#FACT
Happy Friday! Are you ready for the weekend?! Hopefully… it is here whether you like it or not! I definitely like it.
Today’s Anything & Everything Friday I am discussing food logs, staying fit year-round and homemade salad dressings. Let’s not waste time…..here goes!
Food Log:
I am a huge supporter of food logs! If you are going to seriously try to tackle weight loss or fat loss, then I think it is important to know what is going into your body. Does that mean calorie counting? Not necessarily. I also think it is important to measure everything so you know proper portion control, but even just jotting down the foods you eat and when you eat them can be helpful.
Alexa Tucker from Self.com has a guide for how to start a food log in this article Here’s The Best Way To Start A Daily Food Log For Weight Loss. Her first tip is great and one of the most important: find a strategy that will work for you and your lifestyle. If it doesn’t fit into your life then you simply won’t do it. If you hate using apps on your phone or having to use a website, then write everything down in an actual journal and vice versa.
My other favorite tip is to be honest with yourself. If you lie to yourself about what you’re eating, then you are going to think it doesn’t work. It does work if you do it right, I promise! If you eat five cookies but only log 2, then you are only cheating yourself (cheesey, I know, but completely true). Log all five cookies and then look back to see why you think you ate five cookies.
Check out the article and if you are looking to lose weight then I highly suggest logging your food intake. I’d love to chat with you about it if you thinking about taking that next step!
Homemade Salad Dressing:
I’ve been making my own salad dressing more and more these days. Store-bought dressings tend to have quite a few non-clean eating friendly ingredients and a shit-ton of preservatives. I don’t know about you, but I used to be intimidated by the thought of making my own salad dressing. Who knew it was SUPER easy?!?! I’m not exaggerating, it is SUPER easy! I threw together not one, but two dressing in about 3 minutes this last Sunday during meal prep. Check out those two in my Grocery Shopping & Meal Prep Week 21 post.
In order to prove to you that salad dressing can be SUPER easy, I also found this list of 7 Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes To Whip Up In No Time on Greatist.com. The maple balsamic dressing is intriguing, but so is the chipotle lime vinaigrette! Maybe a couple dressings to make this weekend during meal prep?!?!?! What is your favorite homemade dressing recipe?
Training Year-Round:
A lot of people gear up to get fit in the spring in order to look great all summer. So what about the rest of the year? It is possible to stay fit all year! In fact, I encourage it! I honestly don’t fluctuate much throughout the year weight-wise. I try to train hard and eat clean all year long. Now, you don’t have to be quite as intense about health and fitness as me, but you can still maintain a fit physique year-round.
Eric Velazquez interviewed and wrote this article with newly retired NFL player Steve Weatherford, 7 Secrets For Living Ripped Year-Round. Steve has some great tips for staying lean all year long. My favorite? Prepare meals for the times you’ll need them. Yes! It is so important to have healthy food on hand if you are wanting to get serious about getting fit and lean. It is even helpful for simple weight loss goals too! Being prepared with healthy foods can keep you from bingeing on convenient, not-so-healthy foods when you are hungry. Check out his other tips about exercise and healthy eating year-round.
Processed Meats:
Processed meats are definitely not part of a strict clean-eating diet. They are highly processed, full of preservatives and loaded with sodium. However, they are convenient, last longer than regular meats and well frankly, they are delicious! I really do enjoy processed meats. I’m talking bologna, sausage, hot dogs and especially ham! Yum! Even though I enjoy these foods, they are not part of my day-to-day diet.
I will typically enjoy processed meats at barbeques (hot dogs, brats, etc) and when dining out (deli sandwiches, etc). It has not been too difficult for me to phase processed meats out of my diet, but if it is a staple in yours then check out these tips. My Fitness Pal has this article The Truth About Processed Meats and it explains why these meats are not the best for you. Then it gets into those tips for the amount to eat, what to look for when choosing and what to eat with it. One thing that I didn’t know, is that it is recommended to pair processed meats with vitamin C. Vitamin C actually blocks some of the chemical reactions that can happen when you consume processed meat! Interesting. Check out the rest of the article using the link above.
Caramel Apples:
If you know me very well, then you know I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I am pretty good about skipping sweets during the week, but some weekends (and all my vacations) involve sweet treats! One of my favorite things is caramel. I like it on ice cream, in candy bars, on its own…. I’m not picky, I just love it.
Now that it is fall, it is caramel apple time! Well I don’t have a fall tradition or anything of making caramel apples, but I definitely enjoy eating them. Caramel apples are perfect for a healthy person like myself. You are eating fruit, but you can pimp it out with lots and lots of sugar!!! It’s called balance, right?
Delish.com rounded up 13 Tricked-Out Caramel Apple Recipes You Must Make. I mean, if they say you MUST make them, then I think we should make them….. who is with me? I am pretty sure I need the Fruity Pebble Caramel Apple in my life. The Movie Night Caramel Apple is pretty adorable too. So creative!
That wraps up Anything & Everything Friday. Have a great weekend! Eat some good food, move a little and have a lot of fun!!!
