My Food & Exercise Plan (for those who keep asking)

This was written in May in my Facebook Notes section; adding it to my blog so folks not on my Facebook can see.  I'm not a nutritionist or fitness expert. I did read through many different diet books [They all suck, IMO!] and I read up a lot on nutrition and fitness for the past couple of years. I'm just sharing my route to good health because it's showing results. You really have to want to do it for yourself. I mean, I've tried this whole exercise/diet thing 4-5 times before over the years and failed or quit every time. If you don't have that personal drive - nothing is going to get done - no matter how much you hate what you see in the mirror.

With that said, here is what I do:

Set Goals - Have something to look forward to. ... My motivation is first and foremost to look good for myself. I want to look in the mirror like I used to and be pleased with what I see. Second is for my husband, he thinks I'm beautiful no matter what as lovers typically state but I get more wild looks from him when I'm thin. I know this even if he denies it. haha Lastly - I want to look good in a bikini for the cruise I'm going on at the end of June... I set short and longterm goals:
Long term goal: 125 lbs by Christmas

MEAL PLAN:
6 meals a day every 2-3 hours, I eat dinner before 6:00 PM. I steam all of my vegetables so they retain their nutrients.
BREAKFAST: 1 whole fruit, a grain such as a low sugar cereal (I eat multigrain cheerios) or oatmeal (steel-cut oatmeal is the healthiest, not instant from a box!) and whey protein mixed with water.
SNACK: You just want to make sure you have a healthy carb and protein within the right portion size. You want to aim for 100-150 calories each snack but it's OK if you go over so long as you are eating healthy items. This week my first snack of the day is a pear and 2 hard-boiled eggs.
LUNCH: I like to sneak in 1-2 servings of vegetables a day by having a salad for lunch daily. The problem is I'm lazy about lunch. haha So I'll grab the ready made salads from the produce aisle and those are packed with bad sugar. Lately I've been grabbing bags of pre cut green + red greens [romaine, lettuce, spinch..] and adding 2 tbsp of organic natural raspberry vinegraitte. You can then add a handful of mixed nuts for delicious crunch. I have Virginia peanuts because I'm addicted to peanuts right now.
SNACK: My second snack is steamed medium artichoke. Serving of vegetable and high in protein. I'll dip it in a mayo/balsamic mixture you can find online. I'll also have a cup of bulger or quinoa to up my grain intake.
DINNER: You should have 4 oz lean protein [if you're vegetarian, more power to you] I LOVE seafood so I'll have 2 oily fish and 3 white fish each week - add in 2 days of poultry because I don't want too much mercury in my body. I'll have that with 2 servings of vegetables or 1 vegetable and a cup of legumes. I'm also a huge fan of legumes. This week is fish and sweet potato steamed with overflowing handful of snap peas still in pods and then I use a hand mixer to mix both with a curry seasoning I made.
SNACK: You want a healthy complex carb with very little sugar as your last snack of the day. I'll typically have a slice of whole grain toast, spray it with a bit of olive oil and add herbs.

Protein is your friend. ... Protein is super important hence the whey protein in the morning. It helps your muscles rebuild after exercise and gives you fuel. Whey doesn't make you bulk up - it's the perfect protein for women and helps with a lot more than exercise related stuff. I use Designer Whey French Vanilla. Don't overload on your protein intake, if the body has more protein than it needs it will break the protein down and store the components as fat. The general rule is .8 grams per lb of weight, I weigh 153 lbs right now so I should be aiming for around 123 grams of protein.

I take a multivitamin, currently using a prenatal multi called Rainbow Light.

Water good, fruit sugar good, processed sugar BAD. Bought a non BPA 1 liter stainless steel water bottle online for like $14 and drink 3-4 of those per day. What I've done that I think made a big impact is I never purchase items from the grocer that have over 9 grams of sugar on the label. Your body won't process anything under 5 grams and sometimes it's hard to stick to the 5 gram rule so I cut myself off at 9 grams. Fruit sugar = OK. Processed sugar = BAD. Milk has a lot of bad sugar so I've cut milk out of my diet. You don't have to cut milk out of your diet, it was just easy for me so I did it.

Cheating is totally OK ... Now, you HAVE to allow yourself a cheat day per week and also small treats on the days you work out a lot. Otherwise you'll just burn yourself out and hate your new goal - thus dropping it. I had a cup of Coldstone Creamery ice cream yesterday but I also worked out two hours. haha On your cheat day eat whatever you want to eat [within reason, nothing like the heart attack double-decker egg and bacon burger my toothpick husband loves. lol] so long as you stay under 1500 calories for the day if you're trying to lose weight. 1500 calories is your daily goal for losing weight. Don't hate yourself if you go a bit over - so long as you're exercising that's OK.

EXERCISE PLAN:
As for exercise. For those who have had trouble staying with an exercise plan, you HAVE to do stuff you enjoy and do it with a group of people or another motivated friend. I can't stress that enough. I've tried exercising alone and with people - I'm MUCH more inclined to stay exercising when I'm doing it socially. With that said, I go to the YMCA. I don't know if the YMCA is really nice near you [they can range from amazing to crap depending on where you live] but mine is AWESOME. I do 1-2 hours of exercise daily by choosing 2 classes to do. Right now I switch between zumba, cycling, cardio interval, sculpt, yoga, pilates, and boot camp.

Busy Schedule? ... if you are VERY busy that day and can't go to a gym or work out with a friend - just make sure you get in a 30 minutes walk/jog interval either early in the morning or even an hour before bed. It's refreshing and gets you that daily exercise you need. There are also exercises you can do while cooking, at work, at the kid's playground, etc. Just google! And YES, they WORK!

Listen to your body! ... Remember that if your body hurts and you can't exercise one day - don't feel bad that you want to give yourself some rest days. I had 3-4 rest days over this past weekend because my right leg was hurting a lot. Just promise yourself a day where you'll get back on track.

Brag and Journal... Brag brag brag... This is equally motivating and helps you keep on track - BRAG AND JOURNAL. Brag about that pound you lost or how hard you worked out today and for how long. Tell friends, family and even Facebook! The support and feedback you get is a total up-lifter and keep you positive about all of the hard work and gains you're making. Journal your daily food intake and exercise. I was writing in a journal but found a neat application for my Ipod Touch called "Lose It!". It's easy to add foods and exercise there. It also computes how many calories I lost in an exercise and lets me know how much more I can eat for the day thanks to it [in other words, I can treat myself to DESSERT LOL].

SLEEP ... Sleep is very important as well, that's when your body pulls all of your exercise and good nutrition for the day and repairs your body. Recommended sleep ranges from 6-8 hours - you just have to gauge as to how long is perfect where you wake up refreshed. Sleep is difficult for some but I've learned that after the first couple of days of exercising and eating right - my body is eager to fall into a deep slumber.

Best Friends

I'm dedicating this blog entry to discussing two women that are amazing and very special to me.

Best friend #1 Zoey

She's pretty much one of the most amazing people I know.  She inspires me in every way possible.  I can talk to her about anything, she's a great listener and offers sound advice.  She's also very hard on me and motivates me to do better for myself; grow as a person.  We've been friends for over 7 years now, met at a concert and had a blast - the rest is history.  She was born in Poland and is a very worldly and cultured lady with a wonderful and very successful family.  She's a voluptuous ginger [haha] who is completely oblivious to the rabid attention she receives from the opposite sex; it amuses me to no end.  Right now she's studying for her PhD in Phsycology in Colorado.  Even with the distance between us and we're not in constant communication like before - we're still really tight. I miss her terribly and should be seeing her this Summer when I go to visit during her break.  I'm very proud of her, she's a very intelligent woman and I only see great things happening for her in the future.

Best Friend #2 Kat

My kitty Kat is really odd, tiny and beautiful.  We met through a [now] ex boyfriend when I was in my senior year of high school...  So I guess we've known each other for almost 7 years.  She's probably the funniest and meanest person I know.  She'll tell you how it is and not give a shit how you'll take it.  She's very fashionable and has an odd obsession over Shakira.  We're connected in a Laverne & Shirley kind of way, I still to this day don't know how it is that we manage to click so well but I'm happy that we do because she's a great gal.  I know I can depend on her for anything and she has never done me wrong.  She's Cuban/Persian [crazy mix, right?] and has been in school for what seems like forever.  I know she was studying Psychology for a while and then maybe got bored of it and moved on to Cosmetology.  Last I heard she wants to open up a spa, which I can totally see her doing and being successful at.  She's very creative & crafty, can belly dance too!  She's also a crazy cat lady like me because cats are great.  Oh, and she's marrying Dexter Morgan's doppelganger in April; I have as of yet to meet him.

I love talking to and about these girls, it won't ever get old for me.  I knew this would make for a wonderful end to a good day, although now I'm even more anxious to see them again.  With a smile, I'm raising my hot chocolate in a toast to good friends!