Learn How to Live a Healthy Life and Love Your Body
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My life changed in May. For real, I finally feel in control of my health. I feel more confident. I love my body and I feel sexy!
And guess what? I am going to share with you how I made this happen.
For years I’ve struggled with my body. And since I moved to the USA it became worse.
Food habits are different in France. For example, we snack more in the USA, our plates are much bigger, we walk less, …
All of this is to say that I gained a lot of weight here, which made me feel depressed, which made me eat more chocolate and sweets, which made me gain a lot of weight … you get the idea.
So this had to change.
I tried diets, cleanses, intense workouts, … but all of it was just temporary. A few weeks after I was gaining everything back and more!
I realized that none of these are going to work. What I needed to do is live a healthier lifestyle, and this means learning how to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly.
1. What is healthy food?
The first thing I did was research healthy eating habits. I realized that I had to stay away from typical diets and, instead, focus on learning the effect of food on my body to make smarter decisions.
For guidance, I listened to the following two audiobooks. You can listen to both of them for free by subscribing to the 30-day Audible trial here.
Now let’s talk about the two audiobooks that helped me become healthier!
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IT STARTS WITH FOOD
Authors: Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig
Listening Length: 8 hours and 57 minutes
Why I like It Starts with Food:
It Starts with Food is the foundation of the Whole30. The reason why I started to listen to this book, is that I was looking for some scientific explanations about why I should eat one thing over another.
This book is really good at explaining the effects of different foods on your body and the chain of reactions that follow, based on real studies.
If you want to learn how to make healthier eating decisions, this book is for you!
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NUTRITION MADE CLEAR
Authors: The Teaching Company, LLC
Listening Length: 18 hours and 39 minutes
Why I like Nutrition Made Clear:
Nutrition Made Clear is a complete course about the science of food on your body. It has 36 lectures to help you calculate your own dietary needs!
Each lesson focuses on a specific topic and explains how to apply results from studies into your everyday life.
If you want to dive deep into nutrition and create a plan adapted to your own needs, I recommend this book!
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After listening to these two audiobooks, I decided to do the Whole30 and ordered the book on Amazon.
I really like how they prepare you to easily start and commit to it, and the day by day guide to know that what you are feeling is normal.
The reason why I decided to do the Whole30 is that I really wanted to learn how to easily eat healthily but also get rid of the pain in my knee.
See the Whole30 will also reduce inflammations in your body that affect your skin and joint pain! Some people also reported that the Whole30 cured their migraines, allergies, asthma, IBS, lupus, chronic fatigue and more.
So after reading so much about the benefits (you can find the list on pages 43-44 of the book), I decided to give it a try!
2. Easy Whole30 Recipes
When I started the Whole30 I kinda freaked out about cooking. I don’t have the time to cook healthy meals at home.
But we found a few easy recipes and tricks to prepare a meal within 15-30 minutes 😀
Basically, we loved going to Trader Joe’s, Fred Meyer and the local Asian Market to discover new healthy ways to make everyday meals!
Download our go to meals and breakfast!
3. Let’s talk about the first week
I’m going to be honest with you, the first week was hard.
It all started on the second day, I woke up with a huge hangover, not from alcohol but from sugar. I used to eat a lot of sugar every day and the more you eat sugar the harder the withdrawals are.
It actually scared me to see how my body reacted from not having sweets for 24 hours.
On day 3 the hangover was gone but I experienced headaches for the rest of the week. It was hard, but then when you think about it, it was a good pain to make your life better. And it also encouraged me to cut my sugar consumption after the Whole30.
4. Creating An Exercise Routine
The first day of the Whole30, I went to the gym for the barre class. I have to say that it was a bad idea :D.
The first week you should stay away from the gym because your body will be already going through withdrawal so working out on top of it is going to be very hard.
But then you can start going to the gym. The idea is to slowly find your rhythm.
I started to go to the gym in September when the doctor told me that I needed to exercise to deal with my depression and anxiety.
At the time I was going on the elliptical two times a week for an hour. Then it became two times a week for 30 minutes, 20 minutes, … I realized that this wasn’t for me.
So I went to a Zumba class with my coworkers one day and loved it. So I have since been going every week.
A couple of months after, since Zumba is a cardio workout, I decided that I wanted to add some muscle strengthening exercises to my weekly workout, so I started to go to the Metabolic Challenge class. It took me a few classes to realize that it wasn’t for me.
So I decided to try the barre class instead, which is a low impact muscle strengthening class inspired by movements of ballet. I absolutely love this class. We start by working on the upper body with weights, then the lower body with the barres and we finish with the core. I can tell you that with this class I am working on every muscle of my body.
After that, I decided to try yoga at home to stretch and relax during the weekend.
I feel that 9 months later I finally found my exercise routine:
- Monday: Barre
- Tuesday: Zumba
- Wednesday: Barre (I go twice a week since this month)
- Sunday: Yoga
My recommendation is to try to add one workout at a time to your routine.
Start with one class for a few weeks, then try to find another one that you like for a few weeks. Once you feel like you have a good rhythm you can add another one, etc.
5. What happened in 30 days?
30 days later:
- my muscles are more toned and defined
- I lost 8 lbs knowing that I gained muscle and muscle is heavier than fat
- I am feeling more confident and sexier
- my knee doesn’t bother me
- I am more motivated to workout
- No more heartburn
- I am happier
- I sleep better
- No more sugar cravings
- I have fewer allergies (I didn’t know I had allergies, but I don’t sneeze all the time at work anymore)
- No more carb cravings
- I know how to eat healthy at work
- I cook more often
- I am less tired in the afternoon
- I have more energy
- I am more productive
Further Reading
- 6 Things you Need to be Motivated to Workout
- 5 Powerful Summer Reading Books To Make You Happier
- The Best Audiobooks That Will Change Your Life
- How to Organize a Fun Weekly Brunch
- What Happens When You Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Over To You
Have you tried the whole30? What did you learn from it?
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