
• a few slices of coconut (120)
• Coffee (0)

Lunch:

• 2 bowls of carrot/squash soup (250)
• 1 cup of brown rice (216)
• 1/2 cup blueberries (40)
• 10 baby carrot sticks (40)
• a handful of cherries (48)
• 1/2 cup Oasis mango smoothie (80)

Dinner:

• Stir fry of ground beef, tomato sauce, carrots, zuchini and onions (350)
• 1 1/2 cups cauliflower (50)
• 1/6 cup cashews (150)
• 10 baby carrot sticks (40)
• 1/2 cup blueberries (40)
• a few slices of coconut (120)
• Green tea (0)

Snack:

• 1 apple with 1 tbsp peanut butter (170)

Calorie Total: 2014

Overall, I’m actually a little bit shocked that the day I was trying to cut down on food consumption, I still managed to consume approximately 2,000 calories. I imagine that before today, I really was consuming more calories than I should have been. Makes sense. I’ll have to be extra careful in the next few days/weeks, but overall I think that eating healthier should help me achieve my goal! 🙂

Until next time,

Shnugglebunny