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How I Lost 10 lbs Over the Holiday Season – My Total Body Transformation

For my 7-day meal plan including grocery list, nutritional facts, and fitness suggestions, click HERE.

These photos have not been doctored in any way.


update since original post: I have reached and maintained my goal weight and body percent fat goal of 15%.  Since reaching my goal, I have continued losing fat % and am now down to 12.1% body fat.  My total fat loss is over 20 lbs, and I have gained over 13lbs of muscle!  My current total inches lost is near 15!  This is how I lost 10 lbs over the holiday season:

I started out at 30% body fat.  This surprised me because I have been active and have eaten somewhat healthy for years.  I didn’t consider myself to be over-weight in any way, but I wanted to get fit and change my way of eating.

After three months I was down to 20% body fat and had lost 10lbs (on the scale).  I dropped two pant sizes, and a total of 10.5 inches lost (accum. from neck, bicep, waist, hips, thigh, and calf).  My 3 sisters have all lost 20+ pounds each (and counting) in the same amount of time I have been doing this. Ten pounds may not seem like a lot to some of you.  I am only 5ft 3″ and didn’t have a lot of weight to lose, 10 pounds was a safe weight-loss goal for me.  My trainer at Evolution Fitness in Layton, UT helped me with my goal!

In November 2012, my sisters and I decided to team up and see a personal trainer together.  We are all moms who wanted the weight off permanently and wanted to get through the holidays without gaining the average 7-10 pounds.  This has been life-changing for me because I have learned so much about how to lose weight the healthy way, and I’ve also learned how to eat right!

Now, I know every body is different.  I don’t claim to be a nutritionist or a personal trainer, but I want to share with you the things that I have learned to achieve my goals so that you have a better idea of how to achieve yours!

EAT – If you wanna lose weight and burn fat, you must eat!  I eat 6-7 meals a day and I LOVE it!  If you don’t know me, I love my food, so this was super-easy for me.  I was put on a 1500cal/day diet which meant that each of my meals had to be between 250-300 calories, every 2-3 hours.  If you aren’t filling your body up with the protein, carbs, and fat that it needs (yes, I said carbs and fat), then it will start eating away your muscle and you will no longer be burning fat.  Within MY 250-300 calorie meals, I was told I should acquire 31g carbs, 19g protein, and no more than 6g fat.  But the percentages of everyone‘s meals should be made up of 50% carbs (energy), 30% protein (build muscle & repair), and 20% fats (brain function).  The gram calculations depend on your body.  This is called Macronutrients.

PLAN AHEAD – You are going to feel like you are feeding a newborn, no kidding!  Feeding yourself every 2-3 hours, packing your purse with a snack if you are going somewhere means planning ahead!  If you are going to be running errands, take a protein bar with you!  If you are going out to eat somewhere, look up the menu online and see what choices may/may not be a good option.  This has become a part of my life and gets easier with every day that passes. 

JUMP START YOUR ENGINE – It is so crucial that you eat first thing when you wake up.  This will jump start your body and your metabolism and get you going for the day so do it within the first 30 minutes of waking up.  If you are not a big breakfast person, try eating my favorite protein bar.  I wake up and go to the gym at 5 every morning and eat my protein bar while driving there.  This works great because I eat my allotted amount of calories but don’t feel like I’m working out on a full stomach.

KNOW WHAT GOES IN – Track your food!  Serious, this has been the number one thing that has gotten me to where I need to be.  How do you know what to eat if you don’t know what you’ve already put into your body?  How easy is it for us to munch on cheese and crackers and lose track of how many we actually ate?  I will let you in on my favorite secret:  livestrong.com – this will be your saving grace.  This site is awesome and is FREE!  Just create an account, click on food, then my plate, and it will track everything you type in.  It keeps tracks of the calories, carbs, protein, fat, sodium…etc.  So as I mentioned above, you need so many proteins, carbs, and fats per meal, this will count them for you.  I always track a meal before I actually eat it to make sure that it meets the criteria.  It can be a pain in the butt, especially when you’re typing in around 6 meals a day, but it is so worth it to keep you conscious of what you’re eating.

MAKE THE SWITCH – If you haven’t made the switch from white to whole grain, do it now.  I no longer buy white bread, white tortillas, white pasta, white tortilla chips, white pitas, or white rice.  Honestly, most of these items I prefer in whole grain because I think they have more flavor.  You won’t even notice a difference in most of the switches, my kids don’t!  Whole grain is low glycemic and takes longer for the body to digest which helps with the fat burning process.  I don’t know how this works exactly, but it does.  Make the switch, why not?

GET IN THE ZONE – Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I could just run 5 miles a day, I would be super-thin”?  Well, come to find out, it doesn’t work that way.  Every ‘body’ has a ‘fat burning zone’.  I could go train and run a marathon and still be the same weight I was when I started because I wouldn’t be in my fat burning zone.  My workout when I started this was a 45 minute treadmill workout 6 days a week.  It had me walking on an incline of 9 at 3.2mph for 6 minutes, and then on an incline of 0%, running at 3.7mph.  I would just repeat those until 45 minutes hit and would be done.  It was a great workout for me and didn’t ‘kill’ me.  You don’t have to kill yourself to be in your zone.  While this workout was great for my body, if some of you did this workout, it wouldn’t work because your body is different.  You can find your fat burning zone on Livestrong’s website HERE, or ask a trainer at your gym to help you.  The change in heart rate from high to low is key.  This is called interval training.

WHERE’S THE GUNSHOW? – There is no burning fat unless you hit the weights.  One of my biggest worries at first was, “I don’t want to build muscle, I just want to be skinny and petite”.  I was so wrong.  Without building muscle, you won’t lose fat.  I don’t know how this works, but it does, I’ve seen it.  Besides helping you lose weight, it will tone up those flabby areas that we all hate and help you shed inches.  I have been measured every two weeks since my journey began and have always lost inches, I’ve never seen them go up due to muscle build.  Remember, a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same, but fat takes up a lot more space.  I am loving the definition I am seeing and can tell that because of weights, I have been shrinking.

WET YOUR WHISTLE Water, water, water.  It sounds so easy as that, but why is it so hard?  I have a problem with drinking as much water as I should, but it flushes out our system and is a great way to lose weight.  If you are a soda drinker, you can still drink diet soda, as long as you are getting the water your body needs, allow yourself one diet drink a day.  I have an occasional dirty diet coke and it definitely satisfies my craving for sweets.  I was advised to drink at least 90 ounces of water a day.  It’s easier for me when I have my Contigo water bottle that you can get at Amazon right now and free shipping if you are a Prime member.  I love it!  Also, I drink at least one bottle of water a day that contains my favorite flavor packets, just to mix it up!  Sometimes you need a little flavor!

BE ACCOUNTABLE – If it weren’t for my sisters doing this with me, there’s no way I could have hit my goals!  It would have been so easy to roll over at 5am every morning and hit the snooze button, but I knew they would have been waiting for me which got me out of bed.  Also, the whole nutrition thing has been great to have their support and knowledge through all of this.  Whenever we had a family party and there were gobbs and gobbs of yummy food, I didn’t feel stupid because I wasn’t the only one not eating them!  You need someone to do this with.  Moral support can go a long way!  But more than anything, you need to be held accountable.  If you are doing this alone, find someone to report to, to check-in with.  Have you been doing your workouts, have you been tracking your food, etc.

DECIDE TO START TODAY  “I’ll start on Monday”.  Is this phrase as popular in your house as it is in mine?!  The thing that makes me the most proud through this whole thing is not so much that I lost the weight and achieved my goals, but is mostly about my dedication throughout the whole 4 months.  I learned that I am a Type A personality, and if I really put my mind to something, I will succeed.  I figured that if I gave it 100%, I would never have any regrets or think to myself after a weigh-in, “If I hadn’t missed that one day of working out, maybe I would have lost more”.  You have to decide to do it and give it your all until you see your end result.  It’s as simple as that.  How important is it to you?  Start TODAY not tomorrow!

GET RIGHT BACK UP – My trainer is so great in the fact that she realizes that everyone is human.  Everyone makes mistakes and gives into their temptations.  She always tells us, “If you have a bad eating day and maybe missed a day working out, that’s fine, but you have to get right back up and start again”.  There were days where I’d have a cookie, then two, then pretty soon I had lost count!  I so badly wanted to keep on eating but I knew that the more I ate, the harder it would be to get right back on track with my next meal.  But stopped, started great on my next meal, I didn’t dwell on it, I moved on, and nothing was hurt.  Remember this: ‘Progress not Perfection’.  No one can be perfect all the time, but if you progress everyday, and practice good eating habits, you will be closer to perfection and closer to your goal.

DON’T DEPRIVE YOURSELF – One dessert/treat a week, that’s what the last 4 months have been!  This has been one of the hardest changes throughout this whole thing because I used to have treats every day.  I love this though because it really makes me think harder about the things I am putting into my body.  There isn’t a treat in this world that I dislike, so I plan out my treat days in advance, and it helps me get through those tough times because I think, “Sunday night, I’m going to make my grandma’s chocolate cream pie and it will be so worth it!”  Then, when Sunday comes, I have {ONE} piece of pie, I eat it slow, I savor every bite, my craving is cured and I’m ready to get through another week.  Don’t deprive yourself of the things you love, just limit them, and plan them out.  Another example, last night we celebrated my hubby’s birthday and I made the most naughtiest Oreo Pudding Cake ever! (recipe will be on my blog later this week!)  I knew that I wanted to celebrate with him so I held off my one treat/week rule until yesterday and it. was. so. worth. it!

REWARD YOURSELF –  This is a fun one!  Every time you hit a goal, reward yourself.  Why not?  You’ve worked hard, given it your all, and have seen results.  My sisters and mom and I just took a girl’s trip to Arizona, this was our reward!  We wanted to get in swimming suits and feel like we have really earned the hard work that we put forth.  We went shopping, laid out by the pool, and we didn’t even ruin our diet!  It was such an awesome reward for our end goals, but you can also do little rewards along the way, which brings me to the next tip:

GO SHOPPING! – Woot, woot!  Who doesn’t love to go shopping?  My trainer gave us this advice whenever we were feeling down or discouraged.  If you are feeling like you are going nowhere with this journey, if you go shopping you will most likely remember that it is working.  You might realize you need to buy the next size down, or that things are fitting loser than normal.  Go buy yourself some new, cute workout clothes so that you will be so excited to wear them to the gym.  Or you can make your own HERE.  Little rewards along the way will keep you going, I promise!

ONE STEP AT A TIME – I know this may seem like a lot to take in and very overwhelming.  Let me remind you that I started this 4 months ago.  It took me a while to get into the groove of things and figure it out.  You must take one day at a time.  Don’t expect to get it all right the first day you start.

DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL –  So, you’re feeling great, you’ve lost some weight, and you’re meeting up with some friends that you haven’t seen since before you started your weight-loss regimen.  You are eager to see what they say about your dissolved pounds only to find out that they never said one word!!  “What?” you think.  “How can they not see that I’m ten pounds lighter?”  This may be a little discouraging, and I can think of a number of reasons why you’d feel like all of your hard work was wasted.  You must remember though, everyone carries weight differently and again, every ‘body’ is different.  Maybe you didn’t have a lot of weight to lose in the first place OR maybe they just aren’t the type of friends to say anything.  Some people might feel uncomfortable to bring it up, some may be jealous.  Whatever the case, DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL.  What’s important is how you feel and what you see.  You have to do this for YOU.

On the other hand, other people will come up to you and say, “Kay, what have you been doing, you look like you’ve lost some weight.  Whatever you’re doing, tell me!”, and it will forever make your day!  🙂  And then you will want to tell everyone what you have been doing because it works!  It really works!

Over the next few days I will be sharing with you some of my favorite 250-300 calorie meals.  Most of them I eat every single day and I am still not sick of them!  Please check back and I would love to hear if you are embarking on a similar journey of eating right and trying to shed the weight!

My Awesome Personal Trainer can be found at Evolution Fitness, Layton, UT

**Please remember that I am not an expert on exercise/diet, nor am I claiming to be.  I just want to share the love!**

Healthy, low-cal recipes I eat:
my yummy protein smoothie and a tropical smoothie that I eat HERE
my yummy egg white recipes for breakfast HERE
my 3 favorite protein bars HERE 
great and low cal chicken salad and pita recipe HERE 
snacks under 300 calories HERE 
Chicken and Veggie Pizza HERE

17 comments
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  • Bart, Paige and GraceMarch 18, 2013 - 2:45 am

    Kami you are awesome! I have a long way to go and it seems so discouraging sometimes… I’m excited to try these recipes! Thanks for sharing!ReplyCancel

  • Bart, Paige and GraceMarch 18, 2013 - 2:46 am

    Kami you are awesome! I have a long way to go and it seems so discouraging sometimes… I’m excited to try these recipes! Thanks for sharing!ReplyCancel

  • 3maams3guysMarch 18, 2013 - 4:52 am

    Awesome!ReplyCancel

  • Melanie WynerMarch 18, 2013 - 3:39 pm

    I loved this post! At the beginning of the year I started a weight loss challenge and lost 11 lbs in 4 weeks. It was awesome. And a lot of the things you do I’ve done and are still doing. I would love to hear about the meals you eat. Can’t wait for that post!ReplyCancel

  • Melanie WynerMarch 18, 2013 - 3:47 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyCancel

  • ChelseaMarch 18, 2013 - 4:09 pm

    You are all looking SO awesome! Half the time when I’m in class I want to bail and follow you girls around 😉 I’m excited to see some of your meal plans. Thanks for sharing!ReplyCancel

  • Clint and SheriMarch 18, 2013 - 5:17 pm

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.ReplyCancel

  • Clint and SheriMarch 18, 2013 - 5:18 pm

    Thanks for all the great tips! And congrats to you, that is awesome! !ReplyCancel

  • ColetteMarch 20, 2013 - 12:16 am

    Kami, You are SO darling!!!!!! I love that you posted this, I have always been little and had a high metabolism, then I hit my “40’s” and had a baby when i was 40 and after that it all changed. I bought some of the protien bars that you showed , but when you get the time I would LOVE to know some of the other foods you ate that were in the range that you need to stay in . It makes it so hsrd to not have treats at the house with the kids , and I have NO self control with food, because I have never had to discipline myself. So again thanks so much for posting this, it gives me some hope 🙂 Thanks ColetteReplyCancel

  • NatalieDecember 31, 2013 - 1:08 am

    You are so inspiring! Love that you shared this!ReplyCancel

  • Six SistersJanuary 9, 2014 - 5:49 pm

    This is AMAZING! You are so cute, and this is such great motivation!!ReplyCancel

  • Capturing Joy with Kristen DukeJanuary 28, 2014 - 6:13 am

    This is just what I needed today! I’m in a slump, and trying to work out a new plan. Great read, excited to check out what protein bards you like;)ReplyCancel

  • Capturing Joy with Kristen DukeJanuary 28, 2014 - 6:20 am

    p.s. Is this per meal or per day, “Within MY 250-300 calorie meals, I was told I should acquire 31g carbs, 19g protein, and no more than 6g fat.”ReplyCancel

  • The Happy GalMarch 1, 2014 - 1:04 pm

    Wow, Charly! How inspiring. I love all of your points. This is truly a great resource for anyone wanting to make a change in their body. Great tips!ReplyCancel

  • […] came up with this recipe while eating healthy and losing weight (you can read all about it HERE).  I wanted to create something that was so flavorful and very satisfying, but still under 300 […]ReplyCancel

  • 7 day meal plan and grocery listMarch 3, 2015 - 6:50 pm

    […] tons of e-mails from people asking me questions about my nutrition and fitness.  Read all about it HERE before you read any further.  I have created a 7 day meal plan to show you examples of what I eat […]ReplyCancel

  • AikaJune 23, 2019 - 4:42 am

    Thank you for sharing your weight loss experience and journey. I’ll be sharing this with my mom who’s currently trying to lose some weight. I’m sure she’ll find this really helpful.ReplyCancel

Hey, I'm Kami!

Welcome to the blog

Wife to my Jr. High sweetheart, mother to three daughters. I have always loved being social and staying connected with other people who have similar interests to me. I started a blog back in 2010 and have been in the social networking scene since then. I love meeting new people and helping them feel confident, and see their own beauty.

How I Lost 10 lbs Over the Holiday Season – My Total Body Transformation

For my 7-day meal plan including grocery list, nutritional facts, and fitness suggestions, click HERE.

These photos have not been doctored in any way.


update since original post: I have reached and maintained my goal weight and body percent fat goal of 15%.  Since reaching my goal, I have continued losing fat % and am now down to 12.1% body fat.  My total fat loss is over 20 lbs, and I have gained over 13lbs of muscle!  My current total inches lost is near 15!  This is how I lost 10 lbs over the holiday season:

I started out at 30% body fat.  This surprised me because I have been active and have eaten somewhat healthy for years.  I didn’t consider myself to be over-weight in any way, but I wanted to get fit and change my way of eating.

After three months I was down to 20% body fat and had lost 10lbs (on the scale).  I dropped two pant sizes, and a total of 10.5 inches lost (accum. from neck, bicep, waist, hips, thigh, and calf).  My 3 sisters have all lost 20+ pounds each (and counting) in the same amount of time I have been doing this. Ten pounds may not seem like a lot to some of you.  I am only 5ft 3″ and didn’t have a lot of weight to lose, 10 pounds was a safe weight-loss goal for me.  My trainer at Evolution Fitness in Layton, UT helped me with my goal!

In November 2012, my sisters and I decided to team up and see a personal trainer together.  We are all moms who wanted the weight off permanently and wanted to get through the holidays without gaining the average 7-10 pounds.  This has been life-changing for me because I have learned so much about how to lose weight the healthy way, and I’ve also learned how to eat right!

Now, I know every body is different.  I don’t claim to be a nutritionist or a personal trainer, but I want to share with you the things that I have learned to achieve my goals so that you have a better idea of how to achieve yours!

EAT – If you wanna lose weight and burn fat, you must eat!  I eat 6-7 meals a day and I LOVE it!  If you don’t know me, I love my food, so this was super-easy for me.  I was put on a 1500cal/day diet which meant that each of my meals had to be between 250-300 calories, every 2-3 hours.  If you aren’t filling your body up with the protein, carbs, and fat that it needs (yes, I said carbs and fat), then it will start eating away your muscle and you will no longer be burning fat.  Within MY 250-300 calorie meals, I was told I should acquire 31g carbs, 19g protein, and no more than 6g fat.  But the percentages of everyone‘s meals should be made up of 50% carbs (energy), 30% protein (build muscle & repair), and 20% fats (brain function).  The gram calculations depend on your body.  This is called Macronutrients.

PLAN AHEAD – You are going to feel like you are feeding a newborn, no kidding!  Feeding yourself every 2-3 hours, packing your purse with a snack if you are going somewhere means planning ahead!  If you are going to be running errands, take a protein bar with you!  If you are going out to eat somewhere, look up the menu online and see what choices may/may not be a good option.  This has become a part of my life and gets easier with every day that passes. 

JUMP START YOUR ENGINE – It is so crucial that you eat first thing when you wake up.  This will jump start your body and your metabolism and get you going for the day so do it within the first 30 minutes of waking up.  If you are not a big breakfast person, try eating my favorite protein bar.  I wake up and go to the gym at 5 every morning and eat my protein bar while driving there.  This works great because I eat my allotted amount of calories but don’t feel like I’m working out on a full stomach.

KNOW WHAT GOES IN – Track your food!  Serious, this has been the number one thing that has gotten me to where I need to be.  How do you know what to eat if you don’t know what you’ve already put into your body?  How easy is it for us to munch on cheese and crackers and lose track of how many we actually ate?  I will let you in on my favorite secret:  livestrong.com – this will be your saving grace.  This site is awesome and is FREE!  Just create an account, click on food, then my plate, and it will track everything you type in.  It keeps tracks of the calories, carbs, protein, fat, sodium…etc.  So as I mentioned above, you need so many proteins, carbs, and fats per meal, this will count them for you.  I always track a meal before I actually eat it to make sure that it meets the criteria.  It can be a pain in the butt, especially when you’re typing in around 6 meals a day, but it is so worth it to keep you conscious of what you’re eating.

MAKE THE SWITCH – If you haven’t made the switch from white to whole grain, do it now.  I no longer buy white bread, white tortillas, white pasta, white tortilla chips, white pitas, or white rice.  Honestly, most of these items I prefer in whole grain because I think they have more flavor.  You won’t even notice a difference in most of the switches, my kids don’t!  Whole grain is low glycemic and takes longer for the body to digest which helps with the fat burning process.  I don’t know how this works exactly, but it does.  Make the switch, why not?

GET IN THE ZONE – Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I could just run 5 miles a day, I would be super-thin”?  Well, come to find out, it doesn’t work that way.  Every ‘body’ has a ‘fat burning zone’.  I could go train and run a marathon and still be the same weight I was when I started because I wouldn’t be in my fat burning zone.  My workout when I started this was a 45 minute treadmill workout 6 days a week.  It had me walking on an incline of 9 at 3.2mph for 6 minutes, and then on an incline of 0%, running at 3.7mph.  I would just repeat those until 45 minutes hit and would be done.  It was a great workout for me and didn’t ‘kill’ me.  You don’t have to kill yourself to be in your zone.  While this workout was great for my body, if some of you did this workout, it wouldn’t work because your body is different.  You can find your fat burning zone on Livestrong’s website HERE, or ask a trainer at your gym to help you.  The change in heart rate from high to low is key.  This is called interval training.

WHERE’S THE GUNSHOW? – There is no burning fat unless you hit the weights.  One of my biggest worries at first was, “I don’t want to build muscle, I just want to be skinny and petite”.  I was so wrong.  Without building muscle, you won’t lose fat.  I don’t know how this works, but it does, I’ve seen it.  Besides helping you lose weight, it will tone up those flabby areas that we all hate and help you shed inches.  I have been measured every two weeks since my journey began and have always lost inches, I’ve never seen them go up due to muscle build.  Remember, a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same, but fat takes up a lot more space.  I am loving the definition I am seeing and can tell that because of weights, I have been shrinking.

WET YOUR WHISTLE Water, water, water.  It sounds so easy as that, but why is it so hard?  I have a problem with drinking as much water as I should, but it flushes out our system and is a great way to lose weight.  If you are a soda drinker, you can still drink diet soda, as long as you are getting the water your body needs, allow yourself one diet drink a day.  I have an occasional dirty diet coke and it definitely satisfies my craving for sweets.  I was advised to drink at least 90 ounces of water a day.  It’s easier for me when I have my Contigo water bottle that you can get at Amazon right now and free shipping if you are a Prime member.  I love it!  Also, I drink at least one bottle of water a day that contains my favorite flavor packets, just to mix it up!  Sometimes you need a little flavor!

BE ACCOUNTABLE – If it weren’t for my sisters doing this with me, there’s no way I could have hit my goals!  It would have been so easy to roll over at 5am every morning and hit the snooze button, but I knew they would have been waiting for me which got me out of bed.  Also, the whole nutrition thing has been great to have their support and knowledge through all of this.  Whenever we had a family party and there were gobbs and gobbs of yummy food, I didn’t feel stupid because I wasn’t the only one not eating them!  You need someone to do this with.  Moral support can go a long way!  But more than anything, you need to be held accountable.  If you are doing this alone, find someone to report to, to check-in with.  Have you been doing your workouts, have you been tracking your food, etc.

DECIDE TO START TODAY  “I’ll start on Monday”.  Is this phrase as popular in your house as it is in mine?!  The thing that makes me the most proud through this whole thing is not so much that I lost the weight and achieved my goals, but is mostly about my dedication throughout the whole 4 months.  I learned that I am a Type A personality, and if I really put my mind to something, I will succeed.  I figured that if I gave it 100%, I would never have any regrets or think to myself after a weigh-in, “If I hadn’t missed that one day of working out, maybe I would have lost more”.  You have to decide to do it and give it your all until you see your end result.  It’s as simple as that.  How important is it to you?  Start TODAY not tomorrow!

GET RIGHT BACK UP – My trainer is so great in the fact that she realizes that everyone is human.  Everyone makes mistakes and gives into their temptations.  She always tells us, “If you have a bad eating day and maybe missed a day working out, that’s fine, but you have to get right back up and start again”.  There were days where I’d have a cookie, then two, then pretty soon I had lost count!  I so badly wanted to keep on eating but I knew that the more I ate, the harder it would be to get right back on track with my next meal.  But stopped, started great on my next meal, I didn’t dwell on it, I moved on, and nothing was hurt.  Remember this: ‘Progress not Perfection’.  No one can be perfect all the time, but if you progress everyday, and practice good eating habits, you will be closer to perfection and closer to your goal.

DON’T DEPRIVE YOURSELF – One dessert/treat a week, that’s what the last 4 months have been!  This has been one of the hardest changes throughout this whole thing because I used to have treats every day.  I love this though because it really makes me think harder about the things I am putting into my body.  There isn’t a treat in this world that I dislike, so I plan out my treat days in advance, and it helps me get through those tough times because I think, “Sunday night, I’m going to make my grandma’s chocolate cream pie and it will be so worth it!”  Then, when Sunday comes, I have {ONE} piece of pie, I eat it slow, I savor every bite, my craving is cured and I’m ready to get through another week.  Don’t deprive yourself of the things you love, just limit them, and plan them out.  Another example, last night we celebrated my hubby’s birthday and I made the most naughtiest Oreo Pudding Cake ever! (recipe will be on my blog later this week!)  I knew that I wanted to celebrate with him so I held off my one treat/week rule until yesterday and it. was. so. worth. it!

REWARD YOURSELF –  This is a fun one!  Every time you hit a goal, reward yourself.  Why not?  You’ve worked hard, given it your all, and have seen results.  My sisters and mom and I just took a girl’s trip to Arizona, this was our reward!  We wanted to get in swimming suits and feel like we have really earned the hard work that we put forth.  We went shopping, laid out by the pool, and we didn’t even ruin our diet!  It was such an awesome reward for our end goals, but you can also do little rewards along the way, which brings me to the next tip:

GO SHOPPING! – Woot, woot!  Who doesn’t love to go shopping?  My trainer gave us this advice whenever we were feeling down or discouraged.  If you are feeling like you are going nowhere with this journey, if you go shopping you will most likely remember that it is working.  You might realize you need to buy the next size down, or that things are fitting loser than normal.  Go buy yourself some new, cute workout clothes so that you will be so excited to wear them to the gym.  Or you can make your own HERE.  Little rewards along the way will keep you going, I promise!

ONE STEP AT A TIME – I know this may seem like a lot to take in and very overwhelming.  Let me remind you that I started this 4 months ago.  It took me a while to get into the groove of things and figure it out.  You must take one day at a time.  Don’t expect to get it all right the first day you start.

DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL –  So, you’re feeling great, you’ve lost some weight, and you’re meeting up with some friends that you haven’t seen since before you started your weight-loss regimen.  You are eager to see what they say about your dissolved pounds only to find out that they never said one word!!  “What?” you think.  “How can they not see that I’m ten pounds lighter?”  This may be a little discouraging, and I can think of a number of reasons why you’d feel like all of your hard work was wasted.  You must remember though, everyone carries weight differently and again, every ‘body’ is different.  Maybe you didn’t have a lot of weight to lose in the first place OR maybe they just aren’t the type of friends to say anything.  Some people might feel uncomfortable to bring it up, some may be jealous.  Whatever the case, DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL.  What’s important is how you feel and what you see.  You have to do this for YOU.

On the other hand, other people will come up to you and say, “Kay, what have you been doing, you look like you’ve lost some weight.  Whatever you’re doing, tell me!”, and it will forever make your day!  🙂  And then you will want to tell everyone what you have been doing because it works!  It really works!

Over the next few days I will be sharing with you some of my favorite 250-300 calorie meals.  Most of them I eat every single day and I am still not sick of them!  Please check back and I would love to hear if you are embarking on a similar journey of eating right and trying to shed the weight!

My Awesome Personal Trainer can be found at Evolution Fitness, Layton, UT

**Please remember that I am not an expert on exercise/diet, nor am I claiming to be.  I just want to share the love!**

Healthy, low-cal recipes I eat:
my yummy protein smoothie and a tropical smoothie that I eat HERE
my yummy egg white recipes for breakfast HERE
my 3 favorite protein bars HERE 
great and low cal chicken salad and pita recipe HERE 
snacks under 300 calories HERE 
Chicken and Veggie Pizza HERE

17 comments
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  • Bart, Paige and GraceMarch 18, 2013 - 2:45 am

    Kami you are awesome! I have a long way to go and it seems so discouraging sometimes… I’m excited to try these recipes! Thanks for sharing!ReplyCancel

  • Bart, Paige and GraceMarch 18, 2013 - 2:46 am

    Kami you are awesome! I have a long way to go and it seems so discouraging sometimes… I’m excited to try these recipes! Thanks for sharing!ReplyCancel

  • 3maams3guysMarch 18, 2013 - 4:52 am

    Awesome!ReplyCancel

  • Melanie WynerMarch 18, 2013 - 3:39 pm

    I loved this post! At the beginning of the year I started a weight loss challenge and lost 11 lbs in 4 weeks. It was awesome. And a lot of the things you do I’ve done and are still doing. I would love to hear about the meals you eat. Can’t wait for that post!ReplyCancel

  • Melanie WynerMarch 18, 2013 - 3:47 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyCancel

  • ChelseaMarch 18, 2013 - 4:09 pm

    You are all looking SO awesome! Half the time when I’m in class I want to bail and follow you girls around 😉 I’m excited to see some of your meal plans. Thanks for sharing!ReplyCancel

  • Clint and SheriMarch 18, 2013 - 5:17 pm

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.ReplyCancel

  • Clint and SheriMarch 18, 2013 - 5:18 pm

    Thanks for all the great tips! And congrats to you, that is awesome! !ReplyCancel

  • ColetteMarch 20, 2013 - 12:16 am

    Kami, You are SO darling!!!!!! I love that you posted this, I have always been little and had a high metabolism, then I hit my “40’s” and had a baby when i was 40 and after that it all changed. I bought some of the protien bars that you showed , but when you get the time I would LOVE to know some of the other foods you ate that were in the range that you need to stay in . It makes it so hsrd to not have treats at the house with the kids , and I have NO self control with food, because I have never had to discipline myself. So again thanks so much for posting this, it gives me some hope 🙂 Thanks ColetteReplyCancel

  • NatalieDecember 31, 2013 - 1:08 am

    You are so inspiring! Love that you shared this!ReplyCancel

  • Six SistersJanuary 9, 2014 - 5:49 pm

    This is AMAZING! You are so cute, and this is such great motivation!!ReplyCancel

  • Capturing Joy with Kristen DukeJanuary 28, 2014 - 6:13 am

    This is just what I needed today! I’m in a slump, and trying to work out a new plan. Great read, excited to check out what protein bards you like;)ReplyCancel

  • Capturing Joy with Kristen DukeJanuary 28, 2014 - 6:20 am

    p.s. Is this per meal or per day, “Within MY 250-300 calorie meals, I was told I should acquire 31g carbs, 19g protein, and no more than 6g fat.”ReplyCancel

  • The Happy GalMarch 1, 2014 - 1:04 pm

    Wow, Charly! How inspiring. I love all of your points. This is truly a great resource for anyone wanting to make a change in their body. Great tips!ReplyCancel

  • […] came up with this recipe while eating healthy and losing weight (you can read all about it HERE).  I wanted to create something that was so flavorful and very satisfying, but still under 300 […]ReplyCancel

  • 7 day meal plan and grocery listMarch 3, 2015 - 6:50 pm

    […] tons of e-mails from people asking me questions about my nutrition and fitness.  Read all about it HERE before you read any further.  I have created a 7 day meal plan to show you examples of what I eat […]ReplyCancel

  • AikaJune 23, 2019 - 4:42 am

    Thank you for sharing your weight loss experience and journey. I’ll be sharing this with my mom who’s currently trying to lose some weight. I’m sure she’ll find this really helpful.ReplyCancel

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