What helped quite a bit was changing my diet. I was already eating "healthy" so to speak, but it was more of a "I'm going to eat this to justify that candy bar later" kind of diet.
Not going to cut it.
I then decided to remove most of, if not all sugar from my diet....then I could really say I was eating "healthy". Sugar has a lot of calories anyway and seems to slow me down in my workouts. When I did cut it out of my diet, I started seeing pretty good results after workouts, but was still having a hard time getting to where I wanted to be with the "problem area" which if you are wondering, is my butt and upper thighs....probably considered to be the biggest "problem area" for most women. I've heard it from several of my friends, it's a big focus in media for women, and I see more women working on that area more than anything else at the gym.
I had no idea until I looked for it, but there are so many products out there that have "no sugar added". I was surprised at how many I found! There is even sugar free honey!
Here is my general diet: I don't eat anything with more than 5-8 grams of sugar in it and it is usually natural sugar. I don't use "I can't believe it's not butter" anymore after reading several articles about how bad it can be for you--they compared it to eating plastic. Feel free to Google that one. I don't eat anything with more than .5 grams of SATURATED fat unless it has a lot of protein or dairy like cheese, in which I justify up to 1.5 grams more, because protein is so crucial when building muscle. I always try to stick to the serving size. I always try to have a protein shake (Amplified whey bolic extreme 60- great protein powder!) after my workout to retain the muscle I just worked on. I'll post the recipe for our "Fields Shake" later. ;)
I'll also post later exactly what I'm eating to give a better idea to those who don't want to always be checking labels...even though it's very fascinating to see how much fat and sugar are in the products we use!I wanted more from my workouts and felt like something was holding me back. Jared, my husband, went to GNC for me to get some more vitamins that I ran out of ("be WHOLESOME Health and Beauty Vitapak"---AWESOME STUFF!) and while he was there, he spoke with the rep there about my little concern. Jared later told me that the N.O. EXPLODE pre-workout was making my body retain water weight....SO NOT what I wanted. They recommended a dietary supplement series I just started at the beginning of the week called Physio-Burn, Pro-sculpt, and Meta Ignite and I'm not sure if it's in my head, but I swear that "area" is looking so much better already. I feel better when using the pre-workout compared to the N.O. Explode, and it has suppressed cravings for junk food or just more food I sometimes have during the day. I feel a lot better with these products! Yeah!
I still believe the biggest key is to effective workouts is not eating sugar or as much fatty foods. It's all around us and it's hard to stay away from. Here are some snacks that I eat to suppress the temptation to eat junk food (and I carry them around wherever I go):
* Cinnamon or Cocoa Almonds
* Nut mix
* Wheat thins
* Grape tomatoes
* Carrots
* Fruit and cottage cheese
* Nature Valley Granola Bars
* Annie's Organic bunny crackers (Costco or Smiths)
* Chips and Salsa
* Chips and Hummas
* Healthy Muffins (I will post this recipe with the protein shake later)
* Raisens
* Craisens
* Jerkey (sometimes- a little fatty)
* All Natural frozen fruit bars
Okay and just for the LADIES...during that time of month it's super hard to stay away from the fatty foods so here is a slightly healthy list of snacks :)
* Kettle Chips
* Low fat "Healthy" Kettle Corn (Orange box)
* Mentos
* Tic Tacs
* Cheese Tortilla (But add peppers, beans and corn)
* 1 cup icecream (gotta have dairy anyway right ;)
* 1 small piece of dark chocolate
* Fresh fruit with small angel cakes from store with strawberry glaze (also a great treat when friends are over so you don't have to tell them why you can't eat their dessert).
Thanks for the good advice. I've been trying to figure out how to work my diet so I eat healthily but still be able to exercise without completely running out of energy by the end of the day. I've been doing without added sugar for a few months and it's going well. I do have a question, though. Is there any chance of getting a flat stomach after having two babies in a row stretching it out-especially if I never had one before? Or should I just give up that dream? :)
ReplyDeleteNO! Don't ever give up on the dream! Seriously, there have been many people that have done it. As long as you have the drive to get there, you can do it. Sounds cliche, but so true!!!
ReplyDelete:D Thanks! I'll keep working on it. Maybe someday I won't look like I'm six months pregnant. I suppose it doesn't help that all three kids were c-sections.:P Another question - when you ran long distance to get the pregnancy weight off, did you run every day? And for how long(hours? miles?)?
ReplyDeleteActually, after I had the oldest, I lived in Southern California and was too afraid to run outside and didn't have time or money for a gym membership, so I started doing Jazzercize with my MIL which burned a lot of calories...and only if you really get into the routines. I mean more than just barely picking up your feet and being bashful about it. After three months of that, I started jogging twice a week, 2 miles each time. Then a friend told me about Ragnar Relays and asked me to join their team. I started building up to 2-4 miles, 2-3 times a week, then 3-7 miles a week. I never cared about how fast I was going; I was just happy to be running that far. And until this year I wasn't competitive about my time - which I swore I would never care about. Funny how our thoughts change all the time.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until I worked up to the 4 miles that I started seeing baby fat dropping off and starting to get a flat stomach. And once you get there, then you can do a lot of ab workouts to sculpt it if that's what you are going for.
Hope that helps!
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I always do a cheat meal (not a whole cheat DAY) every week. :) Only thing I am bad about otherwise is sneaking in a few Redbulls during the week! It tastes so good once it hits your lips! Haha! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think your other comment showed up! Do you want me to copy and post it again? :D
DeleteI love that you and I do similar routines (got to love that word haha). What I did at one point was look up what fitness model I wanted to look like and check out their training and change it up every month. And MOST of the time, they worked on interval training which is what I've been doing for a few months now and I love it! My muscles really are getting bigger and I am running 5ks faster than I ever thought I could. It's been fun!
I'm with you on limiting carbs! Pastas especially. They are great for a few meals a week, but I didn't notice until a few months ago how much carbs (mostly breads) I ate per day and with every meal! So I cut that out and loaded up on the protein and started seeing results that way....every time I ate more carbs than I should my stomach stuck way out like I was 4 months prego! So yah...limiting carbs like Keri said. :)
Oh yah and I have a few cheat things here and there if that makes you feel better :D ...like a piece of chocolate on days I don't go to the gym (because sugar seriously slows me down there) or when we are traveling it gets extremely hard to keep up with the diet so I give into a chicken burger or something like that. And yes I give into the Rockstars (Redbull tastes like medicine to me) every now and then :)
DeleteThere is just not enough to say about eating healthy!!It's impossible to lose weight if you don't. Bob Harper's new book is amazing with this, and goes into detail about what is happening in your body when you eat certain things. I wish everyone could own it - you'll never eat crap again. Anyway, love your posts! I definitely need to download some of those songs - I need new running ones!
ReplyDeleteSeriously...like I said above, when I don't eat as well I get the baby bump back. I work on a daily basis to keep that thing off!
Delete(REPOST)No brainer that i agree on the protein front, and when trying to cut yourself into a Greek god or goddess, limiting your sugar (outside necessary fruits and perhaps a touch of honey or dark brown sugar) ...
ReplyDeleteHowever!
If your main goal is to axe fat (keeping in mind that a mix of light to moderate and heavy lifting is soooooooooo freaking important in addition to various cardio [I hate that term, by the way] routines [and that word]) ... I would also suggest cutting down on or cutting out your carbohydrate intake as far as simple sugars go (small portions of complex carve are great, like brown rice, quinoa, and oatmeal). This includes foods like cereal, bread, crackers, chips, white rice, etc ... Granted, a small portion of white rice (I'd personally recommend a sweet potato, though) and about 6oz of a lean meat like chicken or fish after a lifting session does wonders to feed back to your body the necessary sugars, carbohydrates, and protein to recover and repair. I am mainly advising you to NOT snack as much on these items.
The more you can stick to lean meats (as I said, chicken, fish, turkey, and even some leaner cuts of steak like sirloin), fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts (in moderation. Even though they have good fats in them, it's best not to overindulge), and lots of water (I go for 3 to 4 liters a day depending on my training)... the better off you will be.
However, my diet will differ from Lynette's based off our training. I climb. A LOT. I generally lift moderate to heavy at the gym, campus board work, endless pullups, I do a lot of circuit training, sprint intervals, and I try to do 4 to 5 five mile runs each week. Occasionally, I throw in a ten for one of the 5s. I guess my point on this is, the food is the same stuff, but the amount and WHEN you eat them is crucial!
P.s. Good choice on the protein! That's the one I use! Though on a typical workout day I take a scoop 15 to 30minutes before I workout one after, and depending on whether I go in the morning or at night ... The third is either at bedtime or right when I wake up. If I plan to run in the morning, then weight train or climb later, I just drink a 6oz glass of water when i wake up, go run, them drink an 8oz glass of chocolate milk when I get back in between showering and making breakfast. Then I save the protein powder for later. It all depends on what i have going on for the day. Sounds complicated, but trust me, there is a system. Haha!
I probably missed a lot of key points in there. I had a lot to say. :)