A Diet Turned into a Lifestyle

Growing up, I always thought I ate relatively healthy and lived a pretty active lifestyle. I ate home-cooked meals, I played competitive sports, I loved to play outside, and I was very adventurous. I never thought I would become overweight because “I didn’t have the body type of that.” I wasn’t wrong, but I also wasn’t 100% right either.

I went to college and I ate like a typical college kid. Most meals are from the cafeteria or simple, easy groceries that would fit into a dorm room. PS. I thought fruit snacks were healthy…oyy. I ended up gaining a large amount of body fat without gaining too much weight, so unfortunately I didn’t notice much until I lost what, I now, call my “college athlete fat”. Once I looked at myself in the mirror, I knew I wasn’t overweight or obese. I just knew that I needed to learn a healthy way to eat and find a new hobby to stay moving.

So what did I do? I did some research and asked my peers for advice on better eating habits. Eventually, someone told me about the Paleo Diet. The Paleo Diet is a diet based on types of foods that the caveman had accessed to back in the earlier times. The food allowed in this diet are items that are huntable, pickable, gardenable, farmable in the wild. So then, I started to wonder, how do I know how much to eat if I start to follow a diet plan? This is when I learned how to do marco-nutrition.

Once I figured out how many calories, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, the Paleo Diet just made sense! (Remember, everything I say is tailored to my marco-nutrition. Everyone has different marcos, and you should get your own macro-nutrition numbers, so you can get results too!) So I started off by creating my meal plan by breaking everything down into 3-4 meals a day. This worked best with my schedule at the time.

My Macro-Nutrition Plan:

Every morning before my 4:00 am shift at Dunkin’ Donuts, I would make myself eggs whites, avocado, turkey sausage, apple, and almond butter. This prevented me from eating the food that was right in front of me. Once I got home around 12:00pm, I would have lunch. I would have a simple baby spinach salad with some other vegetables, apple cider vinegar, and a baked potato. Side note, don’t forget I am pretending to eat like a caveman does. That means I can’t add butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, etc. to my meals because cavemen didn’t have access to those items. So the meals were very healthy but also very bland tasting without added condiments, seasonings, ingredients, etc.

I had a small break between Dunkin’ Donuts and my first personal training gig at the time. I would rest up and get up early to get into work an hour early, so I could lift beforehand. Before running to my next shift, I had a bowl of oatmeal with two pieces of fruit. Luckily, I was allowed to put some non-fat milk on it! Hurried up and scarfed that down as I go into work early to get a workout in. That was usually around 3:00 pm. Mid-work snack would be an orange and a protein shake, and I wouldn’t eat again until dinner. I would work until 8:00 pm, finish my workout, and head home around 9:00 pm to eat chicken, brown rice, and peas.

I did this meal plan for eight months. Eight straight months and I went down in pounds, became stronger, became more active, and I was eating a lot healthier too. Eventually, I stuck with this habit long enough that I didn’t have to weigh my food anymore, didn’t have to measure everything out, and I didn’t have to eat the same thing day after day week after week. I became aware of portion size and control, I was aware of good nutrition, how some condiments can turn a good food into bad, and how to balance out each meal to a natural full within my macros for that day. Once you get the gist and become aware of what you stick in your mouth, the healthier lifestyle you will live!

That is the 3GX Way!