Based on the title of this article, you have to assume that this is a sequel to another post. If you haven’t read Part I: Here Comes the Guide, I highly suggest visiting that first & then coming back here so it all makes sense. This will be a four-part series where I breakdown everything Kyle & I have been doing to lose weight, but more importantly change our overall lifestyle, prior to our wedding day. There are no fads or quick fixes here! These are all things that take work & adjustments for long-lasting results and it’s definitely a first for us.

So far, here are the things that have worked best for us to keep ourselves on track:

• Meal planning on Saturday: we’ll sit down each Saturday and come up with a list of high protein, low sodium instant pot meals we want to make for the week (thinking in quantities of making enough so each night’s dinner can be the next day’s lunch). Putting the meal plan physically on our fridge each week is great motivation. Here are the last few – 

• Ordering groceries online for pick up: once we come up with our meal plan for the week, we’ll list out the ingredients we need and order online for in-store pick up. This allows us to budget and not pick up things we don’t need just because we’re seeing them on the shelf in the store. 
• Making a gym schedule on Sundays each week and sticking to it: THIS IS THE HARDEST ONE, but if we’re set to go to the gym on a certain day, we go. If it’s pouring rain or the gym is packed and I can’t bring myself to be a part of it, I’ll still do a full ab routine or yoga work out at home. Linking my favs below – 6 Minute Standing Ab Routine (I do this 3 times)
• • 5 Minute Standing Ab Routine (3 times)
• • 30 Minute Full Body Power Yoga Workout 
• Allowing a cheat day each week: we either have a healthy dinner & allow for dessert, OR a not so healthy dinner with a healthy snack to cap off the night. 
• Stop counting calories & start counting nutrients: instead of looking at calories, we look at the source of protein, vitamins, or good fat something has. It’s so refreshing to not have to do math all day. 
• Paying attention to ingredients in pre-packaged food: sodium is the EASIEST thing to cut back on and one of the last things that usually gets noticed. Even the “healthiest” low cal meals or loaded with sodium. Just swapping regular things like taco seasoning or canned beans for the “no salt added” versions makes all the difference and you’ll drop water weight so quickly. 

So many people following along with my Instagram Stories have asked me for the recipes we’ve tried so far. I compiled THIS Google Drive folder of all of the healthy instant pot recipes we’ve made so far & I’ll be updating it weekly. Feel free to bookmark it! As a general rule of thumb, we’ve been replacing anywhere that calls for broth with water and using low sodium/ no salt added versions of any sauces or canned goods. Some of our favs below:

In 4 months (minus the two weeks we were home for Christmas), I’ve lost 10 pounds and Kyle has lost 25! We’re coasting along & pacing ourselves out since we still have a good amount of time until the wedding, but never once have I felt deprived or like I’m starving on this plan. In addition to the dinners, I generally either have a Bolthouse Protein Drink or oatmeal for breakfast, whatever is prepped from the night before for lunch & fruit or cheerios as a snack.

If you try any of these recipes, be sure to tag me on socials & let me know how they turn out or leave a comment below!