OPTAVIA Healthy Habits Newsletter - 2/22/21

Please click below to view my OPTAVIA Healthy Habits eNewsletter from 2/22/21. If you'd like to receive a copy in your email each week, please complete this quick google form or email me with your complete email address and a request to subscribe to the newsletter.

https://optaviashare.com/p/52e8fce3eea24267fe5256690f0d1f74/9952229

https://optaviashare.com/p/52e8fce3eea24267fe5256690f0d1f74/9952229

Why OPTAVIA is Not A Diet #NotADiet

Someone made a comment to me yesterday about how I can say I'm not on a diet, when I've lost almost 60 lbs in 5 months. I've been thinking about it a lot. 

In the true sense of the word, your diet is simply the food that you eat. But it also can mean a special kind of food or restricting the foods you eat in order to lose weight. That form of "diet" implies a lot of yo-yo-like ups and downs, with some form or food restrictions and being either "on a diet" or "off my diet" and "cheat days".

I wasn't healthy. I had to lose weight to get healthier. My body was suffering, my sleep was suffering, my energy was lacking, and I was on a very dangerous path with the potential complications from obesity. 

I *knew* I needed to do something to become healthier, but *nothing* was working - and it wasn't for lack of trying. 

This program forced me to face some hard truths about my nutrition. I now eat 6 times a day, and I don't skip meals. I don't ever go longer than 3 hours without eating. I drink 100oz+ of water each day. I am eating real food - no artificial colors/flavors/preservatives. I am learning portion sizes. I am not taking a wild assortment of supplements anymore (talk about throwing my body out of whack). I have balanced my nutrition with the exact right combination of macros (and I don't even have to think about or track it!). In fact, I almost never even think about food - I don't stress about it, and I don't feel restricted. 

As a result, my inflammation has decreased. My sleep has drastically improved. My energy is through the roof and I'm not feeling that afternoon slump. I created healthy habits for my schedule, and start my day with a morning routine, and wind down with an evening routine - every single day. I've reduced my time on electronic devices. My whole life has changed, because I finally feel hope for myself, hope for my health, hope for my future. 

I GAVE MYSELF PERMISSION TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, CREATE HEALTHIER HABITS AND MINDSETS, AND LEARNED THE TOOLS TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.  

I stopped caring what other people think, because my health affects ME. I don't want to waste my time (or my health) on programs that restrict foods forever - whether it be eliminating certain types of food, or limiting when you can eat. Been there, done that, it didn't work. I made a choice to utilize this program to learn the habits of health, which translate to lifelong transformation - not just for my food and nutrition, but for every aspect of my life. 

If you have questions, don't be ashamed to reach out and talk to me. I won't pressure you, and there's no harm in learning more. Don't make assumptions based on google or whatever random stuff you see online - talk to me, I've done the program, I've seen the results, and I feel so strongly about the health benefits of it, I committed to share it with others. 

These habits are not a diet, but an entire upheaval to my nutrition. I can make healthy choices, or I can choose to intentionally make a not-so-healthy choice (and identify it as such), but I know how to navigate back to the healthy choices - and as long as I am making those choices intentionally, I know I am good! This program has been a total makeover of my mindset. 

THIS IS MY DEFINITION OF HEALTHY. 

I choose OPTIMAL HEALTH. 

I choose ME.

OPTAVIA is Not A Diet - Diet vs. Health

Lean and Green Meal - Noodles + Peanut Sauce

This is ONE SERVING and is a COMPLETE Lean and Green meal! 

Ingredients:

1.5 cups Hearts of Palm linguini-style noodles (3 GREENS)

1/3 oz plain peanuts (1 HEALTHY FAT)

6 oz cooked pork tenderloin (1 LEANER)

1/4tsp garlic (1/4 CONDIMENT)

1 tsp ginger (1/2 CONDIMENT)

3/4tsp reduced sodium soy sauce (1/4 CONDIMENT)

4Tbsp Walden Farms peanut spread (2 CONDIMENTS)

1/3c water

Splash of lime juice (I didn't count this)

Shake of black peppercorn (I didn't count this)

Directions:

Cook the pork as directed (I did mine in the air fryer until it reached 145º)

Add water, peanut spread, lime juice, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic to pan and heat, stirring frequently.

Add Hearts of Palm noodles to sauce and stir, coating the noodles, while noodles heat through

Cut the pork into bite sized pieces and add them to the mixture, and continue stirring for another 5 minutes or so until well heated and sauce has time to absorb into the noodles and meat. 

Plate, top with crushed peanuts, and serve!

*This recipe is versatile and you can sub out different proteins if you like, just be sure to adjust the protein quantity and any healthy fat requirements. 

Complete Lean and Green Meal - Noodles + Peanut Sauce

Recommended Apps

What apps do you use to help track your progress, and keep you on track? I have three apps that I like and use daily:

Lose It! - DOWNLOAD LINK (OPEN ON MOBILE DEVICE)

I like this app over other food tracking apps - it is easy to use, tracks all my goals (weight, waist, hip, chest, thigh, bicep, etc), tracks my macros (fat, protein, carbs, calories), and I am able to completely customize my daily goals and long term goals. It also identifies patterns and projects when I'll reach certain goals. I pay for the premium account (about $30/year - works out to about $2.50/month) and it is absolutely worth the fee. It also connects to my scale, my Apple Watch, my phone, Fitbit, Garmin, and tons of other fitness apps - so everything syncs on its own!

There is a community, so if you're using this app, please add me as a friend! My username is automatik2

Lose It! - DOWNLOAD LINK (OPEN ON MOBILE DEVICE)

Happy Scale - Download Link

I LOVE THIS APP! Yes, all caps LOVE! I weigh myself daily, and this app smooths out the daily weights and gives you trend lines to see when you'll hit certain goals or milestones. You can see true progress and not focus on the daily fluctuations, and see predictions on when you'll reach whatever milestones you input. You can set a big overall goal, and break it down into smaller goals, and celebrate each one of them along the way! It syncs with my other apps so everything is updated automatically. I paid for the lifetime premium access and it is absolutely worth the fee, but there are monthly and yearly options also. 

Happy Scale - Download Link

EatWise - Apple Download Link | Google Download Link

This app is great for reminding me to eat! You can set how many meals you want to eat each day (mine is set to 6), how much time you want in between each meal (mine is set to 2.5 hours), and what kind of reminders you want and when in between meals or approaching the next meal. This is AWESOME for those reminders because using alarms on my phone doesn't always sync with when I ate my first meal, and then I'd be trying to keep track in my head throughout the day, but with this app it starts from the moment I click that I'm eating my first Fueling of the day. This app is FREE! 

EatWise - Meal Reminder app