I haven’t been happy with where I’m at with my body…I know I have weight to lose, but it’s hard!! Why is it so easy to gain 10 lbs. and so hard to lose it? I’ve written about this before, and nothing has really changed since then. Part of the issue has been my long distance training.

Jess, of Blonde Ponytail, recently discussed this on her blog. She decided to mainly focus on strength training workouts as opposed to running because of the effect it had on fat loss. I know that if I want to lose fat and get lean, focusing more on strength is key. But at the same time, I love running and every time I’ve decided to focus on lifting, I end up missing running and training for a race. I like pushing myself and seeing if I can get better in the half and full marathon.

This is the catch 22. Run, or lift and lose fat. Some people are able to do both and stay lean, but I know I can’t, and have figured that out throughout the past few years.

So right now I am just switching my routine all around. I always did heavier lifting – a set number of reps and sets. But I’ve been trying circuit training for time since last week and man is it killer! I was sore for days after a leg circuit. I am hoping this 1) helps me lose body fat and 2) the plyo movements will help me get faster with running. I’m currently not really running that much, just a few times a week. I don’t know if I’m doing a spring half yet so I haven’t been as diligent.

I just want to lose around 15 lbs by the summer time. I have a wedding to go to in February, so any small change before that would be nice, and I’ll be going on vacation in July. I know that to many I’m not “overweight” but for me, I’m at the heaviest I’ve ever been. My bodyfat % in relation to my height and weight is high. I need to change that. 

Which leads me to my next change…

I’m going to try eating meatless meals a few times a week. I’m not going full blown vegetarian or anything (don’t think I could ever do that), but I know I could benefit from focusing on increasing my vegetable intake. Some nights when I’m too lazy to cook, dinner is mainly meat, sauce and pasta or rice. Another thing I need to change as well! So I found a bunch of recipes I want to try, which I’ll share with you below as well. 

I don’t think going meatless is the means to weightloss, but I know that it will encourage me to eat healthier and it does impact our environment as well. Plus, it won’t hurt to cut out hormone-laden chicken and meat from my diet (because I don’t buy grass fed or organic chicken, but do plan on going Trader Joe’s more often to do so).

Okay, here are some recipes I want to try!

• Black Bean & Vegetables Burritos (I think I’m making this tonight)
• Tex Mex Spaghetti Squash with Black Bean Guacamole
• No Noodle Pad Thai
• One Pan Mexican Quinoa
• Falafel Sandwich

I really need some recipes to try out…preferably one a meat eater would love too since Dan is kind of a picky eater So please leave a comment below with a recipe if you have one you’d like to share!

When you’ve felt unhappy with yourself, what kind of changes did you make?

How did you motivate yourself to keep going despite it taking time to get back to where you want to be? 

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