 Hi friends, welcome back to my channel and a very special welcome if you're new here. My name is Jen. I'm a certified weight loss and nutrition coach and I'm on WW personal points. Happy Friday. It is Friday. It's the weekend. It's my favorite day of the week and I am back to share with you how my week went, some changes that have taken place, the WW workshop topic and of course this week's weigh-in. So if you're excited, give this video a thumbs up. It really helps out my channel and of course make sure you're subscribed and your bell is turned on because we do a weigh-in every Friday and I upload five videos per week. Check out the description box down below for nutrition coaching where I offer personalized to you macros and calories. I cannot recommend this enough. This is how I have lost over 120 pounds. I also have one-on-one coaching. If you need accountability or would like to talk with me directly links, discounts to my favorite things and lastly come on over, join our Facebook group. We'd love to have you. So let's jump into my week, the changes, the workshop topic and my weigh-in. Happy Friday friends. I hope you had an incredible, amazing, beautiful, fantastic week. I had a pretty good week. It was a busy week, but overall it was a good week. I implemented some changes this week that have really made quite a difference in my life as well as my fitness and my weight loss journey. Before I jump into those changes, let's talk a little bit about my week. I feel like I had a really good week. Did we go to crumble cookies again this weekend? Yes, we did. Do I still have crumble cookies in my fridge almost a week later? Yes, I do. That is a huge and on scale victory for me. We've been loving our crumble cookies and I've been loving that my relationship with food is healed so much that I can have them in my house number one for a week and number two, I can eat a small bite of a crumble cookie every day if I want and it fits into my day. And I get to enjoy the foods that I really love while continuing on my health journey and my weight loss journey. I also started my least favorite time of the month this week. So that's been a little bit challenging. I haven't been feeling the best. I've been feeling a little bit of fatigue and tiredness this week, which goes hand in hand with my cycle. But it does impact my week when I'm feeling tired and fatigued, which hasn't been the most positive thing for the changes that I've implemented this week. As you know, about 10 weeks ago, I started on my fitness journey. After losing about 120 pounds and getting all the fat off my body or most of the fat off my body, I really wanted to focus on building lean muscle, not becoming a bodybuilder, competing in fitness competitions, but gaining lean muscle so that my metabolism is revved and I burn calories all day, even sitting on my behind watching TV. So I started that fitness journey about 10 weeks ago. And as I progressed through this journey with my fitness coach, it's getting harder and harder. We're adding things to it every single week. And this week was a big groundbreaking week for me. I actually have moved up in my strength training routine, which basically means that it's become a lot harder. It's become a lot longer. It's become more frequent. And I'm spending a little bit more time in the gym focused on strength training. I'm still doing my cardio. I have structured cardio three days a week. I walk the other four days a week. So I'm getting in some movement, some intentional movement, seven days a week. And I am now lifting weights four days a week at a heavier weight load, more reps, more sets and a longer session in general. My session prior took about a half of an hour. Now I'm lifting weights from anywhere from about 45 minutes to an hour, four days a week. It's been really good. It's been hard. It's been hard on my body. I'm sore, but it's been really good on my mental health. I'm feeling really good that I've been able to progress not only in weights, but in reps and in time spent in the gym. Now, is it hard to fit in an hour of strength training plus cardio four to seven days a week? Absolutely. But it's important to me. And if you notice, we always find time in our lives to do the things that matter and the things that are important to us. So this was my first week with this new workout routine. I also upped my calories, upped my protein, upped my carbohydrates a couple of days a week. I've been focusing on doing a little bit of carb cycling to see if I can get my weight loss bumped up and moving a little bit quicker in the right direction while still building lean muscle and becoming a fitter, leaner, stronger, healthier version of myself. I also had to ease a little bit slower into my new workout routine, because if you follow me, you know that I had some work done to the tattoo on my arm, it is currently covered because it doesn't feel good in the sun. And I need to go on a walk when I'm done filming today's video. So I wanted to make sure that it was covered to prevent any type of sun related damage or pain. But because I have some work done, I wasn't able to sweat heavily for a few days after. So I had to modify my workouts a little bit this week and focused more on walking than structured cardio. I've been able to get back to my structured cardio as the week has progressed. And my goal is to finish this week strong by getting in all of that structured cardio, even though I had to start the week out a little bit slower. Because listen, I have goals, girls got goals. Of course, I'll share my finished tattoo with you guys once it is finished and healed. I go back in about two weeks to get the color and the shading done. And as I mentioned, I did implement a little piece into my tattoo symbolizing my weight loss. So we'll talk about that with the big full tattoo reveal. So it was a good week. We had a lot of ups. We had a couple downs. But overall, it was a fantastic week. Before I jump into my weigh-in, I want to talk with you guys about this week's WW workshop topic. And that is how to find even more go to foods. A few weeks ago, we talked about finding your go to foods, the ones that are personalized to you. That's a big game changer when it comes to weight losses, finding foods that you enjoy, that are healthy, that work into your day and that are your go tos. So today, we're going to talk about how to find a few more of those go to foods. Go to foods are foods that you reach for all the time. So picture the foods that instantly come to mind when you're planning a meal or a snack. Maybe it's a crisp apple, a juicy piece of chicken or the crunch of popcorn. Is your mouth watering yet? If so, it's time to implement these foods into your weight loss toolbox. So how do we find more go to foods? Number one, we're going to brainstorm the what? What foods do you rely on to stay on track? What are the foods that instantly came to mind when you were thinking about starting, when you were thinking about planning a meal or a snack? What you're going to do is write them down. New to you foods from the past weeks, months or years. Foods that promoted from minor player to a starring role in your diet. Old go tos reimagined with a little bit healthier spin and recipes that you find quite regularly in your rotation. Then you're going to get into the why these are your go to foods. Circle your top three to five foods. Then ask yourself, number one, why did they make the cut? Number two, how do they make you feel? And number three, what do you love about them? Go beyond things like taste, consider convenience, points, value, calories, macros, nutrition, anything that plays a part and why these foods make up your go to foods. Next, you're going to think about how these foods make an appearance in your diet. How do you work these foods into your routine? Are you intentional about it or do you do it on auto autopilot? Go deeper into how that happened. How did these foods become go tos for you? Think about that and really deep dive into how these became your go tos. Next, plan for when and where you're going to implement these foods. Identify when, where or how you'll keep leaning on one favorite. Maybe it's designating a day. For example, turkey burger Tuesday or taco Tuesday or setting out a fruit for the see it and eat it approach. Remember, out of sight, out of mind. So the foods that we want to eat, if they don't have to be refrigerated or frozen, put them where you can see them and actually in your fridge and freezer, place the foods that you should be eating at eye level. When you open the door, those are the first foods you see. And lastly, honor the who acts you give yourself props for working these healthy options into your diet. Put those insights into action. Consider other foods with similar qualities to bulk up your go to foods list. Celebrate with a special meal or snack featuring a current go to and a potential new one by trying new foods. This is how we find our go to foods. No matter who you are, what journey you're on, whether you're losing weight, maintaining your weight, even potentially trying to gain weight. We think about food all the time. Food plays a big part in our day to day life. You may have even ran through some of the usual questions today. What am I going to make for dinner? What's for snacks? What lunch sounds good today? But by taking time to think beyond the logistics of consuming food throughout the day and really thinking about what foods make you happy? What are your go to foods and what foods are you eating to not only lose weight, but you're still going to enjoy those when you get to maintenance. This is how you find your go to foods, implement new foods that may potentially become your new go to foods. When you're hungry, what are the foods you reach to? Do you instantly make a beeline to your favorite fruit? Well, that's a go to food for you. This also gives you a roadmap to finding new go tos. Let's say that your instant go to is fruit. How about trying some new fruits this week? Maybe fruits you haven't had in a hot minute or fruits that you've never tried. It is summer, so fruit is in peak season and there's some really interesting quirky fruits out there that you should try out. They may become your new go to and don't forget to take a moment to pause and celebrate your healthy choices. When you make a healthy snack choice or meal choice, tell yourself, good job, celebrate that success. That is huge and not only losing weight, but being healthy overall and maintaining your weight loss. I really like this topic and you know, in my what I eat in a day, I eat a lot of the same foods. Those are my go tos. Those are the foods that I know that fall into my day, that fall into my plan, that satisfy me, that I enjoy eating and foods that are sustainable for me, meaning that I can eat these foods to lose weight and maintain my weight. And like I always say, whatever you're doing to lose weight, you have to do that to maintain that weight loss. So make sure you're enjoying the foods that you're eating. So now let's jump in to my weigh in. I have been on this trouble bus when it comes to the scale. And last week I let you know that I'm basically coming to terms with that. I see the body composition changes. I see how my body is changing, how leaner I'm becoming. I actually have went down an entire clothing size, even though the scale hasn't went down the traditional 10 or 12 pounds required to change a clothing size. I'm really coming to terms with how my body is changing versus what's happening on the scale. But don't get me wrong. I want to see the scale go down. Like I said, girls got goals. I have weight loss goals. I have fitness goals. I have health goals. I have a lot of goals. And one of those includes hitting my goal weight. Do I know if I'm going to hit my goal weight by the end of the year? I don't know. Ultimately, I would love to hit my goal weight by the end of the year, but I don't have any control over the scale. I can do everything right. I can drink my water. Eat the right foods, work out, exercise, move my body, and the scale can stay stagnant. And that is just something that I don't have control over. So I've decided to focus on the things that I have control over. And that is choosing healthy foods, drinking my water and focusing on fitness. Those are all things that I have control over. And ultimately, in the end, all of those things are going to lead to success, whether the scale moves or not. So this week, when I stepped on the scale, I wasn't expecting some miraculous weight loss, but I was happy when I stepped on the scale because I'm actually down 1.6 pounds. That is the most actual weight slash fat that I've lost on the scale in weeks. I burst out in excitement. I went, yes, when I saw that number on the scale, because I'm really noticing the changes in my body, but it's nice for the scale to give me a little bit of reward and positive feedback every once in a while. Even if I would have stepped on that scale and gained weight or maintained my weight or lost a few ounces, I still would have went, yes, because that is huge progress for me. It's huge progress with my relationship with the scale and it's huge progress in my weight loss journey and reshaping and toning up my body. So regardless of what that number on the scale says, I still would have been elated with my progress. I'm not mad about. I'm not mad about 1.6 loss. Let me know down in the comments, how's the scale been treating you? Have you come to terms with sometimes? You can do everything right and the scale doesn't show your hard work. Or are you still on the struggle bus when it comes to that number on the scale? And of course, if you enjoyed today's video, give it a thumbs up, subscribe if you're not and hit your bell because I do a weigh in every Friday. And again, I upload five videos a week. I can't wait to talk with you guys down in the comments. Of course, let me know how your week was as well. And let's talk a little bit more about that relationship with the scale. And of course, let us know what your go to foods are. You may give some food inspo to someone down in the comment section. Check out the description box for nutrition, coaching, links and discounts to my favorite things. And don't forget, come join our Facebook group. We would love to have you. Thank you so much for watching, friends. Happy Friday and I'll see you in tomorrow's grocery haul. Bye.