Summer means swimsuits and festival season. Also: sundresses, shorts, sandals and sunnies against sunkissed skin… summer is arguably the best time of year. The only thing that can cloud over your plans for your BEST EVER (besides the actual ones) is when your bod is hanging onto some winter weight gain. Bikini?? But, brunch. Crop tops? But, cocktails… Trust, I know.
my diet philosophy: i firmly believe wine, chocolate and snacks are to be enjoyed in regular moderation.
I would certainly be the first to call myself a strict eater, but it’s often behind the scenes and you don’t see it. I abide (using this term loosely) by the 80/20 rule of strict diet to cheat meals. I’ve tried a bunch of different “diets” and have found the most luck, both in success with weight loss as well as general feel good. For the most part: I avoid dairy, red meat and gluten. That being said, I can put down a steak when my dad is grilling or from a really good steakhouse – I’m just a snob. GMO’s, Monsanto, chemical bullshit I can’t read much less pronounce, I don’t fuck with any of that anymore. Unless it’s Reese’s, because I’ll eat them until they literally kill me. A follower asked how often I go to the store and I would say generally two to three times a week. Twice for proteins, because I’m really weird about eating old meat and just eat less of it, I’ve moved to a more plant-based diet. This is good because I probably have a few more years of drinking vegetables to balance out all the Taco Bell I inhaled drunkenly during college.
Snacks are a critical lifesaver. I usually eat two or three “meals” plus two or three snacks each day. I’m always running around or doing eighteen things at once, so convenience and portability is a must. Lara bars are my favorite for meals on the go, and Harvest Snaps makes some pretty dank snap pea crisps (aka chip substitutes). I’ll blend up a shake in the morning or drink green juice pretty much every day – it’s like a healthy guilty pleasure. Meals for me are usually a protein and veggie or fruit with a fat of some kind. This is the only kind of basic I want in my life.
pro tip: learn to appreciate the process.
One of the major changes I made was cutting out pretty much all premade and processed food – for a while, when I was being really strict… Now, I find I don’t have to be quite so careful and know what I can and shouldn’t eat, so it’s much more laid back. Not to say I couldn’t cook before – I was just more of a dessert person. Precise recipes, sugar, sweet things to eat – my sweet tooth is showing. When I first committed to this lifestyle overhaul when my gym offered a nutrition challenge, I was eating absolute basics because it was like, wtf do I even LIKE to eat?!?! Learning to cook was a new challenge, and I started to like it. What started as an overweight party girl from college looking helpless as fuck with her steamed broccoli and patties of ground beef turned into a super fit, healthy betch with a recipe book collection and affinity for making deliciously easy healthy food. It didn’t happen overnight, and there were a lot of different “things” I had to learn, both the hard way – by making a mistake – and in doing my own research about what a diet should really even be.
I eat a lot of salads and drink a lot of wine. I’ve found learning to love repetition makes meal planning, prep and execution a breeze. Yes, it gets old eating the same food all the time – but get over yourself, it’s effective. Massive salads are oddly satisfying, it’s like eating an illusion – the lack of calories,plus insane amount of good for you nutrients, it’s like magic.
move your body: adventure every day.
They say abs are made in the kitchen (which is true) but they’re also made on the move. In the last year, I’ve started to really enjoy running and have also taken to practicing yoga numerous times a week, which has been next level for my journey to inner peace. Most fit // healthy // balanced people adopt this motto on some level – sweat every day. As a self-proclaimed adventurer, my version is much more fitting. I’m now partial to going on a long run in the morning and getting up early enough to catch the sunrise, or going on more of an urban hike and stopping to snap photos of any notable sights on said “adventure.” I’m still trying to get myself back into the groove of Crossfit 3 or 4 times a week.
Small moves can add up to make a big difference. Make a rule to just get outside, go do something and be somewhere new, or go somewhere old and do something new. Try a Youtube yoga sesh, sign up for a 5k and do a “couch to 5k” (seriously search them) training program to prep for it. Whatever. Just go outside on a walk and smoke a joint and contemplate your existence, I do. Whatever it is… just get moving and enjoy yourself. Every. Single. Day. Namaste.
remember: be realistic.
There’s no better example of real, beautiful body than this photo of Lana Del Rey. Pretty sure I remember reading that it is totally untouched – look how “imperfect” it is by any standard. We all know how much I fucking love and respect her as an artist and also as an icon and essentially a role model for so many girls these days – she is an accurate and real representation of what a woman’s body looks like… a very raw and different side of sexy that you don’t see so often. It’s beautiful, as she is in so many ways.
There’s always going to be someone out there with your “perfect” body… that’s how you get your goals, inspiration and motivation. Don’t lose sight of the beauty and power of your own curves in the fight of comparison against someone else. Every body has a body, and yours is beautiful – treat it that way.
xx
STONECOLDBETCH 
S. C. B. Thank you. so. freaking. much. This is literally what i needed today to fight heartbreak sickness. Every time i adventure within your blog i just walk away literally feeling like a goddess. Stay marvelous. xoxo
Exactly what I hope to do! Thank YOU, this made my week :) xx