self-love journey ♡

thank you to all the love & support y’all have shared! y’all are so amazing & encouraging

two years ago, as a senior in undergrad, eating whatever I wanted and felt so lost, if you told me I would lose 40+ pounds years later (and that i’d be sharing my story) I’d tell you that you were absolutely insane. just a reminder that no goal that you have is too far fetched. you can do anything you put your mind to!

so i want to first talk about the growth that i’ve made within the past year... full vulnerability & authenticity

the major growth was my mental state and the biggest result was not the physical weight loss but my mental health. i feel that my shift within my mental health played a significant role in my physical changes and that’s why i am choosing to share this.

i struggle with depression & anxiety and have since i was a child. within the past year i began to actually face my insecurities, expectations i put on myself, how i viewed myself, etc. i was overwhelmed with all of those emotions that i carried and all the weight of it. i prayed and told god that i let go of all of it. i let go of my depression, my trauma, my pain, my insecurities, my fears, my anxiety, my shame & lord i want you to have it all; i want you to have all of me....i then started to heal. i started to feel like i could make a commitment to myself and change not only my physical abilities but my mental ability and the way that i treated/viewed myself. i exerted all the energy that i put into other worldly things/people and put it into myself because i am worthy, loved and enough. i thought i needed love and reassurance from other people and i didn’t - i needed the love of jesus and to love myself. the love i once craved and searched for i found within myself. isn’t that powerful? praise jesus!

therefore, i changed my perspective and i wholeheartedly believe jesus saved me (not the first time & not the last). i still struggle with depression & anxiety, insecurities, pain, eating habits, motivation etc. but it doesn’t define me, in fact it makes me better and the strong person i am today. i’m no longer a victim and i have learned ways to cope with it. the scars, stretch marks, dimples - they all carry a beautiful journey & i embrace them. i look at them in the mirror and see beauty & strength. i have empowered myself through jesus to hopefully help and encourage others.

i also want to say that with me sharing my story, i don’t want anyone to think that i am saying “do what i do” or if you follow everything i am doing you’ll lose weight because it doesn’t work like that. everyone’s body and journey is theirs and it’s unique.

the major takeaways i want you to have is that it is possible to lose weight naturally with changing eating habits without restrictions, exercising 3/4x a week, and without counting calories/macros. however, go through your journey whichever way you find is successful for you, i’m just here to share my journey!

with that being said, let’s get right in to the

weight loss q/a

q: what major eating changes did you make?

a: i started with very minor changes that turned into significant changes. it was a very slow process - first i changed what i was eating for dinner, in college i would eat majority of carbs or eat out (carbs are NOT bad) but if you’re eating them every single night with no variety (like i was) that is not ideal lol.

let’s talk DINNER: i would start to incorporate having veggies, a main carb & main protein for dinner. some examples are salmon, rice, broccoli; turkey burger, brussel sprouts & sweet potato fries; spaghetti squash with meat sauce & salad; etc.

let’s talk BREAKFAST: another change i eventually made was what i was eating for breakfast. for breakfast now i usually eat oatmeal with chia seeds & berries, a kodiak waffle with choc chips/berries or a homemade breakfast sandwich which is egg white, turkey bacon, arugula on a multigrain flatbread.

let’s talk LUNCH: lunches for me vary the most and do not really stay consistent. currently, most times i will have left overs from din the night before other times i’ll have a salad or even other times i might have a second breakfast lol.

majority of days usually consist of as follows: coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert. i never really was a snack kind of person but if i do find myself hungry in random periods of the day i will have greek yogart with choc chips or berries or a smoothie. make sure your also drinking lots and lots of water. sometimes when your body triggers the feelings of hunger you might actually be thirsty! i’m not saying don’t eat when your body is telling you to eat but if you had an over eating problem, comfort eating or eating because you’re bored problem like i did (still do) make sure you’re drinking lots of water.

MAKING HEALTHIER VERSIONS OF FAV FOOD: another major change i made was making healthier versions of my favorite foods for example i love pizza, i would make it healthier by finding alternative crust options such as low calorie tortilla crust with veggie pepperoni, cheese & sauce. i also love desserts, so i didn’t restrict myself from them i learned how to make healthier versions for example protein pizookie, avocado brownies (ik they sounds gross but AMAZING) and halo top or other healthier ice cream alternatives. i usually have a dessert every night bc i literally crave it at night lol.

LIMIT GOING OUT TO EAT: another change i made was trying my best to limit going out to eat to one or two times a week. i also limited my alcohol intake. it helps to do this by planning out your week in advance and your meals. for example, if i knew i was going out for a date night or out with friends on saturday i would try my best not to eat out any meals and save it for saturday out. although i was really patient with myself during this change because i wanted to still have fun & i know that socially in ohio we eat out & drink lol so if i ate out 2x or 3x a week i didn’t beat myself up about it i just kept that in mind going into the next week.

LIMITING DAIRY CONSUMPTION: i also have been trying to cut out dairy but it’s been very difficult to do it completely. i feel that dairy is what personally makes my belly bloated. i have almost completely substituted almond milk for regular milk.

the only goal/change that i haven’t been able to make yet is not getting starbucks like every day lol but i have significantly made changes in what my drink is. for example, i’ll ask for one pump of whatever flavor i want with almond milk. eventually i would love to switch to drinking black coffee or putting protein in my coffee

q: what are your workouts?

a: my workouts are all weight-based training. i stopped doing cardio because i was not consistent with it. consistency is key. moving your body is key. i currently work out about 3/4x a week for anywhere between 30min-1 hour. i’m thinking about sharing videos of my workouts if that would be something that people would find to be helpful or would be interested in that.

q: when you reach your weight loss goals,

what will your next goal be?

a: this is an amazing question! thank you for asking this! i think once i lose 50 pounds, or at the beginning of 2021 i’m going to start trying to tone/build muscle. so with that, up my calorie intake, start incorporating a lot more protein into my diet, start lifting heavier weight, and hopefully get in the gym more often. it’s so hard with how busy my schedule is now to go to the gym more than 3/4x a week so when my schedule slows down i want to be able to go 4/5x a week.

q: can you share some of your favorite recipes?

a: absolutely!!! i would love to share my recipes and i actually am going to create an individual post with all my favorites soon so stay tuned!!

this is a super long post so i really appreciate you reading it & i hope it helps!!! please don’t hesitate to reach out, i am always here. let me know what you want to hear more of! & i will continue to make blog posts with information i think would be helpful with tips/tricks. again THANK YOU for all the support i’ve gotten. i am so grateful for all of you

love y’all -

best,

alexis