Hello all! I wanted to share today some of the foods that I started buying when just starting out with my fitness/weight loss journey. If you’re a little lost or unsure where to start your journey, maybe some of these things will steer you down the right path. When I first started out, I had no idea where to start. Social media and the internet is absolutely saturated with diets and meal plans and people sharing what they think is the best diet out there. At the beginning of my journey, I swear I wanted to quit right away because of all those celery juices I saw people drinking. Coming from someone who ate mac n cheese and pizza almost every day for years, I found starting a diet a daunting task. Thankfully, I found some things that made that gradual switch to fresh produce a little easier for me.

Veggie Sides

My favorite way to get in veggies are using these bags from Birds Eye and Green Giant and can be found in the frozen aisles. I still keep some in my chest freezer in our garage for if we can’t get to the grocery store for a while. They are so easy to make and they taste amazing! These things were staple items in my meals when I first started out and would put these on the side of a veggie burger or piece of chicken or even simply eat these as a meal.

Cutting Out Soda

The only time I drink soda now is during my period and it is only ginger ale because it is literally one of the only things I can keep down due to my endometriosis. I know that some people will say switch to sparkling water if you’re trying to steer clear of soda. I’m not a fan of sparkling water or seltzers. When I wanted to quit soda, I just stopped. If I find myself getting tired of plain water I’ll add in flavor packets from Gatorade or use hydrate or other BCAA’s; etc. Now, I do want to switch to “healthy” alcoholic drinks as I’m not a big drinker (I hate hangovers and the fuzzy feeling I get). I might give sparkling waters a try again. Maybe I just didn’t try to right kind. I used to be a big Red Bull drinker. Now, if I need a quick fix of caffeine, I find myself reaching for my Celsius or Alani Nu.

Sweet Treats

Another thing that’s helped me from the beginning is learning how to calm my sweet tooth. In the summer months, I love my ice cream and I have a really hard time eye-balling what experts would consider a “healthy” serving. I started buying these little ice cream bars from Enlightened last year and they really help. I also found Halo Top ice cream, which is so much lower in calories vs a tub of other brands. Another thing I started experimenting with from the very beginning is smoothies. You do have to be so careful what you add in because the calories will add up fast. But it is an easy way to sneak in fruits and veggies that you otherwise wouldn’t reach for (aka spinach and kale).

Chips

When I first started with my journey, snacking on chips was one of those things that I thought I would never be able to give up. I loved my Doritos and Ruffles. But it wasn’t healthy for me to sit through a movie and munch my way through an entire family size bag. If I ever want to look back and wonder why I wasn’t seeing progress at first, that was why. At the beginning of my journey, I made the switch to smaller snack-size bags at first. Then I came across PopCorners. They were a slightly healthier version of the chips that I loved so much. I keep a bag in the house, now, for my husband and step-daughter and it was a good transition snack for me.

I am fully aware that some people are going to look at this post and say “Well, Ashley, none of this is healthy and you just wasted my time.” Where I’m at now in my health journey, I fully understand that none of this stuff is really the healthiest option. I don’t eat PopCorners anymore. I don’t make my smoothies with half of that stuff in the pictures. My veggie sides are made from fresh produce (most of the time). This stuff helped me start my journey when I didn’t know what I was doing, and maybe this stuff will help someone else start their journey. I know that it’s difficult to flip the script from eating boxed and fast food to snacking on broccoli. I certainly couldn’t do it!

I hope that you enjoyed this and hope that many of you will find this helpful in your own journey. Thank you so much for reading and until next time…………