Simply Fit for Life

Happiness. Fitness. Wholeness. This blog is my notespace for ideas on how to live a fit lifestyle while adoring your body and treating it well. I am no expert, but I eat clean, work out well and nourish my body and mind on a budget and here's how I do it, if you are interested.

[simplyfitforlife]

Wow so a few changes I have made in my life have changed everything. The first was heavy lifting. The second was going to my doctor and telling him my medication isn't working and getting put on a new one. And the third is recent...going gluten-free, mostly diary free, and low sugar. I was not a believer in that sort of thing but I was reading how that helps schizophrenia in some patients and wow it really changed my whole life.

[simplyfitforlife]

I'm getting back into my healthy lifestyle and I'm choosing not to stress that it's not perfect. Yesterday I ran 5K outdoors and did chest/back at the gym and today I stretched and started leg day but wasn't feeling great so I only did a few sets of squats. That's okay - I'm getting back into it. In the past few days I've had some smoothies (banana, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, spinach and plain kefir), some fiber drinks, and dinner was steak, sweet potato, and broccoli, then chicken, sweet potato and cheesy broccoli, and tonight I sautéed eggs, sweet potato and spinach and had a side of yogurt with sliced strawberries. But I also had some junk food like Mac and Cheese and ice cream. It's not perfect but I'm transitioning into a healthy lifestyle again and it's going to continue to improve. Small changes one at a time are good.

[simplyfitforlife]

Upcoming Posts! <3

•Weight lifting! It changed my life and my body and I'll tell you what you need to know to see if you think it will work for you and your lifestyle too!

•Mental Health - your brain is your most important organ and it should be the most important part of your health and fitness and wellbeing routine

•Work-Life balance! I'll let you know my ideas on incorporating health and fitness into a busy schedule.

Hopefully some of you will stick around to read my posts and I hope that you will like them and they will help you be happy and achieve your goals.

[simplyfitforlife]

Salmon and sweet potatoes! The salmon is marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt, pepper and tons of garlic. The sweet potatoes are spiced with cumin, cayenne, chipotle and cocoa. Drizzled with a crushed garlic fond sauce. My own recipe. Healthy food is fun and it's a creative outlet. You are Ratatouille and nothing can stop you!

[simplyfitforlife]

I'm BACK! After a brief yet torrid love affair with ice cream and goat butter I am fatter than ever and ready to get back on my grind! Welcome to my fitness blog!

[simplyfitforlife]

My 4 pm oatmeal I posted about last week - right on schedule. Oats, fresh fruit, walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, and almond butter.

[simplyfitforlife]

Meal Prepping for the Week: •Boxes with 2 hardboiled eggs, 1/2 cup cottage cheese with probiotics, and 18 almonds •4 taco bowls with quinoa and shredded chicken and black beans •6 oatmeal bags •And I baked cookies. What you see there is the "reject pile" of broken cookies that won't be served.

[simplyfitforlife]

Let's Get Serious about Bloating

I have a serious problem with bloating, where I have days on end where I'm suddenly super bloated - even my face bloats. So in case you have the same problem, I'm going to let you know what I do to fix it and go over some causes of my kind of bloating.

<b>1. Dehydration</b>

Not drinking enough water is often the cause, and drinking more water is often the cure. Not drinking enough water causes your body to hang on to all the water it has. <i>My Fix:</i>

The best measure of your hydration is the colour of your urine. If it's yellow, you're dehydrated. You should aim for clear or very, very pale urine, especially if you're very active or an athlete. I try to drink 2.5 Liters of water per day.

<b>2. Too Much Sodium</b>

Sodium has a diuretic effect similar to not enough water.

<i>My Fix:</i>

Eat out less, and eat whole, unprocessed foods you cooked and prepared yourself from whole, raw ingredients. This is something everyone knows, but you have to actually sit down and make a plan of how to do consciously and consistently cook from home more. It takes a commitment, but I think it's absolutely worth it. It made a huge impact in my body's ability to put on muscle and burn fat with my weight lifting routine, have more energy, sleep better and bloat less.

<b>3. Not Enough Fiber</b>

This slows down your body's ability to digest, pass food and fluid and you'll start to bloat up.

<i>My Fix:</i>

Again, eating whole, unprocessed foods.  I also specifically eat foods like oats, broccoli, almonds, and quinoa, and I add chia seeds and milled flax seeds (make sure if you buy flax seeds they are milled, or ground, so your body can digest them properly) to my food like oatmeal.

Other Tips:

-Sleep 6.5 - 8.5 hours per night! This seriously helps my bloating - it must just help my body function at its best.

-Eat bananas and drink ginger tea - again, it just helps my bloating, but I don't really know the science behind it. It works for me though!

-Exercise, move around, sweat, and do crunches - this helps break up and push along stuff staying in your stomach and intestines and just makes you feel more fresh and less yucky when you're bloated.

One Last Cause:

You're about to get your period! It's just a fact of life, I suppose. Not much to do about this except drink water and don't stress about it - it's not actual weight gain (even if the scale goes up - it's likely just excess water) - and it will pass soon.

Hope that maybe helps anybody with a similar issue. Stay healthy! :-)

[simplyfitforlife]

My Week :-)

Monday: Distance Running + HIIT Tuesday: Chest and Back Wednesday: Abs Thursday: Legs Friday: Arms Saturday: Rest Day and De-Stress Sunday: Shoulders Have a happy Monday everybody!

[simplyfitforlife]

And on Sunday during meal prep, I also made bags of Super Oatmeal! And some bags of almonds to snack on. The Super Oatmeal is packed with fiber, protein, omega 3s, whole grains and more. It's: 1/3 Cup Whole Grain Oats 1 T Raisins 1 T Chopped Walnuts 1 T Chopped Almonds 1 T Chia Seeds 1 T Ground Flax Seeds Cinnamon I make it with no sugar and I cook it in milk. Sometimes I top it with Almond Butter or fresh berries or cherries or a banana. It's easy to grab when I'm low on time and the office has donuts and sugary crap and keeps me full for hours.

[simplyfitforlife]

Meal Prepping for the week. One of the things I do that is unhealthy is eat out a lot. I grab lunch from a restaurant and get fast food. Cooking from home in advance helps me have food to grab when I'm hungry and low on time and helps me know exactly what I'm eating. Three lunches I prepare are: Protein Box: 1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese 18 Unsalted Almonds 2 Hardboiled Eggs Chicken and Veg: 1 Cup Quinoa 1/2 Baked Chicken Breast 1 Cup Veggies (like broccoli) 1 T Chia Seeds Soul Food Seasoning Taco Bowls: 1 Cup Quinoa 1/2 Cup Low Sodium Black Beans 1/2 Shredded Chicken Breast 1/4 Cup Shredded Cheddar 2 T Sour Cream Taco Seasoning Hot Sauce Have a good week everyone!! <3

[simplyfitforlife]

May your path be the sound of your feet upon the ground. Carry on.

[simplyfitforlife]

The sound of my tennies hitting the ground is my battle rhythm, my favorite song, never stop

[simplyfitforlife]

Ladies, guys, people, cool dogs: You are beautiful. You are loved. Now show your body some love and move around!

[simplyfitforlife]

My Week

Monday: Chest/Back Tuesday: cardio - running Wednesday: Legs Thursday: Arms Friday: cardio - running Saturday: Shoulders Sunday: arms and deadlifts How about you guys? <3 :-)

[i-s-e-e-d-e-a-d-p-e-o-p-l-e]

[simplyfitforlife]

You took too many cheat days. You got off track. Brush it off, baby. Get back on the right track. It's nothing. Just a pebble on the path.

[jewelybeanz]