My tricks to staying slim (and healthy)
“You eat out all the time, how do you stay slim?”
This is a question I get a lot, especially with being a food blogger. And I’m more than happy to talk about it! The weight loss industry is a billion dollar industry. From gym memberships to diet pills, people are always spending money on trying to stay slim.
So let’s dive in. First off, I am definitely not perfect! I definitely eat out way more than I probably should and splurge more than I would like to admit. But I always fall back on this one phrase. “Everything in moderation”.
What does that mean though? I believe life is all about balance. I know so many people who go on crazy diets and sure, it might work for a bit and they lose weight, but then they go crazy and withdraw and are right back to square one. What fun is that? Food is life. We need food to survive. Food is fun. Food is social. I believe if we deprive ourselves, we’re just going to be unhappy.
So what do I do that works for me? Here are my four tricks:
- Intermittent Fasting – 95% of the time I practice Intermittent Fasting. If you don’t know what IF is, it’s basically restricting your eating to a specific time period. I actually wrote a blog post on this if you want to learn more about it.
2. Not eating late at night – I believe this one is huge. I try really hard to not eat late at night or before I go to bed. Why? Because eating and going straight to bed does literally nothing for you. It’s wasted calories. Your food doesn’t have time to digest before you go to bed. It just isn’t good. Obviously on weekends I have a tendency to break this, but during the week I really avoid night time eating.
3. You are what you eat – I live by this phrase. Diet is linked to everything. Mental health, sleep, food controls your health. I have my guilty pleasures as we all do, but since I was young, I try super hard to eat as much organic and healthy as I can. I eat plenty of vegetables, salads, fruit. You all know I love eating out but so much of the food is processed and refined and not in it’s normal state. We need to eat food that isn’t manipulated. I always buy lots of vegetables and eat them raw.
4. Always moving – Though it’s an 80/20 rule, 80% diet 20% exercise, exercise is important too. I don’t currently own a gym membership. I did growing up and when I played college volleyball but not anymore. I think it’s super important for us to be active. No, I definitely don’t work out 5 days a week. But I always try to be moving. Whether it’s taking the stairs as opposed to an elevator. Walking to work. Biking to meetings or errands. Playing volleyball. Hiking. Skiing in the winter. Just do something!
There we have it. Everybody wants to be slim, as do I. But the bigger picture is not about how skinny we are, but being HEALTHY and listening to our bodies. Because at the end of the day, money can’t buy health.
All these tips of mine I have been doing for a long time! It’s not just something I do for a week at a time. The key is to make these habits and part of your everyday life style.
If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message on Instagram @jennaswetlikoff.
-Jenna xoxo