Nutrition Novice

Soo...  What have I been eating??  I've been eating more food than I have in a long time!!!  Believe it or not by increasing my food intake I actually lost weight!!  Trust me I was skeptical too! 

My first 30 days I did not do any exercising other than my normal walks to the bus stop and the stairs at my jobs. I wanted to focus solely on nutrition since that was the most important part of my process.  I  needed to fuel my body.  Just like your car, your body can't run on fumes.  I realized I had to change my mindset regarding food.  Instead of indulging in food, I had to look at food as fuel.  Unlike my car, I needed to refuel my body 5-6 times a day.  Initially, I thought there was no way I could eat that much food in one!   Instead of thinking no way it had to be I have to find a way.  Here is a great link from webmd about the benefits of eating 5 to 6 smaller meals per day http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-6-meals-day-weight-loss  Now, you another reason to use webmd other than finding out your have some rare medical condition after sneezing.  :-)

As someone who works in a job that doesn't give official lunches I knew I wouldn't be going on to lunch.  Also, I wanted to try to save money-so no vending machine raids.  Lucky, for me though most of the items in our vending machines are "healthy".  So, what could I do to help me go from one meal a day to 5 to 6 small meals.  I knew it would be best for me was preparing all my meals in advance.  This of course takes planning!  Since, I don't readily have access to a car.  I make my menus for 2 weeks.  What kept me success was portion control!  Actually reading the correct portion size.  Also, by keeping track of my portion sizes it aided me in keeping track of my calories.  I count calories... somewhat.  My new friends at Glad and Ziplock helped me.  Glad has new ToGo-Snack and ToGo-Lunch which are the perfect portions.  I loaded up my snack cups with celery and carrots and included is a "dip" cup which holds 2 tablespoons.  2 tablespoons is generally the portion side for condiments such as salad dressings and hummus which were my staples. For dinner I used the Ziplock Divided Rectangle.  Again, this was the perfect portions also.  The smallest cube was for approximately 1/3 cup of starch, the next size was for 4-6oz of protein, and the largest was for 1 cup of vegetables.

The next part of this will sound very boring to some.  It's a sample menu.  Every day I had the same for week.  Initially I was supposed to have different dinners and alternate lunch, breakfast, and snacks between two options.  However, I found it easy to just have the same things all week long.  From start to finish I would be finished with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for my entire work week in 2 hours.  Again, you have to think about the food as your fuel.  However, I found I did not bore of my meals in general.  Having a salad every day for lunch became boring after 3 weeks, so I switched to sandwiches.  When I made this change I cut out toast at breakfast. 

Sample Menu
6a- Baked Egg Omelet, Turkey Sausage, Wheat Toast w/Strawberry Jam, Banana, 8oz O.J.
10a- Celery, Carrots, and Hummus
12p - Salad w/ Homemade Vinaigrette, Almonds, Fruit Salad
2p-100 calorie Fibre One Bar
6p-Salsa Chicken, Oven Roast Broccoli, Brown Rice

The best advantage of taking the time to make your meals ahead of time is always knowing what you're putting in your body and not making bad last minute food decisions.  Your body is your temple make sure your outside reflects your insides and vice versa.  Yes, you only live once but make sure it's a long and healthy life!  Stay tuned to the next post about my first 60 days of progress.

60 days of Silence!

There's so much to say!  I tried to make mini notes about what I would write about on this post.  However, I've decided to break it down into several different post.  This first post is going to be my reflections over the last 60 days.  People have been asking if I've updated, when am I going to update.  Here you go!

My first 30 days, I decided not to write or even talk about what changes I've made.  They say that 30 days of doing the same thing becomes a habit.  So, in order to make these changes stick I took 60 days!  I feel its easy to get caught up in the praise and accolades of your "success".  I've seen many people start a blog/goal with certain expectations and the minute they start to get some recognition it quickly changes to all about that person.  The intention of my blog is to share about my fitness and nutrition lifestyle, in hopes that it will keep me motivated and help others. 

As I've said before my blog is about a healthier lifestyle.  Its not about the numbers on the scale-as a matter of fact, I don't even own a scale.  The new lifestyle is about keeping up with my nieces and nephews and being healthy!  This new lifestyle is also about not getting too winded when trying to put on a dress that is a "smidge" too small. :-)  But... am I hoping the numbers go down on the scale?  Yes!  I'm not comfortable with the numbers I see on the scale.  They shocked the crap out of me. 

Its hard to believe but some days I could go all day without eating.  I was very ignorant to the fact that starving your body isn't going to help me lose weight.  We've all heard the comment 'it wouldnt hurt them to skip a few meals'.  Umm actually yes it does.  I thought it was perfectly normal to only eat one meal a day.  Little did I know!  Even with that, who would have thought that 2 or 3 spoonfuls of pasta was bad???  I'm from the clean you plate culture.  However, through my research I've learned it's ok not to eat that full plate of pasta from Cheesecake Factory.

So, what did I learn in my first 60 days?  Boat loads!!  Check out my next post when I discuss my nutrition "plan".   You know a plan is just a guideline, right?