Fit Friday: The basics- 5 tips for dieting.

Nutrition and Dieting is such a broad topic so lets just start with basics. I will break it down in the weeks to come and get into specifics about WHAT to eat and what not to eat.
Diet: The word hated by all.
Especially me.
I like to think of it as "Watching what you eat with a free day"

Your body needs healthy fats, occasional sugars and CARBS!
I do not believe in depriving yourself of these foods.
Depriving yourself of these things over a long period of time will only backfire right back at you.
You will end up gaining back the weight you have lost with a likely chance of gaining more!
(do not fall victim to those crazy pill or liquid diets, It will ruin your metabolism, and throw your body in for a loop! They only will make your weight more of a roller coaster)

Usually I am just striving to MAINTAIN my weight. (Which will be a post for another day)

However, when I am trying to lose a few pounds and watch closely what I eat
(for example: after I had the baby).. here are 5 basic important TIPS.

1. Record what you eat. 
This is huge. Find someone to hold you accountable. I would read to my husband what I ate at the end of each day (haha whether he cared or not, he is a really good listener and I felt like I couldn't cheat this way)
I fell in love with THIS LOSE IT APP that I downloaded on my phone. It's completely free! It tracks your eating and exercise. Recording what you eat helps you to also be aware of what you are taking in each day. Some days I would make it to dinner and realize I hadn't eaten any veggies (My ultimate downfall in life haha)

2. Limit Eating Out.
This isn't a huge issue for us considering the fact that my husband is in law school and money doesn't grow on trees. I usually try and cook Monday through Thursday and Friday we go out to eat. This makes going out to eat that much more fun.

3. Give yourself a free day!
Judging by past experience, I need something to look forward to or my "diet" will go down the drain. For me, my free day was Friday or Saturday. (sometimes both haha) That meant that we chose a fun restaurant to go to where I could order whatever I wanted. I found that this "free" day made it so much easier to strive to eat healthy throughout the week because I had something to look forward to. Let your body enjoy food!!

4. Drink your water!!!!
Sometimes you will find yourself snacking all day. (this happens at least twice a week for me ha)
HOWEVER, sometimes your body is just thirsty. You may think you are hungry but in all reality you just need water. 75% of people don't drink enough water.  Without enough water in your system, your metabolism slows down and you end up burning fewer calories. Drink at least 8 glasses or 64 ounces a day.

 5. DON'T SKIP MEALS!!!
Ok, all you people out there that don't eat breakfast- shame on you!! This is one of the worst things you can do for your body.  Skipping meals will slow down your metabolism. If you skip a meal, your stomach shrinks, and you are that much more likely to binge eat on the next meal.

I realize that nutrition and dieting are such broad topics and there are so many specifics, but here are just some basics to start with!
(If you have any specific questions please don't hesitate to contact me!) 
Happy Friday!! xoxo

Karina Marie Powell

13 comments:

  1. I've lost weight before and used all these tips BUT I am really struggling to get back into this habit after having Oakley. I have had to eat A LOT of food and fatty food in order to nurse, it's been so hard! Now that I am not nursing as much I am just curious about how many calories you try and stick to each day? I used to do 1200-1400 but I feel that is too low if I want to keep nursing? Thanks for all your tips!

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  2. Loving these posts :) Thank you for taking your time to talk about this.

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  3. Love these posts. Especially since one of the main reasons I come to your blog is because I'm obsessed with how gorgeous you and your family are and I'm all "WHY AM I NOT AS SKINNY AND FIT AS SHE IS?!" Lol. Just being honest ;)

    -- dysfunctionaleverafter.com

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  4. Thanks Karina! These are some great tips! :)

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  5. Do you worry about calorie counting, or do you just track it to see if you're eating good things?

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    1. Hi sweet girl! Yes, Calories for sure! Also what you eat, but mostly calories for weight loss! xo

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  6. I would love to hear about your daily workout and eating routine and how they changed (if at all) during your pregnancy!

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  7. U look amazing Karina!!! Can't believe u look soo good after having a baby...u make things seem so easy :) Love your blog...it's so helpful.

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  8. Another question -- on your free day, did you still record what you ate? I'm thinking that my data will be all messed up if I don't (I downloaded the lose it app) but if I do, I might not mentally give myself a free day. What do you think?

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    1. That is a great question! I actually did not record what I ate on Free day! It didn't mess up anything, it will just give you reminders that "you haven't recorded for the day". But I completely know what you mean! I had to just tell myself it was okay! It is perfectly healthy for your body to have a free day! You are more than welcome to record still though! It won't mess anything up! Even if you go over the amount of calories you are allotted each day! I know I went over some days!:)

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