Always Eat After 7 PM – One Month Follow Up

June 16, 2020 by Emma Leave a comment

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by “Always Eat After 7 PM.” The opinions expressed below are my own.

For the last four weeks, I’ve been following the advice in the book Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion. My goal was to start losing the weight I put on when I was pregnant with Baby J.

Because I’m still nursing, it wasn’t recommended that I skip breakfast completely. I would drink my lemon water and eat a small portion of something healthy if I woke up feeling especially hungry. Water first thing definitely helped set the tone for the rest of the day.

The idea was to follow the Always Eat After 7 PM diet plan, pay attention to what I ate, and begin working out on a regular basis. Life threw me a big curveball with the pandemic. After the first week of starting this challenge, I had to reassess my plan a couple of times.

Fitness

I wanted to train for a 5K and get back into pole dancing. A new gym opened up that had spin and dance classes that looked like a lot of fun — and it had childcare for Baby J so I could work out while G and L were at school!

But the pandemic put a major damper on those plans. Having my kids home with me all day and gyms closing has made finding the time to exercise harder.

My husband is an essential worker and cannot work from home, so finding the time to go on a run hasn’t happened yet. I’ve gone on a few walks with the kids, but I can only get so far before the older two are whining about being too hot or their legs hurt.

I’m still trying to figure out what at-home workouts I like best and fitting them into our new schedule. I do so much better in a class-type setting so a fitness routine hasn’t really been established (yet).

“Failure is Feedback”

I definitely fell off the wagon more than once this past month. Having gone from over 20 months of eating whatever and little exercise outside of walking to changing my diet and incorporating fitness takes a lot of willpower.

Every time I set myself back, I kept Chapter 6 in mind. This is where Joel talks about adjusting your mindset to be successful with the Always After 7 PM plan. He says:

“If you make a mistake, if you screw up, if you don’t achieve the desired outcome, analyze why it happened and how you can avoid the cause next time.”

One of the biggest challenges I took note of was towards the end of two weeks when our food supply begins to dwindle. This is the time when it’s more challenging to figure out a meal plan, I find that produce hasn’t lasted as long as I anticipated, and I’m just so tired of cooking that ordering a pizza is way easier.

“When things don’t go as planned, don’t get discouraged—get analytical. Figure out the cause, and plan to avoid it in the future. Failure is feedback; listen to it.”

I’ll be sitting down and thinking about what I can do to stick with the plan better. More frozen fruit and veggies and preparing freezer meals will definitely help when we get closer to grocery shopping days. Meal planning was a little tricky because some ingredients were hard to find in my grocery store due to the pandemic, so I’ll be thinking of substitutes to add to the grocery list just in case.

Weight Loss

I started this journey at 153lbs – the heaviest I’ve ever been not pregnant.

By using the Always Eat After 7 PM rules of intermittent fasting, I was able to get down to 145!

I know if I had added workouts the results would have been a little bigger. But I’m pretty happy with my result after one month, considering the ups and downs I’ve had since I started this challenge. I’m going to make changes where I can and continue to get back on that wagon 🙂

Based on surprising science, Always Eat After 7 PM debunks popular diet myths and offers an easy-to-follow diet that accelerates fat-burning and allows you to indulge in your most intense food cravings: Eating the majority of your calories at night.

The Always Eat After 7 PM plan consists of: The 14-day Acceleration Phase to kick-start the program and see rapid results, The Main Phase where you’ll learn exactly which foods to eat when in order to achieve your weight-loss goals, The Lifestyle Phase to keep the weight off for good.

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase it here.

Disclosure: In case you missed it, this post is sponsored by “Always Eat After 7 PM.” The opinions expressed below are my own.

Always Eat After 7 PM – What I’m Loving

June 9, 2020 by Emma Leave a comment

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by “Always Eat After 7 PM.” The opinions expressed below are my own.

One of the goals I had in mind when I began practicing the advice in Joel Marion’s book Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight was to make healthier choices when it came to fueling my body.

With intermittent fasting, the bulk of the fasting is done at night when you’re sleeping. Always Eat After 7 PM suggests 16 hours of fasting, leaving an 8-hour window for healthy eating.

I usually eat dinner around 5pm. Using the guidelines in Always Eat After 7 PM, my first meal of the day should be around 9am. I’m usually eating around this time anyway because I’m in such a rush to get the kids ready for the day. I forget to feed myself!

I start my day out with a 3-Minute Fat-Burning Drink, which is currently lemon water. Last week, I mentioned needing to drink more water. I’ve always struggled with drinking enough. Water gets boring really fast! Thankfully, Always Eat After 7 PM offers a few drink recipes to help make it more enjoyable. They were the first ones I implemented into my routine after learning a little bit more about why drinking water is so important:

“Water helps digest your food, expel wastes, regulate your temperature, protect your tissues, cushion your joints, and protect your spinal column, among many other vital functions. It is through water that hormones flow to the proper organs, that nutrients reach all cells, and that toxins are diluted and removed from the body.”

Drinking the lemon water has helped curb my hunger first thing in the morning, making it easier to last until 9-10am before I begin eating. It’s also curbing some of my cravings for sweet (junk) foods for breakfast!

What I’m loving about Always Eat After 7 PM:

Meal plans. This helps me so much! I’m a visual person, so seeing suggestions on what I should eat/drink and when has been really helpful.
Recipes. Recipes for the meal plans are included. This gave me a starting point and helped me create a grocery list full of healthier food choices.

Always Eat After 7 PM has you covered in the recipe department. Everything from your first drink of the day to dessert! Joel talks about his favorites in this video:

My favorite recipe so far has been the Maple Chicken and Veggies. It’s a sheet pan meal that has been quick to put together on a busy weeknight.

The desserts look amazing. The Fruit Tarts is on my list of recipes to try:

Bestselling author, Joel Marion, is a fitness expert and nutritionist debunking the myths underlying traditional dieting and offers a simple, highly effective weight loss program.

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase here.

Disclosure: In case you missed it, this post is sponsored by “Always Eat After 7 PM.” The opinions expressed above are my own.

Always Eat After 7PM: Interview with Joel Marion

June 4, 2020 by Emma Leave a comment

As I said in last week’s post, I want to start losing baby weight. I knew what workouts I want to add to my routine. I knew I had to eat healthily, but what diet plan could I follow to jump-start my journey?

Some diets felt too restrictive (I love my carbs). Some just wouldn’t work due to diet restrictions (I hate cheese/milk and L has a peanut allergy and nut products are tricky). I hate counting; points, calories, whatever — I’ve never stuck with that aspect of dieting.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by “Always Eat After 7 PM.” The opinions expressed below are my own.

When I began reading Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion, I quickly realized that this diet plan could really work with my lifestyle.

“Fact is, most diets are extremely narrow with regard to food choices and variety, and many even limit entire macronutrients altogether over the course of the entire program (think low-carb and low-fat diets). Three months with no carbs? No thanks. Such practices not only are entirely unnecessary, but make for a miserable, unsustainable experience.”

I had heard of intermittent fasting and the term scared me. But Joel explains how it works and I realized I was already kind of doing it. I’ve been eating breakfast when Baby J takes his morning nap and lunch is usually a snack. My biggest meal is probably dinner. Sometimes I’ll sneak a snack before bed when I’m catching up on blogging after the kids have gone to bed.

As I read further into Always Eat After 7 PM, I realized my biggest challenge would be changing what I ate, not when. (And drinking more water!)

Thankfully, there are recipes included in the book that sound amazing and I can’t wait to begin trying them out.

Joel Marion’s Always Eat After 7PM program makes dieting easy and eliminates 90% of the reasons for resistance.

Today I’m sharing an interview with Joel about writing his latest book:

What inspired you to write the book?

After authoring 6 best selling books it was glaringly obvious there were 2 huge misconceptions about dieting that needed to be exposed. The first is that you can’t eat late at night or before bed, which science now shows is NOT true. And second, you can’t eat large portions that satisfy your natural instinct. This book solves both these problems by providing an evidence-based, enjoyable approach to dieting that can be used by any person to quickly achieve their weight loss goals.

What was the most surprising discovery when you were researching scientific data for the diet?

That almost everything my college education and certifications taught me was NOT grounded in published scientific research.

You’re a six-time best selling author, what is different about this book compared to your others?

Although many of the concepts are similar, the biggest difference is that you don’t have to deprive yourself of your favorite foods. You don’t have to deal with the burden of eating every few hours. And you don’t have to skip the carbs at dinnertime or avoid eating before bed.

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase it here.

Disclosure: In case you missed it, this post is sponsored by “Always Eat After 7 PM.” The opinions expressed above are my own.

Always Eat After 7PM – A New Rule-Breaking Diet

May 26, 2020 by Emma Leave a comment

I’m officially ready to get serious about losing the weight I put on when I was pregnant with Baby J.

Baby J is most likely our last child, so I said “to heck with it” and caved to cravings while pregnant. Then, between my c-section recovery and trying to heal moderate diastasis recti, getting into a workout routine hasn’t happened yet. My diet still sucks, but now that I’m home with my kids during the pandemic, I cannot snack on junk all day as I got into the habit of doing. I want to show my kids how to eat well to stay healthy – but that an occasional indulgence isn’t a bad thing either.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by “Always Eat After 7 PM.” The opinions expressed below are my own.

That’s why I was drawn to Joel Marion’s new book, Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight.

We’ve been traditionally taught to avoid carbs, have an early dinner, and never eat before bed. But the fact is, the latest scientific research shows us this earlier model is not the most ideal. According to Always Eat After 7PM:

“Research shows that the average person’s metabolic rate is no different during sleep than during the day. In short, your metabolism doesn’t slow down at night. Nor does your body store fat at the end of the day. Whether it’s 8 am or 8 pm, you use food for energy the same way.”

You mean I don’t have to feel bad about eating dinner after my evening work shift? Awesome!

Curious? Joel Marion breaks down some of the science his rule-breaking diet here:

In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more about what I’ve discovered while reading Always Eat After 7PM and how I’ve implemented Marion’s strategies. I hope you’ll consider joining me on this challenge!

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase here.

Disclosure: In case you missed it, this post is sponsored by “Always Eat After 7 PM.” The opinions expressed above are my own.

2016 Done List: A Year in Review

January 6, 2017 by Emma 8 Comments

Last year I wrote two goal posts for 2016: 16 in 2016 and a Wellness Goals. Some things got accomplished. Some didn’t. Actually, the “didn’ts” totally outweigh the “dids.” So, instead of writing about what I wanted to do and whether or not I accomplished it, I’m listing what got done in 2016. Some of these things didn’t even make it on my lists as goals. They just happened and are worth acknowledging.

* I bought this double jogging stroller (affiliate) which did make me walk/run more. It meant I could take both boys on jogs/runs while Mr Boots worked – so there were no excuses if he worked late or weekends.

* I ran one 5K and earned an actual medal. I signed up for a second race for Mr Boots’ work, but an inclement weather outlook and the fact it was an hour away made Mr Boots cancel.

* I logged 1009.1 miles on Run the Year. Not even close to the 2016 miles I wanted to run/walk. 5 miles a day is harder than it sounds!!

* I organized and led my city’s Climb Out of the Darkness walk for the second year in a row. It grew a lot from 2015!

* I wrote a guest post for Postpartum Progress. I was so incredibly honored when they told me they wanted to publish it.

* I went to the dentist and was (shockingly) cavity free! I found a new one and liked him so much more than the one I was going to previously. My next appointment has been set and I can see myself getting back into going twice a year.

* We got family photos taken! I enjoyed this more than going to a studio.

2016 Done List: A Year in Review via muddybootsanddiamonds.com — Photo Credit: Giraffe Tower Photography Kristin was so patient with us as the boys weren’t very interested in having their pictures taken

* We took our first family vacation. It was just a weekend, but I was so excited to take the boys to the beach. We’ve been on trips, but they have been for family events or visiting friends. I think it stressed Mr Boots out, but it gave me such joy to introduce the boys to the ocean.

A list of what was accomplished in 2016. | 2016 Done List: A Year in Review via muddybootsanddiamonds.com — I want a do-over though because it was cold and rainy the entire weekend.

* I used my DSLR more often and edited more in Photoshop Elements. Mr Boots gave me money for Christmas for a new camera, and I ordered a new (refurbished) Nikon D5500 (affiliate) earlier this week. I cannot wait for it to arrive!!

* I graduated from therapy for my postpartum anxiety. This was my biggest accomplishment. I’ve been in talk therapy off an on since I graduated college, but not once did I stick with it long enough for a therapist to dismiss me. I still have bad days, but I feel a lot better than I did a year ago, and much much better than I did two years ago. It reiterated to me that maternal mental illness is temporary with the right help.

I hate therapy. Even though I know it’s beneficial, I have quit going before I probably should have. I’ve quit when it got too hard. I quit because it was too expensive. I quit because the therapist wasn’t a good fit. I quit because I moved. But I need more than a prescription for Zoloft to get me through the first year of my kids’ lives, so off I went when I felt I was descending down the Rabbit Hole after L was born — because @postpartumprogress helped me realize I needed to be my own advocate when it came to my maternal mental health. This was my 6th time in therapy, for one reason or another. Ive never had a therapist dismiss me because I made great strides and didn’t need them anymore. Until today. Today I heard the words “If you think you’re ready, you can stop coming. But I think you are.” After almost a year and a half, I was told I could see my therapist as needed, but if I didn’t need her again that was okay. For a year and a half this woman has provided me a safe place to share my intrusive thoughts, vent about parenting, let me cry over L’s challenges, and help me see how strong my mother’s intuition really is. She taught me that a good therapist, one you click with, makes a huge difference and is worth every penny — and even the 3 hour total commute to and from sessions. She understood my postpartum anxiety and gave me resources to learn more about what I was going through — and how common it is. This made me see how much of a mess I really was during G’s first year, when I was too scared to discuss my intrusive thoughts with anyone. I went from being an 8 or 9 on the anxiety scale to a consistent 3 or 4 (normal for me). I opted not to reminisce about my journey at today’s appointment, but I know where I am now is a much better place than where I started, and that deserves some ice cream. In the chocolate covered waffle cone. I still struggle with anxiety, always have and always will, but today I can celebrate overcoming one of the hardest parts of my #motherhood journey. #anxiety #ppa #postpartum #mentalhealth
A photo posted by Emma? (@muddybootsndiamonds) on Jun 6, 2016 at 5:53pm PDT

OMGoodness, re-reading that caption has made me bawl.

Category: Fitness/Wellness

Always Eat After 7 PM – One Month Follow Up

Fitness

“Failure is Feedback”

Weight Loss

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase it here.

Always Eat After 7 PM – What I’m Loving

What I’m loving about Always Eat After 7 PM:

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase here.

Always Eat After 7PM: Interview with Joel Marion

What inspired you to write the book?

What was the most surprising discovery when you were researching scientific data for the diet?

You’re a six-time best selling author, what is different about this book compared to your others?

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase it here.

Always Eat After 7PM – A New Rule-Breaking Diet

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase here.

2016 Done List: A Year in Review

Tell me, what would you put on your 2016 Done List?