It’s Monday, you find yourself thinking about all the work you have to do, but have you also planned out your meals? Your food makes up 80% of your new and healthy lifestyle. Exercising is great and it is a wonderful commitment to have, but you cannot outrun, outlift, or outcardio what you put in your mouth. In last week’s blog, I talked about calculating your BMR, which will help you decide how much you need to eat to lose weight. While calories are calories, you can eat a lot more of the good stuff and feel better than to eat a little of the bad stuff and try to work out for an extra fifteen minutes to work it off. I personally burn between 2800-3800 calories a day, but I also am heavier than the average 150 pound woman that fitness books write about, thanks to being bigger boned and more toned up. That means I need to eat between 2300 to 3200 calories a day, and burn at least 300 calories with exercise daily to lose weight. A normal workout for me burns well over 700 calories, so I eat healthy protein like nuts, greek yogurt, a protein shake, or a bowl of veggies to help keep my calories up instead of having a bowl of ice cream.
I made a small change in my diet last week and lost a couple pounds. It was a simple move and one I always recommend to people that ask me about losing weight. Eat more veggies and drink more water. That is it. Seriously. Don’t overhaul your diet in one week and expect to be successful. You will crave and you will give in, and then you think, well, I messed up breakfast, so, let’s get at lunch and dinner. I’ll start over tomorrow. Guess what? Tomorrow may never come for your change, not until you realize you’ve gained five pounds, you can’t fit into those pants anymore, or you are at the doctor’s office wishing that donut away.
Make one or two small goals a week. I sit down on Sundays and decide what I want to do for the week. Last week, I want to add more veggies to my diet and drink an extra bottle of water daily. So, at every meal, I look to see how I can add some veggies. I’m going to drink my Shakeology, which has a day’s worth of veggies in one packet. I’m going to start my lunch and dinner with a bowl of a vegetable, and then I’m going to eat the rest of my food. Because of that small change, I ate less of the other stuff, and didn’t eat any fast food last week. Then, I kept a bottle of water by my bed, one in the car, and one on the kitchen counter, so that every time I saw that water, I drank some. Then being the OCD person I am, I don’t want to have half empty bottles everywhere, so I finish the water and replace it. Viola! I have added in more water without really trying.
My meals usually are green tea, coffee, cereal and greek yogurt for breakfast, shakeology for a snack, veggies and protein for lunch, nuts for a snack, and veggies and protein for dinner. I literally eat all day long, but keep in mind, it’s not how much I eat, but what I eat. I have green tea and water with every meal, as well as some sort of veggie with lunch, dinner, and snack.
Maybe you want to give up pop and soda. Swap a can for water. Maybe it is fried food. Swap a fried meal for something baked or broiled. Maybe it is something sweet. Try some yogurt with fresh fruit in place of that candy bar. Small changes add up, and once you conquer one thing, you will find it easier and easier to conquer the next. And as always, take five minutes at the end of your day to assess how you did. As you find you are making better changes, you will find that you feel better, not only with more energy, but about yourself in general. Celebrate that!!! Conquer one or two goals and move on to the next, and the next, and the next, and then you will be sliding into those pants!
Now that you have some extra energy, try a new workout. Your body adjusts to exercise every 4-6 weeks, so now you need to try new things to see what you like. If you like running, you will keep doing it. If you like a certain group exercise class, you will keep doing it. Try one out, and tell me what you like and didn’t like. I would like to know. I love boot camp, Insanity, and Turbo Kick, but I hate running and zumba. I know that, so guess what I will stick to? Most people love Zumba and P90X, I’m just not a fan, because I like my workouts to move faster and be really challenging as well, without using a whole lot of extra tools. I could help you burn 500+ calories in 20 minutes just using you. Find out what YOU like, and tell me.
No comments:
Post a Comment