My October goal is met. I am on target for reaching my ideal BMI (click link to find yours) by the new year. I didn’t have a specific number in mind for October but I wanted to see progress every week. I wanted to figure out what I needed to do to lose the extra weight I was carrying around my belly and to have more energy and feel more fit. I am so happy with the results so I thought I would share with you what I have been up to over the month of October that is working.
As I am enjoying the last few days of October before the trees bare all their leaves, I also feel joyful seeing the numbers on the scale dropping. Many of the routines I have put into practice I shared with you in a blog post series entitled, “Super Health.” Today, I will share with you the 3 things I practice everyday that helped me tip the scale 10 pounds lighter over the month of October. This is not a diet plan but a set of practices I have incorporated into a healthy lifestyle.
- I have developed a simple daily meal plan of the food I put into my body each day. My plan looks like this:
- Breakfast: Oatmeal, wheat bran cereal, bacon and eggs, or a protein shake smoothie.
- Lunch: Leftovers or a protein topped salad.
- Dinner: One serving of lean protein and a side of vegetables.
- Snacks: A piece of fruit or one scoop of ice cream or pro-biotic yogurt
- Rescue Foods: baby carrots; nuts; fresh fruit
- Drinks: Ice water, Iced tea (unsweetened), or Herbal tea (unsweetened)
Every night I write down on the whiteboard on the refrigerator what I plan to eat the next day. I don’t always eat it all but I don’t ever go searching for food wondering what sounds good. My meals are approximately 300 calories each and my snacks are 100-150 calories. When I reach my target weight, I will revise the plan to increase the calories to maintain my ideal weight.- I follow a simple daily workout plan that lasts about 20 minutes and an active lifestyle. Currently I am enjoying my PiYo workout DVD by Chalene Johnson (click to watch trailer). I get outside and move every day doing the things I love like hiking, golf, paddling, riding horses, or bowling.
This is a pretty flexible plan. It works because it is intentional. It lets me tell my body what it is going to do not my body telling me. It is flexible because it works like a restaurant menu that has only good choices on it. Here are few more tips to make following your plan as successful as mine was.
- My pantry and refrigerator are only stocked with items that are on my list of menu choices listed above.
- Do not try to fake your body out… eliminate liquid empty calories and fake foods from your diet. That means no sugar sodas, no low or zero calorie sodas. The best way to kick the sugar soda addiction is alternate sodas with 16 ounces of pure, fresh water. Do that for a week. Then drink 32 ounces of water in between each soda. Then 48, then 64. You see where I am going with this. Eventually, you have eliminated soda from your diet.
- I drink green tea in the morning and herbal tea at night without sweeteners to add anti-oxidants into my diet. I do not add sugar or cream. I do not drink any calories or fake it.
- Sugar is a big problem in our diets. I have been eliminating anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup. If you search for it, you can find BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Salad Dressings, even hamburger buns without it. I use all of these and most condiments sparingly. Experiment with fresh ingredients like avocado or tomato slices, fresh lettuce, cucumbers, onions, or peppers to spice up your entree. Soon you won’t miss the condiments.
- I also have cut down on breads, pasta, and rice. I allow myself to have one serving of one at one meal per day but I usually opt out.
- Most of my food is one ingredient, unprocessed whole foods and foods I make from scratch with whole ingredients. The only exception is the protein powder used in my protein shakes. I make my own three ingredient ice cream and limit my portion to one scoop as an evening snack.
- Remind yourself you only need one portion to satisfy your hunger at each meal. If you get hungry in between, you can choose a snack or a rescue food to help you make it until the next meal.
- To help stick with one portion, especially during the evening, I divide the cooked food into single portions on our plates and divide the leftovers up into portions for the fridge before we sit down to eat. The leftover plates are perfectly portioned for lunch or dinner the next day or to take to work for lunch.
- I still enjoy eating out with friends and even having a cocktail or two. Cocktails should be treated like snacks and eating out is obviously a day I wouldn’t count on as a weight loss day. But I still make good choices from the menu, remember my plan is a lifestyle change not a restrictive diet. I choose whole foods usually a protein and a side of vegetables or a salad. If the portion sizes are extreme, I ask for a to go box before the meal arrives and take the extra portions off my plate as soon as my dinner is delivered to the table. I get two yummy meals for the price of one!!
- I know they say don’t weigh yourself every day. But I bought a scale and I have had a lot of joy each morning watching the number drop .2 to .8 pounds each day. I know its not about weight but I know I am going to feel a lot healthier and energetic at my ideal weight. So right now, it’s about the weight and building up the strength and flexibility in my muscles.
I hope these tips help you get a great start on your ideal weight target and your energy and fitness levels. The plan works because it is intentional. Make a plan and develop a routine you will stick to. The goal is to design a healthy lifestyle that you will come to enjoy every day!!