Eat Healthy, its as easy as 1-2-3.......10!

I recently lost 60 pounds. When I say recently I mean in the last 7 months, which is also how old my baby is:) I have never really had a problem getting back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I have also never really considered myself "healthy". After the first baby was certainly the easiest, the weight just seemed to melt off with hardly any effort at all! Second baby I gained more than the first and it really felt like a lot of effort, probably because I also had a 14 month old to take care of, but I still got the weight off. When I became pregnant with my third baby I really thought, "ok I have done this before, I really do not need to gain 60lbs this time, I can try to eat healthy and stay active during my pregnancy." But boy do those first 3 months of sickness really sabotage me where I only eat what sounds good (which is usually junk food), then I get into all these bad habits, and by the time I don't feel nauseous anymore, I give up and decide if I am going to gain weight anyway I may as well have fun doing it! So after having my third baby, I had again gained 60 lbs, and it was time to get down to the nitty gritty. This is when I really started to research food. Does what you eat really make a difference? Is it true what all the health experts and fitness gurus say about metabolism and protein and carbs etc? The more I researched the more I found there actually is a pattern in what all those fitness "junkies" and health "freaks" say about how to stay fit and healthy. I have not only lost the baby weight again, but I am in the best shape I've have been in probably since I was first married 7 years ago and I feel amazing! So here is what I have learned so far about nutrition that I think has really helped me lose the weight and start build good habits again...

1. Food is fuel. As much as I want it to be a party, its not. 

2. To maintain the healthy weight that I would really like to be at, I cannot consume the amount of calories my brain tells me I want to have.

3. Counting calories using a food journal (myfitnesspal) works for me. This has been a real eye opener to just see the amount of calories in food and how it all adds up. So even if I am 1000 calories over my goal and feel like a total failure that day, I log it in. The purpose of this is to one day not need to do it at all, because I will have established such good habits and know without even thinking about it what I should eat (and I am willing to accept that this will probably take a while haha)

4. I can lose weight as long as I am eating healthy MOST of the time. I try to stick with small indulgences or healthy treats, however I still have days where I go 1000+ calories over my goal. Its just that those days are less than the really good days and I have seen that I can still lose weight even with a really bad day every now and then.

5. Eating junk gives me a hangover. This never used to happen to me, probably because my body was used to those foods. I've been consistent with my nutrition for the last several months, however I still have days that I really just want to EAT and over-indulge on treat foods, and when this happens, I go to bed with a massive headache, and wake up with one. 

6. The quality of the calorie is important. Not only do I feel physically better eating healthy foods, but I get to eat a heck of a lot more!

7. Finding healthy "treats" is a must! I am constantly looking for these type of recipes. 

8. Sugar is the devil. Not carbs or calories and certainly not fat, but SUGAR!

9. Meal planning is essential. Otherwise my mind wanders too easily and once I think about something naughty to eat, its hard to get it out of my head until I eat it.

10. And probably the biggest thing I have learned is that eating healthy takes effort. NONE of this comes easy for me and every single day I have to consciously think about my goal and how I am going to stick with it and why it will give me the results I want.

I plan on elaborating a little more on each of these at some point as some might be wondering how I decide how many calories to eat or what makes a treat healthy? I also plan on this list evolving and GROWING and I continue to learn more about nutrition and what works for me. And hopefully if I ever fall out of being healthy I can look back on this and remember what works for me! Anyone else have tried and true health tips to share?