Hope everyone had the best holiday season.
We think today is the perfect day to share this inspiring post from one of Lauryn’s former mentees, DeAnna Rivers.
She’s a hustler, she’s creative, she’s charming, and her IG is full, no like FULL of fun outfit ideas. You gotta check her out.
Lauryn wanted to DeAnna to come on the blog to talk about her recent wellness makeover. DeAnna recently lost 25+ pounds and is here to tell us how she did it in a healthy, sustainable way that worked for her. Take what you like, leave what you don’t, you do you. Let’s get into DeAnna’s tips.
Health, Wellness & Weight Loss With DeAnna Rivers
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Hello TSC family! My name is DeAnna Rivers of The Visual Aspect which is a platform for women to come and learn how to create a staple wardrobe. I’ve been a huge fan of The Skinny Confidential since 2017! In addition to that, in 2018 I had the opportunity to meet Lauryn during the live taping of The Skinny Confidential HIM & HER event at The Grove in LA. Shortly after meeting her and Michael, I saw on IG that she was looking for her next mentee. Of course, I jumped on this and after actively pursuing this opportunity I became her mentee in 2020! That was such an amazing experience & I’m very grateful for the opportunity.
Today I’m excited to share with you my workout and food routine, and how my relationship with both has evolved over the years.
This all kicked off toward the end of 2020 when my weight was at its highest and I was exploring options to get off birth control. Health, wellness, and exercise have always been top priorities for me since my family has a lot of health challenges on both sides. One thing I’ve learned is that as you get older and your body changes, your routines need to adjust. Also, giving myself grace and being kind to my body plays a huge part!
Before I jump into the details, I want to level set for a moment. My body type has always been an athletic build. I typically build muscle quickly and my metabolism is on the higher end. This is the foundation that I’ve had to work with for the past 29 years. All this to say that sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in other people’s food and workout routines with the expectation that your results will be similar. I’m not saying you can or cannot have the same results, but I feel like it’s important to be cognizant of information that is shared when it comes to body and food.
Alright now onto the details!
Over the past 2 ½ years I had a huge overhaul when it came to how I approached my daily choices regarding health and exercise. Back in September 2020, I began my journey of coming off the birth control pill because I had gained 25+ pounds and my mood swings were getting worse. So, I decided to come off the pill and give my health and wellness routine a total reboot.
My typical form of exercise was 3-4 HIIT classes and 1-2 spin classes per week. My food routine included intermittent fasting, what I called a Whole30ish based lifestyle, and tried to keep alcohol consumption to only on the weekends. This was my routine when it came to eating and exercise from 2020 – the majority of 2022. That was until I moved from Austin, Texas to New York City in July 2022.
Once I moved to New York, I decided to revamp my workout routine and the phrase that kept popping into my head was I needed to be gentler with my body when it comes to exercise. The amount of stress my body would feel from HIIT class 4 times a week would only cause me to burn out quicker. So, I present to you the new and improved workout routine that I’ve been loving.
A typical week is as follows:
♡ Tuesday- Hot Yoga
♡ Wednesday- Ballet class
♡ Friday- Low impact strength class
♡ Saturday- Hot yoga or 1 hour walk
♡ Sunday- 1–2-hour walk
The long walks have been a HUGE game changer for me! Especially moving to a new city like NYC, it was an excellent opportunity to explore my side of town while moving my body. To be honest, moving halfway across the country by myself was A LOT. I didn’t have a gym yet, but I needed to exercise. When I say the clarity those long walks bring you is unmatched, you better believe it. I wanted to join a gym at some point because I love taking classes. So I found one in Brooklyn that works best for me. I also took ballet for about 20 years growing up, so finding a great studio with adult drop-in classes was another priority. I like some variety when it comes to exercise to keep things interesting.
With complete transparency, my food routine is currently a work in progress. At my job, they serve breakfast and lunch so I’m able to stick to some healthier options. I still intermittent fast which has always served me well. Let’s get into a typical day of eating.
What I Eat in a Day:
♡ Upon waking:
2 shots of espresso with almond milk creamer. Starbucks has one that is almond milk and oat milk and the different flavors are very good!
♡ Breakfast:
scrambled eggs, turkey sausage or bacon, potatoes with Pico. With lots of fruit especially pineapple, blueberries, and blackberries. And coffee #2 is an iced sweet latte with almond milk from Blue Bottle, which is my go to.
♡ Lunch:
Typically, the kitchen at work serves some sort of protein, with veggies and a starch. They also have these chocolate covered almond butter cups I eat for dessert/a snack. Then I switch to sparkling water for most of the day.
♡ Dinner:
Most nights I eat the Evol or Smart Choice frozen dinners. The chipotle chicken mac and cheese are my fave and the protein based Smart Choice dinners have been great options. If neither of these options is there in the freezer, it’s Uber Eats that comes in to save the evening, LOL. With dinner I either drink Poppi Strawberry Lemon, Spindrift Lemon, or I make a huge jug of water with electrolytes.
♡ Alcohol:
This has been an area of my life that I REALLY wanted to take a step back from and evaluate my relationship with alcohol. In September I took a break from drinking for almost 37 days and honestly, I felt so much clarity and my body appreciated the reset. I am drinking again but I only drink if I go out and then I stick to a max of 2-3 drinks and 2 shots (if we’re going to go there haha).
Now I have more control over my relationship with alcohol and have become more aware. I’m very sensitive to how it shows up in my life because hunny, the year 2021 up until this big move, I was using it as such a crutch in my daily life- it was not cute at all. If you’re feeling something similar or sober curious it never hurts to take a break.
This whole switch up that I had with my food and workout routine has made me such a happier person.
How I like to view personal health and wellness is like an ever evolving journey. If I felt like I was in a rut or I did not feel good about myself, I took some time to self reflect and evaluate where I needed to make a change. With these changes came a break from my birth control and switching to a better option for my body. Incremental changes with exercise then lead to a complete reboot and reevaluation of my eating habits—all of this with a huge heaping layer of giving myself grace throughout the process.
If you’re looking for a place to start your new workout routine, go outside and walk! It’s a huge mood booster and it’s free. Put on your favorite podcast and walk…for like an hour or so. Make time for it and get your family and friends to go with you.
If you like to work out at home, my favorite app to use is the Peloton App!
They have so many classes and a variety of instructors, and the app is less than $15/month. When it comes to food/eating routines start with a self audit of your current eating habits and see where you can make improvements. Don’t forget to give yourself grace throughout the process as you learn and grow into this new version of yourself. You got this!!
If you ever need to chat, come join me on social media, it’s listed below. I’d love to have you as part of the fam!
+ TikTok- DeAnna.Rivers
+ Instagram- DeAnnamRivers
+ YouTube- The Visual Aspect
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Hope you all loved this post. Such a good way to kick off the first month of 2023. We’re all about small, sustainable habits that make BIG changes.
x, The Skinny Confidential team
+ to hear from Lauryn’s other mentees click here, here & here.
++ Snag the HOT MINUTE PLANNER to start the year off strategically.
SHOP WELLNESS:
