This week I am going to add in some nutrition/diet guidelines for myself (and you if your joining me) I started with my two easiest things to change and now I think I am ready to add in some nutrition. I do best when I focus on what I can have rather than what I cannot have so this week I will add a veggie to every meal and/or snack. The idea is that veggies are sooo low in calories and so high in nutrition, so I will be giving my body the fuel it needs and consuming less calories until I am full.
When I told my husband what I was doing, he was like what veggie are you going to have with breakfast... Well Green smoothies are great for adding in veggies, spinach and carrots are a few of my favorites. I can also add onions, leafy greens, peppers, and many other veggies to an omlete or egg muffin.
Snacks I am gearing up Saturday and I will get a bunch of easy to snack on veggies, carrots, cucumbers, celery etc. I will cut them up and put them in baggies in the fridge so they are easy to snack on.
Lunches and dinners are easy, I will add a side salad (minimal dressing), or a side of veggies, or even better I will make dinners where I can hide the veggies in them and we will all be eating a bit more veggies. I will post a few of my recipes through the week, and I hope you will comment with a few of your ideas. My nutrition is where I really struggle and I will take all the help, support and suggestions I can get.
I know for some this may seem sooo slow, but I am down 4lbs in 2 weeks, I have more energy, my skin is looking better than it has in a while, and I feel good, in just the small changes I have made so far. I am looking to make a lifestyle change, not just a quick diet. I want to always incorporate more veggies into my diet, I want to always exercise daily (even if it is just a walk), I want to always have more veggies in my diet. So for me this works to do it one thing at a time. It feels much less overwhelming and I feel successful in what I am doing because it really isn't too tough to change a little at a time but at the end of 12 weeks I will have changed a lot. Right now I am going to do everything each day, of course there might be a day or two where I mess up on something, but I am hoping to stick to everything everyday for the full 12 weeks. After that I will for sure have a free day probably once a week, and I will enjoy my vacations, or celebrate with my kids on their birthdays etc. But I want my everyday to be a healthy one!
What type are you? Are you an all or nothing type where you have to make drastic changes? or are you a baby steps type person? I know we are all different, and I would love to know what works for you. There is no right way to do, and everyone has to do what works best for them.
Showing posts with label Diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diet. Show all posts
Monday, January 19, 2015
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Pre-Run Fuel Favorite: Protein Oats
Why are steel cut oats so good for you?
Oats are a high nutrient plant food that has a ton of nutrition, Vit E, B, and minerals - calcium, magnesium, potassium, selenium copper, zinc, iron and manganese. Oats are also great because they don't spike your blood sugar the way refined carbohydrates do.
According to the book Beauty Detox Foods by Kimberly Snyder "In a study at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, it was determined that consumption of whole grains can contribute to favorable metabolic alterations that may reduce long-term weight gain. This along with fat reduction, will help reduce cellulite."
Oats are beneficial to heart health, and can help prevent diabetes due to the slow uptake of glucose.
Here is my recipe for what I call Protein Oats:
I absolutely love this breakfast and it is really and easy way for me to add in a bit more protein to my diet without consuming one more boiled egg, or piece of chicken. I love steel cut oats they are my favorite and obviously healthy for you from the information I found about them. I usually make a big batch to last me the week because really who has time to make a 30+ minute breakfast every morning! Not this Mom. So I make a bunch then when I go to reheat some I add in 1-2 egg whites stir them in and reheat it cooking the egg white. I then put on my topping of choice lately it has been peanut butter with a tiny bit of honey or some dark chocolate chips. But I have been known to put berries or just honey, a banana, really your options are endless here. I have been eating this on mornings before I go run, I need to eat just a little earlier so my body can digest it before I start my run, but it has proven to be a great form of fuel. It is filling, and one serving with 2 egg whites and 1/4 cup dry oats and 1 tbsp peanut butter has 10.6 grams fat (don't let this scare you it is good fat), 4 g fiber 15.7g protein and 290 calories. UNDER 300 Calories for a very filling very healthy breakfast!
1/2 cup cooked oats
1-2 egg whites
mixed and heated until egg is cooked
add desired topping and enjoy!
Oats are a high nutrient plant food that has a ton of nutrition, Vit E, B, and minerals - calcium, magnesium, potassium, selenium copper, zinc, iron and manganese. Oats are also great because they don't spike your blood sugar the way refined carbohydrates do.
According to the book Beauty Detox Foods by Kimberly Snyder "In a study at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, it was determined that consumption of whole grains can contribute to favorable metabolic alterations that may reduce long-term weight gain. This along with fat reduction, will help reduce cellulite."
Oats are beneficial to heart health, and can help prevent diabetes due to the slow uptake of glucose.
Here is my recipe for what I call Protein Oats:
I absolutely love this breakfast and it is really and easy way for me to add in a bit more protein to my diet without consuming one more boiled egg, or piece of chicken. I love steel cut oats they are my favorite and obviously healthy for you from the information I found about them. I usually make a big batch to last me the week because really who has time to make a 30+ minute breakfast every morning! Not this Mom. So I make a bunch then when I go to reheat some I add in 1-2 egg whites stir them in and reheat it cooking the egg white. I then put on my topping of choice lately it has been peanut butter with a tiny bit of honey or some dark chocolate chips. But I have been known to put berries or just honey, a banana, really your options are endless here. I have been eating this on mornings before I go run, I need to eat just a little earlier so my body can digest it before I start my run, but it has proven to be a great form of fuel. It is filling, and one serving with 2 egg whites and 1/4 cup dry oats and 1 tbsp peanut butter has 10.6 grams fat (don't let this scare you it is good fat), 4 g fiber 15.7g protein and 290 calories. UNDER 300 Calories for a very filling very healthy breakfast!
1/2 cup cooked oats
1-2 egg whites
mixed and heated until egg is cooked
add desired topping and enjoy!
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Fat Chance
As I have mentioned I am a bit of a book worm. I just finished the most fantastic book about the obesity pandemic that is a problem not only in our nation but world wide. The book is Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease By Robert H. Lustig, M.D. He is a pediatrician on a mission to help combat the obesity pandemic that is plaguing our world.
As a population we are increasingly getting larger. He addresses many of the reasons why this is happening, there is so much information in this book that answered so many of my personal questions. But here are a few main things that he talks about and how you can help yourself to be healthier and by being healthier the weight will take care of itself. He talks about how a calorie is not a calorie, so the whole theory of calories in vs. calories out does not apply. This made sense to me as I have struggled to loose weight when just monitoring my calorie intake and adding in exercise. Your body processes different foods differently and therefore, has a different reaction. Your body likes real food! It does not like things from a package.
First off eat your fruits and veggies, don't juice them, but eat them so you get the fiber. He talks a lot about fiber and how important it is in our diet. It is my new mission to get more fiber, as this is something I rarely pay much attention to.
Eliminate or at least limit your sugar intake. Sugar is toxic and addictive. He talks about how the chemical reaction that takes place in our brain when we eat sugar is similar to that of consuming alcohol. He talks about how fruit has sugar in it but with the combination of fiber our bodies understand how to process it, but when you eliminate the fiber our body doesn't like it near as well and the consequence of this is we slowly put on the weight. He also talks about how fruit juice has more sugar in a serving than a can of soda!! YIKES!!!
His recommendations if you must eat something out of a package it needs to:
As a population we are increasingly getting larger. He addresses many of the reasons why this is happening, there is so much information in this book that answered so many of my personal questions. But here are a few main things that he talks about and how you can help yourself to be healthier and by being healthier the weight will take care of itself. He talks about how a calorie is not a calorie, so the whole theory of calories in vs. calories out does not apply. This made sense to me as I have struggled to loose weight when just monitoring my calorie intake and adding in exercise. Your body processes different foods differently and therefore, has a different reaction. Your body likes real food! It does not like things from a package.
First off eat your fruits and veggies, don't juice them, but eat them so you get the fiber. He talks a lot about fiber and how important it is in our diet. It is my new mission to get more fiber, as this is something I rarely pay much attention to.
Eliminate or at least limit your sugar intake. Sugar is toxic and addictive. He talks about how the chemical reaction that takes place in our brain when we eat sugar is similar to that of consuming alcohol. He talks about how fruit has sugar in it but with the combination of fiber our bodies understand how to process it, but when you eliminate the fiber our body doesn't like it near as well and the consequence of this is we slowly put on the weight. He also talks about how fruit juice has more sugar in a serving than a can of soda!! YIKES!!!
His recommendations if you must eat something out of a package it needs to:
- Don't consume your calories through liquid form unless it is in milk he says that our bodies process the sugar in milk (lactose) differently than other sugars.
- have no fewer than 3g fiber (my trip to the grocery store was very interesting I couldn't find a bread that had 3g of fiber per serving in it).
- Sugar no matter what form its listed in (there are about 40 different names for sugar, but dextrose, fructose, glucose, sugar, cane sugar, beet sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup are a few) should not be in the first 3-5 ingredients.
- No hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (this is code for trans fat)
- Skip the fast food
- If you must go out, order something green, skip the frappuccinos and smoothies, make sure you get some form of lean protein.
He talks in his book about all the different diets from Vegan to Paleolithic diets and many in between and the reason that most people have success with these types of diets is because they are eliminating sugar... that is one component all the diets have in common. He also talks about hormonal imbalances in our bodies and how to adjust to help yourself.
He talks about exercise and how when most people begin exercising it is with weight loss in mind, and are sometimes defeated when the number on the scale doesn't budge too much. Studies show that exercise alone will account for only 2-3lb weight loss, it is your diet that changes the number on the scale. Exercise is a great way to improve your health and build muscle, but not a great component for weight loss. Here is the book from Amazon, and I highly recommend it! There is more information in the book than I can share with you in one little blog post but I felt like I hit some of the most important parts in the book.
Physical book
Kindle Book
The cookbook that is supposed to be amazing!! I just ordered it myself!
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Diet Game with Friends, What could be better?
Physical book
Kindle Book
This book is a go to for me when I need to start into eating better or loose a few lbs. We have done several contests before using this method and I have loved it loved my results every. Single. time. even though during the game I may not have been quite that enthusiastic. It is really a tough thing to loose weight and change your eating habits to healthier ones, plus if your not already doing a few of the other things it makes the adjustment extra hard.
Here is the basics:
5 small meals per day (carb the size of your fist, protein the size of your palm, and healthy fat the size of your thumb and at least two meals must include 2 fist fulls of veggies) You are never really hungry if you take advantage of the free veggies at each meal and your eating so often as well. Meals must be eaten every 2-4 hours and the first within 1 hour of waking.
3 liters water
7+ hours of sleep
20 min of exercise
2 healthy habits one your giving up and one your adding in one
Communicate with at least 1 team mate and 1 opponent.
I think this covers the basics. The food is a little more in depth, no sugar, no soda, no alcohol, nothing fried, carbs are fruits and whole grains, protein is a lean source of protein such as chicken, fish, cottage cheese or other low fat cheeses, and fats are the monounsaturated fats such as avocados, olive oil, and coconut oil. You get 1 cheat day (don't over do it or you'll regret it) this is a day off from everything
. You get 1 cheat meal, and 100 free calories per day to use toward anything except soda or alcohol.
Really this is not too bad, but the fact that you are on a team and you don't want to let them down is a huge part of keeping this going. We usually put $10-20 per person in the pot and winning team takes all. I have had people loose anywhere from 5-20lbs in a 4 week period. All of the things that you are doing here are key to success. The meals are obviously necessary for weight loss and it is really nice not to have to count calories. The water, sleep and exercise are also critical to helping you become a healthier and hopefully lighter version of yourself. The point of the game is health, with weight loss an added benefit. This is probably what I am headed towards as I am training for my marathon in the next few months it will be necessary for me to fuel properly for my body to function properly. In addition to making sure I am hydrated.
What is your go-to for diets when you are looking to shed a few lbs?
Here is the basics:
5 small meals per day (carb the size of your fist, protein the size of your palm, and healthy fat the size of your thumb and at least two meals must include 2 fist fulls of veggies) You are never really hungry if you take advantage of the free veggies at each meal and your eating so often as well. Meals must be eaten every 2-4 hours and the first within 1 hour of waking.
3 liters water
7+ hours of sleep
20 min of exercise
2 healthy habits one your giving up and one your adding in one
Communicate with at least 1 team mate and 1 opponent.
I think this covers the basics. The food is a little more in depth, no sugar, no soda, no alcohol, nothing fried, carbs are fruits and whole grains, protein is a lean source of protein such as chicken, fish, cottage cheese or other low fat cheeses, and fats are the monounsaturated fats such as avocados, olive oil, and coconut oil. You get 1 cheat day (don't over do it or you'll regret it) this is a day off from everything
. You get 1 cheat meal, and 100 free calories per day to use toward anything except soda or alcohol.
Really this is not too bad, but the fact that you are on a team and you don't want to let them down is a huge part of keeping this going. We usually put $10-20 per person in the pot and winning team takes all. I have had people loose anywhere from 5-20lbs in a 4 week period. All of the things that you are doing here are key to success. The meals are obviously necessary for weight loss and it is really nice not to have to count calories. The water, sleep and exercise are also critical to helping you become a healthier and hopefully lighter version of yourself. The point of the game is health, with weight loss an added benefit. This is probably what I am headed towards as I am training for my marathon in the next few months it will be necessary for me to fuel properly for my body to function properly. In addition to making sure I am hydrated.
What is your go-to for diets when you are looking to shed a few lbs?
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