Food & Fitness

For the last month and a half, I have been eating the cleanest I ever have. I eliminated dairy, processed carbs, refined sugar and any and all processed foods. I of course have my cheat days/meals and I am always sure to have a cocktail on the weekends but for the most part I have been really good. You see, I hit a plateau which made me make the change. I realized that I could work out until my arms and legs fell off but until I changed what I stuffed down my gullet, my waistline wasn't going to get smaller.

With all of that being said and before I get into a few tips and tricks that have aided in my shrinking waistline, I want to disclaim - The only thing that will make you to lose weight is regular exercise and clean eating. The secret is that there is no secret. Hard work is what will help you get to the body you want. That.is.it.

Now, there are a few things that I swear by that I wanted to share with everyone today -

1. Lemons - Whether it be hot lemon tea in the morning and at night or lemon water all day, lemons aid in digestion and have a bunch of other health benefits. Lemons also help me de-bloat. In the past month the only thing I have had to drink is lemon water (and the occasional cocktail, of course). I have completely cut out all soda and juice. -

2. Sweat - In order to lose weight, you need to incorporate 45mins to an hour or intense cardio 3-6 days a week. There is no way around this one. Walking is great and all but until you get your heart pumping and you get your sweat on, you are not going to see results. I know that some people like to start eating right first and then start working out which is fine if that's your cup of tea...but working out is going to help you feel stronger and inspire you to keep going.

3. Stay off the scale - Srsly, you should probably just throw your scale out. I despise scales which probably stems from having to weigh in every month during pregnancy. Numbers do not mean anything...how you feel on the inside/how many push ups you can do/how your jeans fit mean more than a number on a scale.

#Word

4. Apple Cider Vinegar - Specifically Bragg ACV with "The Mother" in it. It needs to be organic, raw and unfiltered ACV to be effective. I do a half a shot before eating. Again, this is not a miracle cure for weight loss but it will aid in digestion and offers a bunch of other health benefits as well. I would not recommend doing anymore than a half a shot if you are just starting out doing this. Last week I did a full shot and was sick to my stomach for about an hour afterwards. Use with caution, this stuff if strong! -

5. Good, clean food - I am a believer in good, clean food aiding in a healthy lifestyle. As someone who has put in the hard work in order to lose weight and get strong I am not a believer in all these new shake programs that everyone seems to be doing these days. Not only am I not a believer, but those programs kind of offend me..Basically they are promoting the fact that you have such a lack of self control that you can't lose weight/eat healthy without spending your money on a pyramid scheme. No thank you...I will take my money and spend it on fruits and veggies and lose weight through putting in the hard work myself. The minute someone tells you that you need to spend money on anything else except a gym membership and groceries to lose weight/get in shape, walk away. Eating right may not take the weight off as quickly as one of these shake programs would but you will keep the weight off much longer as you are learning how to properly fuel your body with food from the earth as opposed to "food" from a factory. Take it from me - do it the hard way and you will feel a lot better about the fact that you didn't cheat your way to getting in shape. Trust me when I say that eating correctly will give you the same effect as all these shakes...you just have to put in the hard work (see the theme here?). This whole paragraph may offend people...and that's totally fine as this is simply my opinion. One last thing - If your child ever came up to you and said they wanted to lose weight, would you shove a shake at them? No, you would tell them to clean up their eating and you would tell them to be more active...let that sink in a little. #sorrynotsorry #rantover 

Disclaimer - I am not a doctor or a trainer, I am just offering tips that helped me loose weight and get fit. The bottom line is this - You need to be able to put in the work in order to get the results...there is no magic pill or shake that is going to cause permanent weight loss. The only thing that causes permanent weight loss is a lifestyle change. And let me also say this - skinniness is not everything. I would much rather be able to do 50 burpees in a row without stopping than fit into a size 2.