What you can expect from this ebook
This ebook is an outline of lifestyle habits, in particular dietary choices that will aid in successful weight loss and maintenance. It’s meant to be used in conjunction with an exercise plan, which I outline in my Fit, Strong, Lean Fitness Plan ebook.
This is not a “quick fix” diet plan. It’s a compilation of nearly a decade of hands on experience with weight loss and weight maintenance primarily through diet and exercise. I spent much of this decade as a fitness professional where I taught aerobics, Pilates, water aerobics, and yoga at two universities, several community centers, a corporate fitness center, and a large training center for LDS missionaries.
During this past decade, I also went through five pregnancies, and when not pregnant (except for brief periods) I was nursing. Despite my pregnancies, and nursing, I’ve made it a priority to lose the baby weight and make fitness a priority.
I should make it clear, I am not a doctor. I am not a registered dietician.
My qualifications, though not unduly impressive are this:
I’m a normal, average woman, raising a family. I have a solid background in fitness, working as a certified fitness professional for six years before joining the ranks of full-time momhood in 2012. I’m a recipe developer, and blogger, and I’m a home cook. I have been vegan for almost eight years and gluten-free for two.
These experiences, while examined on their own, are not exceptional. But when put together, I have gleaned a significant amount of knowledge through time, experience, personal research, trial and, some error. I believe this qualifies me to speak from a personal point of view. To share what I’ve found to work, what I’ve found to be helpful when it comes to losing weight in a health promoting, compassionate way.
This is the essence of Fit, Strong, Lean. It’s my goal in this ebook, and the companion Fitness Plan ebook, to show you how I’ve done it. How I’ve managed to quickly, and safely lose all the excess weight from each pregnancy while at the same time, ensuring that my body and baby (via nursing) received the proper nutrients and care.
You may wonder, is this for a “vegans only” diet?
While I myself am vegan, and all the recipes in this ebook are vegan, you do not have to be vegan to eat a plant-based diet (omnivores welcome!). I think these meals stand on their own (without any addition of meat or dairy), and you can easily meet your nutrient needs on this diet. The point is, to make most of what you eat be whole plant foods.
Aside from all the recipes being vegan, almost all of them are also gluten-free. It’s not necessary to eat gluten-free to lose weight, but since I avoid gluten because it doesn’t agree with me (I do not have Celiac), naturally, my recipes are gluten-free.
In this ebook I will show you:
How simple it is to lose weight when you eat mostly whole plant foods.
Key word is simple, though admittedly not always easy. It takes a bit of knowledge, self-control, consistency, and motivation, among a few other things. But when you have these elements in place, it’s as if the stars align and the weight loss process is rather simple and straightforward, and mostly painless.
I will show you how successful weight loss is based on knowledge and an application of four basic principles: calorie deficit, consistency, time, and sustainability.
You need to burn more calories than you take in; you need to consistently do so; you need to give it time; and you need to eat and live in such a way that are sustainable and health promoting. When you apply these principles, you can expect to lose ½ pound to two pounds of body fat per week.
I’ll help you figure out a ballpark range of how many calories you burn a day, and how many calories you need to eat in order to lose weight.
No guesswork here. I’m going to help you figure out how many calories you’re burning a day so you can figure out how many calories you need to cut on a daily basis to lose the weight you want.
I will explain how the numbers on the scale are only part of the picture, and show you how you can objectively determine your ideal weight range.
The scale is a tool that can help you mark your weight loss progress, but those numbers only illustrate a one-sided picture of your health and fitness. I’ll help you figure out what your ideal weight range is and how the scale, along with a few other tools can help you get into that range.
I will show you why it’s not just about losing weight, but about losing fat and gaining/preserving lean body weight.
When you lose weight, you lose fat and some lean body mass. Your lean body weight is comprised of muscle tissue, bones, organs, and body fluids. You want heavy, strong bones and an appropriate amount of muscle mass. I will tell you what you can do to retain as much lean body weight as possible, while also losing fat weight.
I will give you the foundation of the FSL (Fit, Strong, Lean) diet.
This is a plant-based diet with an emphasis on intuitive eating, volume eating, and using tried and true proven methods of weight loss (like food tracking and weekly weigh-ins). It’s a flexible eating pattern not based on “don’ts” but “do-s.” I’ll address possible concerns regarding meeting nutrient needs such as protein, b-12, calcium, omega-3’s and vitamin D in addition to sharing my two cents on other dietary approaches.
We’ll talk meal timing, and why it doesn’t really matter when you eat, or the amount of times a day you eat, but your total calorie intake.
The great thing about the FSL diet is that there is a good deal of leeway in terms of food choices and meal structuring. If you like eating six mini-meals a day, you can do that. If you’re more of a three squares type, that also works. Some people find that two meals a day and a snack or two is how they like to roll (that happens to be me). I’ll show you that more important than meal timing, are your food choices, in combination with your daily total caloric intake.
I will show you what to eat, and give you some easy meal & recipe ideas, ones that I use myself.
All the recipes and meal ideas are ones that I use all the time. My recipes are very basic, throw-together sort of affairs that satisfy the belly, are nutrient-dense and will aid you in reaching your weight loss goals. They are also recipes that you’ll want to continue to use once you’ve lost the weight and are in weight maintenance mode.
I’ll give you some tips to ensure your success, really helpful and useful things I’ve found to work.
I hope to lessen the learning curve for you by sharing some things you can do to make the weight loss process a successful one.
I’ll help you troubleshoot any problems that may arise.
Has your weight loss stalled? Are you losing too much weight? Do you lack energy? I’ll address these questions and more.
And lastly, I’ll address special concerns for nursing mamas.
If you’re a breastfeeding mama, your body is doing a lot of extra work producing milk for your baby. I’ll share a few key things you need to do to ensure ample milk production while at the same time safely losing the excess weight gained from pregnancy.
So that’s it in a nutshell.
Are you excited?
I am.
Let’s get started!
