Why my routine MIGHT not work for you

I want to get really real here for a minute. I like to share recipes and have no problem sharing my workouts. The truth is, I do this more for me than you.  I do it because it makes me plan, it makes me accountable and it motivates me to make good choices. In addition to motivating me, it gives ideas to others on the same journey.

I know what it's like to be struggling to lose weight. I worked hard for 2.5 years to lose over 100 pounds naturally. That's only the beginning of the struggle though.  When my life got a little messy, I immediately took the focus off my healthy habits and became very sedentary and ate a lot of convenient foods.  I gained weight pretty quickly. I cared, but not enough to really consider what I was putting in my body OR care enough to get active to counter a little of the junk I was eating. Now I'm starting over again, not from the place I started from before. But definitely from a place I thought I'd never be in again.

I know as much as anyone who has struggled with weight how much you want an easy fix. A quick weight loss solution to get you back in shape fast.  So you look to others. I can't tell you how many super skinny model type with thigh gaps I used to follow on social media. I followed them because I wanted to look like them.  I wondered what they were eating, how often they workout and what they were doing.  The truth is, I hoped that I could mirror their routine and look just like them.  But I won't look like them. And their routines MIGHT not even get me into the best shape I can be in.  Most of those girls are ectomorphs. They are naturally thin and have a hard time gaining weight.  That's not to say none of them have ever been over weight, but a lot of them haven't. And if they were slightly over weight, it's not to the degree that I can quickly and easily gain weight.  We are different. Doing what they do, will not yield the same results.

I don't sell "my workout" or "my diet" because I constantly mix up my workouts. And I am still experimenting with the best macros for me. Frankly it makes me sad when I see social media fitness "celebrities" selling a cookie cutter diet or workout plan.  Because I know that people who are desperate to lose weight will pay $5, $10 or more for a cookie cutter plan.  While I haven't seen these plans, I would bet that some of these little waifs eat as little as 1200 calories a day.  If you're an overweight person doing any activity at all, that's simply not enough calories. Your body will not be happy or you'll end up starving and binge. They might be low carb, high fat diets.  I found out the hard way that my body type is programmed to store fat eaten.  So when I tried Keto (atkins) my results were mediocre at best.  It just doesn't work for me. If you're 160, 200, 250+ pounds, you simply cannot just do what a 110 pound person does and look like them.  In theory, you can eat healthier foods and portion sizes, you can increase activity to burn calories and shape your body. But you need to cut calories gradually to avoid slowly the metabolism too quickly.  I feel there is simply too much comparison going on. If you don't have a thigh gap, you're not less valuable than someone that does. (and visa versa). The idea of a fitness journey should be finding your best self, not trying to turn into someone else.

I share my journey (for free) to motivate others to find what works for them and give them ideas along the way. I want everyone to know that you can work hard and get in the best shape of your life. You don't have to buy a cookie cutter diet plan. You don't have to cut out all carbs. (Carbs are a very important macronutrient) You CAN eat more than 1,000 or 1,200 calories a day and achieve your fat loss goals. I want to help others in their fitness journey and I want you to be successful. Not because it's good for my pocketbook, but because it makes me feel good to help someone else and see them happy and comfortable in their skin.  So I'll happily continue sharing my journey in hopes to inspire others to start a journey of their own to reach their own goals.

Diet Break

Post show my trainer recommended I take a week off from the gym. This was really hard for me at first, and then honestly due to some personal things, my daughters birthday party, an upcoming out of the country trip ( Which I am currently at 33,000 feet typing this up), as well as a family vacation right after I get back in the states, I ended up spending a lot less time in the gym then I typically would.

I wasn’t completely sedentary, but I was a lot less active than I usually am.  During this time, I slowly added carbs back into my diet. (If you’ve been following we did a ketogenic diet at the end of my prep you can read my post on that here) 

Once I brought my carb level back up, I kind of took a diet break. I stopped eating at a deficit. Heck, a few days (or so) I probably ate over maintenance. I did gain some weight back, which I wanted to not do, but it’ll come back off. And it wasn’t a lot of weight; the key is to keep everything in moderation. I don't really deny myself any craving that I have, but I do keep portions reasonable and I do still log what I eat. (except when I didn't have internet in India and I lost my steak on myfitnesspal.com ) 

I did this because I have been dieting for pretty much the last 4 years.  Your body adapts to your eating habits, and my metabolism has adapted to my constantly eating at a deficit. Especially toward the end of my prep I noticed my body wasn’t responding as we would like to the changes we made.  I really thought that I could benefit from a break. Basically I am eating at maintenance right now, feeding my body, hoping that it will realize that it can boost up my metabolism a bit. 

I do have plans to compete at least once more this year. I’m hoping that despite this “break” being only a month or so long, it will help my body respond better when I begin cutting for my next show. 

My plan for the next week and a half (until training, with my trainer, resumes) is 

1. Get back into the gym.  After some time off, I'll be starting back a bit easy so I don't hurt myself or get very sore.

2. Continue eating my current calorie intake and logging my food. Taking in balance meals and whole foods.

3. More thoroughly document my next journey to the stage. 

Ketogenic diet

I wanted to share my experience with a Ketogenic diet. About 7 weeks out from my show with my body not responding to the macros I was on at the time, my trainer decided to try a ketogenic diet with me (Keto).  Ketogenic diet is a high fat low carb diet.  Protein is also kept pretty low.  I went from having protein be 40-50% of my diet to about 20% and fats going from 20-30% to 65-80%.  Carbs dropped to 0-5%. 

Obviously this was a MAJOR change to my diet. I’m generally pretty capable of switching things up and keeping my diet interesting while keeping it within certain macros. But honestly, the first couple days I had NO idea how to put together a decent meal on this type of macro split.  I literally ate ground beef with ranch dressing on it.  My coworkers would wait for me to heat up my lunch just to see what kind of random stuff I was eating that day. (Before they left to go enjoy taco bell or burger king or Gates BBQ)

After a few days of trolling the internet for Keto recipes (thank you internet), I was able to actually put together something more resembling a meal. I happen to enjoy braunschweiger (liver sausage) and found that it was a perfect food for this diet.  Also I could eat lots of cheese, pepperoni, salami, make mini no bake cheesecakes. It seemed awesome.. for the first week.  To be honest eating mostly fat gets pretty icky after a while. Though I managed to find some low carb “bread” and muffins, mainly used to deliver butter to my mouth, they weren’t very flavorful and eating butter isn’t as great as it sounds.

We followed ketogenic diet for 2 weeks. Then we reintroduced carbs into my diet. It was kind of like a really big carb cycle, 2 weeks low, 2 weeks high.  We finished my prep with 3 weeks low carb. By the final 3 weeks I had become pretty proficient at making high fat meals but I was getting really tired of eating them.

At the end of the process I don’t even feel that this diet was all that effective.  The first 2 weeks we saw decent change, after that it leveled out and stayed that way for the duration. 

Following my prep, my trainer attended a seminar where ketogenic diet was discussed. It’s shown that the long term health risks of this type of diet far outweigh any short term benefit.  The thing with this type of diet is, it was first developed for short term use in morbidly obese patients in order to get them down to a weight that offered less risk for gastric surgery.

My personal opinion after being on the diet is, it cannot possibly be healthy. Eating mostly fat it’s really hard NOT to eat a bunch of high sodium processed foods.  To keep the protein and carb in take down you can’t eat a lot of whole, close to nature foods.  I love cheese as much as the next person.. but I don’t believe that should be a major part of a healthy diet.

Of course there are people who would disagree with my assessment that a balanced diet is better than a ketogenic diet. There will always be differing opinions. I feel like carbs always get such a bad rap. As I study to get my personal training certificate and eventually a nutrition certification, I look forward to learning more about how the body responds to certain macro splits and different theories on nutrition. Fitness and healthy lifestyles are always changing, there are new developments all the time and you have to constantly change and push yourself to continue to be successful.  As I near the beginning of my next prep, I am anxious to see how this goes the second time around. I plan on documenting more thoroughly how my body responds to the process and how you can get lean on a balanced diet that includes carbs.

Avocado fudge

After my accidental avocado fat bomb incident. See previous post 

I decided to try again to make the avocado fudge I intended to make. I got the idea from chocolatecoveredkatie.com  

The original recipe called for coconut butter.. I usually try to sub out things I dot have with things I do.. So I just used regular butter. And they came out SO GOOD! 

They are way more delish than the fat bombs and they are a little bit less calories too! 

Fudge Ingredients:

6 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup (about 56g) of mashed avocado 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

2 Tablespoons Waldon farms syrup (or honey or agave but this will add more cal and carbs) 

Pinch of salt

1-2 packets of stevia 

Optional chocolate layer 

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa 

2 tablespoons Waldon farms chocolate syrup (or honey or agave) 

Directions below this yummy picture

Directions: 

Melt the butter, mix the fudge ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy. Pour into a small pan or container. Put in the freezer at least 3 hours. 

Once the fudge is in the freezer you can mix the chocolate layer now or later. I did mine right away and as you see it stayed right on top. 

Melt the coconut oil and mix together with the cocoa powder and syrup of choice. Pour over the avocado layer and let set. I left mine overnight. 

Macros for 1/8 of the recipe 

Calories 119

Fat 13g

Carbs 2g

Fiber 1g

Protein 0.1g 

Peanut butter Marshmallow French toast

Hello fitfam!  I'm about to start 3 weeks of keto. Which means I'm saying goodbye to carbs for a few weeks until I carb load for my show. So I decided to make myself some french toast as a farewell to carbs.  I'm not going to lie.. it was AMAZING. 

I'm going to share the basic recipe as well as the toppings I chose to use so the macros will be for exactly what you see pictured: 

Ingredients:

1 whole egg (large)

1/4 cup egg whites

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 slices whole wheat bread (I used Sara Lee, you can substitute any bread you like but the macros will change)

Toppings:

2 tablespoons natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons Waldon Farms marshmallow fruit dip

1 tablespoon Waldon Farms strawberry syrup

Directions:

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a wide shallow bowl. Preheat a skillet to medium/medium high heat. Lay one piece of bread in the egg mixture letting it soak it up, flip it letting the other side soak up some mixture. Place the bread in the skillet, flip after about 1-2 minutes (once the egg mixture is cooked on that side)  While piece 1 is cooking, start soaking piece #2 in the egg mixture, it should soak up pretty much all the egg mixture. (So you're getting ALL the protein from the eggs) 

Once piece #1 is cooked transfer it to your plate and layer 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of marshmallow dip.  Cook the second piece like the first.  And lay it on top of the first piece.  Add your layers of peanut butter and marshmallow dip. Drizzle a tablespoon of Waldon farms strawberry syrup on top and ENJOY!

Macros for my recipe:

Calories:426

Fat: 22g

Carbs: 34

Fiber: 8

Sugar: 7

Protein: 27

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.

Sweet Potato Protein Cupcakes

So I have a little something to celebrate. I just accepted a new job. I'm super excited to be taking my career to the next step.  Unfortunately, 4 weeks out from my debut show isn't the greatest time to have a celebratory meal or treat.  Fear Not!  Here's a healthy treat that tastes so naughty but is actually packed with protein and good complex carbs!

I adapted this recipe from one I found at www.proteinpow.com  I usually don't have everything on hand or the exact ingredients but I've been pretty successful at getting some amazing recipes from there.  It's a go-to site when I need a protein packed recipe.

These really hit the spot!  I didn't even feel like I was eating something healthy.. it was totally delicious and tasted like a naughty treat, but without the guilt.  I actually got to eat 2 and will have the other 2 tomorrow.. I can't wait!

So let's get to the recipe, then we can get to a couple more pictures!

Ingredients for cake:
212 g Sweet potato (cooked and peeled) this is about 7.5 oz
1/3 cup whey protein (this is about 1 scoop)
1/3 cup egg whites
1 Tablespoon coconut flour

Ingredients for frosting:
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 scoop protein powder (I used core fit cinnamon bun you can get it at www.livecorefit.com save 20% with the coupon code JenniBean )
2 Tablespoons coconut flour
1/4 cup almond milk (add this 1-2 tablespoons at a time as needed until the desired consistency is reached)

Directions for Cake:
Preheat your oven to 325 F.
Mix all the cake ingredients together into a thick batter
Scoop into a pre-sprayed cupcake pan  (recipe makes 4 cupcakes)
Bake about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean

Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.  I kept mine in the refrigerator overnight.

Directions for Icing:
Mix the first three ingredients together, slowly add almond milk until the desired consistency in reached.  Put the icing into a ziplock back and cut a corner and pipe on to the cooled cupcakes.

I garnished with a dusting of cinnamon.

Macros for 1 cake (out of 4)
Calories:  173
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 19g
Fiber: 4g
Sugar: 6g
Protein: 19g

They are also kid approved. Note the tiny toddler finger photobomb 

Keto mini no-bake cheesecake

Hey there FitFam! Work is finally easing to a slow steady crawl after tax day, I'm a CPA for those who don't know. This was the first time I've actually been in the office doing taxes on tax day (normally I'm out working on an audit).  It was CRAZY!!  So even though I've been a bit quiet I have still been hard at work in the gym and in the kitchen making all my foods for my ever changing diet.  We are having pretty good success with Keto, but we are going to cycle off for a couple weeks. Before I do though I wanted to share a few recipes with you that will always be my in my Keto back pocket.  Today I want to share with my coffee lovers out there.  (Not a coffee lover..keep reading, I've got you covered too!)  If you're not keto you could sub low fat cream cheese and sub almond milk for the heavy cream to make it lower fat friendly.

Let's start with the odd fact that I am NOT a coffee lover! I drink a little.. I like to add a lot of milk and sugar so, I haven't had coffee in quite a while.  But I do have some mocha cappuccino mix and thought it would be an excellent addition to the mini no-bake cheesecakes I've been making. This is something pretty simple to whip up and since I'm the only one in my house I make a lot of single serve dishes. If you wanted to make a few at once you can just multiply the recipe by the desired number of servings, easy-peasy!

Ingredients:

Basic recipe:
2 oz cream cheese
2 tablespoons heavy cream (I've also used 1 so if you need a bit less fat 1 will work!)
sweetener of choice to taste (this is optional if you're a cream cheese lover you might omit this)

Flavor options:
2 tsp mocha cappuccino (for the coffee lovers.. this had a pretty strong coffee flavor, you could easily cut this in half if you wanted to tone it down)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (if you like a chocolate cheesecake)
1-2 tablespoon(s) waldon farms strawberry syrup (calorie free, carb free and delish!!)  I find mine at the local grocery store but you can get their stuff here https://www.waldenfarms.com/

I like to garnish with a little waldon farms syrup too!

Procedure:

Pick your flavor above and mix all the ingredients. If your cream cheese is straight out of the fridge then pop in the microwave for 10 seconds oro so to soften it a bit.

Once its all blended, pour the mix into a small container or glass or however you wish to serve it, and place it in the fridge to set. (30 minutes should do the trick, but I tend to make mine a bit more in advance and let it sit longer)

It should be about a 1/2 cup serving size.  Perfect to satisfy a sweets craving and excellent macros for a keto diet!

Weight loss and Nutrition

Probably one of the most common questions I get is, "What do you eat?" (or "What should I eat to lose weight?")  Well the answer is actually really simple, I eat everything, in moderation. Truth is I didn't have my nutrition totally figured out during the majority of my weight loss.  I was keeping myself at a deficit (if I was diligent about tracking my food). So I lost weight.  However when I found IIFYM (If it fits your macros aka flexible dieting) I had much better success and the results came a lot quicker.  Because I was eating a deficit but also a balanced diet.  I personally have a HUGE sweet tooth so I do treat myself to the occasional "bad" treat. But it's all good if it's done in moderation.  If you're eating on plan 90-95% of the time 1 candy isn't going to set you back.

Anyway, I thought I would do a few posts on nutrition and how to lose weight while still eating normal food.  That being said, I don't eat out often. Mainly because I follow my macros strictly (It's really necessary when trying to get stage ready lean) and I need to know EXACTLY what I am putting in my body.  I do have the occasional meal out but I keep it to a minimum right now.

So my husband did a big costco run this weekend and I took some pictures of the fridge, freezer, pantry and fruit/veggie bowls so I could kind of summarize the "staple" items I always have.
I do not eat the exact same thing day to day.  If you follow me on  www.myfitnesspal.com (user name JenniBeanxo ) you'll see that.  All my meals are pretty similar day to day, but rarely exactly the same.  But I do have basic foods you'll always see (chicken, egg whites, green beans/broccoli etc)

So.. let's go to the pictures shall we?

Ok so it's all pretty normal stuff. Fruits (I limit to 1 a day or less), veggies (sweet potato, white potato, celery, asparagus, bell peppers etc), egg white, eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, almond milk, lean meats (chicken, turkey, lean ground beef), natural nut butters .. Not pictured, whole wheat bread, wheat pasta. Which are also added in very sparingly right now.

Of course there are 3 other people that live in my house (note the toddler photo bomb in the last pic). So there are things in there that I don't eat. Also I'm trying to get incredibly lean for a show so for an overall healthy and fit physique you could still be a little more flexible than I am right now. 

What I ate today. Ketogenic.

Hi there #fitfam .. Just over 5 weeks out O_O .. About to wrap up 2 weeks in keto and go back to a "traditional" 40/40/20 bodybuilding split. I've kind of gotten the hang of keto. Still sometimes have a hard time getting all the fat without many carbs or the protein level I was used to. I took pics of all my food yesterday so you could see what keto is looking like. 

So here's everything I ate and a total from myfitnesspal on macros for the day. 

2 pieces of bacon, egg white and cheese omelet 

Homemade keto "mounds" bar.. I skimped on the "chocolate" a bit :). And mozz stick 

Chicken and asparagus. (Probably the least keto of all my meals) 

OMG these were delish! I have a bad sweet tooth and these hit the spot. 

Mini mocha cappuccino cheesecake and a mozz stick 

Green bell pepper with some ground beef and cheese. 

My carbs are a bit high.. About half come from fat sources though so it's not like I'm eating startchy things. Still figuring it all out. After 2 weeks on 40-40-20 I get to try my hand at keto again.  Will be looking up some recipes and things getting ready. 

What I ate today. High carb day.

Hello there fitfam. So a little update. I've been hard at work (at my job and the gym) things are progressing slowly. I am carb cycling currently. Today is a refeed/high carb day so here's what I ate. 

Meal 1 

I made baked French toast with 1 egg, 2 egg whites and the wheat bread. 

Meal 2

Meal 3

Ok. I got a little hungry and forgot to take a picture. But this meal is pretty self explanatory. :) 

Meal 4 

 

I think I've posted the truffle recipe on my Instagram.. I intend to post more recipes here for easier access. If you want to

See this one (or any others) comment below and I'll add it to my list. 

Meal 5 

Meal 6 

And meal 7 (the Casein logged in with meal 6.. My fitness pal only has 6 meals) 

Casein pudding. 

To recap, I eat every 2-3 hours. The casein pudding I ate right before bed. I'm also putting my daily totals below so you can see how it all adds up at the end of the day.  I'm wrapping up my super busy time at work so I plan on posting a lot more often. If you have questions or things you'd like to see. Leave me a comment. 

Do you want to get fit?

It occurs to me that although I'm not a dietitian or certified trainer, and some people don't want advice from me, I do have experience gaining and losing weight. I've tried countless diets, yo-yoing a bit with my weight and struggling to find something that works.  I know what it's like to be at rock bottom and really want (and really need) to change.  That's why I put myself out there. I share pictures of myself, my food, my workouts. The good the bad and the ugly. (ok we all try to limit the bad and the ugly) I get a lot of questions which I want to start to answer more in depth in this blog.  I try to answer all the questions I get on instagram but I also can't write a TON on there, which is one reason I started this blog.  A question I get often is, How did you start?  I know there are a lot of people out there who want to make a change but they don't really know how.  It's not hard really, but it is confusing. There is a lot of information out on the web. A lot of it is free. Who do you listen to? Who has the right answers?  That's the tricky part.  There is no right way to lose weight.  There is NO magic food(s).  Believe me when I say I tried almost everything to lose weight. Meal replacement shakes, cleanses, calorie counting, severe calorie cutting, working out but failing to control my diet... Sometimes I would have a little bit of success. But the weight almost always came back, often I gained more. I've learned a lot over the years and I am still learning. I failed a lot but I also succeeded.

I'm going to share with you what I would do if I had to do it all over (with the knowledge I have now). If tomorrow morning I found myself at a morbidly obese 249 pounds again.

1. Calculate my maintenance calories and cut 500 calories from that number/figure out macros.

I have no idea where the "magic" 1200 calorie diet came from. But that little number sure did get around everywhere. Matter of fact at 249 lbs I was eating closer to 1000 calories a day. And I lost NOTHING. It's really really important that you don't drop calories too severely. It's a common mistake to think that the less you eat the more you'll lose. Sadly it doesn't work like that.  You'll just suffer, put your body into panic/starvation mode and probably binge your way to a higher weight. So determine a reasonable caloric intake for your current height, weight, activity level and start eating a balanced diet. I use the calculator at iifym.com Good nutrition, in my opinion, the key to being successful.  I personally LOVE counting macros, and though it takes some getting used to. It really makes the difference in a "diet" and a lifestyle change.

2. Start resistance training 3 times a week.

Assuming you're not working out right now, you don't want to over do it.  I actually started doing a Jillian Michaels DVD 30 day shred
http://www.amazon.com/Jillian-Michaels-30-Day-Shred/dp/B00127RAJY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424464248&sr=8-1&keywords=30+day+shred
and I committed to doing it for 30 days. I did it. But I'm not sure I was really ready to do 30 days of exercise with no rest.  I never got off level 1 in that time frame either. Over doing your workouts is a sure fire way to exhaust yourself and get burnt out.  So start slow.  Make a commitment and stick with it. You don't have to join a gym. There are plenty of DVDs and online videos so that you can start at home. (Body weight is resistance, you don't have to add weights right off the bat) I personally wasn't all that comfortable in a gym. However, I do want to say I never ever heard one negative comment toward me or anyone else at the gym. I'm not going to guarantee you won't run into some asshole that says something stupid, they are out there, but for the most part I have found all fitness levels at the gym are pretty accepting of everyone else. Remember that most people at the gym are just there to workout and they could care less what you are doing. So just go and do your thing.

3. Do cardio twice a week.

I hate cardio. I have always hated running. I'm slow. It's just not my thing. But I feel like I could've had better fat loss had I not skimped on the cardio. It doesn't have to be running. You can walk, jog, do intervals of walking/jogging, elliptical, stair master.  Whatever you do.. just get that heart rate up for 30-45 minutes.  Don't start off doing too much or when you need to increase your cardio.. you'll be doing a LOT.

4. Join some fitness groups or find friends who are interested in making a change.

This is hard to do and going it alone, while totally possible, can be tough. I started my instagram as a way to stay accountable to my workouts. I posted every single time I worked out. And even the support of complete strangers was a form of motivation. I've also met some amazing people through instagram. Never underestimate the power of a social media as a way to keep motivated and accountable.  There are a ton of amazing transformations out there. I found it very motivating during my journey, and I still do!  I also joined some facebook challenges. When I did that I saw great results because I was more motivated to make a noticeable change. (And a prize isn't bad motivation either)

5. Be patient!

I maybe should have included this as point number 2. Because I think next to good nutrition, this is very important. You're not going to lose 10 pounds a week.  That would be awesome. But it's not realistic, healthy or safe. Weight loss that rapid often results in a rebound. Aim for 1-2 pounds a week for healthy, maintainable results. Not to mention, losing weight at a rapid pace will likely leave you with skin hanging off your bones. (Another really popular question I get is about loose skin) Although it was frustrating to take so long to lose my weight (2.5 years to lose 100 pounds). I am thankful that my slow, steady weight loss allowed my skin to bounce back pretty well.  I do have stretch marks and some excess skin but it's really minimal and easily covered by pretty much all my clothing. I can even wear a bikini and not be too self conscious. It's a difficult journey physically and mentally and you want to end up feeling good in your skin again, so don't rush it!

So this got long fast, so I'll wrap it up.  I will elaborate on some of these topics in additional individual posts. I you have comments or suggestions, please leave them below. I plan on blogging as close to daily as possible so I will be responding to comments timely and using suggestions/questions for post topics.  Thank you all for your support it really means a lot. And I love hearing from you about weight loss or weight lifting success!

Still at it..

Yikes. Where have I been? It's been weeks since I posted! I've been hard at work. (Literally) I am in public accounting and it's busy season. I've still been hitting the gym, counting macros, meal prepping. All that fun stuff! So let's see. Here's we are, closing in on 9 weeks out from my target. We just did progress measurements and well.. There wasn't much progress. *heavy sigh*. This isn't easy. For anyone. I consider myself a pretty hardworking and dedicated person. I'm not going to say I've never cheated or missed my macros but I follow that 90/10 rule. I lift heavy. And yet my body fat seems like it really wants to stick around. I'm frustrated. I'm even a little pissed off. (Can you be pissed off at your own body fat??) 

We are making some adjustments to my diet and training. If we don't see some major change in the next 4 weeks.. Well my first planned show will no longer be an option. It's painful to admit that. In part I feel like I am failing. But you never really fail until you give up. And that's just not happening. This is important to me and I will compete this year. I'll also be a little better at posting in here. I wanted to document this journey.. So I better do that! The good the bad and the ugly. If it happens, it shall be written. I'm going to post up some of my recent pictures. I've still been taking progress shots weekly. I've selected a bikini to use so it will make them more easily comparable now. I've dated the pictures instead of using weeks since my show date is a big uncertain. If you have things you want to know or see during this process leave a comment. I'll be doing some short videos and recipes on my Instagram (and maybe longer videos if I can post here). I may eventually get a youtube.. We will see

Will post again on Saturday after I take my next set of pictures and talk about my new diet and training. If not sooner. I'm going to try to get in here more often and jot down my thoughts as I go through this process. 

 

13 weeks out... Maybe

This isn't the post I wanted to be posted right now. We did measurements this week after a month and my body fat only dropped 0.5%. It's not at all what we were hoping for. I was diligent with my diet, in fact I was too diligent. No cheats for 3 weeks and my progress halted. At this point we are still working toward the show in April but we also have a back up plan for one 4 weeks after that. So here is my 13 week/possibly 17 week photo.

 I've been doing a ton of research on diet and HIIT cardio and prep. Reading anything and everything I can find. I wish there was a one size fits all plan that I could follow so I know I'm doing the right things but life doesn't work like that. Everyone is different and so the experiment continues trying to see what my body needs to take my fat loss to the next level. Quitting is not an option I will keep pushing forward

Resisting temptation

So we are 15 weeks out today. I'll post my progress picture at the end of this post. A huge part of this process is sticking to your nutrition plan and resisting temptation. First let me say I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I love candy, pastries, chocolate. I might be part Elf (candy, candy canes, candy corn and syrup) I also enjoy baking. I've honestly quit baking because along with baking comes eating. Eventually I plan on making healthier yet still delicious baked goods. For now, I try not to tempt myself. It's not easy. I don't live alone. I have 2 kids and a husband who aren't preparing for a figure competition. There are cookies and frozen pizzas in my house. Today my husband made grilled cheese for him and the kids for lunch and they smelled AMAZING. It's no exaggeration to say I am tempted to deviate on a daily basis. It's a struggle to say no. Here are a few pointers to dealing with temptations.

1. Find healthy alternatives to your cravings. 

Fruit is a great alternative to other sweets. Just be mindful that fruit has sugar too so stick to a serving. 

2. Gum 

I chew gum often. I eat when I am bored. So chewing the gum keeps mouth busy and my stomach quiet. 

3. Eat frequent small healthy meals during the day. 

If you've eaten something recently you will be less likely to be tempted by evil naughty sweets that want to derail your progress. 

4. Give in, a little. 

If you're craving chocolate have a small piece. And choose dark chocolate over milk chocolate. But 1 Hershey kiss or 1 small peanut butter cup might help take the edge off. Just beware of this option if you're likely to go back for more. I sometimes keep some mini size candy bars or Hershey kisses in the freezer for a treat. But this takes will power. 

The most important though is 

5. Be prepared 

Plan ahead. Prep your meals and have them ready to go. Snacks too. It's so much easier to eat healthy when it's right there. It's easy for me to avoid eating out at work when my snacks and lunch are easy to grab and go in the morning. 

And finally 

6. Indulge. 

Be smart. Plan your cheat. Make sure it's worth it. If you follow your plan all week. One reasonable treat will not distroy your progress. 

I stuck to my plan all week and brought my own dinner to my nieces birthday party so I could have this amazing ice cream cake. It was delicious. 

It's good to cheat occasionally. Your body can't continue at a calorie deficit indefinitely. Just don't let that cheat turn into a daily habit. Try not to go nuts with your cheat either. I didn't have the same food as everyone else at the party AND cake. Just cake. So I can stay on track.  

Also, if you aren't preparing for some kind of competition. Don't be too hard on yourself. 90% healthy eating and 10% indulging is a good rule to follow when living a healthy lifestyle. You don't need to miss out on fun or family gatherings to live healthy. You just need to make smart choices and plan ahead.

So here's my update pic. 15 weeks to go! A little less fluffy than last week. ;) 

The truth about eating healthy

The thing about eating healthy is, it takes work. It requires effort. It's not as easy as fast food or prepackaged meals (though you can pay for prepared healthy meals now). It seems so easy when people ask how I lost weight and I respond with "diet and exercise." But the truth is, eating healthy takes work. It takes research. I still research when I'm putting meals together. What are the macros in a serving of green beans? How does that compare with a serving of spinach? What about chicken instead of beef? All foods aren't created equal and it requires efforts to calculate what you need to fuel your body and meet your daily goals. 

But there are tools that help. And it doesn't require an unreasonable amount of effort. If you really have a goal in mind and you're focused on that, the effort will be well worth it when you achieve that goal.  I plan on blogging an entire day of food soon. But for now here is my typical dinner (presently) 

We have here 3 oz baked salmon

1 cup raw mustard greens (sautéed in 1 tablespoon coconut oil and garlic)

1/2 cup diced avocado 

I typically have been eating green beans for dinner (and also lunch) it took a bit of playing around in myfitnesspal to find some exchanges for the green beans. But it's worth having the variety. I was getting a bit sick of eating green beans. I was being a little lazy in finding alternatives. But in all honesty it probably took me 15 minutes to find 3 alternatives. Which will be well worth it over the next 15 weeks. It'll help me stick to my plan and reach my goals. Yes, It takes some planning. Spontaneous meals generally tend to be less healthy. But while it's not super easy, it's not that hard to eat healthy. And you don't have to eat weird stuff. 

And you're going to eat unhealthy once and a while. That's ok. Eating healthy doesn't mean you never indulge or treat yourself. Just that you don't do that at every meal. Or even most meals :) Everything in moderation. 

New Year "cleanses and detoxes"

It's that time of year to make new year resolutions for 2015. A lot of people will have lose weight, get fit, get healthy or the like. Even my list includes achieving my goal weight and getting lean enough to compete in a figure competition.  I've made some kind of weight related resolution for the last decade at least. It always starts pretty well but fizzles out by the end of January.

Why does it fizzle out? Because we all want a quick fix, instant gratification. When it doesn't work that way, it's pretty easy to get down on yourself and give up. Weight loss TV shows make you believe you can lose 10 pounds a week. While you MIGHT be able to do that the first week if you are very very overweight and drastically change your diet and activity level, it is much more likely you'll lose 1-2 pounds a week. That's about 4-8 lbs a month. Which could add up to 52-104 pounds in a year. That is a hugs change!  While we all would like to drop 20 pounds in a month, it's unlikely and that's not the right way to go about changing your life to a healthier lifestyle. 

Another downfall is fad diets. Again, there is no quick fix. No easy way. No magic pill or juice or tea. I hear a lot about cleanses and detoxes and I've even tried a couple myself. One was this juice, you mixed it with water and it's all you had all day. First, it didn't work. Second, that's not healthy. Your body NEEDS food. It's fuel, it's energy. Drinking only juice is going to throw your body in to starvation mode and wreck your metabolism. A "detox" I tried that I felt was successful really involved eating whole foods. And I modified it to get balance I felt my body needed. But, the truth is, I could've gotten the same result by just eating whole, unprocessed foods with the "detox" label. I went from eating poorly and over indulging on calories to eating healthy and at a calorie deficit. So, yeah, I dropped some weight. Don't fall into the cleanse and detox trap. If you want to change your habits, just make healthy choices. Plan and prep your healthy meals. Eat whole single ingredient foods. And drink plenty of water. No expensive cleanse pills, teas or juices needed. 

Before starting any new "diet", do your research. There is so much information available for free these days. Albeit there is some conflicting information. Everyone is different.  Something that works for one person might not work for someone else. Read about what you want to try. Decide if it makes sense and seems like it would work for you. When you find something that's healthy and works for you, don't give up. Focus on your end goal. Recognize and celebrate your progress, but don't lose sight of why you started this journey in the first place. Let that always be a source of motivation for you. 

Holiday party eating survival tips.

Holidays mean holiday parties and gatherings. I get to celebrate Christmas at least 4 times and also have a work party to attend. Then comes New Years Eve. With all these opportunities for yummy food and drink, it can be tough to not just completely let your nutrition go south until the new year. But some of us have goals we are working toward and we don't want to set ourselves back by ditching the diet for two or three weeks. And let's be honest, if you do completely abandon healthy eating for three weeks, It's going to be a tough transition getting back on track in January. So here's a few tips on surving holiday gatherings without packing on extra pounds. 

1. Leave some extra macros!

First and foremost. You know you are not going to go to a party and eat nothing. Where is the fun in that?!  Sure you could socialize more and eat less but most likely you're going to eat.  And if it's a dinner party and not just appetizers it's even more awkward to just not eat. So plan ahead. Even if you're not sure of the menu, leave extra macros! 

2. Don't show up starving 

We all are more likely to over eat if we are famished. So eat a snack before you get there. A handful of nuts is a quick, easy and portable option. A little fat and protein to curb that hunger before to show up. 

3. Go for protein and veggies first.

We all know most holiday parties have tons of sweets. Don't fill up on sugary carbs. Go for healthier options first. If it's a potluck event, bring a healthier dish so you know you have at least one good option. Save a little room for something sweet. If you fill up on protein and veggies you'll be less likely to eat a ton of those Christmas cookies. 

4. Don't rush through eating. 

Eat slowly. Chew your food. Taste it and enjoy it. I find if I am eating something "bad" if I take a small portion and eat that in smaller bites it seems more satisfying. So instead of eating 5 cookies, eat one. In small bites and savor it. 

5. Get your workout in  

If you know you have a party that evening. Get a workout in earlier in the day. Burn some calories before you go. If you know you're probably going to eat a bit more, don't skip your workout. 

6. Watch high calorie beverages. 

Personally, I'd rather eat my calories than drink them. Drinking wine (or other alcoholic beverages), eggnog, holiday inspired lattes and pop can really add on a lot if extra calories in a hurry. Be mindful of what you are drinking as well as what you are eating. Go for water when you can. Add some lemon, cucumber or flavor enhancers if you want to switch up the flavor. 

7. Enjoy yourself. 

While it's really hard to stay on your diet this time of year, keep in mind 1 or 2 or 3 parties over a week or two isn't going to undo everything you have done. If 7 days out of 14 you're following your plan. Those 3 parties shouldn't completely ruin you. So enjoy! (In moderation) 

8. Keep moving forward. 

Each new day is a new opportunity. So you ate your body weight in sugary baked goodies last night. So what. The past is in the past. You can't undo it, but you can make better choices today. You can go to the gym and it a healthy balanced diet. Don't just give up because you had one bad day. (Or two or three). Quiting will not help you reach your goal any faster.