Over the past 2 years, I have lost more than 20 lbs. My focus has always been on being super healthy and strong (for me it’s not about being a certain size). Many people have stopped me on the street and asked me what I eat (or don’t eat) to lose weight. They have also asked me how do I keep the weight off? So here are my top healthy eating tips and daily food routine.
I am not on a special diet or plan. I focus on eating healthy (lots of fruits, veggies, protein and good carbohydrates) and keep track of how much I eat and my daily exercise. The other big tip that my first personal trainer taught me (when I first started on this journey) was consistency is the key to success.
Those days when I don’t feel like working out – I do. Even if it’s 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill, I do something.
Two things that I don’t eat or drink. For the past 10 years, I have not drank pop/soda or eaten fast food. Instead, I drink sparkling water and if I am really hungry and on the go, I eat a protein bar, sesame snacks or something similar.
Here is my 24-hour healthy food routine (I can always learn more, so please let me know your tips!). I eat a lot each day, but I am also pretty active.
First thing I do each morning is keep track of what I am eating and how much (the portions). I use My Fitness Pal to keep track of my daily food intake. It has helped me so much to stay on track. It’s really made the difference to my weight loss success.
Breakfast: 
Every morning I take 3 tabs of Vega Chlorella with lemon or orange water (to make the water tastier, I add a few slices of orange or lemon). I drink around 3 liters of water every day.
Breakfast:
Dave’s Killer Bread with Adam’s Natural Peanut Butter and No Sugar jam
Bean Around the World Coffee (yum!) with brown sugar and almond milk.
I love Dave’s Killer bread because it’s sweetened with organic fruit juices rather than high-fructose corn syrup, and has other benefits like protein, fiber, omega-3s, and whole grains. That’s a lot of nutrition per slice with around 100 calories per piece of bread.
I feel full after having their bread for breakfast.
***** Five Stars *****
Lunch:
Smoothie time! I use the Breville Boss Blender it takes all the veggies I can put in it and the texture is awesome.
- Vega One Shake Mix
- Pear
- Beet (peeled and chopped into a few pieces)
- Carrot
- One piece of Celery
- Broccoli – Here’s a big tip! – freeze the broccoli – it lessens the strong taste
- Kale and a bit of spinach
Here’s another tip – you can freeze smoothies – and keep them for up to week in the freezer. I put them in small jam jars with a bit of room for the freeze. Then you can grab one out of the freezer each day to drink for a snack or lunch.
I could also have a raisin bagel with honey and butter.
Workout Drink Routine:
I drink a combination of Vega Sport Energizer Drink and Electrolytes Drink.
This gives me a lot of energy (especially for my afternoon workouts when my energy slumps and I am dragging myself to the gym).
I get cramps that are no joke. The pain is 10 out of 10 – but the good news is that I have found a combination of the energizer drink and the electrolytes help me to stave off the cramps. Also provide me with the extra oomph! I need for my workouts.
Post Workout Snack:
My own invention that tastes like ice cream. I use this as a post workout treat and watch an episode of Real Housewives and my life is complete.
- Frozen BC blueberries and BC strawberries (love local berries!)
- Vega Sports Protein (chocolate is my favourite)
- Tablespoon of Almond Milk
- Splash of water
Blueberries (and other berries such as raspberries and blackberries) are an amazing source of vitamin C. This helps protect cells against damage and also helps with the absorption of iron.
Strawberries are also a great source of vitamins C and K and they provide a healthy amount of fibre, folic acid, manganese and potassium.
I mix the frozen blueberries, strawberries, Vega Sports Protein Powder, small amount of Almond Milk and water. The texture becomes similar to ice cream. Love it!
If I am feeling indulgent, I will add a tablespoon of peanut butter. Good times.
Dinner:
I create a weekly salad with all the veggies you can think of. On Sundays, I go to my local produce store and buy fruits and veggies for the week. Then I make the weekly salad and it’s ready for the week.
Each night, all I have to do is add a protein dish to the salad and dinner is ready!
Weekly Salad:
- Kale
- Spinach
- Carrots
- Tomatos
- Brocoli
- Green onions
- Beets – grated
- Cauliflower
- Yellow and orange peppers
- Zuchini
I keep the salad fresh by layering the greens in paper towels (sounds weird, but it works!) and covering the salad with plastic wrap.
I don’t use salad dressings, but I do add pink salt or other seasonings.
About once per week, I add an avocado to the salad (not all the time, because they are high in calories).
Dinner Protein dishes:
- Salmon
- Steaks
- Lean Beef
- Egg whites
- Eggs
- Pork
- Tuna
I rotate the protein with the salad to mix it up, but also to get different sources of protein. The protein dish is usually put in a pan with a little bit of butter and seasoning or barbecued.
For a treat, I might have a bit of dark chocolate or I love devouring my partner’s salt and vinegar chips!
That’s a typical day for me. Of course, I indulge when I go out (about once per week) and eat nachos or a burger, or pizza or anything else delicious I feel like eating that day.
It’s about consistency and eating healthy the majority of the time. Then enjoying other foods when I feel like it.
One thing I am working on are my portions. So stay tuned for future blogs on watching food portions (easily) using scales. I would love to do an interview with an expert on over eating and emotional eating (why we do it and how to prevent it).
I would love to hear your ideas too!
Please let me know more about your healthy journey – I would love to hear from you ? my social links are below:
Visit Sacha daily at SachaD.com