Mrsnroth asked me after Saturday’s post to write about a typical day for me.  Well, a typical day is definitely not perfect.  I have hypoglycemia and crave sugar constantly.  One taste just makes me want more and it’s better if I stay away all together.  Sometimes I win over the craving and sometimes not.  If I give in to the craving, I feel terrible physically and lose energy within a few minutes, but strangely enough, I still fight the same craving the next time.

Also typically it’s very hard for me to get up and do my exercises.  If I skip them first thing in the morning, it’s not likely I will come back to them during the day.  I’m telling you these things because I’m going to write about a good day.  A day I make the choices I want to make and don’t let my physical and emotional weaknesses sabotage my goals.  But I’m just like you and probably not as good, so don’t feel bad or wish you could do things like I do.  Try to be better :).

6:15 wake up–say prayers/read devotions, weigh, shower–put on exercise clothes. (I know this sounds backwards, but with my hypoglycemia I have to eat before I exercise and I want to weigh before I eat and it’s easier to weigh before I shower.  Plus the shower wakes me up so I can fucntion.)

Breakfast:  I usually eat one of 3 things:  1 cup of bran flakes with 1 cup of skim milk;

or A Veggie Omelet:  1/4 onion sauteed with 4 fresh mushrooms sliced and 1/4 cup frozen or fresh spinach with 2 eggs scrambled in

or A Strawberry smoothie:  1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder with 1 cup water and 6 frozen strawberries (pureed in the blender.)

6:45–exercise with a 20 minute video using the interval method of exercise.  I have several but like the Mama wants her Body Back series and for pregnancy:  Summer Sander’s Prenatal Video or Tracey Mallet:  Fit For Pregnancy.  I don’t have any fancy equipment, but I do use a yoga mat for floor exercises, a pair of 5lb dumbells, a resistance band, and a stability ball.  I like to mix aerobics with weight training and combine movements within exercises so in the same amount of time I get twice as much done.

7:30 Dressed and wake up kiddoes–Cook their breakfast, then supervise chores and music practice.  I am with the children for breakfast and this is when I clean up the kitchen, but I do not eat with them–since they need more carbs and calories than I do.

9:30-10:00  Snack:  I’ll choose a second breakfast from my typical 3 that I listed above.  I also drink a cup of green tea or Holy thistle tea.  This helps me keep my colon regular and not retain too much water and the Holy Tea is also a liver tonic which helps regulate metabolism.  Green tea is full of antioxidants and a mild stimulant–which helps to keep my blood pressure at normal levels and boost metabolism.  The warm liquid also helps me feel less hungry.  I’ll have a cup or more of each before the day is through.  (I use the same tea bag all day.)

11:30-noon lunch:  I fix the kid’s lunch first–grilled cheese and soup or whole wheat pizzas or quesadillas–something like that.  Then I fix mine after they begin eating which is usually a stir fry of some sort:  1 cup of fresh or frozen veggies and 3 oz of chicken breast, shrimp, salmon, or turkey. I season my stir-fry with various seasoning blends.  Changing the seasoning helps me not get bored:  either southwest–taco type seasonings, Cajun, hickory smoke  blend, lemon peper, or seasoning salt.  I also eat a huge tossed salad with low fat dressing.   My meals are gorgeous!  But the kids aren’t jealous at all.  In fact, they turn their noses up at all my veggies.  I wish they loved vegetables more, but it is easier on the budget not to share my fancy food.  I sneak in their vegetables where I can.  I put spinach in their meatballs and puree lots of vegetables into their spaghetti sauce that I also use on pizza, lasagna, and manicotti.

2:30:  Afternoon snack:  3/4 of a Pure Protein brand bar (I cut the bar’s in fourths and put 3 chunks in a little baggie) and a piece of fruit.  Or a cheesestick and fruit; hummus and raw veggies; apple and peanut butter; 2 graham crackers and skim milk; or 7 almonds with a cut up cheesestick, fresh pea pods, and 1 T craisins–Yum!  Often this snack has to be portable and go in my purse with me for our afternoon music lessons or ballet classes.

5:00 dinner:  I fix a typical dinner for my family and modify it for me.  If theirs is way too heavy on grains, I’ll make myself another stir fry and sit at the table with them.  Or if they are having hamburgers, I’ll have a turkey burger (saves 100 calories.)  I use sandwich thins or pitas instead of traditional buns, which saves another 100 calories–and the whole family prefers them.  If they eat tacos, I have a taco salad without the shell.  I eat pizza with them, but use ground turkeyhome seasoned as Italian sausage, and turkey pepperoni, part skim mozzarella cheese, 100% whole wheat crust, and lots of veggies.  I try to hold myself to one piece, but I always eat 2 :).  On pizza night I skip my evening snack.

I usually have a huge salad available and fresh fruit at this meal too.

7:30 snack:  Usually a dessert snack for the family and a sugar free version for me or light popcorn.  I often have gotten all my protein in for the day by now and it’s just something small to tide me over for the night.  I’ve been known to eat a healthy amount of raw celery and other raw veggies before bed.  The high fiber content boosts my metabolism and flushes water over the night since even though my digestion slows while I’m sleeping; it has to work harder than usual to deal with all that fiber.  

I try hard not to eat after 7:30 since my activity really slows down after this and food eaten now is likely to be converted to fat.

In the evening, I usually stay up wayyy too late talking to DH after the house is quiet.  And we enjoy watching mystery or spy shows on the internet together too.  I’ve been trying to go to sleep by 10:00, but often Darren’s company is too hard to resist.  Staying up late sometimes messes up my early morning activities, so we are trying to be better about that.

For many years I ignored the importance of protein in my diet.  I naturally prefer to eat grains and plant based foods and can happily walk away from the high proteins at a meal.  After years of constant pregnancy and nursing my body hit the wall.   I was surviving at minimal health until a car accident sent my body into trauma.  There just wasn’t enough protein available to heal and I spiraled into a critical health dive.  As my body harvested my own muscle to repair the damage to my body, I lost muscle mass.  I gained over a pound of fat a week as my brain sent the starvation signal to my metabolism which held onto every calorie I consumed as fat. 

My response to the weight gain was to eliminate meat, eggs, and cheese and to favor raw veggies.  My health took a second dive.  I was at the point where I couldn’t stand for more than a few minutes without fainting.  I spent much of my time flat on the couch trying to manage my household from a sick bed.  Finally my doctor recommended a full blood panel which showed I was severely deficient in protein, fat, cholesterol, sodium, iron, b vitamins….and more!  I was constantly choosing healthy whole grains and veggies, so I was flabbergasted for malnutrition to be the root of my health problems.

The doctor put me on a weekly visit program where they provided my food each day in dry prepackaged form that I reconstituted at home.  It was formulated to have the appropriate amount of proteins and nutrients to put me back on the road to health.  I turned up my nose at his fake food but decided to give it a try since my way wasn’t working.  After a few days, I stopped fainting.  Then my energy came back and I started to lose fat and gain muscle.  I was convinced.  After I completed my program with the Doctor, I took the nutrient profile from his powdered food and applied it to healthy real foods. 

Shrimp Spinach Stir-Fry: High Protein, High Nutrition, Low Calorie

My new eating cycle included 6 small meals a day with 15 grams of protein at each meal, a very small amount of fat, a small amount of whole grain, and ample veggies.  I also ate 2 whole pieces of fruit a day and salted everything to taste.  (More on salt another day.) 

So why was ample protein the key?  Our bodies cannot create protein.  It must come from the food we eat or be harvested from our own bodies.  Protein is essential for muscle repair and formation; it also makes up many enzymes, hormones, and immune system components.   Our bodies are 45% protein and it is required for proper blood and heart function!  If we take in too little protein, our body won’t function properly.  If we take in too much, we can use it for an energy source (or store it as fat.) 

Can I Eat Too Much Protein?

There are some studies that show that taking in too much protein can contribute to cancer or osteoporosis.  Both of these conditions are linked to the fact that the digestion of protein creates an acidic environment in the body.  Too much acidity can create a favorable environment for the development of cancer, but the body will naturally correct this imbalance by using calcium to neutralize the acid.  If there isn’t enough calcium in the diet for this, then the body will take it from the bones.  Over time this may lead to osteoporsis.  The levels of protein that create this environment in the body are disputed among researchers.  Having an ample supply of calcium in the diet is a great idea, and calcium abounds in green leafy vegetables such as broccoli and kale in addition to the better known dairy products.

It is interesting to note that the protein/cancer link research is documented in The China Study.  In this study the protein studied was milk casein which was shown to cause cancer in rats when eaten in large quantities in  isolated form.  Later studies showed that milk whey protein can protect from cancer.  I thought this was interesting because God created the proteins to be eaten together in balanced form where the whey will balance the casein and protect the body from cancer.  The China Study takes the casein study to imply that all animal protein causes cancer, when other research shows this is not the case. For more information read here and here.

I believe that eating 5-6 meals of 15 grams of protein each or (75-90 grams of protein) a day to be a safe amount.

(Disclaimer: I am writing this off the top of my head based on books and articles I have read previously, and have no sources to offer you. It’s a great idea to do your own reserach on these matters.)

P.S.  After getting on an adequate protein and hydration level, I didn’t need my glasses anymore!  We had previously thought that my decline in vision was age related, but now know it was caused nutritionally.

Measuring my food has been the change in my fitness routine that has made the biggest difference.  Before measuring I was completely off on my portion sizes and when I stopped measuring for awhile, my portions slowly got larger and larger.  Without measuring, my food journal is a guess at best and can’t accurately show my nutrition or calorie intake.

Simple kitchen measuring cups and spoons will work, but if you are really serious about weight loss, you need a digital scale.  You can get one from ebay for only $7-$10 shipped.  I use mine for postage also, so I purchased a scale that would go up to 5 lbs.  For food alone, a 2 lb scale is fine.  Make sure your scale measures in both ounces and grams, is accurate to .1 and has a tare button.  It can be really small, I’ll show you why in a bit.

When using measuring cups and spoons, make sure they are leveled off and the food is not packed down.  It’s easy to hide extra calories in a measuring cup by smooshing or piling the food on.  I’ve done it lots of times, but when my weight plateaus there’s nothing to blame but myself.  Measuring cups are better than not measuring at all, and I still use them from time to time.  If you don’t have a digital scale yet, use them until you can get one. 

A small scale is not a problem.  You can make the platform bigger if you put your empty plate, bowl, or skillet on the scale and hit the “tare” button.  The scale should read “0” again.  Then slowly add one ingredient at a time, checking weight with each addition.  Hit tare after each ingredient addition and the scale will go back to zero allowing you to measure each ingredient separately.

What About PrePackaged Foods?

Convenient and easy to figure nutrition facts, prepackaged foods can seem a dieter’s friend.  But I recently learned from reading CalorieKing that the weight on the package is a minimum only.  Often the packages hold more food than they say they do which means they have more calories too.  It’s a good idea to meausure your snacks without the wrapper on your digital scale and adjust the serving size if necessary.

It’s even better to prepare your own food at home and package it up for convenience.  You get better ingredients, nutrition, and complete control over the serving size.

The beauty of this system is you will be eating every 2 1/2 hours from the time you get up until bed!  To keep your metabolism running at optimum speed and to keep a steady blood sugar, plan 6 meals roughly the same size and evenly spaced throughout the day.  Personally I eat breakfast at 7am, a morning snack at 9:30am, lunch at noon, afternoon snack at 2:30 or 3pm, dinner at 5pm or 5:30 pm, and an evening snack around 7:30.

On a 1200 calorie diet, each meal is roughly 200 calories. On a 1800 calorie diet each meal is around 300 calories. Sometimes I move 100 calories around here and there. For example, I may reduce a snack by 100 calories so I can have a bigger lunch or dinner. Think about the time of day you are hungriest and plan your food accordingly. I am famished in the afternoon, but not as hungry for dinner. So my afternoon snack is my largest meal of the day.

Weight loss is based on calories burned vs. calories taken in, so if you keep your consumed calories under what you burn, you will lose weight, regardless of the types of foods you eat. But eventually making poor nutrition choices will catch up to you. If your body becomes depleted enough it will send the starvation signal to your brain, your metabolism will slow and you will start to gain weight even on a low calorie diet.

This is why I encourage friends to include ample sources of lean protein into their weight loss plans. Your body absolutely cannot create protein and if it is needed for cellular repair and not available nutritionally, your body will use its own lean muscle mass to harvest the protein it needs. If you take in too much protein your body can use it as an energy source. It takes more calories, water and calcium to digest protein than it does to digest carbohydrates. So taking in extra protein results in less weight gain than taking in excess carbohydrates. On the other hand, If your body gets too few carbohydrates it can take the energy it needs from the fat in your body!  

Since I recommend an ample supply of protein during weight loss, I also encourage you take in plenty of water and calcium (in the form of green veggies or a supplement) to keep a proper balance in the body.

There are certain vitamins that only come in fat.  These include vitamins A, E, D and K and Omega Fatty Acids.  I include small amounts of healthy sources of fat in my diet, such as egg yolks, nuts, salmon, butter and olive oil to provide ample sources for these vitamins.  Since I am pregnant I also take an Omega fish oil supplement just to make sure.

Carbs aren’t completely taboo, but I like to get most of my carbs from fruit and vegetables.  They are high in vitamins and fiber but low in calories.  I supplement these sources of energy with a few whole grains for a balanced nutrition.  When I reach my weight goal, the only change I need to make to my meal plan is to add a few more servings of whole grains for proper weight maintenance.

In each of my meals I include at least 2 different types of food.  For example I may have a protein and vegetable such as a Salmon filet with steamed green beans, or a fruit and a fat such as an apple with peanut butter.   I plan my meals separately from the rest of my super lean and fit family, but usually what I eat is some form of what they do.  For example if the family is having tacos on whole wheat taco shells, I eat a taco salad, skip the shell completely and reduce the amount of cheese.

I could go on forever talking about this….but we have all month :).  To help you with your meal planning I have two FREE downloads for you.  The first is a No Calorie Counting guide to meal planning for weight loss.  In this guide I recommend servings sizes and types of food and how many from each category for the day. There is also a huge long list of free foods and an interesting paragraph on calorie free or negative calorie foods.   Depending on your choices this plan will build a 1200-1460 calorie diet for you.  There is also a handy check list at the end to print for each week.  When you eat something check it off and you’ll be able to see at a glance what you have left to eat.

To download right click and save to your computer: Non Calorie Counting way to weight loss

The second download is a weekly meal planning guide divided into 6 small meals (or you may choose 5 slightly bigger meals).  In this guide write specific amounts in each day such as 1 cup of skim milk (80) and 3/4 cup of bran flakes (96) in the breakfast column.  If you are counting calories, write the calorie total for each meal cumulatively in the right hand column.  I also like to write the individual food calories in paranthesis next to the food in the menu section as shown above.  This helps me memorize the calories and serving sizes of the foods I eat most often.  If you are using the non counting method, leave this column blank.

To download your menu planning sheet right click and save to your computer:  Fit and Fabulous Meal Plan Sheet

Tomorrow we’ll discuss one easy but important thing you can do to keep yourself from failing in your quest for fitness.

Tomorrow

Day 5:  Financial

We’re almost there!  Today I’d like for you to think about your financial goals for the future.  Are you working towards being debt free?  Are you trying to pay off your house, invest for retirement, or you children’s education?  Saving for a large purchase?  Whatever your goals are, write them down and be specific.  What is it going to take to reach this goal?  How soon can you get there?  What can you do to make it happen faster? 

If you aren’t already doing these things also consider starting one of these new habits this year:

1.  Write a new budget every month!  Writing a monthly budget allows you to change it for your specific needs of the month, it also makes you look at it at least once a month and keep it fresh in your mind.  If you are used to writing a budget in one sitting for the whole year, consider the monthly budget instead.

2.  Use a cash envelope system.  You will spend 20% less than when using a credit card or debit card.  And you’ll see in an instant when you are close to your budget limit–because your money will be gone!

3.  Promise yourself to never borrow another dime again!  Once you are out of debt, put that lifestyle behind you forever.  Paying interest on money to avoid waiting until you can afford it, is like burning money that you won’t earn until later.  I’ve done it, but never again.

February this blog is dedicated to helping you shrink your basic living expenses one day at a time.  This will free up extra cash to help you reach your financial goals this year. 

Enjoy your New Year’s Eve!  I’ll meet you here tomorrow to start working on our fitness goals for 2011 together.