Always Eat After 7PM - Final Thoughts

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

I have been following the Always Eat After 7PM plan based on the science presented in the book Always Eat After 7PM by Joel Marion. If you want to catch up on my goals for following this plan you can read about them here. You can read about the science behind this book and learn more about the author here. I also share my goals and updates in this post here. 

After a month of eating after 7, eating foods that were thought to be "forbidden" by current diet culture - aka simple carbs and ... I feel honestly, the best I have felt in a very long time. I have WAY more energy that I have had in years. I am not dragging at 3pm and counting down the hours until bedtime, I never think twice about bouncing out of bed at 5AM to workout, and, most importantly, I have more energy to keep up with my kids!

The most challenging times to curb hunger are just before bed and in the morning. By following the Always Eat After 7PM program, you have the most willpower to stay on the diet because you are eating during the hours when you are most hungry. This also puts you into both intermittent fasting increasing testosterone and your metabolism, while putting you into ketosis.  

I feel like I have learned so much from this book and put so much of Marion's knowledge to the test and had great success with it. This is one of my favorite tips:

“A research paper published in Sports Medicine in 2014 showed that people who eat the majority of their carbs at dinner actually sleep better. Carb-induced, quality sleep decreases cortisol (a fat-storing hormone) and ramps up the production of your sleep hormones, serotonin and melatonin. Restorative sleep increases fat-burning hormones—the main one being growth hormone—overnight.”

I have been eating the majority of my carbs at dinner and it has helped me sleep so much better at night, so that I wake up refreshed and have so much more energy throughout the day! I can't recommend this method enough!

We’ve been traditionally taught to avoid carbs, have an early dinner, and never eat before bed. But the fact is, the latest scientific research shows us this earlier model is not the most ideal .Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. “Learn more about the book and how to purchase here

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

Always Eat After 7PM - Goal Setting and Progress Update

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

I hope you've loved following along on my journey with following the Always Eat After 7PM plan! You can read more about why I started following this plan here, and more about the author, Joel Marion, here.

My goal with this plan was to have more energy to keep up with my kids. Now that we are together all the time, keeping them active and happy has been a big priority of mine. Before I started the Always Eat After 7PM plan, I would have a MAJOR afternoon slump, always wanting to take an afternoon nap. After consistently following the advice that Marion has outlined in his book, I can tell you that my days have been busier and my energy has never been higher! It's pretty incredible actually!

I think I've had great success with this plan because it is so easy to follow. The meal planning is so easy and Marion even includes food lists and helpful tips like this to set you up for success:

"One of the simplest 3-Minute Fat-Burning Morning Rituals, lemon water is a glass of water mixed with the juice of one half of a lemon. This drink provides all the benefits of regular drinking water, which supports weight loss, digestive health, physical performance, and cognitive function.”

Always Eat After 7PM also includes lots of tasty and eat to follow recipes. One of our families favorite is this Cheesy Ground Beef Skillet. It includes many foods that were traditionally thought to be "off limits" on some diet plans, but Always Eat After 7PM recognizes that the combination of protein and carbs, especially at dinnertime, helps regulate cortisol, help you sleep deeper, and wake up with more stable morning blood sugar levels. We’ve been traditionally taught to avoid carbs, have an early dinner, and never eat before bed. But the fact is, the latest scientific research shows us this earlier model is not the most ideal.

The most challenging times to curb hunger are just before bed and in the morning. By following the Always Eat After 7PM program, you have the most willpower to stay on the diet because you are eating during the hours when you are most hungry. This also puts you into both intermittent fasting increasing testosterone and your metabolism, while putting you into ketosis.  Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase here.

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

Always Eat After 7PM - Why I am following this plan and my author interview

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

If you read my recent blog post, you know I have started following the Always Eat After 7PM plan based on the book with the same title by Joel Marion. Why did I start following this plan? I wanted more energy to keep up with my kids! I have been feeling so run down lately and after interviewing the author - I knew he was one that I could trust and relate to. We’ve been traditionally taught to avoid carbs, have an early dinner, and never eat before bed. But the fact is, the latest scientific research shows us this earlier model is not the most ideal 

After reading quotes like these in Marion's book, I couldn't wait to learn more about him and his reasoning's. “Always Eat After 7 pm is a three-phase program that teaches you how to lose big by strategically eating big when you are naturally hungriest—in the evening. This may sound too good to be true, but let me assure you it is no gimmick. It’s all about making strategic and smart food swaps, and you can still eat your favorite foods.”

These are excerpts from an interview with Joel Marion, author of Always Eat After 7PM:

What inspired you to write the book?

After authoring 6 best selling books it was glaringly obvious there were 2 huge
misconceptions about dieting that needed to be exposed. The first is that you
can't eat late at night or before bed, which science now shows is NOT true. And
second, you can't eat large portions that satisfy your natural instinct. This book
solves both these problems by providing an evidence-based, enjoyable approach
to dieting that can be used by any person to quickly achieve their weight loss goals.

 You’re a six-time best selling author, what is different about this book compared to
your others?
Although many of the concepts are similar, the biggest difference is that you don't
have to deprive yourself of your favorite foods. You don't have to deal with the burden
of eating every few hours. And you don't have to skip the carbs at dinnertime or avoid
eating before bed.

How difficult is the Always Eat After 7 PM plan to follow?
It's not. And that's exactly why I wrote the book. While any diet is never truly easy, it
can be more enjoyable and much easier to adhere to when you understand how Always
Eat After 7pm works because it caters to our bodies natural instincts.

Based on surprising science, Always Eat After 7 PM debunks popular diet myths and offers an easy-to-follow diet that accelerates fat-burning and allows you to indulge in your most intense food cravings: Eating the majority of your calories at night. 

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Intrigued? Learn more about the book and how to purchase here.
This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

Always Eat After 7PM for More Energy? I'm In!

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

I recently picked up a new book that I'm really excited about - Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion. My energy levels have been at an all-time low lately, So much that I have had several blood tests done to see if something (iron levels, thyroid) weren't at their optimal functioning levels. While I workout out and try to eat healthy, I struggle big time with finding enough energy to make it through the day. I'm really optimistic that Always Eat After 7PM can help!

One quote that really resonated with me from the book was, “Avoiding carbohydrates and restricting calories later in the day can have an adverse effect on your thyroid hormones, which play a major role in metabolism. When the thyroid fails to secrete enough of the hormones that control metabolism, this can trigger symptoms like fatigue, depression, weight gain, thinning hair, and dry skin.”

I really love and appreciate the author's science behind his revolutionary diet approach. We’ve been traditionally taught to avoid carbs, have an early dinner, and never eat before bed. But the fact is, the latest scientific research shows us this earlier model is not the most ideal.

 Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase HERE.

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

Amazon Outdoor Toy Favorites

First off friends, how is everyone doing? Like, really, really doing? Despite all of the uncertainty and bad news around us, I myself, am trying to focus on the positive things - two of them being my kids and the abundance of time we now have to enjoy our amazing weather!

Like many of you, I have been thinking of ways to entertain them, while maintaining a social distance barrier. Most of our outdoor time lately has been spent at large green grassy areas in our community as well as in our backyard. Pool season is also coming up soon here so in addition to some fun outdoor toys they can enjoy now, I thought it would also be fun to stock their Easter baskets with a few new pool and water toys.

Double Stomp Rockets- These toys are so much fun - for kids and adults alike! Stomp on the pads with your foot and the "rockets" will fly into the air. This double one is fun because you can duel to see whose rocket goes the highest!  Shop it on Amazon here - under $20!

Inflatable Splash Pad - These look awesome! Even though we have a pool, we still love to play in the sprinklers, especially when its not super hot out yet, and I love how this keeps the water contained and goes around in a circle. Shop it on Amazon here - only $16!

Foam Bow and Arrow - This looks like so much fun for my ten year old! I have friends that have this toy and love it. Something they could play with independently or with other siblings too. Shop it on Amazon here.

Fishing Rods Water Toy - This one looked like so much fun and I love that it can be used really in any body of water (pool, water table, or even the bath!). Shop it on Amazon here - under $10!

Small Unicorn Pool Float - This is guaranteed to make my 3 year old squeal. Shop it on Amazon here - under $13!

Larger Dinosaur Pool Float - For the 10 year old. The prices on these Amazon floats are much less than I've seen in stores. Shop it here - under $20!

Magnetic Tiles - Not technically a outdoor toy, but worth adding to the list! If your kiddo doesn't already have some these, this is a toy that will stand the test of time. This is a really well priced starter set. Shop it on Amazon here - under $28!

And if they already have magnetic tiles - these car and train magnetic bases are AMAZING and take their magnetic tiles to a whole new level - shop them here - less than $9!

Last but certainly not least, is Kinetic Sand. Kinetic sand feels amazing, never dries out and is so fun to mold with sand toys. These 2 pound bags come in so many fun colors and are less than $10 each on Amazon. Shop them here.

I'll also probably be picking up some art refresh things locally next time I visit the grocery store like chalk, glue sticks, paint, and markers. What other things do you plan on putting in your kids Easter Baskets? What are some of your kids favorite outdoor toys lately?

How does the Peloton Bike Compare to Studio Classes Like CycleBar and SoulCycle

I fell in love with CycleBar studio cycle classes last year when I was recovering from an major running injury. I fell in love with the the energy there, the music, the people, and most of all, the way that I could get in a KILLER workout in a low impact way. I was able to get the same endorphin rush on the bike that I got from running and that was HUGE to me!

After a few months of attending in-studio CycleBar cycle classes I started seeing ads for Peloton bikes and they made me curious. It was looking for something that was more convenient and that my husband could use too (CycleBar doesn't have childcare so we could never ride together!)

I know with the news of the current COVID-19 (coronovirus) spreading and cycle studios and gyms temporarily closing everywhere to keep people safe, I wanted to give you all this review to compare my experience with the two in case you were considering making the purchase, If you do, I have a discount code towards the bottom of this post that will save you $100!

The Peloton bike itself is much nicer than the in-studio bikes. It is super sturdy and the gear change knob is so easy to switch resistance levels easily, it such a smooth transition. The handlebar is short than those at the studio, because of the screen so your bike positioning will feel a little different. You can adjust the seat up and down, forward and back, and you can adjust the handlebars up and down too. It's way easier for me to adjust the seat on a Peloton bike than and in-studio bike too, I would often have to ask for help because the rider before me tightened the knob too tight!

A huge benefit of the Peloton bike is convenience, obviously. You ride what you want to ride, when you want to ride it. There's literally thousands of classes in the on-demand Peloton library that you can ride from as well as 10 or so live classes a day that they record in their studios, which then become archived into their on-demand library. When you ride on-demand, you can preview the class ahead of time, see the difficulty rating, the class lay out, and my favorite feature, the music play list. Music is so motivating to me, so that's usually how I pick my classes - scan the playlist and if I know and like most of the songs, I'm in!

There is less choreography in the Peloton bike classes than you'll find in some CycleBar classes - and I have read that that is because, while those moves add fun and variety to a class, they do not add any added strength training benefits. Some Peloton instructors will add tapbacks to a couple of songs per ride. I thought I would miss the choreography, but I'm honestly okay with it. Peloton also has lots and lots of classes that will have an arm interval section using their 3 pound dumbbell weights).

I do find that I have to push myself a little harder on the Peloton because I don't have an entire room of riders to motivate me, so sometimes I slack a little bit, but usually I can muster up the kick in the butt push that I need. There is a leader board just like at CycleBar that you can customize to show just the participants that are currently riding, all time riders, or filter it by "friends" or age and gender demographics. You can also totally hide they leader board if that's not motivating to you too!

The screen is laid out really cool with some great data as you ride (and again, you can hide any of this is you don't want to see it). You see your current output, cadence and resistance, as well as what the instructor has suggested you be riding at currently. You can see how that ranks to your over-all PR output for that ride length too as well as your LB standing. You also have the ability to give a virtual high-five to any class participant and receive them back too by tapping on their on-screen profile.

You may be saying, well that's all great Amy, but what how does the Peloton workout compare to a CycleBar workout? Well, the first time I did a Peloton workout, I took a 20 minute class in their local showroom and literally was sore for 4 days afterwards!!! It worked me so hard. Needless to say, we bought eh bike on the spot. Which, BTW, if you're reading this because you are thinking about buying, you can use my referral code, 4Y2NKS, which will give you $100 in free accessories. I recommend buying their shoes that clip in (go up 1/2 to 1 full size) and the mat that goes under the bike to protect your floors from sweat - because you will sweat a TON!

Back to the workout aspect, yes, you can get the same or better quality of workout on the Peloton as you would at an in-studio CycleBar or SoulCycle class. There are such a wide variety of classes from Power Zone training, HIIT, Live DJ Rides, themed Artist Rides, Climb Rides, Low Impact Rides and so much more. Depending on what class I take, and the intensity that I work my heart rate always falls in the same range as it did for CycleBar classes.

After 3 months of riding the Peloton my husband has lost over 25 pounds. I didn't really have any weight to lose, but my legs and core are so much stronger and my running endurance is way up too!

What other questions do you have about the Peloton? Feel free to leave a comment here or send me a message on my Instagram - GoFastMommy!

Peloton Review - 10 rides in

We have now had our Peloton for 3 full months - but I wanted to start out my Peloton review series with my thoughts 10 rides in (I originally posted this on my Instagram page - @GoFastMommy - which is also my Peloton LB name!)

No, it doesn’t get easier. Yes, you only get stronger. - Emma Lovewell

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Today I completed my 10th ride on our new Peloton and I am a believer. Originally I jokingly asked Adam for it as a bargaining tool - he wanted to go to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego so I was like, “Sure...if I can have a Peloton!” Little did I know he’s been dreaming about seeing his Iowa Hawkeyes in the Holiday Bowl since he was like 8, so he didn’t miss a beat in telling me “Sure!”

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A couple of days later we each took a test ride down in a Peloton showroom in Scottsdale and even though he said he “wasn’t too keen on some dude yelling at him and dancing on a bike” we bought one on the spot. .

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Fast forward to now, we’ve had it about 2 1/2 weeks and Adam hasn’t missed a day. He found an instructor her loves (Leanne) and within 3 days he was like, “My watch strap is loose- I’m already losing weight.” #Men 🤪🤪

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The Peloton has giving him a way to move again since running is too hard for him right now. It’s given me the freedom to do my cross training on my schedule and to get a little extra sleep in the morning because I’m not driving to a studio. And it’s given both of us a new activity to bond over- discussing our daily rides and sometimes having friendly little competitions over who can have the highest output. We are totally “that couple” that tries not to, but somehow finds a way to turn the topic over to Peloton at parties. #SorryNotSorry because if you know, you know. .

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Have you riden on a Peloton yet? What are your favorite rides or classes? Mine right now are any of Becs Gentry strength workouts and the 45 minute 90’s rides that Emma Lovewell does. ️

If you're interested and purchasing a bike of your own - you can use my referral code in-store or online. It is: 4Y2NKS and it will give you $100 towards free accessories - I always recommend the shoes that clip in and their mat to go under the bike!