 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 it is Friday, so that means that it is way in day. We're gonna talk about my week. We're gonna dive into my cut a little bit more. I'm entering week four of my eight week cut. We're gonna talk about this week's Weight Watchers Workshop topic and I'm going to share with you a very exciting video coming your way on Sunday. So if you're excited, get this video a big thumbs up, subscribe if you're not, turn your bell on because I do a weigh in every Friday and I actually upload five videos every single week. Down in the description box, I will link nutrition coaching, highly, highly, highly recommend personalized macros and calories. This is how I have lost and maintained a 140 pound weight loss as well as one-on-one coaching for accountability to ask questions or talk with me directly. Links and discounts to my favorite things are also down in that description box as well as my Facebook group. Come and over join us, it's free, it's supportive and we would love to have you. So let's jump into my week, my cut, my weigh in and the Weight Watchers Workshop topic. I hope you had an amazing, amazing, amazing week. I had a fantastic week. I had a couple of struggles this week but overall I had a really good week and like I mentioned, this was week three of my intentional cut. If you didn't know, I'm on a cut which basically means I'm in a caloric deficit trying to lean down as much as possible. So part of my cut is actually getting in more cardio, more intentional, movement than normal. That's because I'm trying to lean down. I'm trying to cut my weight and one way that we can really help with caloric, burn is doing extra cardio. Now granted, I live in a nice area. I can go outside most of the year but I am definitely not a just go to the gym and do cardio person and for me, walking is exercise. There's a big difference between exercise and cardio. Cardio is when your average heart rate is 125 or higher. So if you have a fitness watch and you check your watch, your average heart rate should be 125 or higher for that to be considered cardio. Now for me, my heart rate doesn't get that high walking so for me, that's actually considered to be exercise which walking is the best exercise for weight loss but I'm trying to get in a little bit extra cardio. So I decided to invest in a piece of exercise equipment for home. On those days that I just don't wanna get out and walk or maybe it's too cold, we get a little bit of rain this time of year as well and it definitely stays dark a lot later so it's hard to get out first thing in the morning. And I wanted to pick up a piece of exercise equipment to get in my cardio and that wouldn't break the bank. I've been loving this, Troy's been using this which is something I never thought would happen and I've been using this as well and truly been loving it. This is the Maroc Exercise Bike. It includes an exclusive app. It has an enhanced electronic LED monitor. A comfortable seat cushion and it's perfect for home workout. I picked this up right off of Amazon. It has infinite magnetic resistance to meet various fitness levels. If you want a harder workout or a little bit less intense workout. It's sleek, it's compact. It has a really small footprint of only 19 by 42 inches so it fits perfectly in small spaces. It was super easy to assemble. It took us about 20 minutes from start to finish and it has wheels for you to roll it around and store it. Ultra silent motion with ultimately stable structure. Super quiet, it's super stable so you don't have to worry about cycling at home. I love the upgraded LED digital display monitor to show real time workout data. It's truly professional home gym equipment. I love the app because you actually get coaching a variety of free cycling courses to create your perfect fitness experience. 100 levels of resistance. So really you can use this bike throughout your entire fitness journey from leisurely exercise to more of a cardio workout to a shaping exercises to really stabilizing and building lean muscle. My favorite thing about this and one of the main reasons I purchased this bike was because of the app. It actually includes HIIT training which you know is what I do for boot camp and I like to do HIIT training on my bike to really get my cardio in for the day and with HIIT training you get your cardio in quickly which I'm never mad about. It is completely free and there's so many workout options directly on the app. It includes a 12 month warranty. So if you have any issues you can reach out to Merak directly and they'll honor that 12 month warranty. We love our bike. We really love it and I've never been an exercise bike person. I definitely prefer to do my cardio outsider at boot camp but I've really been loving my bike. I love how small it is. It doesn't take up any space and I get an amazing, amazing workout. Again, I bought it right off of Amazon. It's an amazing price right now and I have a discount for you. I will link it down below for you but highly, highly, highly recommend. I've really been loving my bike way more than I thought that I would. Like I mentioned in the beginning I'm not sure what we're going to see for actual weight loss on this scale but my goal is to really transform and lean down my body as much as possible. And this includes again being in a calorie deficit kind of watching the foods that I'm eating upping my exercise just a little bit to counteract the calories and just really seeing what my body can do over an eight week period. Now I'm on an eight week cut because we shouldn't be in a calorie deficit forever. We should go in spurts where we're in a calorie deficit and we're not in a calorie deficit. That's what's best for our body and believe it or not, that's what actually leads to more weight loss and keeping that weight loss off long term. I'm going to be deep diving into my cut in Sunday's video and I'm also going to be offering some new nutrition and weight loss coaching services relating to a cut. So if you are interested in learning more about what a cut is, how to do a cut, what's involved in it and how you can be successful on a cut, stay tuned for Sunday's video. You're not going to want to miss it. So subscribe and turn your bell on. Like I said, I had a really good week. I actually conquered a huge fear, a huge NSV. Checked something off my bucket list on Saturday. I climbed a mountain, a literal mountain called Pocacho Peak into outside of Tucson. It was the most challenging hardest thing I've done physically in my entire life. Hands down, it was over seven miles. I gained 2,000 feet in elevation, burned 1,900 calories and it took almost eight hours to complete this. It was truly the hardest thing I've ever done, but really one of the most accomplishing feelings that I've had in my entire, entire life. This is something I have been working towards for the last two years, taking the weight off, increasing my endurance, increasing my physical ability, building lean muscle and just becoming stronger in general so that I can do things like climb Pocacho Peak. I talked all about the climb in Wednesdays, what I eat in a day video, so if you missed that, I'll link it down below for you. I don't, if you wanna know all about my hike, I'll put that down below for you, but let me tell you, it was really hard, but honestly, I'm excited to do it again. It did not track my food on Saturday, the day that I did the hike. I was in an extreme, extreme, extreme caloric deficit. There was no way to make up even the 1,900 calories that I burned just during the hike, not to mention all the additional calories that I burned during the day. Troy and I did have a date night on Saturday. We went to Terry Fader at a local casino and we had pizza for dinner and I got this huge chocolate chip cookie. I shared it with Troy, but I probably ate three quarters of it and I'm not mad about it. I earned every bit of that three quarters of that big chocolate chip cookie. The rest of the week, I was on my cut. I was in a caloric deficit and I did struggle a little bit this week with hunger. Now, I've been hungry during my cut. It's going to happen. You're in a caloric deficit, you're not giving your body the calories, your body actually needs. So of course, you're going to be a little bit more hungry. So I really made sure that this week I focused on high volume low-density foods. I tried to eat more vegetables, more fruit. I tried to have bigger meals that still had the same amount of calories, focusing on lean protein and again, fruits and vegetables and those protein supplements that keep me full and satisfied. Also on Wednesdays, what I eat in a day, I shared my all-time new favorite protein coffee. This really helped me get in some extra protein this week and it's so good. It's seriously amazing. If you are not a bottled protein drinker, you're going to love my new favorite protein coffee. Again, I talked about that in Wednesdays, what I eat in a day. It is linked down below for you if you missed it. I did all of my normal exercise this week with the exception of Sunday, the day after my climb. I did take Sunday as a complete rest day. Normally it's an active rest day. Normally I walk about 45 minutes to an hour but my body needed a break and I listened to my body always. So I took Sunday as a full rest day but I was back at boot camp Monday in the gym Tuesday and finished out the week strong with exercise. The hunger was really what I struggled with this week and I also mentioned in last week's weigh-in that I started my cycle. So I was on my cycle a big part of this week which was probably partially why I was a little bit more hungry but that was quite the struggle this week is just really learning how to navigate my hunger and not taking myself out of a deficit and just continuing on my cut and really giving it 100%. Knowing that there's an end to something is really, really helpful. Like I mentioned in the beginning you don't wanna be in a calorie deficit endlessly. You should be in spurts of a deficit and then spurts it maintenance. And for me knowing that I only have to do this deficit for eight weeks and then I get to eat more that's how I'm making it through the eight weeks to be completely honest with you. There are definitely some things that I've been focusing on during my cut and again I'll share all of that in Sunday's video. There are some interesting things with my weight this week as well and we'll talk about that when I chat with you about my weigh-in for the week but before I do let's talk about this week's Weight Watchers workshop topic and that is how to build a satisfying meal. This couldn't come at a better time. I just talked about how I really tried to eat a lot of low density high volume foods to make my meals more satisfying because girl was hungry this last week. We want meals that check all the boxes but are really easy to put together, include foods that we enjoy and foods that help keep us fuller for longer. Build meals by combining foods from every category. So for example, for breakfast, make sure your breakfast contains protein like a zero point food or three to four ounce serving, plain non-fat Greek yogurt, eggs or tofu and then add a fruit to that. One cup or one whole piece of fruit, berries, apples or a banana. What you can do is make banana pancakes, two eggs mixed with a mashed banana and some ground cinnamon. Now moving into lunch or dinner, we wanna make sure that these meals contain all of our macronutrients so we want to have a protein, a carb, a fat and then we want to make sure we're including some non-starchy vegetables. So for protein, again, lean on a zero point food or a three to four ounce serving of chicken, fish, tofu or steak. For carbs, focus on about a cup of rice, potatoes, pasta or two slices of bread. For fats, we want to make sure we're including at least one serving of fat. This can be in the form of a dressing or olive oil, cheese or avocado. And then for non-starchy vegetables, load it up. Salad, grains, broccoli or cauliflower eat as much as you want. So an inspirational meal could be something like a chicken sandwich, a chicken breast with tomato, spinach, avocado and Dijon mustard. Now we want to make sure that our snacks are balanced as well. Our snacks should always include a protein and if we can add in a produce, even better. A zero point food or a one to two ounce serving a protein like a cheese stick, hard boiled egg, hummus or beef jerky and then add a produce, your usual serving. One cup of fruit if on the diabetes program or lots of vegetables, carrot sticks, bell peppers, apple slices or a fruit cup. An inspirational option can be hummus with fresh veggie chips. Now these are just some ideas of how to build complete structured meals. I tell all of my coaching clients that your breakfast, your lunch and your dinner should include all three macros. They should have a protein, a carb and a fat. Your snacks should include at least two macros and if you can get all three, even better. Never eat just protein or just carbs or just fat. Make sure that you're pairing two together and in order for you to get enough protein every day you need to include protein with every meal and every snack. You have flexibility in what you can eat. You truly can eat whatever and build meals that sound good. Make sure you're eating the foods that you enjoy even on a weight loss journey. Make sure again that all of your snacks and meals contain protein and better yet fiber. Protein and fiber is what keeps you full and satisfied. So building meals based on these two ingredients are game changing. The key to weight loss is truly being in a calorie deficit. Eating less calories than you're burning every day. Satisfying both your hunger and your psyche. The mental part of weight loss is really, really important and this includes eating balanced meals. We're not gonna restrict or eliminate any food or any food group. We're going to eat the foods that we love and the foods that are higher in calories or points. We just get a little bit less of them but we can still eat them and we wanna build our meals in the most effective way to reach our weight loss goals. As always, let me share three fast facts from Weight Watchers with you. Number one, weight loss happens when you burn more calories than you consume. Number two, meals filled with protein and fiber help you feel more satisfied and stay in your points or calorie budget. Number three, having a formula for satisfying meals helps prevent in-the-moment decisions. Now, when I do macros and calories for my coaching clients, I give you meal ideas, I give you portion control, food ideas. It's really important to make sure that you're building your meals in the most effective way to reach your goals. So I really like this topic. It's nice to see them, it's nice to see Weight Watchers actually address protein and fiber rather than just low point foods which are typically unhealthy processed foods other than those healthy zero point foods. It's nice to see them, it's nice to see them actually deep dive into calories, protein and fiber. So building your meals in the best way to lose weight is what I would recommend you have for a goal for the upcoming week. So now let's chat about my weigh-in. Like I said, it was very, very interesting. What was interesting the most for me was post my big climb on Saturday. For the majority of this week, I know this is going to be shocking to a lot of you, but my weight was actually up anywhere from one to three pounds most of the week. Now you might be thinking, girl, you burned 1,900 calories, you had over 20,000 steps, you better lose a lot of weight this week. That doesn't always happen. We have no control over the scale. Our bodies can do us dirty when it comes to the scale. And for me, after that climb, just being really sore for the first part of the week made that scale just jump up. And my weight fluctuated a lot. I was up a couple pounds and then I was up a pound. Then I would go up to three pounds and literally every single day my weight was like this. And that is absolutely normal, even in a cut, even in a calorie deficit. Our body can retain water. Our body can become inflamed when we exercise. And when we really intensely exercise, it can take days upon days for our body to get back to normal. And for me, I continued to work out the rest of the week. So I was always breaking down those muscles, always inflamed, always retaining fluid. So I just couldn't focus on the scale. And I will tell you honestly, full transparency. I am always transparent with you on my channel. I was a little disappointed when I stepped on the scale and saw that weight just creeping up throughout the week after that major, major climb and being in that major, major deficit. And then I just had to snap back into reality and remind myself that the scale isn't the only indicator of my success. And I just climbed a mountain. I just scaled the side of a cliff. Who cares what the scale says? I had to keep reminding myself of that this week because that scale can really wreak havoc on our mental health and can really derail us from our progress. So I kept seeing that scale all over the map. And I knew I was in a deficit all week and in a major, major deficit on Saturday, which honestly could play a part in why the scale went up. I didn't eat enough on Saturday. And when we don't eat enough, we are not going to lose weight. You have to eat more to lose weight. You do not want to restrict calories and being a severe deficit. Now granted, it was only one day, but even eating at maintenance, if I did that the rest of the week, I didn't make up that deficit from Saturday. It was just impossible for me to fully make up that deficit. So that could also play a part in why the scale was a little weird this week. And I weighed in this morning after those ups and those downs. Overall, I was actually down 0.2 pounds. That was shocking to me. I definitely expected to come on here today and tell you that I had gained weight or had a weight fluctuation this week. And that my weight didn't go down. But shockingly, I am down 0.2. Now last week, I almost lost a full pound. So this 0.2 puts me at a full pound loss, a little over a pound during my cut, which is amazing to me because I don't have really any fat to lose. So it's nice to see the scale actually going down a little bit. And knowing that I'm working out, I'm building lean muscle still is really, really amazing because that means that that pound that I lost, that was a pound of fat is completely gone. And I'm continuing to build lean muscle, build endurance and conquer those non-scale victories. So I'm very happy with the 0.2 loss. I'll go ahead and put up here on the screen how much weight I have lost total, how much weight I've lost on my cut and my current weight. So here's to week four, the halfway mark of this cut. Let's see what the scale does this week. And let's see how I'm feeling. Hopefully I'm a lot less hungry this week than I was last week. That's going to make week four of my cut a lot easier. And again, don't forget on Sunday, I will have an entire video on my cut and you're not going to want to miss the new services that I'm offering on my nutrition coaching website. Let me know down below, how was your week? Did you gain, did you lose? What do you think of this, how to build a satisfying meal? And what are some of your tips and tricks on how you build meals that keep you full and satisfied? And if you enjoyed today's video, don't forget to give it a thumbs up, subscribe, turn your bell on so you don't miss Sunday's video or any other video. Down in the description box, I will link nutrition coaching, links and discounts to my favorite things. And of course, come join my Facebook group. We'd love to have you. I also did a full post on my climb in my Facebook group if you want to see a lot of pictures and more information on that climb. Thank you again for watching friends. I love you and I'll see you in tomorrow's grocery haul. Bye.