Reagan's Blog

Category: Weekly Health Updates

Week Four: My Health & Fitness Journey

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On July 7, 2021

In Weekly Health Updates

Welcome back to my last blog post!

I can’t believe it has already been four weeks, so crazy.

During these past few weeks, I feel like I actually did learn a lot! A lot about myself as well as the basics of health, food, and fitness. I learned that I really do enjoy fruits and vegetables, so I didn’t feel like I was forcing myself to eat them. I also learned that when it comes to losing weight it isn’t about fitness as much as it’s about what you are eating. Not only did I notice this for myself, but I have also seen this happen for others!

Carbs are the best thing ever… to eat until you see your body change for the worst from eating so many carbs. I did cut back a little on carbs and even though I did this over a few weeks I still felt like I noticed a little bit of a difference. The scale is telling me I lost a few pounds, so I’ll take it!

I feel a lot better about myself this summer compared to last summer. There is a noticeable difference in myself. Choosing to make healthier options these past few weeks has made me feel physically great!

I also went on a couple hikes while I have been out here in Colorado and some of them were a bit harder than others. But I really enjoyed them and of course a great work out. Being active a couple times a week has made me feel almost even more energized and less sluggish.

This journey for me won’t end and I want to continue to be healthier and more active. It’s normal to fall off the wagon a little because it’s normal to want to eat something bad every now and then. Like I said before, it’s all about doing things in moderation. I want to continue to make steps forward to living a healthier lifestyle to continue what I’m doing but maybe take it a step further!

Thanks for following along on this journey with me and until next time!

Week Three: Fun Ways To Stay Healthy On Vacation

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On June 30, 2021

In Weekly Health Updates

Welcome back everyone!

This week I wanted to do something a little different, but of course we are still talking health and fitness!

I am actually going on a road trip this week to Colorado which is super exciting! But the not-so-great thing about it is… I am going to be in the car all day long these next couple days. Including today, in fact I am typing this now in Streetsboro, Ohio because that’s where we decided to stop tonight. These past few weeks we were in the process of moving because my mom is moving to Colorado and I am coming along with her but only for a week or so for a vacation. Working out and eating healthy has not been the easiest thing to do being constantly on the move. Now being in a car all day has made things a little harder. That is why today I wanted to talk about some exciting things I have planned for Colorado! Plans that will keep me active like hiking but also some restaurants I would like to check out that offer some healthy options.

We would like to arrive in Denver, Colorado by Saturday so we’ll start doing some fun stuff most likely on Sunday. After doing a lot of research, I have discovered there are so many places I can go to within the Denver area to keep me active. I have been to Colorado before so I’m a little familiar with some things there.

This picture is from the last time I was in Colorado in 2017 when we went to Garden of the Gods which has a lot of different hiking trails. It was fun and still a great workout! On the Garden of the Gods website there is an article posted of just the different hiking trails it has to offer, and there are so many!

Colorado is known for what is has to offer in terms of the outdoors. There are so many cool places to choose from to go hike or even go for a walk or a run. I created a map of 10 different possible places I can go hiking! They are all basically around the Denver area, so it is still realistic to accomplish. Just because its “vacation” doesn’t mean I can’t do it!

After this past week of packing and moving stuff in and out and eating quick meals on the go I’m so ready for a fun vacation. Where I can still feel good about what I’m eating and the activities I’m doing. The next thing I looked at while doing some Colorado research were the restaurants! There are so many restaurants in Denver, of course, it is a city. Denver.eater.com has an article called, 18 Healthy Denver Restaurants to Energize You in 2021. The food looks amazing but also super healthy so it’s like killing two birds with one stone.

This past week I really fell off the wagon and I really want to get back on track this next week, even while being on vacation. It shouldn’t be hard if it’s fun!

That’s all I have for this week. Thanks for reading and wish me luck!

Week Two: Let’s Talk Food

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On June 23, 2021

In Weekly Health Updates

Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog!

I hope everyone had a great week! I definitely did and was very busy as well.

This week I wanted to go more depth about food. My food intake throughout the week, what I ate, what I avoided eating… etc.

This past week, I paid closer attention to the foods I was eating each day and kept track to make sure I ate at least 4 servings of fruit, 5 servings of vegetables, and 8-9 servings for the week for meat. According to this article on heart.org, this is ideal for the average adult person. So, in a perfect world, this is what everyone should be eating each day if they don’t have any certain restrictions to their diet.

This was my goal for the week and of course fell a little short for some of the days depending on my schedule, but I really did try my best and I thought I did really well some days! The days I fell short the most were the days I went to the beach and hung out with friends, of course. Sunday, I didn’t even eat breakfast and just had a hotdog for lunch which is horrible! But let’s not talk about my bad days, let’s talk about the good for now.

My best day was definitely Monday because I felt so awful for eating the way I did the previous day and had a great healthy dinner all thanks to my dad who made it for me! I had grilled chicken, sweet potato fries, corn on the cob, and asparagus. It was very healthy and so good! Healthy food can be just as good as pizza or mac n cheese, in my opinion at least, I say that very lightly though. The same day I also had a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs and turkey bacon. I love turkey bacon and always have so I’m not just eating it because it’s healthy! A couple days prior on Friday I tried some new healthy foods. I tried quinoa and Brussel sprouts for the first time ever. I was very wary about the Brussel sprouts because it doesn’t seem that many people enjoy them. But they were seasoned in a certain way that made them enjoyable. The quinoa wasn’t bad either, I would definitely eat it again!

My bad days. There are always bad days. Days where I didn’t eat fruit or vegetables at all let alone 4-5 servings! Days where I’m too busy to cook and need to eat something on the go and end up getting Taco Bell. I’m such a sucker for Taco Bell and I don’t think I can ever give it up no matter what!

Changing your diet completely isn’t easy but incorporating better foods into your day can still create big changes. I have really learned already that I love to eat fruit with my breakfast and eating a vegetable with your dinner is super easy. I have always been a big fruit and vegetable lover even as a kid! Some days it’s just about choosing to eat a salad with chicken instead of leftover pizza for the second night in a row. Or even the days where I would avoid a certain food that has a ton of carbs like pasta. But some days you’re just going to feel guilty about that 11 PM Taco Bell and it may push you the next day to eat a little healthier, just like it does for me. It’s all about trying new things to find what works for you!

Feel free to check out this YouTube playlist I created with 10 different videos on healthy eating and its importance as well as advice for beginners! I find it really interesting and helpful.

That’s all I have for today and I hope this can benefit you in some way!

 

Week One Update: Making Healthier Choices

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On June 17, 2021

In Weekly Health Updates

Welcome back everyone! These past few days haven’t been easy. Going out to eat is a killer, I’ve realized. It’s hard to order something healthy when you go out to eat, especially when the person you’re with is ordering whatever they want. But I do think I have made some improvements that I am happy about. I know I’m not going to be able to immediately change my eating habits and just starting working out every single day. That’s not really realistic. 

These past few days I have been eating a lot more fruit! All different kinds. I find that in general I eat more fruit in the summer and I’m sure others can relate to that as well. Instead of snacking on something unhealthy I would snack on some fruit instead. I didn’t completely cut out sugar but there were times when I really wanted something sweet and decided against it.

During this past week, I did do some research to help me with this journey because I am not exactly a health expert. I came across this YouTube video:

I found it really helpful to me and it is also a beginners guide which is what I am looking for. The woman in the video, Lucie, gives some great advice on portion control, what to incorporate into your diet, calorie counting, and meal prep. I really like how she doesn’t just say that you have to completely cut out unhealthy foods. It’s really all about doing things in moderation. So if I want a cookie every now and then and pizza every once in awhile, then it’s ok!

In terms of exercise this week, I worked out three different times! Which I am pretty proud of because I definitely don’t workout every single week let alone three times in a week. I found this picture on Pinterest that was posted by Fitness Chat from fitnesschat.co. It’s a 4 week challenge for people to do 6 times a week although I didn’t do all 6 of the days. One day I only had 3 hours of sleep and another day I worked all day and was just too tired. I’m not going to beat myself up if I can’t do it everyday. I’m doing something and that is what matters the most to me right now.

I would really like to meal prep, but we are in the process of moving so we aren’t buying many groceries at the moment. My goal next week is to just take it day by day. I always feel so much better when I eat healthier so this past week I felt pretty good about myself! But I would like to try and workout about 4 times this next week and go a step further.

What I realized this week so far is that the most difficult thing for me has been motivation. Or even finding time to get a workout in. I find myself at times doing the workouts later at night because that is all the time I really have most days. Going out to eat and finding something that isn’t horrible for you. When I do eat at home, eating healthy isn’t too difficult because there are a lot of healthy foods I do really enjoy.

It’ll be interesting to see where next week takes me on this journey, thanks for reading!

First Blog Post!

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On June 11, 2021

In Weekly Health Updates

My journey to a healthier lifestyle has officially begun! My goal here isn’t to go crazy with my diet and workout everyday. I want to be realistic and still enjoy summer, but also just make healthier choices! That means more fruit, more vegetables and more of being active (because before I was active maybe once a month which is pretty bad). This past semester was a little overwhelming for me so that meant eating bad food late at night to help destress. And you would think I would have more free time during the summer, but I really don’t. So I am forcing myself to get it together. If I’m better to my body, my body will be better to me, therefore I’ll have more energy to do stuff!

My overall goal is to do something active 3-4 times a week. I’m not saying working out because I don’t always have time to do that, so as long as I’m staying active I’m happy with that. This could be walking, running, lifting, you get the gist. I want to make it enjoyable too because it’s way more fun that way!

In addition to being more active I would like to incorporate more healthy foods like fruits and vegetables to my diet like I said. Carbs are what kill me the most because I absolutely love carbs (pasta, pizza, anything that has bread is just great). My dad cut carbs and sugar as his new years resolution and has kept up with it since January so I would like to follow in his footsteps. Except I definitely am not completely cutting out carbs and sugar I just want to decrease my intake. I would like to lose maybe 10 pounds, nothing too crazy. I think by doing this I will feel better about myself as well because everyone deserves to feel good about themself! I want to find out what works for me and what doesn’t. It wont be super easy at first but I am ready for the commitment!

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