The One Where I Tell You My Plan

Several people have asked me how I lost the weight.  What was my plan? What do I do now to maintain? I began on SparkPeople on 1200 calories a day. With 3 meals and 1-2 snacks. As I was more educated, learned more about what worked for me, I changed a few things up.  I lost from 145 pounds to 122.  I've fluctuated over the years but I generally hover around 125.

I wanted to up my game though.  I didn't want to gain through half marathon training this time.  I wanted to get to what I consider a "good race weight" and learn how to fuel my body better. So, I went to see a Sports Dietician.  LOVE HER!! Much much love to her.   Eve Pearson with Nutriworks CNC (Comprehensive Nutrition Consulting).  She got me back on the right track.  Back to the basics. 

She figured my BMR, took measurements, talked to me about what foods I consume, came up with a plan to reach my goal.  Even through the holidays I lost or maintained the loss I had. I encourage everyone to see her.  But if you can't here's a few tips I've learned from  her.

 I found this site to be helpful in figuring your BMR FreeDieting The Calorie Calculator is pretty accurate to the figures Eve helped me with. Use the middle number for Fat Loss.  Just ignore the extreme fat loss number, let's be honest, it's restrictive and something you won't keep up with in long term.

So you've got your number.  (let's say it's 1500)

Divide it by 4:  375

Divide that by 2: 187 

I consume 5 meals a day. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are 375 calories
Mid-Morning and Afternoon Snack are 187

Meals should include a carb, a protein and a (good) fat. Snacks a carb and a fat or a carb and a protein.  Don't eat naked carbs!

Use a tracker like SparkPeople or MyFitnessPal for nutrition and exercise.

However, I caution you from getting in the mindset of "I exercised today, so I can have all those calories."  You'll only maintain where you are now.

I'm not a fan of cheat days or cheat meals.   It's all about choices.  Not good or bad.  But fuel or non-fuel.  How will this effect my run? My digestion? My sleep? This isn't a diet, it's how I live.  Eat Sleep Run Repeat!

If you go over your calories, use the top number the Maintenance Number for your goal.  For instance a party or special occasion and consider it a maintenance day.

Now for exercise and snacks:

If you exercise for under an hour; you change nothing you stick to your caloric allotment.

If you exercise for over an hour; you add in one additional snack

If you exercise over two hours; you add back all the calories you burned. This includes 2-a-days. 
Let's say you went to the gym in the morning worked out for an hour, then in the evening you ran 5-6 miles.  You'd consume all your calories burned.

I hope this helps you on your journey!

The One Where I Meet Eve

Sooo, last week I met with Eve. In case you're interested and in the DFW Area 
nutriworksCNC.com 

She weighed me. She measured me. She made me a meal plan. She changed some of my supplements. She had me categorize foods. Yea, literally. 

What I called a protein is actually a fat. Like peanut butter. It's not a protein. If it has more fat grams than protein, it's a fat. sooo no wonder I'm fluffy.... I eat too much fat. 

I was eating too many fruits/carbs at breakfast and not enough the rest of the day. As well as not enough protein. Yes salad is good; but I need more nutrients. 

She changed up my calories and macros. 

1300 calories regardless of exercise. I should have a deficit of about 600 per day. So I really need to be working out more. 

Carbs: 146 (11%) 
Fat: 43 (3%) 
Protein: 81 (6%) 

I have to have a carb a fat and a protein at every meal. And a carb/fat or carb/protein at snacks. 

My meals are broken down like this: 

Breakfast: 333 calories 
Snack: 150 calories 
Lunch: 333 calories 
Snack: 150 calories 
Dinner: 333 calories 

I like the plan. I'm not stuffed after meals but I'm not starving. It's still difficult for me to not eat extra after a hard workout or run. 

Like today I went to two classes. A body pump style class and a spin class! WOOT! I burned over 500 calories. 

I find myself not full after my days worth of meals.... but I'm sticking to the plan. 

The goal is to get me down to 118-120 and about 20-22% body fat. I'm thinking I shouldn't have started this in December. No party foods, no alcohol, no egg nog, no cookies. Just 1300 calories, 5 meals a day. I can go over, but I won't lose as quickly. Or whittle this middle down. 

After I reach my goal I'll be able to up my calories to maintain at around 1800. 

I need ideas though for 333 calorie meals, it'll take me 3-4 months she said to meet my goal. Lunch isn't a problem... it's dinner that I'm having a hard time coming up with meals in the correct calorie range. 

The One Where You Analyze Grandma's Food

Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't have recognized as food! This is good advice. 


Corn and potatoes are real foods. Unadulterated, an ounce of corn and an ounce of potato contain 24 and 22 calories respectively; their biggest component is water. (A potato is about 80 percent water.) Corn is about 3 percent protein, 2 percent fiber and 1 percent fat; potatoes’ numbers are similar. Not bad. 

A 1-ounce serving of corn chips, though, contains around 139 calories, and an ounce of Pringles runs 150. (Everyone knows, however, that the official 1-ounce serving is nonsense. Even Pringles, which says, “once you pop, you can’t stop.”) The calorie discrepancy is explained by the fact that the chips are boiled in oil — fried — replacing most or all but a tiny fraction of the original water with oil. Where’s that oil come from? Well, a lot of it is made from corn; most of the rest is made from soy, another perfectly fine food in its natural form. 

What’s the point of all of this? Well, there’s Michael Pollan’s adage not to eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t have recognized as food.[5] As well as the simple notion that we process so many real foods that we barely see them in a natural state. 

Were that to change, Kellogg’s and P.&G.’s bottom lines might not look so good. We ourselves, however, might look better, as would our health care bills, which in general rise along with Big Food’s influence and profits. 




opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0
2/21/dont-blame-the-potato-for-pringles/

The One Where I Make A Better Choice

Ok so as I finished up my yummy healthy lunch, I head back into the kitchen to clean up and see a rolo sitting on the counter. 

I picked it up. Almost thought I'd look up the caloric (non)values and not thing twice about eating it. 

I EVEN unwrapped it. 

I also took it to the trash and thew it out!! 

I'm serious it's garbage day! Garbage (of any kind) doesn't belong in my body. 

Mental 
Emotional 
Spiritual 
Physical 

I am not a garbage can! 

I love the thing in Pinterst, I've seen lately. 

You are not a dog, STOP rewarding yourself with food! I have to stop doing this. I'll run hard, and think I can "afford" a cookie a scoop of ice cream, whatever. 

I'll have calories left over and think....ooooh I could have _______. 

This HAS to end! And it has to end this year. It started with throwing the rolo in the trash!