I’ve been up to NYC a few times this month for trade shows (you may have seen pics on my Instagram). Like San Francisco and L.A., New York City has a lot of healthy eating options. My friend Jessie usually knows where they all are, so on my last trip when she suggested a place called Pure Food & Wine (I took the photo above there), I was excited. I needed to eat some greens. Usually when I go to NYC I lose all ability to eat healthy and I just go with what’s around when I’m starving or wherever people suggest. Which is fine because I love to try new places, but I always wish there was a “green juice in NYC” app so I could find places that have fresh green juice no matter what area of NYC I’m in, so I can get my daily greens even though I’m usually eating and drinking with reckless abandon (does this app exist?).
Then I thought, man if Starbucks just added a juicer and some fresh juices to their offering, I’d literally buy stock as I know I would double my current monthly bill there. I mean, how awesome would be it for Starbucks — which is everywhere — to offer fresh green juice! I would die! Well, obviously they were one step ahead of me, as literally a few weeks after I tweeted something about how awesome it would be if Starbucks started offering green juice, they had Evolution Fresh juices in stores (Starbucks owns Evolution Fresh) — prayers answered. I do however wish I could customize my juice, and would prefer it juiced fresh right in front of me, but obviously this is a great solution (as long as they have Sweet Greens and Lemon in stock)!
Obviously the phrase “you are what you eat” can sound a bit harsh, but I’m not talking about your soul here people so move on.
Yesterday I read a post by Jill Coleman — 6 Reasons You Aren’t Losing Fat. It was posted on Facebook by my prior CrossFit trainer in Kansas City and she always posts interesting health info, so I clicked through to read it. So many things in the post resonated with me. I personally think a lot of most people make excuses for things in their life, for why their life it isn’t what they want, etc., so I loved Jill’s tough love writing style.
Every girl (and guy) no matter HOW skinny or toned, can usually find something they don’t love about their body, or some part they want to work on, etc. Basically, no matter how skinny or fat, I’d say that the majority of people want to change something about their body — mostly in the way of losing weight, gaining muscle, or toning. Yes yes, you should love who you are, blah blah, but I think it’s great to always strive to be the healthiest version of yourself you can be (without getting too crazy obsessive about it).
You should read the entire post here, but here are some parts I thought were worth pointing out in Jill’s post:
There is no “dieting,” there’s only eating.
Weight training changes the shape of the body, but fat loss happens in the kitchen.
The reality is that what you think and say out loud about your fat loss process is exactly what you get. Think eating healthy is hard? Think it sucks? Well, you won’t be surprised then, when you experience just that. Think you have no time to exercise? Then you certainly won’t find time with that mindset. Think your body is disgusting? That’s a choice you are making to see it that way. Someone else may look at your physique and kill for it. Your attitude determines your reality–bottom line. If you can change your attitude about the fat loss process, you can change your experience of it.
Take 100% responsibility for everything. Stop blaming other people, circumstances, your busy schedule or your lack of knowledge. If you don’t know something, go find it on the web; you’re 2 clicks away. Stop complaining and start taking action.
The bottom line is that, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” (Tony Robbins) You don’t need to drastically change things up all at once, but you do need to change something.
Bottom line? Start owning your process. Start telling yourself the truth. And start being (even more) patient. When you see this process as a never-ending education in you, there is nothing to “give up” on. There is only you, the food, the workouts and TIME. The secret to fat loss is that there is no secret. Just hard work, commitment, consistency and introspection along the way. Don’t give up, simply move through rough patches and keep on keeping on.
(All italic above written by Jill Coleman in this post).
I feel like a lot of people don’t realize how much what you eat affects your body. Working out is great and necessary, but so much of a toned healthy body has to do with food! Personally, I still eat pizza (a lot), use half-n-half in my coffee (none of that fat free crap), and eat frozen goodies of all kinds (currently I’m obsessed with Magnum bars). I think eating these things (whatever your vices are) in moderation is the key. Continue reading…
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