Healthy Is Not "One Size Fits All"

This is something that I posted a few months ago in our FREE Healthy Living Challenge group but wanted to share it here as well. Honestly this is just a few rants from me. :-)

As we've mentioned many times previously, what works for one person might not work for you. What works for you this year might not work for you next year. Our bodies are always changing and we need to be flexible and learn to listen to our bodies. For example, some people might feel better with higher carbs and less fat and some people might feel better with lower carbs and higher fat. One isn't better than the other and one isn't "wrong"! Maybe your best friend did lose 20 pounds by cutting out carbs and instead started eating coconut oil, peanut butter, and bacon with each meal but if you tried the same thing you would end up eating an entire jar of peanut butter instead of one tablespoon. What do you think would be better? That you continue to eat a balanced diet, even if it is more carbs than her, or try to force yourself to eat the same way she does, knowing that you will over-indulge in those foods? Being healthy and fit is NOT one size fits all. You have to take the time to find out what works for you (be patient, this can be a long process!).

I also see way too often that people get hung up on "being perfect" or "being holistic" that they just give up and don't do anything. How does that make sense? You wanted to be perfect and/or holistic but you couldn't so you just gave up? Make small changes that add up over time to a HEALTHY lifestyle change...notice I didn't say perfect. As we mentioned in our Getting Started with Clean Eating post, we changed everything "overnight" but if you can't do that - that's okay! Just get started!

Keep in mind that you will be able to find anything you want online...on both sides of everything. Every day something new will kill you if you eat it - according to someone. YOU must find balance and find what works for YOU. This takes TIME. If it sounds good to be true it probably is. Only eat bananas all day, no fats, no carbs, only eat grapefruit, no protein? Seriously?! Just eat a balanced diet of HEALTHY food and LIVE YOUR LIFE. Don't get so hung up on every single detail. The details will ultimately drive you crazy.

Am I as lean as I once was? Nope. My priorities have changed - I now spend more time coaching others and I'm being pulled in a million different directions all the time. Is this an excuse? Not in my mind because I'm still in the gym 4-6 days a week and I still eat healthy and I AM STILL HEALTHY. Being lean doesn't equal being healthy. It takes A LOT of focus, time, and energy to be super lean. Honestly, I think the reason I've been successful is because I've been on this "fitness journey" for almost 4 years now and I've never tried to get a "bikini body". I did do a photo shoot but that wasn't my main motivator, I just wanted a healthy lifestyle - one where I could travel and hike and do all the things I love to the best of my ability. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a "bikini body" or whatever your goal is but there HAS TO BE SOMETHING MORE! There has to be something else driving you. What happens after you work for 3 months just to walk around in a bikini during the summer? What happens in the fall? You just go back to your old habits until March rolls around again? Is this the position you are in right now?

Interested in more? These posts may interest you:

Eating Healthy (and saving money!) While Traveling

Eating Healthy While Traveling

We travel a lot (at least in our eyes). Scott normally has to take 3-4 work trips per year (I usually go on some of them), we take a two week hiking trip in the fall, and usually go somewhere over his winter break. When we are home we often take day or weekend trips to the mountains to hike so we’ve learned some tips and tricks to help us stay healthy but still enjoy our time away. 

We don’t let vacation turn into a “free for all” because we know that we won’t feel well if we do that but we also aren’t very strict either. Remember those posts about balance (here and here)? This is a lifestyle for us so we know that we can indulge as much or as little as we want and either way we will still be okay. The most important thing is that quickly after we return home we get right back into our routines. It’s a lifestyle - not a diet - and living this lifestyle (eating clean and working out) allows us to continue to do the things that we love.

I hate wasting anything, especially food, so I actually pack up and take any food we have in the fridge that will go bad while we are gone. We normally eat this at the airport before boarding or on the plane. Not only will these tips save you money but they will also allow you to save your treats for things that you really want once you arrive at your destination.

Also see this post on Clean Food to Pack for the Airport and this post on Clean Road Trip Food.

How to Eat Healthy + Save Money While Traveling

PACKING:

Although we normally go grocery shopping once we get to where we are going I always pack snacks for the road. Along with bringing any food that will spoil while we are gone I bring the following:

• Protein Bars (some of our favorite include Kind bars and Rise bars)
• Protein Powder (our preferred is TLS Whey Protein Powder)
• Rice Cakes
• Nuts (usually cashews or almonds)
• Supplements (Daily Essentials Vitamins packets, Digestive Enzymes Packets, Awake Energy Shots, etc)
• Blender Bottle (for protein shakes and Isotonix vitamins in the morning)

AT THE HOTEL:

We ALWAYS get a room that has a mini refrigerator. Most of the time this comes at no extra cost but even if they do charge you it’s less expensive than eating out every single meal. Use the refrigerator to store the food you brought from home, leftovers, or food from when you go grocery shopping. We always eat breakfast at the hotel in order to save money. If we have a kitchen we make eggs, if we don't have a kitchen we will drink a protein shake and make oats (like we did in the picture above from NYC).

IN THE CAR/AT THE AIRPORT:

Walking through the airport, you will see many different choices available. Although the pastries and pizzas look good if you look a little further down you can likely find a salad, fruit cup, protein bar, etc. Why eat airport pizza when you can have quality pizza once you reach your destination?

If you are on an airline that still offer free snacks, skip them. Have you ever looked at the ingredient label on those snacks? They aren't just "peanuts" and the 100 calorie pack of cookies will just make you more hungry! You packed food to bring so just snack on something you packed if you are hungry.

I’ve combined car and airport snacks because it’s really the same techniques we use with each - skip the drive-thru and pack your own snacks!

There are always health(ier) choices. Instead of wasting your "treats" on mediocre food from a drive-thru or airport, be prepared and save your treats for when you reach your destination.

We plan on posting more money saving tips soon on 40isthenew65.com so be sure to subscribe!

Cheating on Your Clean Diet?

CHEATING.

That word brings all kinds of negative thoughts to mind - cheating on a spouse, cheating on a test, etc. However, these are a few questions we are asked all the time: "Do you ever cheat?" "How often do you cheat?" "What do you eat when you cheat?"...

This post has been in "draft" status for over a year (no joke) but I decided to finish and post it after hearing from some of you about the photo we posted on Instagram. These are hard questions to answer because everyones version of "cheating" is different.  Just like I mentioned in our "Getting Started with Clean Eating" post, everyone has a different view on what exactly constitutes "clean eating"...same goes for "cheating".  We even get emails from readers that some of our ingredients are not clean enough!

So, I will say we don't "cheat".  Let's use the word treat instead of cheat anyway. We eat clean meals 5-6 times per day, every 2-3 hours.  We drink water.  We workout 4-6 days per week.  We do allow ourselves a few "treats" but normally save those for special events or vacations.  Notice that I said "few", we don't let our treats turn into a week of fried chicken, cheeseburgers, french fries, and milkshakes.  We just feel better when we eat clean food.  Our body functions better.  Our skin looks better.

We eat clean because it is good for our bodies.  We also love the way we feel because of clean eating (along with weight lifting).

We don't keep "treats" (candy, chips, etc.) in our house.  However, we also do not deprive ourselves, if we want a treat we eat one. Sometimes we eat the real thing (ice cream, pizza, etc) but still try to find the better alternative such as pizza from Whole Foods or Mellow Mushroom and ice cream made with real ingredients. Sometimes we even try to make the treat on our own (which is where many of our dessert/treat recipes came from). We have come up with some amazing clean(er) recipes that I actually prefer over the original!  When we make clean treats I do not even consider those cheats but some people would.  How can you go wrong with our cookie dough, oatmeal cinnamon raisin cookies, or our cinnamon rolls?

If we are on vacation or out to dinner and want something special we normally split whatever it is (cake, brownie, etc.) because restaurant dessert portions are huge (plus you save money)! We do not just eat a donut, ice cream, chips, etc. every time they are placed in front of us (which is pretty often in an office environment, unfortunately). We choose our treats wisely. It's easy to feel pressured into eating a treat just because co-workers or family members are giving you a hard time. If you want the treat that is fine but don't eat something just because someone else is pressuring you. We want to make sure that when we do treat ourselves that it's worth it! We aren't going to eat a piece of strawberry pie (which we don't even like) just because our great aunt made it or because it's sitting in front of us. We choose our treats and when we eat them.

I posted the picture above on our Instagram and Facebook but we don't always post pictures of our treat meals because we don't want people to think we eat that way all the time. There's a lot of "fitness accounts" out there that only post pictures of ice cream, pizza, and then their abs. We don't think that is realistic. We also don't want to trigger anyone who is just starting out. We still believe that it is important to refrain from too many treats when first starting just so that you can re-train your tastebuds and build up your willpower. How often we treat ourselves just depends on what is going on in our lives. Every single person will be different because of how our bodies react, our goals, etc. There is no right or wrong answer, you will just have to take time to find out what works for you!

This is our lifestyle.  This is how we choose to live.  This is how we choose to eat.  We are not fitness models or fitness competitors.  We do have a life.  We do know balance.  We hope you find it too.