We Are Up And Running at tracynicolefitness.com

I am officially up and running on wordpress.  If you would like to continue following my weight loss adventure, please update your account.  My new blog is over at tracynicolefitness.com  I will no longer be posting here on blogspot.  Thank you for reading!

We're Moving!

Hi readers.  I  am moving my blog, tracynicolefitness.blogspot.com to tracynicolefitness.com  Please bear with me through the transition.  We should be up and running here by early next week!

"Failures Don't Plan to Fail, They Fail to Plan"

I think Harvey MacKay said it best.  Going about the business of obtaining a goal without a plan for how you are going to accomplish said goal is just plain silly.  I have been mulling over my plan for the last week.  I am now down a total of 16 pounds as of my last weigh in.  This is about the point where I would normally beat myself up.  When I realized that it had taken me 6 months to remove 16 pounds of fat from my body, my first reaction was disappointment.  Then I thought about it for a few days.  Here's what it boils down to:  I lost 16 pounds in 6 months without a clear plan.  That's actually impressive.  Actually, you can kind of think of it as weight loss by accident because it certainly was not by design!  That's roughly 2.67 pounds per month without a strategy.  Imagine what would happen if I put to use the wealth of information I have acquired over the past 5 years of yo-yoing.  Over the next few posts I will be going over, in great detail, my strategy for the next few months leading up to the deadline for a contest I recently entered.

Today I want to talk about changing eating habits.  I have done far to many diets to count.  Some were more effective than others, but bottom line, none addressed the reasons I was overweight.  As a result, I regained the weight every time.  What I realize now is that lifestyle change is more important than how quickly the pounds can be shed.  As a result, I have been more focused on learning how to schedule my exercise and eat for effective training.  I have gone over a ton of material in recent weeks in a concentrated effort to learn how to fuel my body properly.  The most helpful have been the Eat Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno, and my new subscriptions - Clean Eating Magazine and Oxygen Magazine.

My taste buds are changing as time goes by.  I am still not quite where I know I will need to be in that final push.  I am still enjoying things like a daily serving of daily, a whole egg in my omelet and the occasional piece of dark chocolate.  I recognize that those choices will hold me back, but I also know the pitfalls of too much too soon.  I am treating this journey like the marathon it is.  As eating clean becomes more natural for me, I will be able to fine tune my foods even more for optimal results.  For right now, I am exactly where I need to be.

So what does this look like in practice?  I am preparing healthy meals 2-3 times per week.  Most of the recipes come from Tosca Reno's book or one of the magazines mentioned.  We have a ton of tupperware in the fridge ready to grab and go.  I realized that one of my major oversights was on how to be properly prepared in the shortest amount of time.  I am a pretty busy person so if I'm running behind schedule and I'm starving, chances are I will hit the drive through if there is not a meal ready to go at home.  Now I don't have to worry about that because I am better prepared.  Next, I need to hunt around for clean protein bars and a to go shaker cup for those on the road emergencies.

Look out for my post on effective training regimens later this week!

Favorite Fitness Tools: The Body Bugg

Over the next few weeks I will be talking about my top 10 tools for keeping my training on track. Today I want to tell you guys about a little device called the Body Bugg.

Yesterday I completed another workout from Chalene Johnson's new series Turbo Fire. It was a great workout. The series is filled with even more dance moves than Turbo Jam and my uncoordinated body has a little trouble following. I don't mind that I look absolutely ridiculous. I am too busy being pleased with the calorie burn. Yesterday I managed 540 calories in the 45 minute video. I was impressed because I usually have trouble burning more than 300 calories using workout DVDs. It was just so fun that I couldn't help but get totally into it.

I talked about making a few changes to my strategy. One of those things is careful monitoring of calories in/out. I just purchased a handy little device called the bodybugg to help me with my efforts. You may have seen this gadget on The Biggest Loser or Losing It With Jillian. It looks like a black armband and you wear it for as many hours a day as possible to give you a picture of how you burn calories throughout the day.

I think the device is most useful if you purchase the accompanying software. The software allows to you to track your meals for a better representation of your daily calorie deficit. One thing I love about the software is that you can look at specific time windows so you know how much you burn during a workout and what the afterburn is like. I'm still learning to use this tool but I can already tell you this. I was grossly overestimating my daily caloric burn. Over the next few weeks I will be working on how to correctly portion and log my food to get the most accurate data from this tool as possible. I also really like that you can use your iphone to input your food. Now I have an excuse to go out and get an iphone!

Under Construction

I mentioned a few changes were coming to the blog and work is under way. Over the past six months I have gone through many different things in an attempt to pursue my goals. I was beginning to feel very frustrated with my progress and decided to take some time to really enjoy life and reflect on what I truly wanted to accomplish. I was not being completely honest with myself and it showed in the number of changes to my eating plan and the large number of workouts missed.

In the last few months I have had time to think about what brings joy to my day and what types of things keep my feet firmly planted on the road to success. Part of that involved taking the time to close myself in a room with a mirror and honestly assess where I am, how I got there and then really thinking about why I wanted a change. To be perfectly honest, I don't dance well. I'm not a very coordinated person. Right now my goal is to prepare for the Fitness Atlantic Ms. Bikini competition next spring. When I have the info on the 2011 competition, I will be sure to update you.

I came away from this exercise with a fresh perspective and hopefully a much more honest view of what I actually want to accomplish. The most valuable lesson I learned in the six months since I started this journey is that this requires absolute commitment. Eating the right foods or working out on a casual basis is not what you need to effect major change. If I had done the reverse, ie ocasionally skipped a workout, occasionally vegged out on the couch or occasionally ate crap - well I wouldn't be here. It required years of abusing myself to get to this state of ill health and thinking that doing well one or two days or even weeks at a time is just not enough.

I have some fresh ideas about how I intend to accomplish the monumental task of retraining my brain to stop the abuse and self sabotage and instead promote health and happiness for myself. I also have a few new tools at my disposal that I will be sharing the info on over the next few days. Please be patient during these transition time. I hope you continue to enjoy following me on this journey.

So Happy to be Back on the Wagon!

I am super excited to write today. I am presently preparing to embark on the next step of my journey. I've tried tweaking my diet over and over . . .and over again and finally feel confident that I know what works for me. I have taken quite a bit of time off from this venture to get some things in place for my sanity. I know I will have major time commitments beginning in the next few weeks and wanted to make the transition as stress free as possible. Tons of changes have been taking place around here. Just to mention a few, we have almost finished renovating the bedroom and our den. I am speaking it into the universe that both those spaces AND my office will be completed before school begins!

It's time to get focused on regimen building for my health. Right now I am fooling around with foods and supplements until I iron out something that requires little thought on my part so that I can put it on autopilot. Recent discoveries include the fact that wheat and sugar are no nos for me. I know, I know. You are thinking of course you shouldn't eat cookies, cake and candy if you are shooting for weight loss. Um I knew that. What I didn't know is that my body seems to be exceptionally sensitive to these ingredients even in the healthiest of foods. I am currently in love with Pamela's Wheat Free Baking Mix and agave. There are tons of health articles out there vilifying agave but right now I still believe it is better for my body than sugar. If I come up with a better alternative I will certainly post about it but there is no way I am interested in Splenda, xylitol or any of the other "alternative" sweeteners out there.

I've got to run off and get some things done around the house but I do want to let you know where I am currently. My current weight is 191.4 down from my high of 205 a few months ago. Pictures are coming this week. I am getting ready to begin a round of ChaLean Extreme and I will post my starting stats at the end of the week. I have been doing Slim in 6 most recently and since my last update I've lost:
Chest -1in
Waist -0.5in
Gut -1in
Hips -0.5 in

Changes on the Horizon

I know I haven't posted in quite some time. I have been of thinking, living and just plain relaxing. I am going to be taking a new direction with the blog shortly. Hopefully you will still find it interesting. My life is taking a new direction and as I go through major changes in my professional life, my personal life has been evolving as well. The blog will be broadening in scope to include aspects of life not directly related to my personal quest for fitness. This has been a space for me to talk about what is important to me and these days that involves a wide variety of topics. You will see plenty of info on workouts, health and wellness and these days I am finding myself more drawn to natural beauty products and processes as well. I hope you will stay tuned!

Doing My Own Thing

It's been weeks since I posted. I've been working on me- focused more on the inside than the outside. I am really focused on using the four months left before school starts to enjoy life. I hear things will be quite different soon and have become super focused on relaxing and finding new things I enjoy. Apparently having outlets and identifying pleasurable things you like to do is key to succeeding in graduate school:) I am feeling pretty good these days. I decided to try hot yoga because in the past yoga always made me feel calm and balanced. I took a class on Friday and I really enjoyed it. I am hoping to do the 10 classes in 30 days this month. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Until next time . . .

Cheers!

No Need for an Alert, Cheerleaderbody is Still Here!

It's Saturday morning and I have been slowly waking up to the day by thinking of what I want to accomplish today. I am going through this phase were I am really examining how I spend my time and in which areas I can cut back so that I have time to focus on my studies in the fall. A few things come to mind that I want to keep up with. My pursuit of fitness is definitely on the short list. That reminded me that I haven't written a blog entry in some time. So what have I been up to? Hubby and I are still renovating our home. I am still working diligently in my current lab in effort to get a publication before I leave for my month off before classes.

I know, you guys don't care about that. Let's get to what you really want to know. I have not given up on tackling this weight loss and fitness thing. I have been much more focused on my food intake since I have been experiencing quite a bit of pain working out. It has finally started to pay off. Most of the artificial and processed food has been removed from my diet. At this point, I cook most of the meals in our home and we have done a wonderful job of transitioning to an organic, whole foods lifestyle. It has been a struggle for me more so than hubby because I had become so used to eating at least two of three meals out everyday I have experienced an unfortunate amount of detox. I can honestly say that breaking my addiction to refined sugar has been the most difficult part of adopting this new lifestyle. I am so pleased to have gotten to this point. I know there are still improvements to be made but that's okay. Rome wasn't built in a day right?

Apart from the food, I have tried to become more active in my daily lifestyle. I walk a bit more and have been incorporating a walking and stretching program. I am heading to the doctor next week to get the all clear. Pain is the body's way of telling us something is wrong. I want to be sure that my body is merely pointing out the injustice of carrying around at least 50 pounds more than my skeleton is designed for and not some underlying medical issue. Once I get the green light that it is pain I can ignore, I will be back in the saddle with the exercise portion of my program. Don't discredit the benefits of diet in addition to exercise. I am down five pounds in the last to weeks and I credit clean eating with that loss. I am finally out of the 200s and in Onederland. What a great feeling. On that note, I have to go prepare some healthy foods for my friends coming to lunch today:)

Monday, Monday . . .

It's Monday. The beginning of a new work week. For me it is always a great opportunity to try something new. I love beginning a new venture on a Monday because you can take the weekend to think, plan and prepare and then Monday morning is like starting out with a clean slate. I have to finally accept that I cannot veer off the path even the tiniest bit. I think I have a serious food additive intolerance. That means that for me, this is about more than seeing my waist shrink a bit.

I used to think I was just a sickly person but now I am thinking not so much. I ate clean all week and used Sunday as my cheat day since we were taking MIL out for her birthday. We went to a local steakhouse. I didn't order an appetizer or dessert. I thought ordering a half rack of ribs instead of the whole and not using the sauce on the side made a decent cheat meal. Wrong. It lead to some very unpleasant side affects within a few hours. The only ones I am willing to share are headache, itchiness, sluggishness and congestion...the gastrointestinal distress is not something I am willing to detail on the internet. That being said, it made me realize that I will have to do better than cleaning shop at home. I now know I have to be more aware of where I go in social situations as well. Just because I have a cheat meal doesn't mean I can eat what ever I want. I may be able to relax my rules in terms of caloric intake and/or flavor but not where my food comes from and what additives it might have.

This week, I am pleased with what's in the fridge. I of course forgot the camera so I'll just tell you what we got. I promise to try to remember it next week:) The proteins are always consistent. Organic and free range for meats and wild caught fish. This week on the menu- steak, lean ground turkey, boneless skinless chicken breast, salmon, cod and tuna. In the produce section we snagged large containers of spinach and mixed greens, fresh green beans, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers. I always stock rolled oats and brown rice for carbohydrates. We picked up sweet potatoes for a little variety this week. I am really trying to work in the fresh fruits. We have grapefruit, kiwi fruit, blueberries, strawberries, pears, apples, bananas.

I also got no sugar added pineapple for my Shakeology. I know it is more processed than fresh but fresh pineapple is expensive and since I use a quarter cup at a time, it is difficult to keep around fresh anyway. I am not at the point where I can drink that stuff straight yet! I have been using this since I became an Independent Beachbody Coach last month and I have to say that I love how my cravings have decreased and my household has become more calm. Could it have something to do with my improved nutrition? Maybe. . .probably. So what's new for you this Monday?

Typical Daily Food Intake

I will pretty much be eating the same thing everyday. It will make my life way easier in terms of tracking my caloric and nutrient intake and preparing my meals. To add variety I plan on swapping veggies and occasionally protein sources at lunch and dinner. The idea here is to stay around 1400 calories per day with minimally processed foods. I will head out to pick all my items up on the weekend and then try to make as little work for myself as possible during the week in terms of getting it into the cooler.

Food Name	Amount	Unit	Cals	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Prot (g)	Delete
		Total	1,399	37.2	170.2	74.1
Shakeology		servinggramskglboz	140	0.0	0.0	0.0
Pineapple, raw		cup, dicedoz yieldscubic inchfruitslice (3-1/2" dia x 3/4" thick)thin slice (3-1/2" dia x 1/2" thick)gramskglboz	74	0.2	19.6	0.8
Banana, raw		cupcup, mashedcup, slicedoz yieldsslicesmall (6" to 6-7/8" long)extra small (less than 6" long)medium (7" to 7-7/8" long)extra large (9" or longer)large (8" to 8-7/8" long)linear inchgramskglboz	105	0.4	27.0	1.3
Strawberries, raw		cupcup, halvescup, pureedcup, slicedcup, wholeoz yieldsextra large (1-5/8" dia)large (1-3/8" dia)medium (1-1/4" dia)pint, as purchased, yieldssmall (1" dia)gramskglboz	49	0.5	11.7	1.0
Blueberries, raw		cupoz yieldsberriesgramskglboz	83	0.5	21.0	1.1
Egg, white only, cooked		cuplarge egg whiteegg whitegramskglboz	34	0.1	0.5	7.2
Oatmeal, cooked, regular		cup, cookedcup, dry, yieldsoz, dry, yieldsgramskglboz	73	1.2	12.7	3.0
Yogurt, plain, lowfat milk		cup (8 fl oz)8 oz containergramskglboz	51	1.3	5.7	4.2
Chicken, breast		cup, cooked, dicedoz, boneless, cookedoz, boneless, raw (yield after cooking)oz, raw (yield after cooking, bone removed)oz, with bone, cooked (yield after bone removed)cubic inch, boneless, cookedbreast quarter (yield after cooking, bone removed)medium slice (approx 2" x 1-1/2" x 1/4")thick slice (approx 2" x 1-1/2" x 3/8")thin slice (approx 2" x 1-1/2" x 1/8")large breast (yield after cooking, bone removed)medium breast (yield after cooking, bone removed)small breast (yield after cooking, bone removed)gramskglboz	166	6.6	0.0	25.1
Yam, raw		cup, cubesgramskglboz	88	0.1	20.9	1.1
Cod, cooked		cup, cooked, flakedoz, boneless, cookedoz, boneless, raw (yield after cooking)oz, with bone, cooked (yield after bone removed)oz, with bone, raw (yield after cooking, bone removed)cubic inch, boneless, cookedcubic inch, with bone, cooked (yield after bone removed)Pacific cod fillet (6" x 2-1/2" x 3/8")large Atlantic cod (yield after cooking, bone removed)large Pacific cod (yield after cooking, bone removed)medium Atlantic cod (yield after cooking, bone removed)medium Pacific cod (yield after cooking, bone removed)small Atlantic cod (yield after cooking, bone removed)small Pacific cod (yield after cooking, bone removed)gramskglboz	180	9.2	7.0	16.3
Mixed salad greens, raw		cup, shredded or choppedgramskglboz	9	0.1	1.8	0.8
Spinach, raw		cupbunchleafbaby leafgramskglboz	7	0.1	1.1	0.9
Snacks, rice cakes, brown rice, multigrain		cakecakesgramskglboz	70	0.6	14.4	1.5
Peanut butter		tablespoongramskglboz	188	16.1	6.3	8.0
Grapefruit, raw		cupoz yieldsoz, canned, yieldssectionlarge (approx 4-1/2" dia)medium (approx 4" dia)small (approx 3-1/2" dia)gramskglboz	82	0.3	20.7	1.6
		Total	1,399	37.2	170.2	74.1

What Does It Take to Get There?

Well I am back from my travels and somewhat recovered. I'm easing back into life at work and home. I am pretty pleased to leave the graduate school application process behind me and looking forward to focusing my energy over the six months remaining until school starts on building a better me. What does that mean exactly? I want to establish good habits in terms of fitness, nutrition and stress management. I thought long and hard while away about what it would really take to reach my goals. I came up with the following.

A sound nutritional plan is the most important factor! I have read time and time again that your figure is made in the kitchen. Well eating donuts sure has made me soft, squishy and round so I am inclined to believe this. I have decided to switch to consuming real foods. I don't think counting calories is enough so over the next few months, my nutritional focus will be on eating real foods as opposed to the processed crap that dominates the grocery store. This weekend I will be going on my real foods shopping expedition and I'll take you along with me as well as posting my meals so that you can get a better idea of what it is I am actually eating.

I am working with the Slim in 6 workout series for the next six weeks. I had been having so much trouble with my knees, ankles and feet that the constant jumping of ChaLean Extreme did nothing but aggravate. Instead, Debbie's program is intense but low impact and therefore better for me right now.

It is so good to be back guys! I always thought travel was fun but the one thing these interviews taught me is that I love vacationing and hate traveling. Now that I am back and ready to get back in the game, focus is going to be key to making it work. It takes 21 days to form a habit supposedly, so 21 days it is. I want a body like Alicia Marie, the lady whose picture appear above. I definitely think she has a "cheerleader" body! A fit physique like that requires dedication and hard work, so that's what I need to do in order to get where I want to be. I hope you will stay tuned as I push myself to get into serious fitness mode and stay there for the next three weeks in efforts to make a fitness lifestyle feel "normal" to me.

I am looking forward to eating super clean and pressing play 6 days a week. How does March 8-29th sound? If you think you can do it- no if you know you should do this, comment on this post that you will be joining me. I am looking forward to the company! Let's get motivated and see what we can do in March. I am ready to see some results. Are you?

Home Sweet Home!

I finally made it home on Monday. After many attempts to get through to the airline, they finally put me on a Monday evening flight which allowed me to avoid getting caught in the snow fall. The picture above is the view of my front steps- notice that there is a railing but no steps!

I have really not been feeling my ChaLean Extreme workouts lately. I am not seeing the results I hoped for. I know part of it is due to my unstructured eating but I really expected to see some changes. I am also annoyed that my knees and ankles are continuously aching and I think it might have something to do with the high impact cardio. I am making an executive decision to stop doing the program and switch to something else before attempting it again. I have to really sit down and think this thing out but right now my head is all over the place.

I am wondering if I will still have my interview this weekend since our city has been crippled by the blizzard. Today I dusted off my ancient copy of Slim in 6 and did Start it Up! Surprisingly it was still a challenge. I am going to use this program for now while I debate whether or not I might order something else or just do a few rounds of this. Right now I am just happy to be home and getting some rest since I seem to have caught a particularly nasty cold while on my last interview. Anyone have any thoughts on Slim in 6 versus Brazilian Butt Lift?

Somewhere in the South . . .

It's been really eventful these days. I am still stranded due to all the snow that blanketed the East Coast. I was supposed to be back home days ago but there were absolutely no flights getting in. Today I decided to head to a city with a larger airport in hopes of getting home soon. I've been taking things surprisingly well and I credit my newfound coping skills to my mew and improved lifestyle. I am eager to attend the rest of these interviews so that I can make my decision and get back to life as usual. I'm pretty tired these days and managed to catch the nastiest cold I've had in awhile. On the bright side: I've been making the best choices available and still getting in some form of exercise. Anyways, I borrowed a laptop to give you guys an update. I'll post again whenever they manage to get me home. I can only hope the flight I'm on for Tuesday is able to get in as scheduled!

Getting Prepared for the Long Haul

So today I was definitely not on my A game. I didn't go grocery shop. I wasn't sure what to get because I will be in and out of town. I think I got a little nervous thinking about how this could derail my progress thus far. I didn't push play this morning either. Then I got an email from my coach, coach Barbie about her clean eating challenge. I thought that I'd have liked to try it but I wouldn't be able to this time around. I was really feeling discouraged by now. Hubby and I went to the mall and then vegged out in front of the tube. I went to the fridge looking for something to eat but nothing was prepared so I fixed a sandwich and dragged myself to my home gym for today's workout.

After my workout I felt more motivated. I came down to hit the kitchen to broil some fish and grill a little chicken. On the floor was a little strip of paper. It was a fortune from some long ago fortune cookie. It read, "we are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are." I needed those words today. While some things may be out of my control over the next few weeks, I can remain in control of myself. I can make the best choices possible from what is available and remain faithful to my workout regimen.

I have got to focus on resting and keeping up with my workouts. Once I get back from my "tour of duty" I am planning to use a commercial meal delivery service. I know that might sound nuts to some of you but I think it's the best idea for me. I want to make sure I am on a strict schedule with my caloric and nutrient intake and think it will make it easier to get back into the program. I'll post more on this later. Off to get myself together for next week. If you don't plan your workouts and meals in advance, now is a really great time to start!

The Beginning of My New Body!

Progress might be slow, but it's coming guys. No crash dieting or quick fixes here. Better eating choices and good old fashioned sweat works. The best part about it is that change is lasting when you develop the right mindset and habits to support and sustain the changes. That's the thing about fad diets. Trust me I know. Right now life is crazy but my goal for March is a month of clean eating. But first there's February to maximize. I will be on it 6 days a week. I know that I will press play and leave everything on the mat. I have been working hard and I am pleased to finally feel like there is some change!

Hitting the Road . . .

I know I haven't been blogging with any kind of consistency lately but that okay. What I have been doing instead is consistently working towards my goals. I got serious about this whole getting fit thing when I realized I wanted to be healthy enough to withstand the stress and rigor of earning my PhD. After five years of planning, talking and going no where fast I finally cranked the intensity up. I am happy to say I just had my first interview last week and was accepted for the fall class.

I am one step closer to being cheerleaderbody, PhD and it feels damn good. It took hard work, sacrifice and determination to get here. Most importantly, I had the support of those I love to help me through the rough patches. I made the connection today that this weight loss/ fitness thing is the same type of beast. If I use similar strategies I can make this thing happen too. Things will be pretty crazy for a little while. I am going to get quite a bit of travel in. I have to go to Birmingham, Atlanta, Seattle and Dallas in the next month. Wish me luck! I hope that at the end of the month I have my choice of schools to attend but never fear, I am still doing ChaLean Extreme.

I have worked diligently to get to this point and even though it's been tough I don't regret it for a moment. Today the light bulb finally came on. I could pass on parties, vacations and tv because I could see the goal. It was easy to visualize what I would do when I reached the goal and how it would feel. With getting in shape, I never quite managed to do that. I plan to work on being able to picture myself at the finish line. I spent today thinking about my goals and devising a strategy to get there. Chalene continually says in the ChaLean Extreme videos " Write your goals down!" I need to heed that advice.

My goal is to get down to a lean, fit body. I plan to get my weight down below 140 pounds- somewhere it hasn't been in the last decade or so. Even with the travel, I don't intend to slack on the exercise. I got a travel DVD player and I have my resistance bands to make sure of that. When I get back home from all of my interviews, I already have a game plan for getting my food intake on point so that I can reach my goals. I promise to check back in and let you guys know how it's going but even if you don't see me for a few days, know that I'm pressing play. You should be too . . .

Cheers!

Treat Yourself Well, You Deserve It!

I know I've slacked off in my blogging. Forgive me but things will be super hectic the next two months while I work on trying to get into graduate school. Preparing for interviews has kept me hopping but I am handling the stress and challenge much better than I would have before. I promise I'll get back to my regular schedule as soon as the dust settles!

I wanted to post this morning about my first really exciting healthy living moment this month. So I decided I didn't want to force 100% raw. I know it's possible to work out hard and eat 100% because I've done it before. . .but I wasn't a full time student and the economy didn't blow like it does now. 100% isn't feasible for my budget and lifestyle now but it's amazing how easy it is to not get your 5 a day of fruits and vegetables. Now that I am making a consistent effort to eat only foods that are all whole foods and raw when I can the difference is becoming obvious.

This morning I was getting ready to head off to my first grad school interview weekend. I almost didn't recognize myself. Who is that happy, confident girl in the mirror? Now I know it's not just the food but really it's the food! Since I have started eating better, I have been more motivated to take care of myself period. I am sleeping more. No more running on 4-5 hours of sleep and wondering why I'm always ill. I take my supplements pretty much everyday. I exercise regularly and take the time to treat myself to a weekly at home "spa" day. We're buying what we can locally and/or organic, fair trade.

The sum total effect is mind blowing. My skin is clear and the texture is soft and smooth. The wrinkles around my eyes are smoothing. My eyes are sparkling and my smile is bright. Most importantly, I feel peaceful. I am finally purging so much of the bitterness and anger that has held me back in life and it feels damn good. That girl smiling back at me from the mirror is my new best friend and she's awesome! Treat yourselves well guys, you deserve it. In the end, it will make you a much better person.


Cheers!

ChaLean Day 30 Comparison Pics

Day 30 Day 1

Eat 1873 Calories for Weightloss!

I finally used my trial club membership at teambeachbody.com and one of the useful things I found on the site was the nutrition section. I took a look at Michi's ladder which is supposed to provide a basis for healthful eating. I was pleased to find most of the foods I purchased this week fell into the top two tiers which they say is perfect eating. The only thing from my clean eating shopping trip that didn't make the cut were the whole wheat tortillas. Who knew?
I tried out the body fat calculator and the number it generated was pretty close to the scale I tried out a few weeks ago so it may be fairly accurate.

The caloric needs calculator might be another story. It generated the number 1873 for my daily intake for weightloss. That number seems a tad on the high side. Everything I've been reading says to aim for 1500-1600 calories for weight loss. I've been feeling a constant sense of starvation so I decided to try it today and I couldn't do it. It's one thing to eat that many calories when you are consuming fast food like McDonald's or eating my favorite Cadbury chocolate bar but when eating whole foods this task is daunting. I did get close though, I ate 1,792 calories today. I sort of cheated at the end and had peanut butter covered rice cakes- mostly because I was tired of chewing- and it still was not enough to quite make it to 1873.

I tried this out to see what it would feel like because I haven't really noticed any major results from ChaLean Extreme other than an increse in strength. This week I even added extra cardio to try to get the scale - or my measuring tape- to budge just a tiny bit. I was worried that maybe I was indeed overeating and that's why my body wouldn't release any weight. After today, I am not sure that's the case. I feel like an overstuffed turkey right now and the thought of more food turns my stomach. I think I'll elect to take my chances with 1,600 calories a day and see what happens from there.

I'll be doing a fitness giveaway next week to one lucky reader. Stay tuned for details. Cheers!