Hello! My name is Lisa, and I am so excited to start this new blog where we can learn how to be consistent in our every day life eating habits. After many years of bad eating habits, I have finally found a way of eating the things I love, in a realistic way. Not only have I personally benefitted from this lifestyle, but some of my closest friends and family have also lost weight and kept it off, eating the same way. Of course, a good exercise routine is extremely important to your every day health care; however, it all starts in the things that we eat.
Growing up in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, eating healthy was not even in the vocabulary, let alone culture. With delicious fried foods, rice, and beans; the only good food I can think of was the fresh fruits all over the island. Nevertheless, let's not forget the amazing pastry's, and homemade bread where eating fresh bead from the bakery, covered in butter with a cup of hot chocolate was a common night snack before bed. It's not until now that I realize that those were some of the worst things to eat as a late night snack: carbs, sugar, and fat.
At the age of thirteen, my parents decided to move to Houston, TX where I was first introduced to playing sports with a team. I began falling in love with playing sports, and hanging out with my closest friends. As any other high schooler, eating good foods were not on my agenda. I was known as the junky, and I loved it! Since I played sports, and was so young, watching what I ate was never in question. I ate whatever I wanted, at any time, and was still burning off the calories. After high school, I continued to work out and eat whatever I wanted, soon finding out that it was no longer an option to do both. For my love of food, I tried working out double time, so that I could eat anything I wanted; however that got tiring and it was unrealistic for my every day lifestyle. To make a long story short, getting into my 20's, I realized that in order to look and feel the way I've always wanted, I had to make a change in my eating habits. As a goal minded person, and thinking ahead, I knew that the way I was currently working out and eating fit my style at the present time, but it did not cater to a long term goal of being healthy and whole. This is one of my biggest concerns with diets. Diets cater to a specific time period, but what happens after? We usually go back to our patterns and habits of eating. That is why I began replacing and getting rid of certain foods from my diet for a period of time, until I could control those bad habits. For a period of time (3 months), I cut my carbs in half. If I'd usually eat a sandwich with two pieces of bread, I'd use one piece of bread, and replace the remainder of the meal to fill me up with a fruit, vegetable, or oatmeal bar of some sort. I wanted to learn how to control the in-take of carbs because many times I'd have an egg sandwich for breakfast, maybe a sandwich or burger for lunch, and some type of carbs for dinner. That's way too many carbs for me , and if I wanted to keep a consistent way of eating that was not it! I also cut dairy in-take by half, and replaced cookies for oatmeal chocolate chip bars, and ice cream for frozen yogurt. After a period of time, this became a way of life, and has allowed me to be consistent with my eating habits. Now , do I have a donut from time to time..... ? Of course! It'd be silly not too! :) But , I have the ability to eat one, versus the three I'd eat at one give time. It's all about being able to live a life consistent, in order to be healthy and feel great long term.
Stick around for my next blog on how my sister Kareliz learned to eat well consistently, and loose weight eating good foods, and exercising.
These are Lisa's Fit 4 Life tips, follow me on Twitter & Facebook under "Fit 4 Life" or simply under my name "Lisa Clepper."
"Changing the way we eat, one cookie at a time!"
