Part 3 of 3

Good Habit #3 is Healthy Spokane Food

Even with the good habits I have started, I still have those moments when my schedule conflicts threaten to derail the nutrition side of my get fit plan. I scoured the city to make sure Spokane food can be my ally when I am in a hurry or when I just want to go out.

Emerald City Smoothie, Spokane Food in a Cup

On those days when I don’t have time to make a post workout shake or don’t have the ingredients at home, I stop in at Emerald City Smoothie. Every smoothie is completely customizable. They believe in helping other achieve their health goals and they do it through their great tasting smoothies. Healthy Spokane snacks are available here. They have healthy energy drinks and make for a good alternative to fast food for a person on the go. Spokane Food Recommendation: the Slim N Fit.

Huckleberry’s Natural Market, Shop for Spokane Food

Huckleberry’s is the alternative to the conventional supermarket. They have a huge selection of natural and organic Spokane food. Even the meat department carries only free range meat products. This store is on a mission to make sure your food’s manufacturers and its grocery store are committed to being earth friendly. Huckleberry’s also offers a wide selection of products available in bulk. They believe that purchasing in bulk means less packaging thus there is less impact on the earth. They also have a natural bistro, juice bar and an organic espresso shop. If you are going to eat healthy, this is the place to shop. Spokane Food Recommendation: Huckleberry’s Bento Boxes from their natural bistro.

Mizuna, Spokane’s Finest Organic Restaurant

Classy and healthy, what more could you want from your Spokane food? Their seasonal menu uses only fresh organic ingredients found in the northwest. They use local organic farmers, fresh fish and organic meats. The chef, Tom Nichols makes sure to keep many vegetarian and vegan selections on the menu, regardless of season. He even goes so far as to prepare meat selections in a completely different area than his vegan and veggie items. Mizuna believes in simple honest food. They have been called Spokane’s finest restaurant. Spokane Food Recommendation: Roasted beet and lentil salad or grilled polenta.

One World Spokane, Spokane’s Organic Community Kitchen

Healthy food and social responsibility are the two resonating factors that keep this Spokane restaurant busy. One World Spokane is a non profit Organic
Community Kitchen. There is no set menu. Patrons customize their meals by choosing their own portions of creatively crafted food. They go one step further by allowing their customers to decide what to pay for their plate based on what is fair and respectable. They also allow customers to volunteer in exchange for a meal. In addition, no tip is necessary but if you do, it support’s volunteer’s meals. They use only unprocessed, organic, locally grown Spokane food. One World aims to eliminate waste in the food industry and hunger in the community. They believe everyone should be able to eat healthy and organic. Spokane Food Recommendation: Everything!!!

This is another one of my new good habits and I hope you have enjoyed this series. I have been eating healthy Spokane food, using Udo’s Oil and drinking protein shakes since August and I feel amazing. Combine good habits like healthy Spokane food and Spokane’s Physzique Personal Training to successfully support yourself on your way to a happier, healthier body.

Go To Spokane Fitness Coach Home Page…

I know what you’re thinking. journaling as a Spokane weight loss tool? That doesn’t even make sense! Actually though, it makes perfect sense, and here’s why.

Journal Your Food Intake

Let’s start with journaling your food intake.  Believe it or not, people are always amazed when they start this process.  Most are under the impression that they eat properly, that they balance their nutrition and that it isn’t necessary to pay attention to the calories they consume every day.  Here’s what using journaling as a weight loss tool can accomplish:

• Make you aware of what you are actually eating (those little tidbits add up fast)

• Hold you accountable to yourself

• Help you make better, conscious food choices (instead of grabbing whatever’s convenient out of the office vending machine)

• Track your water intake (as silly as this sounds, it’s extremely important)

• Help you plan meals and snacks in advance

• Keep you on track toward your personal goals (whether that’s losing weight, or just choosing to live a healthier lifestyle)

Did you know that the average woman only needs about 1200-1600 calories a day?  Men, on the other hand need about 1800-2200 per day, as do teenagers.  However, the average American consumes many more calories than their body actually needs, and they don’t pay attention to the kinds of calories they ingest.

Here are both a warning, and a challenge.  A lot of people come to the conclusion, that if eating 1200 calories a day will help them lose weight; wouldn’t eating fewer calories make you lose weight faster?  The answer to that, is no.

Eating fewer than 1000 calories a day will actually produce the opposite results.  When you eat less than 1000 calories per day, your body actually goes into “starvation mode” causing a few things to happen.

First, your body will start holding onto every bit of nutrition it receives, storing extra as fat and adding to your weight issue.  Secondly, feeling it isn’t getting enough fuel, your body will start consuming its own lean muscle tissue, a process called catabolism, in order to feed it.  This causes more problems because you not only lose your important lean muscle tissue which burns fat faster, you can also damage important organs in your body that consist of lean muscle.

Here’s The Challenge

Journal your food and beverage intake for one week, without changing any of your normal habits.  At the end the week, add up your total calorie and water consumption for each day and compare it to what the average person should be consuming.  Also take this time to pay attention to the kinds of foods you chose and when during the day you tended to have the least amount of control over what you ate.  This will be eye-opening to say the least.

A Tool, Not a Weapon

What I mean by that is, don’t beat yourself up over your intake for the last week. Instead think of it as your personal weight loss tool to give you insight into what kinds of habits you have now, and what you can do to change them for the better.  Journaling for weight loss is a very effective tool that can make a huge difference in your health. Take baby steps to make new changes, and before you know it, you will be well on the road to health.

Another Spokane weight loss tool you can put to good use, is starting a good exercise program. I don’t know anyone better suited to helping you with that, than Zach at Physzique in Spokane, Washington.  Zach can not only help jumpstart your new journey to health, but help you figure out the right eating plan for you.

Happy journaling!