Keeping It Up & Keeping It Off

Life and adulthood tends to take you by storm, like completely rip through your life, leaving you tossing and turning in the balance….but that’s no excuse to, let’s say, let yourself go.

Relocating to the food mecca of the world, the city that never sleeps, the overly crowded concrete jungle that is New York City, I knew maintaining my weight loss and workout regime that I had developed while in Massachusetts would be difficult but not impossible. Why work so hard to let it all go? So I didn’t…let it all go that is!

I’ve been in New York for almost 10 months now and all of the delicious food options never cease to amaze me. Rather than punish myself, I work each food type into one of my weekly cheat days,which I usually try to keep to Fridays. As I’ve said in numerous posts before, planning is the key to everything. Some of the wealthiest people in the world plan out literally every dollar they will spend, invest, save, etc. for months or even years in advance, and that’s how they stay wealthy. Well, let’s use that concept, lets plan out every calorie we will intake, but in our case, we can stick to planning for a week!

Meal Prep!!! Meal prep for your breakfast, for your lunch, dinner, snacks and even drinks! We waste so many calories because we’re unprepared and our hunger catches us off guard. The way I’ve managed to maintain my weight loss is preparing for those moments. I pack a snack bag and all of my food all of the time, which saves me money and empty calories. I can not say it enough, meal prep! I even have healthy snacks for when I am vacationing, because that is still no time to let it all go!

Maintaining a healthy diet has  had its difficulties, but my biggest challenge has definitely been working out. I failed to mention that I work for one of the largest salty snack providers in the world, PepsiCo | Frito Lay Division, so I’m constantly surrounded by chips, like literally 12 hours a day sometimes. The issue isn’t the chips usually, its more so the 12 hour  work days that leave me too exhausted to even think about walking to my nearest Planet Fitness. But just as important as it is for me to plan out my meals, I also plan out my workout days. I make it a point to workout at least 3x a week for at least 45 minutes to an hour. I always make sure to get some form of cardio in, but also like to get some weight lifting accomplished.

Weight loss isn’t easy, but it becomes easier when you develop a routine and make it a habit. Constant meal prep and a discipline of working out at least 3x a week has allowed me to enjoy the many cuisines of NY and many happy hours, but to also maintain the figure that I worked so hard on

For those looking for help or for somewhere to start:

1. Set a goal and Create a Plan!
   1. How much weight do you want to lose? Do you just want to tone? How many days will you workout? What day will you meal prep? Where will you workout? When? For how long?
2. Execute!
   1. Workout! Eat Right! Meal Prep! Drink that Water! Relax! Stick to your plan but always challenge yourself!

Losing the weight is half of the battle, and keeping it off is the other half. But through perseverance and doing it right the first time (making it a healthy lifestyle not a diet fad) it just becomes second nature to continue doing the things you’re already used to doing.

Spring in NY 2016…still keeping off the weight and enjoying tight fitted clothing!