you can’t have it all

Just a small homemade brownie from a coworker, a half bagel during a meeting, a few bites of dessert at dinner, only one extra glass of wine, you only go out to eat a couple times a week, and the list goes on. You. Can’t. Have. It. All.

That’s all there is to it. Even if you’re one of those skinny people who can eat everything you want, you still aren’t healthy if you eat bad foods. That’s what I have to remind myself of every time I’m jealous of one of those girls. I’m all about splurging so here are some of my favorite tips to enjoy the foods you love:

1. Keep Your Kitchen Healthy. Don’t keep unhealthy treats if you can’t handle them being in the same room as you. If I know there is something extremely tasty in my kitchen then it takes over my body. Every time I walk past the kitchen I’ll want it or I’ll sit in front of the tv and think about it. I’ll either give in when no one is around or the better option is I’ll throw it away (and make sure trash is covering it if I’m being completely honest). If I don’t have ice cream in the house then I don’t eat it. I still think about it every now and then, so if I want it real bad then that will be one of my big splurges for the week. If I’m going out to a nice dinner I’ll remind myself of that and save ice cream for the following week. If you aren’t as crazy as me then maybe you can choose the small cups of ben & jerry’s over the pints to keep in your kitchen. That way you don’t go over board and can still enjoy yourself.

2. Calorie Count. This sounds kind of silly but has been one of the biggest things that has helped me in the last couple months. My nutritionist recommended me staying at 1300 calories a day so I try to hit that almost every day. I’ve also spread out my splurging. I used to have a few bites of cake, bagel, etc during the week, and my big day was Saturday. All of those bites and one big day add up though, so once I started seeing my calorie intake and how many were actually in those bites I decided it wasn’t worth it. Eating that small brownie is 227 calories according to Loseit.com. I started to cringe every time I entered these items so now I pass on the few bites and plan for a few moderate splurges throughout the week. I’m definitely more responsible when choosing to eat unhealthy.

Loseit.com is a great site to track calories and workouts. It’s basically a Facebook for losing weight (duh) since you can create a profile, add friends, etc. If you join add me as a friend, it’s great motivation!

3. Measure. You’d be surprised to find out you’re over eating or even under eating even when eating healthy. After seeing the nutritionist I realized I wasn’t eating enough for breakfast and the amount of lamb in my lunch was just too much. I started using measuring cups, measuring spoons, and a scale religiously. I’m in love with peanut butter and not the healthy kind. It’s one of the only things I can’t give up and always try to find more reasons to eat it. I used to come home from work and go to town on a jar of Peter Pan Honey Roasted and now I refuse to eat it without a tablespoon. I probably went from eating at least 400 calories to 100 per serving.

Once you start calorie counting and measuring you can see what really works for you. I’m a fan of high volume so I prefer 5 ounces of tuna (197 calories) to 3.25 ounces of lamb (200 calories).

4. Plan. Every Sunday Jared and I try to plan out our week. We try to limit ourselves to one dinner out Mon-Thur, pizza on Friday of course, and one meal out on Saturday. I always account for work travel or a planned lunch out with coworkers and adjust accordingly. Once the going out to eat is figured out I try to choose one healthy meal that I can eat all week for lunch (makes it much easier to pack a lunch every day if it’s the same thing) and then Jared and I pick a couple meals for dinner. Along with planning the meals I also plan when and how much wine I’m going to drink. I try limit myself to 2-3 nights and keep it under 10 ounces. I also plan hard for those binge eating and drinking days. I don’t eat less since I’ll just be a starving crazy person, but I keep all morning/afternoon foods super healthy. Planning for these big days makes the next day that much easier too. Instead of wanting an unhealthy brunch I wake up wanting to eat a healthy breakfast and get back to my normal routine.