Pursuit of Wellness - Sustainable Fitness Tips: How I Kept The Weight Off

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is the Pursuit of Wellness podcast, and I'm your host, Mari Llewellyn. Hi, guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Pursuit of Wellness podcast. I'm your host, Mari Llewellyn. And today we are doing another solo episode. I hope you guys really enjoy these. I love to have a moment where I can just sit and chat with you guys and kind of answer some questions that I see popping up time and time and again. And a question I get all the time is, how do you keep the weight off? For those of you who maybe are new or don't know, I lost 90 pounds back in 2017. And I've spoken about that journey and kind of what it took for me to

Starting point is 00:00:46 lose that weight, change my life, change my mindset, change who I was. And something I haven't really spoken about is how I've gone about keeping fitness a sustainable part of my life. I get asked all the time, how do you keep the weight off? It's an interesting question because truthfully, it was never even an option for me to not continue living my life this way. Like I never even considered slipping back to how I was. And maybe that's because the weight gain I experienced came from such a rock bottom place. It was like, I never want to be there ever again. And it was such an internal change for me. I know, you know, the weight loss part of it all is really the clickbait moment that everyone's interested in. But ultimately, I really just

Starting point is 00:01:36 changed like, who I was and my work ethic. So I would love to talk to you guys about how I continue to live a healthy lifestyle, how I stay fit and healthy in a sustainable way. And hopefully some of these tips are helpful to you guys. If you're on a weight loss journey or you simply just want to be healthier long term, then keep listening because I have some great advice. The way that I view fitness and health is it really is a lifelong journey. Like this isn't a sprint. It's not a quick fix before a vacation.

Starting point is 00:02:15 It's not a cleanse. We are doing this for life. A huge reason why I live the way I live is because I want to age gracefully. I want to feel good in my 60s, my 70s. My granny is actually a huge inspiration for me. She is, I think, 86 years old and her hair is down to her hips. She walks a ton. She is really, really intelligent and awake and there. And that inspires me. I want to feel like I'm still living well in my age, in my older age. So that's a huge reason for me.

Starting point is 00:02:56 Fertility is a huge reason for me. We're thinking beyond the aesthetics here and thinking about how can fitness and health actually enhance my life for the rest of my life. And there really needs to be a motivation for you beyond just the aesthetics of it all. For me, it's so much about my mental health and for longevity and for showing up as the best version of me for my partner, for my work, whatever I'm doing. So I just wanted to preface my tips with that. Kind of take a look at the reason that you want to live a healthy and fit lifestyle. Is it for you? Is it for your kids? Is it for your family? What is it for? Is it for future you? So let's hop into

Starting point is 00:03:40 some of these tips. The very first one, and these aren't necessarily in order. These are just like what came to me first when I really looked at my day-to-day habits and what I think works for me. I would say, and by the way, guys, like people's goals are different. I would keep that in mind, but this is what's working for me right now. I want to be athletic and capable and fit. I like to be relatively lean. I like to see muscle and feel good about myself, but I'm also on a fertility journey right now. So keep that in mind. My first tip I have here is high protein. You've heard me say it before. I'll say it again. High protein is so important. It helps me feel full and satiated. Muscle is so important. I eat a ton of protein throughout the day. I like to load up my breakfast, especially because I want

Starting point is 00:04:37 to start the day with a feeling full, feeling satiated, and a large amount of protein because getting enough protein in is really challenging. I feel like 80% of people are actually not getting enough protein in because when you actually look at it on a plate, my breakfast is a pile of meat and some fruit, basically. What I've been doing lately is I'll have bacon or sausage, which is kind of like my higher fat protein, and then I'll pair it with a leaner cut. So maybe like a skirt steak or ground beef, 90%, and I'll mix it all together for this kind of like meat mash. I know that sounds so disgusting. I'm not mashing the meat. That made it sound really, really gross. It's basically just a

Starting point is 00:05:22 plate of meat. And then I'll do strawberries. Today I did a banana for a little bit of carbs. So I'm really hitting all my macros there. And I would estimate that my breakfast is probably 30 grams of protein, maybe more. And then I just keep kind of repeating that throughout the day. My meals, my snacks, everything is centered around the protein. So for lunch, maybe I'll do ground beef and avocado or a salad with extra protein. If you order your lunch, let's say you order salads, get double protein every time. Highly recommend it. Dinner is also centered around the protein, whether it's a ribeye, a salmon, lamb chops, like you can really switch it up. Oh, slow cooker, really great way of making delicious meat that like falls off the

Starting point is 00:06:12 bone. So freaking good. And then put your veggies and potato kind of around that, if that makes sense. In terms of snack, high protein again, I love chompsps meat sticks, fantastic way of getting protein in. And there's no additives or any weird ingredients in there. They are a sponsor of the show. We have a code. I'll put it in the description box. I love Raw Bars, R-A-W-R Bars. They are a small family business that I order from. My Dr. Emily Morrow recommended them to me. I believe they have 20 grams of protein in them. I had one on the way to record because I knew I would get hungry. I am like a giant baby, guys, when it comes to eating. I'm like clockwork. Like I wake up hungry. I have to eat by eight at

Starting point is 00:06:57 least. I work out fasted and I eat right after. Now, I do want to comment on that window of time that you need to eat your protein. I recorded an episode with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and I asked her about this time window. It really isn't as important as we think. As long as we're getting in enough protein throughout the day, it really is about the whole day. And what they recommend is a gram of protein per pound of body weight. So let's say I weigh around 150 pounds, like I need to be getting 150 grams of protein in per day. So it is kind of a mission and you need to be very conscious

Starting point is 00:07:33 of it, but it really is life-changing. Like just by upping your protein, I feel like what you'll find is that you end up eating less crap throughout the day because you're not having those crazy cravings and you just feel full. And then also increasing that lean muscle in your body is so important, especially if you're weightlifting. Just by having, and it's hard to explain this concept, but simply by increasing your muscle mass, your body requires more calories to exist every day. So you're actually kind of burning fat when you increase muscle. Having muscle is so important, especially as we age, it protects our bones, it helps with longevity. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon went into so many different studies with me about Alzheimer's and various different diseases, that muscle is really, really like an important

Starting point is 00:08:23 piece of the puzzle for health and people don't talk about it enough. So muscle is really, really like an important piece of the puzzle for health and people don't talk about it enough. So muscle is big. I also put incorporating a lot of fats. This isn't hard for me. I love fats. I'm definitely like a savory type of gal. I love using ghee and tallow and avocado and various types of like healthy fats on my food. But I think for us women, it's really important that we're getting enough fats. Like if you're someone who is maybe eating like really lean proteins and lots of carbs, just remember that fats are really important for hormone health and overall energy and also feeling full and satiated and brain health. Fats are important for absolutely everything. So I think that's really crucial if you're a female, just to make sure you're getting enough fats in every day.

Starting point is 00:09:12 I put finding a healthy sweet treat that you love. So for me, for example, I have a few things I really look forward to in the day. Like I have a can of poppy at some point in the afternoon. I love the cherry limeade flavor. And then I also have four squares of my evolved chocolate. I love the simply white chocolate from evolved. Oh my gosh, it's so creamy. It's so good. Highly recommend you guys get it. The ingredients are super, super clean. And just having these little treats throughout the day, like makes eating healthy fun. And I'm not saying they're essential, but they really do keep things interesting and enjoyable. We don't want to be eating like chicken and broccoli all day. And there's no need to do

Starting point is 00:09:57 that. I think when I first got into fitness, I thought that I had to eat like very regimented and a certain like tilapia, chicken and broccoli and rice, like everything was very like dry. And now I've realized you can really have so much fun with healthy food and there's so many great options out there. So you just need to kind of educate this show is sponsored by better help i have been consistently in therapy since i was about 14 years old i've had on and off periods but i found the times where i'm really prioritizing therapy are the most personally moving for me and i feel like I've made the most growth during those times and they have been so beneficial. I think being able to talk to someone who doesn't have a biased opinion on your life and can really hear you out makes such a difference in my day to day, whether it's

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Starting point is 00:13:38 always do, but find yourself a big portable water container and bring that thing with you everywhere you go. Hydrofasks, Stanley, although they may have lead in them, so be careful about that. Gallon jug from Whole Foods, whatever it may be. When I first started losing weight, I did a gallon a day, which I'm glad I did because I think it really taught me how much water we actually need. I was definitely peeing every five minutes and I'm still peeing a lot, but I drink a ton of water every day. And I really think that the body needs to be hydrated correctly in order to be healthy and work well and make you feel good and energized. And it just, it impacts everything. I also think it helps you feel full. Not that we're trying to pretend that we're full, like you need to be eating enough food. But I think a lot of the

Starting point is 00:14:30 time when we think we're hungry, we're actually just dehydrated. So a lot of water, whatever you need to do to get in enough water, whether you want to throw in a scoop of bloom greens and work on your bloating at the same time or put some electrolytes in there, whatever helps you drink more water is worth doing. Don't leave the house hungry is my next tip. This is one that really helped me on my fitness journey and just realizing the power of preparing ahead of time. So for example, if I'm going to the mall, I'm headed out for the day, I'm going to an event, going to the movies, whatever it may be, I am eating a snack or a meal beforehand and I'm packing a snack for myself. And I know that sounds childish, whatever.

Starting point is 00:15:20 I'm preparing ahead because the facts are most places publicly don't have good options. Like every once in a while, if you live in LA or Austin or New York, you may have good options at the tips of your fingers. But for most people out and about, we can't really trust what people are serving. It could be covered in canola oil. The sauce could have tons of sugar in it. It's kind of just not, you know, every now and again, yes, like I am grabbing something while I'm out or I'm ordering in lunch if I'm busy. Like I don't want to give the impression that I'm just like a freaking homestead of cooking everything I eat. I do grab things when I'm out and about. However, I've seen really good success when I prepare ahead of time and I say, okay, I'm going to be

Starting point is 00:16:05 out for a few hours. Let me bring a snack. Let me make sure I'm not leaving hungry because you are far more likely to make bad decisions when you're hungry and you're out and about. And there's an Auntie Anne pretzel right there or popcorn or whatever it may be. Like cook what you can at home, bring what you can from home and feel good about the fact that you are giving yourself the nutrients your body needs. And then you're also kind of saving money as well, which is another good one. Don't be sedentary. This is important and something that I'm still keeping in mind now. I think for many of us, whether we're at an office job or just on our computers all day, it's so easy to end up sitting at a desk like nine to five and not moving. And I kind of fell

Starting point is 00:16:53 into this when I was at the Bloom HQ every day. I'd find myself sitting behind my desk all day, not moving. And I've really made it a point of getting up and getting outside and going on walks. Even if it's just around the block really quick or I'm taking a phone call on a walk, walking throughout the day and getting those steps in really, really helps if you're trying to stay. Keep your weight off or stay lean or whatever it may be. That movement's really important. And kind of be honest with yourself and be like, how much am I sitting per day? And if it helps you to get a fitness tracker, I really love my aura ring for steps. They're not super accurate, but I just try to get over like 10,000 a day right now, or use your health app

Starting point is 00:17:36 on your phone, or just get up and like do jumping jacks, like whatever you can do. Greg is a crazy man, my husband Greg, and he will get up and do push-ups. He will pace while he's on the phone. He's constantly moving. And for that reason, Greg is like fit all the time. So I've really noticed that the people who move around more during the day tend to be more fit and healthy in the long run. Oh, this one's good. Don't have an all or nothing attitude. This is important. And I've seen it in a few people around me. And I've had it before, too, this kind of feeling that if I have a cheat meal, or I'm off track one day, or I'm traveling, and I got kind of crazy, that I just ruined everything. And I might as well just like throw the towel in for

Starting point is 00:18:25 the rest of the week or the rest of the day or whatever it may be, allowing fun or slip ups to kind of ruin the progress. That isn't the mindset. The all or nothing mindset doesn't work very well when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. It took me a while, honestly, to get to this place of being like, I could have like a cheat meal last night or a treat meal, whatever you want to call it. And have fun with my food and have a burger and have a martini, aka me on Saturday with Greg at our date night. I had a burger, I had a martini and I loved it. And then the next day I went to the gym and I ate my normal breakfast. Like things don't have to be so absolute.

Starting point is 00:19:10 I really feel like that is a mental shift that needs to be made. It really is about like the consistency of it all. When you look at your life big picture, it's like how much, like I'm eating healthy probably 90% of the time. I'm working out regularly 90% of the time. And just knowing when it's okay to like allow a break to happen or fun to happen every now and again, because we need to live our lives too. And if you really like get

Starting point is 00:19:41 regimented with it and disciplined and don't allow any fun or, you know, travel, date nights, really getting out and enjoying life, then it's not going to be sustainable. So you need to make room for that. But just know that coming back to center and grounding yourself and getting back on routine, it's always there. And it doesn't mean that we have to abandon shit. I hope that makes sense. My next tip is to keep it interesting. I've kind of touched on this a little bit, but I think trying new things, going on new walks, like trying new paths when you go out on your walks, going to different neighborhoods or areas of where you live, working out with friends, cooking new recipes, making it a date. Greg and

Starting point is 00:20:28 I love cooking together. So if I want to try cooking something new, I'll like tell him what I'm thinking of and we'll meet up in the kitchen after work and do it together and make it fun. Make it a date with your partner to go on a walk. Like Greg and I were done with work the other day and I said, hey, do you want to meet up and go walk around the lake or text a friend? Like really keep it fun and interesting. I think moving here to Austin and having a fresh perspective and new options has made me so excited about fitness again. And it's just making me realize like how important it is truly to keep fitness and health fun. There's no need for it to be so serious all the time. And don't get me wrong, I love a solo workout. I did one this morning and

Starting point is 00:21:10 I think it really helps me like get mentally in a good place. But then I worked out with a friend yesterday, so I'm really like leaning into the fun of it all. And I would encourage you guys to do the same thing, you know. Follow fun, healthy recipe pages on Instagram. Go on TikTok, look for something fun and healthy to try. I really think this keeps it sustainable for a long period of time. Don't let societal norms shape the way you live. This has been a big one for me. I think when you get healthy or just learn more about health and nutrition, you kind of realize how unhealthy normal standards are. And let me explain. I feel like when I got super healthy and just realized, honestly learned more about alcohol and certain ingredients, canola oil, artificial sugars, you know, whatever it may be,

Starting point is 00:22:07 I would go out and about and see everyone drinking and, you know, eating certain things that I knew had horrible ingredients in them. And just realizing that the way I was living was kind of on the outskirts of society, if that makes sense. I think they say there's far more millionaires in the world than people with six packs. Not saying six packs are like the picture of health, but living this way and choosing the harder path in life isn't normal. And we're kind of choosing to do what you have to be very intentional in today's society to live healthy. I think, I think it takes a lot of effort. And I really applaud anyone who's choosing to be ingredient conscious and cook at home and work out every day and get in enough water and use air purifiers and

Starting point is 00:22:58 use seed oil scout and just be really educated with what we're putting in our bodies. And it isn't easy. And I think it's really easy to be swayed by other people who are like, why would you live that way? It seems like a lot of effort. That doesn't even seem fun. And everyone else is drinking beer or whatever they're doing. I just have found that I've had to gain a lot of inner confidence and just know that what I'm doing is so worthwhile, even when it doesn't feel like it. So for anyone who's on a journey and you feel like you're maybe isolated or you feel different from your friends and family, just know that it's so worth it. And this journey is so fulfilling. And even in those hard moments, like it's one of the most important missions you could

Starting point is 00:23:46 be on in life. To me, I'm kind of like, what's more important than health, especially as we get older, especially as we want to have kids. Like this is really like, this is what it's all about is feeling good and knowing that we're taking care of ourselves as best we can and having a positive attitude about it. So I just wanted to add that on here. Find people who match your values. You know, I feel lucky that I have a husband who's really into health and fitness as well. And I have a community here who's really into health and fitness. I think it helps so much. So whether it's joining a Facebook group or reaching out to someone on Instagram or going up to a girl at your gym. I think surrounding yourself with people who have similar values is really, really helpful, along with listening and watching healthy content,

Starting point is 00:24:31 inspiring people, people who talk about personal development, health, nutrition, kind of really editing who you follow online and the types of content you're taking in. Kind of like what I said before, if you're going out in the world and feeling isolated in the journey that you're on, maybe start following people who kind of line up with what you're trying to achieve. I think it's so important because we're consuming a lot of content nowadays. Educate yourself around nutrition and fitness. This was one of the best things I could have ever done for myself because I think something I encounter a lot when I talk to people who maybe want to lose weight or get into health and nutrition or have certain goals, the biggest hurdle is this kind of misunderstanding around nutrition, macros,

Starting point is 00:25:24 like what does everything mean? How does weightlifting work? How does muscle work? There's so much misinformation out there, even, you know, men and women. I think the concept around like getting bulky with weightlifting or feeling like you need to just do cardio, or there's a lot of myths with fitness and nutrition. Because it is such an emotional thing, there's a lot of money to be made when it comes to marketing. And I think companies know that. And therefore, they're tapping into this concept of like, all you need to do is run and eat freaking yogurt.

Starting point is 00:26:00 I don't know where I'm coming from with this. But I think one of the best things I did for myself was teach myself what macros are. What does it mean to actually put lean muscle on and how do I go about that? How does everything actually work? And I feel like I was lucky that I came into the industry from the perspective of a bodybuilder because although I don't really think bodybuilding is the healthiest lifestyle, those people have such a dialed in understanding of food and nutrition and macros and also just this podcast and continuing to educate myself. It removes the kind of cloudy myths from fitness and nutrition and makes it really simple and makes it so that you can

Starting point is 00:26:45 tailor it to what you need. The last tip I said was use your calendar to build out your goals. Plug in your workouts, plug in your walks, plug in your meal prep time, make it a priority in your schedule the same way you would with a work task. If you are having trouble making time for your fitness and health regimes, put it in your calendar. It is a non-negotiable. And the more you do that, and the more you show up for yourself, the easier it will become a habit every single day. For me, I don't even think about it anymore. It is ingrained in my lifestyle, but it took a long time for me to get here. And initially I had to really schedule out my days and make sure I was hitting these goals. Even the water, like I had certain times I had to drink a certain amount of water by. I had to set aside certain parts of my Sunday to meal prep,

Starting point is 00:27:37 whatever it may be. Whatever you need to do to make sure the things that need to happen are happening, you should do so. So guys, those were my sustainable fitness tips, ways that I've remained healthy and athletic since losing 90 pounds. I really hope they were helpful. And please let me know if there's anything you'd like me to dive deeper on. I love giving these tips for you guys. I love talking about health and nutrition and fitness. Obviously, that's why we have this podcast. So please let me know what you'd like to see more of. Just a reminder to subscribe, follow and leave a review. We're doing two episodes every single week, a guest episode and a solo. Thank you so much for all of your support.

Starting point is 00:28:20 It means the absolute world. We actually peaked at number three on the health and fitness charts last week, right under Jay Shetty and Huberman, which is so crazy. Those are people I admire so much. So I was honored to see us there. And it really is because of your guys' support. It means the absolute world. And I'll see you in the next episode. Bye. Thanks for joining us on the Pursuit of Wellness podcast. To support this show, please rate and review and share with your loved ones. If you want to be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast or video player. You can sign up for my newsletter to receive my favorites at marielowelland.com. It will be linked in the show notes.

Starting point is 00:29:01 This is a Wellness Out Loud production produced by Drake Peterson, Fiona Attucks, and Kelly Kyle. This show is edited by Mike Fry, and our video is recorded by Luis Vargas. You can also watch the full video of each episode on our YouTube channel at Mari Fitness. Love you, Power Girls and Power Boys. See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and does not constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor or health team.

Pursuit of Wellness - Sustainable Fitness Tips: How I Kept The Weight Off

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