I don't know about you, but i am soooo glad the holidays have past! WHEW! The social eating and drinking alone is enough to exhaust anyone, not to mention all the unmentionables that snuck past my lips behind closed doors! Thanks santa's helpers for the sweets, baked goods, and hearty meals, and for the unintended extra 5 new lbs that is now resting over the top of my jeans. A new muffin top wasn't exactly what i was looking for under the tree, but it's what i got and it signals time for a detox and strict caloric restriction! Anyone out there feeling me???
So what are we gonna do? The best way to make progress and change in your body is to add variety to your workout routine, limit sugars and add protein to each meal to rebuild the muscles you are tearing down, and to create a caloric deficit of approximately 500 calories a day. By eating just a little protein with each meal, you'll most likely automatically find the caloric consumption lowering, and you'll be fueled long enough to hold you over til your next meal or snack. Cutting out that 500 calories a day is imperative to create a 3500 caloric deficit a week (1 lb a week).
That being said, i can't just commit to a couple extra yoga or sculpt classes a week...it isn't going to create the change i need. MUSCLE CONFUSION and CARDIO is the answer. I need more cardio...i need my heart to thump....i need to step out of my workout box. Why haven't I? Fear to face myself and what i know i'm not capable of doing well....yet? It's so humbling to do something you are not accustomed to doing. I would consider myself fit, as i teach yoga and take it on a regular basis, however, put me in a pair of trainers and drop me off in the center of a gym with only my own devices and i'm pretty much worthless. Guide me to a treadmill and i'll look at you with complete boredom. Stick me in an aerobics room and i'll jump around like a monkey for 3 minutes and be completely worn out and have no idea how the others in the room can do the whole routine! This all gets back to confusing the body by doing something it's not accustomed to. It truly is the only way to see real results. I've done it before...and i can do it again! Who's with me??? Come'on Anyone feeling this??? Someone out there give me a shout out!
If you are like me, you are already on your post holiday detox diet. So here's where i'd love to offer a little guidance for those who are looking to create change. First off, let's figure out our Resting Metabolic Rate to get an idea of how many calories our body needs in a day. Here's a basic equation...while it may not be exact, it's probably not so far off:
(Your Body Weight) x 10= your RMR
example 140lbs x 10 = 1400 (rmr- resting metabolic rate) - how many calories your body needs
Now...we all do activity. You need to take into account the amount of activity you are doing...as your body will require more calories to do these activities. Since we are stepping it up to knock off our holidays lbs let's commit to one hour to an hour and a half of exercise 6 times a week. You can break this up, doing just a one hour workout and then some-days doing an additional 30 minutes later or earlier in the day or just tag it onto your hour workout. This gives us one day for recovery. IF you plan to workout that much than multiply your RMR by 1.7. If you think you will only do an hour 4 or 5 times a week than multiply your RMR by 1.5. This is how many calories your body will want.
140lbs x 1.7 = 2380 (calories) or 140lbs x 1.5 = 2100 (calories)
Okay....so you know how many calories your body will want to preform it's duties, but if you want to LOSE weight you need to subtract that 500 calories we are taking out a day to create weight loss:
so....2380 calories - 500= 1880 calories a day or 2100 calories - 500 = 1600 calories a day
Perfect. Now you know how many calories you can take in a day, but who wants to calorie count? Well...you don't really have to if you are making mindful choices. Use this as a guide, JOURNAL what you eat...each and every morsel, and make sure you are spreading your protein throughout your day and having a bit with each meal. Look back on your food journals at the end of each day and highlight any items that you see can be removed and brainstorm what healthy food you can replace it with. That way you are continuing to fuel your body when you need, only in a smart, calorie and health conscious way.
GUIDE what to eat in a day (Be mindful, this is a guide. If you need more calories, supplement in more freshly prepared foods and seasonal produce):
5 servings of protein (each serving is 100 calories): one serving could be 3 oz of lean meat or tofu, 6 egg whites, a serving of protein powder, or a veggie burger
2 servings of dairy (each is 100 calories): one serving is 1 oz of cheese, 8oz skim or soy milk or plain yogurt, or 1 cup 1% cottage cheese
2 servings of veggies (each serving is 50 calories/1 cup cooked veggies, veggie juice or soup, or 2 cups of leafy greens is one serving)
1 fruit (we are limiting sugars try to keep to 100 calories)
1 carb (this is equivalent to about 200 calories): one serving could be 1 cup quinoa, brown rice, oatmeal, whole grain cereal, or beans, 1 medium potato or sweet potato, or 2 slices bread
1 fat (about 1 tbsp): olives, avocados, or olive or flaxseed oil
and allow yourself one small snack (100 calories): 1.5 oz string cheese, 8 0z nonfat plain yogurt, 1 oz dried fruit, 1 frozen fruit bar, or 1 tbsp almond butter with celery sticks, carrot sticks, or snap peas
We're on the right path now. For those of you not looking to lose weight, but looking for a detox....go with the saying: 'keep it simple stupid.' Take out all junk food, alcohol, salt, sugar, coffee, stimulants, preservatives, packaged foods, dairy, and gluten. Give yourself a restricted diet of only whole foods you prepare at home. Eat lots of fresh seasonal produce. Maintain a little protein with each meal to help hold you over. Consider juicing, taking wheatgrass or another greens drink powder to add to smoothies. Take milk thistle to detox your liver, drink lemon water each morning on an empty stomach, and a tbsp of apple cider vinegar in a cup of hot water with honey in the evenings before bed, and look back at my blog from September: "Hey you dirty birdy, time for a whole-istic body cleanse".
Good Luck & Good Riddins Muffin Tops!!!!
here is my shout :-D thanks for this post!
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