Morning Routine Part Deux
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What should I eat for breakfast? You would think by 43 I would know what I want or that I could be like Warren Buffett and eat the same thing daily to save time and mental capacity.
Smoothie?
Fasting?
A bar? But which bar?-one that is the equivalent of a rotted tootsie roll or something that tricks me into thinking I am eating a snickers for breakfast.
Military Diet?
The options abound but at the end of the day, WTF do I eat and what were the results of each time I went with it.
There are as many gurus on breakfast as there are men named Joe and each piece of advice is confusing and I am sure you have felt at times, hard to know who to listen to. Well the good news is I have tried them all. Some for weight loss, some for health and some just bc I was bored. Was there a magic bullet?-I have bad news for you. There isn’t one. Each one of us is SO different and what has worked for me once didn’t work again later in life so I say, try them, try them again and know that if you are going thru a season of motherhood or hormone changes they might all fail. The good news is you will get to know what your body does well with and you will notice what feels good so do the work of tuning into that because how we feel on these shapes our moods, our potential hanger induced arguments and so much more!
Here is where I netted out with each and the results:
Smoothie: For the course of a year I thought that the key to my weight loss would be this one using my faithful Vitamix or the ever so pretty Beast filled with blueberries (low in sugar), Perfect Amino meal, Carlsons fish oil, Body Health reds and greens, phylum husk, and Moringa, and a dash of prayers. I would always feel VERY full for about an hour. By lunch time I would be starving so I learned that while I was able to get tons of drinkable nutrients, and fast, this didn’t lead to me having more energy or focus or weight loss. I now view it was a quick and easy method to get your daily nutrients of potent vits and minerals IN and move on with your day. As my mom said some of this is just for long term healthy and longevity.
Fast? I did bullet proof (hated it) and did intermittent fasting and up until pregnancy found this to be very workable for me and felt like I could focus, retain my energy and not have a blood spikes or dips. Fasting has NOT worked for me post partum and when I have tried, my milk supply dips and that’s no beuno. These days I play with it and push for a fast till noon when I can but give myself some levity on the weekends or when I have a big day ahead of me.
I am now playing with it again as I am weaning little Leo but at the moment I think till I am waiting till I am done nursing as nothing is budging.
Bars! I hate them. Sometimes I love them but mostly they are just a means to get a meal in the mouth on the go. If I choose any these days, its a Perfect Bar high in calories but simple and yummy. I used to love the Bulletproof ones but they had other side effects that were not the intended releases of air I wanted…..
Last but not least, the Military Diet. I call this one the lose weight QUICK trick but full transparency it requires a lot of hot dogs…I have done this diet over the years in preps for a big event or to drop some lbs’ after the holidays and its always worked! Bonus is you get ice cream EVERY day! Make sure to sub all the ingredients for organic, non GMO and hormone free etc etc. I have no actual clue if the military uses it but its easy and something about committing to it for 3x per week makes it mentally do-able for me. I want to underscore that if you do embark on this that you need to get CLEAN versions of all of the food, as its a lot of fat and oils and you shouldn’t eat junk! AND-those 4 days off should not be about you binging because all your hard work goes out the window!
Sakara is a nice vegan alternative to the Diet above. I have done it during many fashion weeks and the food is YUM and I feel really fresh and clear headed in what is otherwise a stressful time.
So with that lets move onto EXERCISE. I get asked a lot about this. Its my mental health activity and I try without fail to ensure I am doing it at least 5 days per week. Currently on rotation- pilates, running, and weight lifting.
Heres the week: 1x pilates, or 2 if I am lucky, 2 weight training sessions and then running the rest of the week where I aim for my 2 magical miles and stop then. I honestly should be running for 30 min or 3 miles to get the benefits of aerobics but since we are not all perfect, I am sticking with what is feasible on a daily basis. When I travel I often love doing Soto method as I feel like it gives me tons of options for aerobic and body weight if I don’t have supplies. This combo for me today seems to work the best with my currently goals and knowing as you age, you lose muscle mass, so keeping the weights going. While it might seem like who the F has time for this, pre covid, I NEVER had time to work out and viewed it as a luxury. Maybe I could sneak in a workout 2x per week and feel guilty for being a bit late to the office. Guess what, no major Nobel prizes were won bc of that extra work and instead I just felt burnt out a lot. Having discovered how it felt to work out 5-7 days a way during covid when it was the one excuse outside of grocery shopping to get some space, I realized mentally what I had been missing and made a pact with myself to always put my health first and ensure that I move my body.
You are the energy source for a lot of things in your life so from me to you, please take care of yourself, prioritize your health and wellness not just for your body but your mind as well!
xxRM