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?