Diet.. It's always a struggle

I hear it so often, and I've been through the struggle myself, I can get to the gym but I struggle with my diet.  Everyone is always looking for the secret to avoiding temptation or not craving "bad foods." Well.. the secret is willpower.  I will share some tips for keeping on track but ultimately it comes down to the choices you (and only you) will make for yourself.  Here's a little story from my day today:

I'm 3 weeks out from my debut show and I'm not quite where I want to be yet.  I'm not sure I'll get there in 3 weeks, but I'll get as close as I can.  I plan and track my food diligently but I'm human. I have cravings and sometimes I give in, most times I don't.  At work this morning, having eaten my breakfast before and snack 3 hours later, I still felt hungry.  I walked down to the vending machine and looked at my options.  I have a few calories to play with today, often my food doesn't come out EXACT to my calorie goal. I have 12-15g of protein, 6g of carbs left.  Nothing in the machine suits what I have available. So I walked away.

As I stared blankly into the vending machine I told myself "3 weeks.. you have 3 weeks to burn as much fat as you can before your stage debut. Nothing in this machine is going to help you do that."

I've been dieting for almost 4 years. Part of that has made me better at saying no to things I shouldn't have and part of that has left me wanting to just go eat food without considering the macros or what it's going to do to my body. It's a double edged sword and there's always a struggle between making a healthy choice and choosing convenience or just deciding, you know what? I'm going to eat a candy bar today.  For most people making that choice is fine.  One candy bar isn't going to make or break you.  I could've bought something, justifying that 3 weeks isn't enough time to make a change.. But I know that isn't true.  And to make a change everything has to be on point.

I'm trying to get extraordinarily lean so I don't have the flexibility I'm used to. I still get to get foods I like, luckily I don't mind healthy foods. :)
This process is not for everyone. I knew going in that it was going to test me. I think I've handled it all pretty well. Though I'm not sure how my experience on the stage will be, I've already started thinking past the stage. Carefully reverse dieting to avoid excessive weight gain and looking ahead to the next show I might do.

I'm not immune to cravings. I love sweets. I love to bake.. I stopped doing a lot of baking when I got really serious about getting back in shape.  Now I bake healthier recipes and find ways to satisfy sweet cravings without a lot of added sugars keeping either carbs or fats low.

So let's get to some tips for keeping on track

1. Have a cheat meal every 1-2 weeks.

I said A cheat MEAL.  Not a cheat DAY.  One meal. Don't eat yourself sick, but use it to eat something you've been craving.  This serves 2 purposes. First, the increase in calories will boost your metabolism. (more calories in means the body has to burn more to keep up).  Second, it keeps you sane. If you know you have a cheat meal coming every week or two, it's a lot easier to turn down tempting offers for naughty foods and you're much less likely to go crazy and binge.

2. Make sure you are eating enough day-day.

You have NO idea how sad it makes me to see girls eating 1000-1200 calories a day. Especially if they have a lot of weight to lose or are killing it in the gym.  You NEED to fuel your body.  The idea is to eat as much as you can and still lose weight.  Not cut calories as drastically as you can.  As the boost in calories from your cheat meal boosts metabolism, your metabolism adapts to your calorie cut as well. The more you cut, the more your metabolism adapts.  DON'T cut yourself from eating 3000 calories to 1200 right away.  It's only going to hurt you in the end.   **Trust me.. I did this to myself.. more than once!  It's not the right way and your results will not last cause you can't keep that up forever**

3. Find healthy alternatives

Craving chocolate?  Try mixing chocolate protein powder with greek yogurt for a protein packed chocolate treat.

Pancakes? Get some mancakes and waldon farms calorie free syrup.  Or make your own healthy version with oat flour (blend up oats) and egg whites.
Mancakes can be bought  here
Waldon farms makes TONS of calorie free products check them out here (My grocery store carries several of their syrups, sauces and marshmallow dip!)

Just want something sweet?  Try fruit instead of candy. Check out my protein fluff for a protein packed ice cream like treat right here

Check out http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/ For a TON of healthy recipes.  I LOVE her site. I get a lot of ideas from there.

4. Get accountability/Support system

Tell somebody your goals. It will make you more likely to stick to them.  Also if you find yourself craving something you can talk to those who you shared your goals with.  I know I have some friends that have been instrumental in keeping me on track.  When you're having an off day, these people will remind you how awesome you are doing and why you don't want to revert to old ways. There are going to be days that you just don't feel like working out or you really want to eat something processed and bad for you.  Your support system will help you stay on track OR get back on track after you've given in.

5. Remember you are human.

Perfection doesn't exist. You're not going to look like the photoshopped people in magazines and you're going to have slip ups, days you can't get to the gym or other obstacles.  The key is to accept these and move on. Everyday is a new opportunity to make better choices, workout a little harder and get closer to your goals.  This is a lifestyle, there's no finish line.

Q&A Sexy Arm workouts

I get a lot of questions on Instagram about my arms.

 I think every woman wants to feel comfortable showing off lean sexy arms. But a lot of us suffer from the dreaded arm "wing."  I have good news and bad news related to ridding yourself of the wing. The bad news is, you can't spot reduce fat. I can't choose to focus on my arms and lose fat JUST from there. To reduce fat you need to have good nutrition and reduce overall body fat and it should get to your trouble area (eventually). 

The good news is, weight lifting and targeting your shoulders, biceps and triceps will give your arms a sexy shape and they are much less likely to be flabby weak spaghetti arms. 

So what types of exercises should you do to get lean sexy arms?  Here's some examples of some exercises I do for my arms. 

If you have any questions on these you can check out bodybuilding.com or even YouTube for examples. Form is important when lifting to avoid injury, so take care to make sure you're lifting properly. 

Biceps:

1. Cable curl - I use a straight bar to do mine. 

2. Alternating Dumb Bell curl - I prefer alternating as I feel I am more controlled

3. Dumb bell hammer curls - can be done on the cable machine using the rope too. 

4. Dumb bell incline curls - great stretch and range of motion on these!! 

Triceps:

1. Barbell skull crusher - keep your elbows in close 

2. Rope push down - push your arms all the way straight with each rep 

3. Lying dumb bell extension - I do these each arm individually for better control

4. Dips - can be modified for any fitness level.

Shoulders: 

1. Dumb bell shoulder press - basic but effective. This is one I do almost every shoulder day. 

2. Rear delt fly - controlled movements, no swinging weights 

3. Lateral raise - again don't swing the weights 

4. Cable high row - pull toward your face which targets the back part of the shoulder

For ALL of these exercises you should choose a weight where the last few weights burn and you are close to failure with the last rep. You want to change your body, you must challenge yourself.  And of course follow a good nutrition plan to lose that layer of fat and show off those sexy sculpted arms. 

Happy lifting.