I mentioned in my last post some suggestions. Food Logging is one of the most important things you can do to get things started in the right direction. Like I said before, you are less likely to eat that dessert knowing that you have to write down that you ate it!
Other suggestions I made before were to read all the ingredient labels, and AVOID High Fructose Corn Syrup, Enriched or bleached flours. I found my very first food log the other day. Here is what a typical day looked like for me
Breakfast-- 1Whole Egg with 3 egg whites (4whites, 1yolk)
Oatmeal with cinnamon (I was bad and always did instant) or at first I didnt like oatmeal, ate brown rice in the morning intead.
Snack-- Protien Shake or half a large apple with natural peanut butter.
Lunch-- Baked Chicken with Brown rice and carrots
Snack-- Same snack as above or half a peanut butter sandwich on WHOLE WHEAT
Dinner-- Salmon witch veggies/ or Chicken with Veggies
Snack-- Slice of cheese
Pretty simple switch over. All these meals were anywhere from 2-4 hours apart. From this sort of menu, I was able to figure out ways to expand the menu on my own. In other words, I felt more successful being given a SPECIFIC menu, and then also knowing the guidlines so that I could make modifications. for example witch Pasta I would use gluten free brown rice pasta. If I would have been just given "guidlines" then I probably wouldn't have had the success I have had so far. Now if this is a complete nutrtion makeover for you, like maybe you were eating out alot or fast food, etc. This will probably work for you. It worked for me for a little while, but when I reached a plateau, there needed to be adjustments. So the first adjustment I made to this menu was NO FRUIT after Lunch time. Yes fruit is good for you, but when you are at a stand still and want results, putting that little bit of extra sugar can make the difference. Also same thing with the breads and rice, I would have them before lunch, but the dinner consisted of just protein and vegetable. This helped kick start me again in the right direction! And after food logging for 3 months I was on a good enough routine that I was able to keep myself on track, with my eating schedule, and it was just second nature to know what I was supposed to be eating.
When I went back to school in the Fall 2009. I also got that job downtown, so I fell out of my routine, and gained some weight. Jan2010, I started food logging again, and also made a few changes to my diet. My trainer at the time had introduced me to Paleo. Now this is not a word to be scared of. And this change over was not 100% Paleo. Just some small changes. I eliminated ALL grain. so from the menu above I was no longer eating bread, oatmeal or rice. Breakfast now consisted of the eggs, and Avocado. Lunch was now Chicken with avocado and Raw broccoli.(you can have it cooked too) And that was really the only "Paleo" changes that I made to my eating. I still had cheese and milk as part of my routine. I started journaling again to stay on track. Eating with just those small of changes really prepared me for what was about to happen. When I entered the world of Crossfit, I found out that the perferred nutrition is Paleo. I was already half way there. But what happened is that I was just given the guidelines of Paleo, and not a specific. So like many people that enter the Paleo way of eating, they might get the thought of not having to use portion control etc. So here were the some of the guidelines that were given to me. No Dairy(cheese, milkk, etc)Protiens--Eat grass fed beef, Free range Chicken, and cage free eggs + the DHA omega-3s, and Wild caught fish, not farm raised.
Fruits and Veggies- avoid tropical fruit, stick with local grown items. And then Nuts, seeds, berries, but not peanuts!! Pretty simple guidelines, but somehow I ended up not quite feeling like I was doing it right. Felt like I wasn't in control.
When I switched Crossfit gyms, my new coach took the time to explain ZONE eating to me. Zone eating put me in control of my portions in terms of getting the proper amounts of Protien, Fats, and Carbs each time I ate. And then I was able to apply those Paleo principles to how I ate in the ZONE. Zone used the principle that you need 40%carbs, and 30% of each protien and fat. And to make it easier to measure your daily intake you can count in blocks. for example, 9g of Carbs is one block, and 7g of protien is 1 block, and 1.5g of fat is 1 block. you don't have to be a Math wiz to figure this stuff out, because you can find the info anywhere. My coach gave me a print out. 1 egg = 1 block of protien.etc etc I need to eat a 3 block breakfast, so I would just follow the chart to pick out 3 blocks of each protien, fat, and carb. Let's Make this simpler and I will just show you my typical food log now that I am IN THE ZONE WITH PALEO! =)
Breakfast-- 3 eggs cooked with 1/4 cup of each onion, red bell, green bell, mushrooms
1cup of strawberries, 1/2 cup of blueberries
1/4 of large avocado(about 3 TBS)
Snack-- 1 1/2 oz turkey
1/2 apple or pear
4 Almonds
lunch-- 3oz chicken
2 cups broccoli and 1cup squash
1/4 of large avocado
snack-- boiled Egg
little cutie orange
4 almonds
dinner-- 4oz of white fish(I like orange roughy)
6 spears of asparagus
2 cups of spinach with Olive oil and Red Wine Vinegar
snack-- depends on how late I eat dinner, but very important to eat b4 bed so that you keep yourself anabolic while you sleep.!
Here are some pictures of my current food eatings...
STOCK THE FRIDGE FOR SUCCESS!!
Looks pretty delicious huh?? =)
Aside from changing my eating habits, my coach introduced me to AdvoCare products. My best suggestion about these are to do the 24 day challenge. And see how you feel afterwards to decide if adding this to your nutritional regimine is for you. After barely 5 days I was hooked on how great I felt. And this was just the Cleanse Phase. I couldn't imagine how I was going to feel once I actually started getting the rest of the nutrition. Alot of people say "why take vitamins don't you get all you need from your food?" yes we get alot from our food, BUT our food today isn't even the same as it was 30 years ago. There are a number of factors that go into that, but how we farm, the soil things are grown in etc are just a few things that affect the nutrient depletion of the food we eat today. Which is why it is critical to take vitamins to fill the nutritional gap.
As I was saying I was hooked on these products that I started using, that I decided that I wanted to be able to share with everyone how wonderful they are. So I became an AdvoCare Independent Distributor. =) I am currently on Day 21 of the 24Day Challenge. and after I finished the Cleanse phase on Day10, I also added in a few of the products from the Performance Elite Line since I do workout quite a bit. From what I hear everyone at my gym has lost between 8-25lbs. or saw a significant decrease in body Fat. And these were all sorts of people, older, younger, bigger, smaller, some that workout only once a week or some that go everyday. etc etc.. I'm getting measured again on the morning of day 23! YAY! I will be sure to share what my improvements were!
If you are interested in checking out the challenge or want more information visit my website, or email me!
Link to 24Day Challenge and Success!!
I hope any of this info about changing eating habits helps! =)
No comments:
Post a Comment