Healthiest Life 4 Me

I have many friends that ask about my diet and how I do what I do.  I usually have the same answer and I am not sure it sets very well.  I tell them I pay big $$ for my plan and that it is set up specific to me.  It takes into consideration my workout, the calories I burn at a resting rate, and my likes and dislikes. I spend time working out much harder than all of my friends, therefore giving them my diet won’t help them lose weight because I burn a ton more calories during my workout.  I also notice that when I try to explain the basics of eating right, they are uninterested because it takes a lot of work.  So I thought I’d try my best to break it down a bit and let people figure out how they could fit it best into their lives.

To begin with, you will need a piece of paper to do the calculations.  Here is the info for fat loss:

• Total Daily Calories = Bodyweight times 12

this may need to be dropped to x11 or x10 if no progress after a few weeks

• Protein = 1g per lb of Body Weight

(4 calories per gram)
can go up to 1.5g if desired

• Fat = .4-.5g per lb Body Weight

(9 calories per gram)
yes, you read that right, healthy fats are important for fat loss (you can’t burn fat if you don’t eat fat!! STAY AWAY FROM FAT FREE PRODUCTS)

• Carbs = whatever remains to meet your calorie total

(4 calories per gram)

After this, you will break it all up between 5-6 meals with the last meal being only protein right before bed.  Your meals should be spaced out every 3 hours. 

Hope this helps out!  Good luck and post your results!  It will be fun to see everyone’s progress!!

Well, it was a long week.  Full of stress and craziness.  I was worried how my check in would go.  I took myself to urgent care with a fever and a sinus infection on Friday night.  Really excited to get an antibiotic, the Z Pack and a three day weekend!!! I was feeling a bit better in the morning, but still really tired.  I slept through a few meals on Saturday and then ate dinner I shouldn’t have (and even dessert..shhhhh, don’t tell!)  Then twice this week while teaching, I got so busy that I forgot to eat my 930 am snack and once was so tired I went to bed without my last meal.all these things made me very nervous.  Although, I have started working out with a partner that pushes me really hard, so every workout I get is AWESOME and a little painful! 

So, I really wasn’t sure how the check in would go on Friday.  When I got there, of course my nutritionist wanted to know how I was doing with the plan.  I asked him to do the measurements and said we’d chat about my troubles and thoughts after.  When he measured me, I still lost body fat!! I was 2 pounds lighter according to the scale and was down to 27.12% body fat, down a total of 2.43% total body fat in 3 weeks.  I also put on .92 lbs of muscle.  I have to say, I was very excited and he was quite impressed after telling him about my week (not the ice cream on Saturday, though.shhhhh!). 

So, here I go, starting week 4 and ready to kick butt.  Have a lot going on still, but plan to have a PERFECT week with my diet and exercise!!!  Thanks for keeping up with me and helping me stay accountable!!! Check it out next week to see how it went for me!!

Friday marked the 2 week mark of my progress towards the new me and finally reaching my goal.  I had a busy week and was able to be perfect on my plan again, until Thursday night.  I wasn’t feeling well and my nutritionist said I could have a cheat meal once a week.  So, I took it.  I had a protein shake and 2 slices of pizza.  So.failed at the 30 day sugar free diet.but still quite on track for the actual goal!  I was worried about a cheat meal the night before my weigh in would be horrible, but it wasn’t. 

So the results of my check in went well!! Last week I weighed 138.8 and this week 138.6 and although I was depressed about that when I got on the scale that morning, getting my measurements was quite exciting!  I am down to 27.74% body fat!  That is down just a smidge under 3% body fat in 2 weeks!  I was very excited about that! 

So, now onto week 3!  Rough start on my weekend, but planning on making the rest really count.  I have a head cold which is making the gym hard to accomplish, but I do plan on toughing it out!

Thanks for keeping up on my progress and supporting me through this journey.  I will post on my progress weekly!

Friday was the end of my first week of my new meal plan and 30 day sugar free diet.  AND I’d like to say that I made it one complete week with a perfect diet and NO SUGAR or foods that act like sugar in my body!  I can’t believe it.  It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.however I worked all 5 days and ran around like a crazy woman.  It made it a lot easier to keep the bad stuff out of my mouth by not being at home much. 

So at last week’s beginning I weighed 140 lbs and had a body fat percentage of 29.55.  Now my goal is 120 lbs and 16% body fat. 

My meals are planned at 3 hours apart with 6 total during the day.  My nutritionist charges for this advice, so all I can say is that I am trying a new type of plan this time and LOVE IT!  I haven’t been starved between meals, nor am I too full to finish my food.  I feel energetic all day and feel like there are less mood swings related to hunger and insulin spikes/dips in my body.

My workouts are back on track.  I feel crazy trying to fit them in, but they are all fitting somewhere.  One day this week I was able to get up and do 15 minutes of cardio before getting ready for work.  I fit 4 workouts in this week before checking in and 4 and a half hours of total cardio. 

And after all that work my results on Friday were.

.well.

.they.

.were.

.not.

BAD!!!

I weighed in at 138.8, which of course made me sad.  But after measurements of fat, I dropped to 28.28% body fat.  So, I gained just shy of one pound of muscle and lost just over 2 pounds of fat.  VERY EXCITING!!!  Can’t wait until next week. 

Thanks for following my journey and come back to see what kind of results this week will bring!

Well, I was supposed to start this workout yesterday, but due to orientation for the substitute teaching position that I desperately need, I was gone all day.  So I started today.  And I figured I would do chest today too to make it that much more difficult! HAHA  So here is what today’s workout looked like:

Incline Dumbbell Press

30 lbs. 1 set of 12, 2 sets of 10 with 20 jumping jacks between sets

Barbell Bench Press

30 lbs. 1 set of 15, 50 lbs. 2 sets of 12

Incline Chest Fly

15 lbs. 3 sets of 10

Pushups

set 1   14

set 2   18

set 3   14

set 4   14

set 5   21

WHEW!! Those last 2 sets were hard.but got them all in!  More to come on tomorrow. 

I didn’t get any cardio in because I didn’t have time today.  Working on my new schedule.it may take a few weeks to work the kinks out.

Last weekend was Zack’s last game of the fall season.  And of course, the next season starts right up.  This time he is playing NJB basketball.  He is in Division 3, which is 3rd and 4th graders.  He was so excited to start this season.  Last time he played was in 1st grade and it was considered Rookie Division, which is basically an hour of learning drills.  He thought it was boring and didn’t get much actual time with the ball or getting instruction as an individual.  So he chose not to play his 2nd grade year because it would have been the same thing again.  When he remembered that he would be able to play on a team and have games, he was ready to play again.

We’ve had about 4 practices with a great dad as coach.  He is so good with the kids.  But you never know how you’ll match up when the games start because after all, you’ve only seen yourselves.  And while we’ve seen improvement in 4 practices, what does that really mean? 

We got to see how we stacked against another team today.it was our First game of the season.  We played a team of what seemed to be mostly 4th graders.  But it didn’t really matter because only 3 of the players really touched the ball.  And while those 3 players were really good, how sad for the other 7 kids.  What I was most impressed with is that our coach really taught the kids to pass the ball around and make sure that everybody had chances to touch it.  After all, isn’t that what each kid is playing for.  They want to play.not just be a body on the court filling up space.  It’s a lot of running up and down, up and down, up and down, to barely ever touch the ball. 

As a parent of a kid who just loves to play and be a part of a team.I APPRECIATE the coach we were given.  He has the right idea.   And I know you are wondering.we lost 17-35 (i think that was the score.because it really doesn’t matter to me).  I am most excited about what the coach said to the kids after the game.”I am proud of you guys.  You passed the ball the way I asked.  You played a good game.  Now we are just going to work on playing harder in the game.”  Thanks Coach Powers (not that he’ll be reading this, but just in case.) I want you to know that I am very happy that we got a coach like you.lead us through a great season! 

Let’s GO CELTICS!! 

Here are some pictures of Zack during his first game!  He is number 11 (funny story: I picked up the uniforms for the coach on Fri night.  He told me I could pick one for Zack and bring him dressed.  When I went through the uniforms, there were 5 youth mediums - which was the smallest - so Zack wanted to be 11 since he is always 2 or 3 because he is always one of the smallest.  So Zack is 11 and kids bigger than him are 3, 5, and 10.  I think it’s really cute):

What a great game Celtics!! Let’s have a great season!

630 am

5 egg whites, 1 yolk, 1/4 c oatmeal and supplements

930 am

shake and 2 rice cakes

1230 pm

4 oz. chicken, 3 oz. yam, 1 c broccoli, 1 tsp pb, supplements

330 pm

shake and 2 rice cakes

730 pm

4 oz. chicken, 3 oz. yam, 1 c broccoli

10 pm

shake

bed at 1030 pm

sorry, this is so short and sweet, but it’s been a long week!

Ok…I thought after such a great day yesterday, I really had it down.  And I did, until the day didn’t stay on the schedule I had planned.  Firt off, I met a friend to do legs at the gym…wonderful workout, but the kids get out of school early and it just makes for a lot of running around like crazy to get things done when I start later.  Then, I met a lady and her daughter about my products and business opportunity.  It was wonderful, but took 2 hours and that put me an hour behind my meals schedule and created more running around that I hadn’t planned on.  So without my supplements to keep me going, I felt draggy and tired…which of course made me eat more.  So, excuse the bad day.

630 am

egg whites, yolk, oatmeal, supplements

930 am

shake, rice cakes

1 pm

turkey burger (just the meat), yam, broccoli

330 pm

protein bar, shake

5 pm

protein bar

OK…I don’t remember exaclty what I ate…but it wasn’t good the rest of the day.  So, now on to Wednesday and will power!! Tomorrow is another day!!

This morning started off slow.  I was behind schedule getting to the gym this morning because I had to take care of some room mom duties.  Worked fast and then off to the gym. Got a great workout in and saw a few old friends who are finally coming back to the gym.  Today was “shoulder” day.  Did 5 shoulder exercises, some abs and 50 mins of cardio.  Whew! Then off to some errands.  Had to go turn in paperwork and money for booth at family health fair in a few weeks, get some snacks at the dollar tree, then to get cookies for my daughter’s teacher’s birthday celebration at school, to the school for the celebration and finally home for lunch!
And that brings me to my food journal (which I hope to get to everyday).

630 am
5 egg whites
1 yolk
¼ c oatmeal
Supplements

8 am workout
10 am
Shake – iso extreme
2 sodium free rice cakes

12:30 pm
4 oz. ground sirloin
1 c broccoli
1 sodium free rice cake
1 tbsp ketchup
supplements

3:30 pm
Shake – iso extreme
2 sodium free rice cakes

6 pm
4 oz. salmon
1 c broccoli
2 sodium free rice cakes

9 pm
Shake – iso extreme
2 sodium free rice cakes (ok…kinda hooked on the rice cakes right now)

But the best part of the day wasn’t anything I’ve written about yet. This evening I got to feel like a kid again.  Of course, the reserved kid I have become at least.  At my son’s soccer practice it was them vs. the parents. OMG!!! It made me want to play soccer again.  See, before I became that fat girl in the pictures, I was an active young person.  I played soccer, and very well if I may say so myself, and I danced, and as a young adult my hubby and I played co-ed roller hockey.  I used to love to move and play sports.  I used to love to watch sports (ok…so it’s ok if that never comes back…I like my stupid tv shows).  So, today showed me that I wasn’t too old to have fun.  And a LOT OF IT!

The kids had so much fun!  The adults had so much fun!  The kids won (well, after we didn’t count about 5 goals, but hey it was all for fun, right).   I would like to point out however, that those dads from my previous post about soccer didn’t participate.  Again…not sure what could possibly be going on in their minds, but it would have been great for their kids.  The wives came through though…as if that would ever be a question…Let’s hear it for the moms…MOMS ROCK!!  Mom’s ALWAYS come through!  

Well, today was a breeze.Saturday’s usually are.  We have soccer and things going on to keep me occupied enough to stay away from bad things.  Today, however, I did indulge during dinner because of a fundraiser for my kids school at Panda Express.

7 am

5 egg whites,1 yolk, 1/4 c oatmeal and supplements

1030 am

shake - meal replacement with carbs included

1 pm

4 oz. ground turkey, 3 oz. yam, 1 c green beans and supplements

4 pm

shake and 2 sodium free rice cakes

630 pm (SCREW UP MEAL.and then some!)

Panda Express: mixed veggies, Thai Cashew Chicken Breast and Bejing Beef with 1 chicken egg roll and Golden Spoon for Desert

9 pm

shake (skipping the carbs, since I think I had plenty earlier)

1130 pm

shake and supplements

Then straight to bed with me.

No gym today.  I am still having a queezy stomach that is lingering from yesterday’s illness.same stomach issue with a low grade fever.  Tomorrow, whether this body likes it or not.to the gym with me!!