Thursday, March 31, 2011

Meal Planning

To have success in anything, you need to have a plan. It saves you when you are hungry. Staying on target is easy when a list is already created and no thought is needed. Which is good for me as when I get hungry, my brain stops working and simply chants FEED ME until I put food in my mouth.
The Body for Life diet is not complicated. It is basically eating very clean (i.e. little to no fats and no sugar). It also eliminates coffee. Okay, so Jason is not totally sold on tossing out our morning java, but we will see what happens.
So here is the list of what we can eat:
Quality Proteins - Any lean meat - skinless chicken and turkey breast, lean cuts of red meat, fish and shellfish that are high in protein and low in fat. Other options are low-fat cottage cheese, beans (legumes) and egg whites or egg substitute.
Quality Carbohydrates - Potatoes (regular, sweet, or even yams), steamed brown rice (sans the butter), oatmeal, barley, pasta, yogurt (nonfat), fruit, and whole-wheat bread (1 - 2 slices max and no sugar).
Vegetables - Every veggie is on the table including corn and carrots!
Healthy fats - Saturated fats are outlawed, unsaturated fats are welcome in moderation. The key to knowing if a product containing fat passes is to leave it on your counter. If after a few hours it still has its solid shape (butter and shortening), it is to be left alone. A few exceptions to this rule is palm and coconut oil as they both contain saturated fats. Basically, read the label or if still in doubt just wait till your cheat day! Good fats include sesame, safflower, canola and olive oil. Keep it limited to one Tablespoon per day.
Now, the hard part comes - eating six times per day! It is recommended to incorporate protein shakes into the diet. I already do, I love my GNC soy/whey complex. It is delicious in chocolate! Do not go more than three hours without eating, maybe even set an alarm. Imagine, an alarm to eat! Ha ha. My body will let me know, I am sure of that!
Portion sizes - There is no counting calories in this diet, it is all based on portion sizes. A portion is roughly the size of your clenched fist or the palm of your hand.
Balance - Incorporate one protein with one carbohydrate in every meal. Add a portion of vegetables to two meals daily.
WATER - You need no less than 80 ounces per day! (10 - 8oz glasses)
Take a basic multi-vitamin.
What I don't see on this diet is milk and cheese. They contain the natural sugar called lactose but also are high in fat content. Yes, they have the lower fat versions but they actually contain more sugar than the whole milk varieties. Ummm, fun times ahead!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Getting Ready to Change Our Eating Habits

Finally, my husband and I are on board with making a change for the better. Recently, Jason has been complaining about his weight and I mentioned the Body for Life. I had the book, tried the diet years ago, and he was sold. For the past couple of weeks he has talked more and more about taking the plunge. Sadly, in the past both of us haven't been on the same page and we sabotage each other. This time we are both doing it together. He is accountable to me and I am accountable to him, but we need a third party. Congratulations! You get a front row seat to watch me and my husband attempt to lose weight and achieve amazing results. Okay, so that is what the book promises.
For those not familiar, I recommend checking out their website: www.bodyforlife.com. They used to have a $100,000 diet challenge, but that is no longer the case. You can still enter but the prizes aren't that great. I figured we might as well blog about our experiences and maybe motivate others in the process. If you are trying it with us, let us know! We could use eating ideas.
The coolest thing about this diet is you get a day off. Yes, it is super strict but once a week you get to eat as much of whatever you want. Course, the other 6 days you are eating super clean; not drinking coffee will be a huge change! So far Jason has quit smoking and stopped drinking soda. I have stopped drinking alcohol for Lent. Might as well throw eating right and exercising in there too.
Right now I am trying to plan out our meals for next week. We are starting the diet on Monday. This should be interesting as Jason is not a vegetable fan and we have to eliminate milk products. To get him to eat his vegetables, I usually drown them in some type of cheese or cheese sauce. We will see. Each day I will blog about what we ate, the recipes and how we exercised. On our cheat days, I plan on telling everyone the really bad stuff I consumed!
So stay tuned as we attempt the Body for Life diet and check us out in 90 days!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Does Believing in God Make You Delusional?

Well, apparently it does in Montana. A woman has cancer and the only procedure available to save her life, according to her physicians, is to have a hysterectomy. This woman has a strong desire to be able to have children someday and believes that "God will heal her." The District Court judge agreed with the physicians, who stated the patient is unable to make capable medical decisions because of her "religious delusions," and ordered her to undergo the surgery.
Wow, are we living in America? Who cares if this religious zealot wants to die of cancer, isn't that her right? And what if God does cure her, wouldn't that be something to see? I don't know, but in my life I know there has been some higher power involved and I am not making any assumptions about what HE can or cannot do. Thank goodness the Montana Supreme Court stepped in and halted the surgery pending appeals.
Everybody should be very afraid of the power of our judicial system and should make informed decisions when voting on who to put in that judge's seat. I think everyone should have the right to decide how they want to live their life, as long as it does not harm anyone else in the process. I am looking forward to see how this plays out in the Supreme Court.
Just a suggestion, but maybe instead of telling your doctor that "God will heal you," you might phrase it as "I am going to seek a second opinion, thank you."

Monday, March 7, 2011

Stop Listening to the Gremlin

Gremlins are more than actors in an 80’s B movie, they live in my head. I have the best of intentions every day. I make a list of things I want to do the next day, and top on that list is exercise. Yep, summer is almost here and I just purchased a bikini. Can you believed it? A bikini. I haven’t been able to get into one and feel good about it since I was in high school. Well, after you have kids, you need help in some areas. Yes, wires do have a purpose and most definitely in bras. Unfortunately, most swimwear is for women who have either never had children or have paid for enhancement surgery. I do not fit in either category. The only suit I could find was a skimpy two piece, but it made everything look spectacular, so I bought it.
So there are a few areas that really need some toning up and nothing like the present to do so. Recently, I started to think of ways to quiet the nasty gremlin in my brain. It stops me from completing tasks, encourages me to be lazy and is never happy with the way I look. So, I decided the only way to quiet the gremlin is to do exactly what it didn’t want me to do; which brings me back to this morning. So when the alarm went off, the first thing I thought of was “NOOOO, I don’t want to get up!” Then I let out a huge sigh and pulled my feet off the bed. I began to get ready to exercise, much to the gremlin’s surprise. I turned on the television and started warming up.
Okay, so that was round one and I won; now for round two. I was about 15 minutes into my workout when the gremlin started up again, “oh, this sucks, we should stop!” Thankfully, I stopped listening and started counting “one and two and…” The gremlin was quiet.
We had made it to the end, the gremlin and I, and I couldn’t believe how amazing I felt! I was skipping around and I seem to have more energy and smiles than ever before. Every day  is a battle, but I am determined to wear that bikini!