Get Lean with Pauline

What a great article ...read to see which one is by FAR the most impactful in terms of how much weigh you can lose each year if you implement....

7 Tiny Tweaks to Cut Calories All Year Long | MyFitnessPal Seven small tweaks to help you cut calories and lose weight. “Cutting calories” is one of the more nefarious-sounding phrases in the English language, one that might conjure images of boring salads and induce hunger pangs.

Notice anything different?? 💇🏻 My kids noticed right away and gave me these faces 😱😮😳😬😖😵!! (At least my husband said it was beautiful! Major brownie points! 😘). Apparently they aren't fans of the straightness, the color...and my lips. 👄(really!? It's a new lip gloss lol!) I told them not to worry ...the curl will be back right after I wash it...but the brown is stickin' around...at least for a little while 😎

Eat Clean Christmas Couscous 🎄🎁🎄🎁recipe up now paulineabello.com

The 2 Pitfalls of Losing Weight and why some people gain it ALL back....

1) When you are lighter you need less calories.
Our bodies are fuel efficient Priuses not Gas Guzzling hummers. The heavier your body is the more calories you need. So when you were 50 lb overweight and could eat this many calories and not gain any weight....you won't be able to do that when you are light. You will start to gain the weight back. If you overeat by just 100 calories a day that will equate to 10 lb in a year gained back. In just 5 years you could be back to where you started.

2) Many stop working out
They feel like "yay, I have arrived!" And they eat calories like they did when they are working out. If you stop being active your metabolism will slow down, you will lose muscle (you will be lighter thus needing less calories) and your body may only need 1200 calories a day. I have heard of 3 people who have gotten hydro tested to see how many calories their body needed each day and it was crazy low like 1000 for an older woman and 1150 for a younger women. Granted--in ALL cases they didn't work out AT ALL so they didn't have any real muscle and weren't burning extra calories of course because they were sedentary. So the 2000 calorie a day thing that the nutrition labels assume doesn't pertain to lean sedentary Americans with hardly any muscle. If you are lean and don't work out you can't expect to eat 2000 calories a day. You gotta earn those calories! :)

So what can expect?
Expect that you won't need as many calories as you did when you were 50 lb heavier. If you were carrying around a 50 lb back pack each day you would need more calories (essentially its a workout all day long, that's why really heavy people huff and puff when they do a light jog). But when the 50lb extra weight is gone...you don't need those calories anymore. But you can workout to eat more. And you can gain muscle to need more. But you have to be ready to watch your body and learn to be in tune with it. Myfitnesspal will likely have you close to 2000 calories to maintain. And that is probably a pretty good estimate. But also know you may enter everything in myfitnesspal and it looks like it should be adding up but you find you need to cut back-- just know that its just an estimate. Let your body be your guide and adjust as needed.

My mindset about eating out has really changed over the years. When we first got married it was all about where can we get the most food for our money? Mexican food+ all you can eat free chips.....sweet tomatoes all you can eat buffet....We'd eat and leave totally stuffed! Just roll me out of the restaurant please!! Oh man! and now you know why I gained 70lb with my first pregnancy! But since losing it all my attitude toward restaurant food has really changed (and u have to if you want to lose it and keep it off). Now eating out is about the interaction and the experience. When I visited Cuba and also in Italy, w hen u eat out a meal its several small courses that last hours because they expect it's more about the gathering not as much about the food. Whereas in America we can really reverse that. The benefit too is you have time to realize you are actually full. We can learn a lot from other cultures eating habits!
It ought to be about trying new flavors--healthy, local, fresh made-to-order food--that does cost more but is worth it. It's food that is a beautiful masterpiece that looks good AND tastes good and is actually good for you (unlike most cheap food restaurants). If the food is cheap you have to know they are cutting corners somewhere to make such a low price point and betcha it's what u r eating---the ingredients.
So spend a little more, slow down, savor the flavor and the experience. You'll enjoy it more I promise--eating out with no regrets!
(This is from our 11 year anniversary date last night--another bonus...the meal came with a free gondola ride!)

Special night 👫

SUCH a great article! If you have ever plateaued, thought you had genetically slow metabolism, or were stuck at the last 10 lb take a few min to read this one! It could be the game changer for you!

"The MYTH of Slow Metabolism, Starvation Mode (+ Intermittent Fasting)"
https://www.getmealplans.com/blog/2016/04/26/myth-slow-metabolism-starvation-mode-intermittent

The MYTH of Slow Metabolism, Starvation Mode (+ Intermittent Fasting) (This post is also a podcast episode! Listen here.) I know I promised to talk about sugar cravings and gut bugs at the end of the last episode, an...

Weight loss tip #3 SMOOTHIES! Not always great! They can make you or break you!
Smoothies can be AWESOME or they can be REALLY setting you back....
HULK Smoothies are a body builders best friend--when you are body building you need LOTS of calories. But if you are trying to lose weight this is not what you want. It can be deceptive because you think you are eating a healthy smoothie but really you are over consuming calories. If that happens then your body has no need to burn fat for fuel. I'm a calorie counter and I've noticed it's REALLY easy to eat a TON of calories in a smoothie without batting an eye. Check out this healthy ingredient smoothie...

Coconut milk + 1-2 tbsp raw cacao + 2-3 bananas + dates for sweetening + scoop of Shakeology or other Vegan (no processed sugar) and maybe 1 tbsp peanut butter....and BOOM...you just made a 1000 calorie smoothie! And it all fits in a 24 oz cup!

You can just drink it so fast your body has no time to realize it actually is way full.

Soooooo...if you are doing a smoothie you REALLY have to watch the calories. This 350 calorie smoothie is a much better option:

1 scoop Shakeology or other Vegan (no processed sugar) protein powder + 16 oz water + 1 banana + 1 tbsp "Just great stuff" (organic powdered peanut butter--fat is removed so only 45 calories) + 1 tbsp raw cacao + ice to taste

Weightloss tip #2!
If you feel hungry after dinner go to sleep! (Take out the fridge lightbulb if u need to 😉😉😉) Sumo wrestlers have a big meal right before bed. So you don't want to do that lol. And if I'm a tad hungry after dinner---say around 8pm---I go take a shower and go to bed. Maybe an herbal tea. But no food. Wake up the next morning and I'll have lost weight or inches. My body was burning fat for fuel while I slept! So no food after dinner. Feeding time is over! Kitchen closed! If you are an after dinner eater and do nothing else but follow this tip you'll see results. After dinner munchies can equate to an extra 500-700 calories! Message me if you need help figuring out how much to eat. Happy Mothers Day to all the moms!

WEIGHT LOSS TIP OF THE DAY! *"HARA HACHI BU!"*
The Japanese have long had this saying (I'm borrowing it from them). So you eat until you NO LONGER FEEL HUNGER and then WAIT. You will be plenty full by that point.
This is such a small statement but the importance of it can't be understated....are you ready? Here is it....
NEVER LET YOURSELF GET FULL
Here's what I mean by this....by the time you feel full you've likely already eaten 500 calories--likely more. I have been tracking calories for years and I can consume much more than I need by the time I have that stuffed feeling.
Our bodies are like highly efficient Priuses, not gas guzzling Hummers. We need foods that are low in calories high in nutrients. so eat just enough until you could no longer consider yourself "hungry" but not to the point when you say "oh I'm so full". It's a sweet spot! And if you are tracking calories too you'll start to see a correlation of how many calories that actually takes.
This is a key step in not regaining weight. But I'll give you another tip tomorrow about that...so check back then :)