This is a guest post from Abigail Fuller.
I’ve lost weight a few times in my life. My 40 pound weight loss when I was a teenager was… well, let’s say less-than-healthy. As an adult I’ve learned better practices and healthier eating habits, such as swapping out vegetables from potato chips, adding cucumbers and extra lettuce to my salads at restaurants, and other little tips I’ve picked up from the grand thing called the internet.
I’ve never been a “meal prepper,” though- it seemed like too much work. So it was fascinating for me to watch as my good and VERY BUSY friend Laura began to not only change her diet to vegan, but to also painstakingly prepare all of her meals—sometimes far in advance- with the help of KKW Coaching.
Anytime she goes on a trip, she plans and packs all of her meals ahead of time. To hear her talk, it sounds like it would be a lot of work, but honestly, she just views it as a part of life. When she goes to an amusement park, she has already scouted out all the vendors and restaurants to be sure of knowing where she can eat, and what they have on their menu. Either that, or she brings a packed lunch.
Weekend trips are the same way. She always researches restaurants well in advance of the outing, almost memorizing the healthier options on the menu so that she knows where to go, and what to eat. That way, when with friends, she never has to worry about being the one in the group who has to turn down a restaurant because they don’t have anything she can order. And in my book, that’s A+ planning.
This picture is from a Halloween party where I watched her eat a protein bar and bowl of cereal in the middle of a room with a giant buffet of fried food.
But of course, sometimes life just happens. Sometimes you can’t plan in advance, or the option that you thought would work, just doesn’t. So what does she do then? Bars! No… not those kinds of bars… But healthy, fruit and nut type bars. I swear, if I walked up to her right now and asked her what was in her bag, or even possibly what was in her car, she’d pull out a few of the healthiest, protein-infused snack bars that I’ve ever seen. That way, in a pinch, she’s already covered for a quick meal if there are no good options in sight.
She’s also gotten dinner parties down to a science. My husband and I, along with Laura and another mutual friend of ours often get together to binge our favorite TV shows (Doctor Who, anyone?), so at first when she started eating healthier, I was a bit worried about the change in cuisine. We usually grilled up a few big steaks and had something decadent for dessert—so I wasn’t sure what to expect now.
But she made it a cinch. While we do try to change our meal plans to include her diet when we can, usually in the form of fruit for dessert, she never expects it. She always brings her own meal, pre-prepped, or something that she can prepare after she arrives. It’s never messy or time consuming. The only thing she usually needs from me is my biggest salad bowl. And I do mean BIG. Seriously, you should see the size of the salad bowl, filled nearly to the brim with all the usual salad suspects. In fact, it jogged my memory of a day we had spent together, years earlier when I had brought the same bowl, filled with salad to a picnic and an outdoor play we had gone to see—and she teased me mercilessly about it. So I guess times change!
If I have taken anything away from watching my friend travel through her health journey, it’s simply this: it works. I’ve watched her not just lose weight, which she has done, but make a whole new life for herself. Every morning when we chat over instant messenger, she’ll tell me she’s headed to the gym, like clockwork. It’s been inspiring to watch not only her dogged determination, but also her results. I’m a person who likes to see people follow through, whether it’s writing a novel, or in this case, sticking to a meal plan, and I’m really proud to say that Laura has done that. She’s been an inspiration for anyone who wants to take control over their own health.
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