- Hey, everyone.

It's your girl, Jen.

Welcome back.

Today I am filming a fitness video for you because fitness

is such a huge part of my lifestyle.

I have partnered with Lifesum to share my 10 tips

on how I stay fit or lose weight.

Obviously pick and choose what tips work for you.

These are all personal for me

and they work with my lifestyle.

So yeah, we've got 10 of them so let's get cracking.

So when I'm really actively dieting,

I like to set a specific time on when I have my meals.

So it's not like right on the dot but generally

within that hour I'll have a meal.

So for breakfast I'll have it around 9:00 to 9:30 a.m.

This is usually after my workout.

For lunch I'll aim it around 1:00 to 1:30

and then I'll have a snack around 3:00 to 4:00

and then for dinner have something at 6:00 o'clock.

I really like this system

because it makes sure that I don't skip any meals.

I have learned that I do not do well when I skip meals

because I end up being super ravenous by the next.

So by spacing everything out within four hours

I am just constantly content with what's in my belly.

Tip number two is to use a food journal

and I've been loving to use

this nutrition focused app called Lifesum.

I've been using it for a couple months now

and its been amazing to track down exactly what I'm putting

in my body.

I love that it makes me more knowledgeable about nutrition

and it gives me feedback so I can make more mindful

decisions in the long run.

A lot of the times I never remember what I eat.

Like, honestly, it's kind of of like a blur.

So when I stop and I become conscious of what I'm putting

into my food diary.

So let's say I have a bag of hot Cheetos

I'll log it into Lifesum and I'll see exactly

what I have put inside my body.

It makes me more motivated to make wiser decisions

for the rest of my day.

So if I'll have hot Cheetos I'll make sure I balance

it out with something more nutritionally dense

for the next meal.

If you wanna lose weight and see the results quicker,

diet is honestly the way to go.

It's the most effective way to lose weight

and if you are unsure of what is inside things

and you're not really conscious of the different nutritional

facts that foods have,

Lifesum is a really great app that does that.

Because you can really see everything.

It's beyond just like calorie counting.

You could see like how many grams of fat and carbs

and protein is in the different types of food you're eating.

And so by keeping a record of that,

it just helps you be more aware and I feel like it helps

see the progress a lot quicker.

I always make time to exercise.

When I was first starting off

I was maybe going two times a week.

But now I can comfortable go four times.

Honestly, it just makes me feel so good

after I go to the gym and I think it's really important

to find an exercise that you enjoy.

So, if you hate running on the treadmill, don't do it.

So I've learned that I freaking love group classes

so you'll see me at Barry's Bootcamp.

You'll see me at Pilates.

Any high intensity interval training class, I am there.

And it's because it makes me really excited to go.

I like to knock out my exercise

the first thing in the morning because when I wake up,

I'm groggy, I just want to just get it out of the way

so I'll wake up, I'll put on my workout clothes

and drive straight to the workout class.

And I've come to realize that the hardest part

about working out is getting there.

So when you wake up, just quiet those thoughts of like,

no, five more minutes.

Tell those thoughts to shut up and you're getting your butt

to the gym because you will like it after.

Like, I've never ever regretted working out

and that's something that I always tell my mind.

Especially when I don't wanna go.

I think it's because I just feel this huge rush

of endorphins after and even if I'm having a really bad day

that day, if I had gone to the gym or I exercised,

a part of me feels better.

I think it's because I did something good for myself.

After I exercise I'll always make sure to log it

because I am proud that I got my butt to the gym

so I'll record it and it'll just use that data

to show the rest of my day and what it's gonna look like.

Empty calories taste the best but unfortunately

they're exactly like the name says, they're empty,

they don't do anything for you and honestly,

if I'm gonna eat something I kinda want it to benefit me

in some sort of way.

And when I am really trying to like actively lose weight,

I will make sure that I don't eat anything

that doesn't give back to me.

So I've kind of trained myself at a young age

to not crave soda.

If you're craving something fizzy

or something with a little kick,

I highly recommend La Croix.

Some people just don't like it but I freaking love it.

It's like a low calorie, or it's like a no calorie,

fizzy drink that is essenced with flavor and I love it.

If you can't stand the taste of water I highly recommend

you just essence your own water.

You just cut up some cucumber, some lemon,

maybe some strawberries.

Put it in your water and you've got something fun to drink

that is good for you and without all that sugar.

Cooking at home is another tip

to ensure that you eat healthy.

When you don't have any food at your house

and you are starving, Postmates starts to look

very very tempting and you end up just ordering

a lot of food that you don't need.

When you already prepare something in your fridge,

whenever you're hungry, you have that as an option.

A great thing to do when you're cooking is to make

a big portion and just keep it in your fridge at all times.

One of my favorite recipes to use is one I found on Lifesum.

It is this really delicious green bean and chickpea recipe.

And I love that there are so many other recipes

that you can find on the app but this is just one

of the ones that I have just been constantly going to.

I keep it in my fridge so whenever I'm hungry

I just make a little portion for myself and I'll eat it.

I love to snack and one snack that is just like my absolute

weakness are chips.

If there are chips in the pantry I will eat

every single bag until they are gone.

So that's why I don't keep hot Cheetos in my pantry

because they will all disappear.

So if you happen to have a sweet tooth

and you can't control yourself around ice cream

it's probably not a good idea to keep ice cream

in the freezer because you'll end up just eating it.

When I have a craving and it's been like a week

since I've had it I'll just go physically to the store

get my allotted amount and I'll finish it then.

Now this next tip is to stop eating at a certain time.

And I only follow this rule when I'm strictly dieting.

But my cutoff is 7:00 p.m.

And for me this worked because I normally fall asleep

around 11:00 to midnight so 7:00 is the sweet spot for me.

I do this because when I have midnight munchies

it's never you know, like I wanna indulge in carrot sticks.

I always want something cheesy, something greasy.

So when I have this rule it just cuts everything off

and cutting off the kitchen at that time just really

helps me realize like hey, I have to wait until morning.

One tip that I do after dinner is I'll just brush my teeth

so that way it just caps everything off

and I will have to wait the next day to eat again.

Now cravings will always come.

And cravings are weird because a lot of times

you don't know what it is like are you actually hungry,

are you bored, do you wanna be stimulated?

So what I do when I have a craving,

I first chug a bunch of water.

I'll wait like 10 minutes and I'll see if I'm still hungry.

And if I still am and I realize that I've eaten maybe

a couple hours before and I shouldn't eat until my next meal

I will start engaging myself in an activity

that requires my hands.

And my favorite activity is to clean.

I will start wiping down the tables.

I will start vacuuming.

I will start folding clothes.

And I'll do that for 15 or 20 minutes

and if I am still hungry after that then I'll have a snack.

But usually, seven out of 10 times, I am over my craving

and I'm just happy that my house is clean.

It's like a good habit to have.

You're clean eating and your house is clean.

It's great.

When I was at my heaviest weight, I loved getting seconds.

It was truly second nature to me.

I would have my first plate as my appetizer

and my second plate to just fill in all the cracks

and that would be my main entree.

I had to stop this habit because it was always putting me

at a point where I was just so full after every meal.

I like to stop eating right when I am content.

I don't want to be slammed and full like there's no room

in my stomach because that way

I'm not gonna maintain my figure.

So I have trained myself to resist the urge

on getting seconds and that is by being patient.

After you have your meal, wait for 20 minutes

and then you will see that you're not hungry anymore.

You are satisfied.

It takes like awhile for your brain to realize

and catch up with all the food that you've been eating.

Resisting the urge to have seconds was so hard for me.

It felt like a freaking Jedi mind trick.

But I've learned that patience is key when you're dieting.

Especially when you're not crash dieting.

It's gonna take some time to see progress.

So you gotta be patient about it.

My last tip is to recognize that the first two to three

weeks are gonna be the most difficult when you're dieting.

Your mind, your body, your stomach.

They're all adjusting to this new structure

and our brains, they love routine.

They just like to keep things the same.

So that's why it's so hard to adjust to a new one

because your brain is just resisting to the new change.

But the more that you stick to your guns,

the better and easier these habits

will become ingrained in your life.

The mind is so cool because I think I read 40% to 50%

of your day is just on autopilot and that's what you want.

You want these tips to be so ingrained in your life

that you're not even thinking about it.

It just becomes something that you do.

It becomes a habit.

All right guys, those are all the tips I have for you today.

I wanna stress that you should really really edit this list

to suit your lifestyle so if that means just incorporating

three in your life, great.

There's no need to bum rush all these 10 tips

into your life and like beat yourself up

if you don't follow them perfectly.

Life is not about that.