Thanksgiving Survival Guide!

Hello! Here we are!  Just two days from Thanksgiving 2014.  Prior to beginning my health transformation in September 2013, this was where I would continue on the slippery slope that had begun with the Halloween candy.  I would coast along on into Christmas and then New Years and before I knew it I was feeling VERY limited to the "upper end" of my wardrobe selections!  You know... the clothes that you can always fall back on.  Except when even they begin to feel snug and then you know that you really did overdo it the past few weeks.  Or the past two months!  

So, how can we cut that path RIGHT NOW and make some plans to re-route before we reach the point of feeling sluggish and painfully snug within our own skin?  Here is a bit of perspective on how I am approaching this week.   

My own upline coach Melanie Mitro shared these words on her blog and I can not say this any better!  So I am just going to quote her here:

"It's not a punishment to eat healthy.  It's not a punishment to exercise portion control, its living a balanced life.  I have found that through my experience with eating healthy that I actually feel awful when I over eat, and I am lethargic after a meal that I eat too many carbs and sugars.  I find that I am actually grouchy bc sugar now has an adverse affect on me.  The next day I am craving more sugar and it is this crazy vicious cycle.  Now that doesn't mean that I don't once in a while have a sweet treat it just means that I am very mindful of when I have sweets and I really pay attention to the portion size.  When I eat I think about my food as fuel not as comfort. Even during the holidays I'm still eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  I'm always looking at my plate and asking if I have a lean protein and a veggie or fruit at each meal."

This week I am taking the same approach that I use any week!  Meal planning, shopping accordingly and making time for my workouts is key.  I know that there will be some extra treats on Thanksgiving Day.  That is fine!  I will be exercising self-control and will enjoy things in moderation.  But does this mean that the entire week is a wash and that I just hit "pause" on the idea of my daily workouts?  NO WAY!!!  I am still working out each day.  It is a habit.  Even when the motivation may be lacking, I remind myself that this is 30 minutes (like 2%!!!) of my day.  I am going to see ongoing benefits of just getting it done.  The idea is to set your intentions and them commit to them!  You may have to get a bit creative to make it happen this week if you are going to be traveling or hosting extra guests at your own place.  The main thing is to get moving and make it happen!

 

Some of our Thanksgiving Day success is going to require a bit of tactical planning!  This is a time of the year where we are surrounded by temptation!  All of the things that I do NOT keep in my own home (knowing myself!) are now surrounding me and these superfluous treats are being casually consumed while friends and family spend time together.  So, what can we do about this??  First, ask yourself if you are actually hungry?  Has it been 2.5 hours since you last had something to eat?  If so, is the item that you are currently contemplating going to be "good fuel" for your body?  Or is is just empty calories?  I do enjoy a taste of empty calories every now and then.  But they are just not designed to be a cornerstone of our daily intake!  So if you are finding yourself surrounded by tricky snacks, see what you can do to get up and moving and take your conversation elsewhere.  :)  Something that helps me is to put a fresh piece of chewing gum in my mouth.  It literally does the trick in cutting down on temptation!

Speaking of cutting down on temptation, I will still be enjoying my Shakeology for breakfast each day!  This is the perfect start to my nutrition each day.  I love that it curbs cravings, keeps me full and give me the perfect balance of super-foods and dense nutrition.  Plus it is quick and delicious! 

You can still enjoy your favorites - just choose them well and remind yourself to watch portion sizes!  Check out this video where I share more on clean eating in general and how to weigh our daily choices... see "Skipping the Cool Whip"!

One of my own biggest keys for holiday/travel survival is to snack well!  Otherwise I am going to end up just not feeling so well.  I can not rely on the food choices that are available at the truck stops along I-80.  And with two little kids in the car, everyone is going to be hungry at some point!  If I am eating my regular sort of snacks, I am not going to be as tempted to overdo it at meal time.  Plus I will remember to not become overly full, as I will be eating my veggies and hummus in a couple of hours.  :) 

 

And last but not least, I have GOT TO STAY HYDRATED!  This is the area where I sometimes just do not do as well whenever I am outside of my usual routine.  A general baseline is to drink 1/2 of your body weight in ounces of water each day.  Some time ago, I began going above and beyond that and I aim for a gallon each day.  When I am not getting enough water, things go downhill quickly.  This is one sure way to set myself up for the precursor of a migraine.  And for some reason, whenever I fall behind on my water intake, it seems to take a little while to feel back to myself, even though I have technically "caught up".  So this is all the more motivation to NOT fall behind on my daily water.  So this holiday I will drink up... with plenty of H2o!

As we celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday, I will be looking at the faces around me as I thank the Lord for another year together.  We just do not know what life holds and I am not going to take for granted the days that we have here on this earth.  I am thankful that although this has been year of impending change within my family and quite a few twists and turns, we serve a faithful and loving God.  I look forward to continuing on with Him as we mark the events of 2014 and ponder the future.  Part of life is what we can see around us and the rest of it goes much deeper... here is a favorite song that reminds me of just that.  Happy Thanksgiving to you!    

Protein: Why it Matters to get Enough!?!?

Good morning!  Today we are going to get a bit technical.  This information is fascinating to me and I am hoping that you will find some value here as well! 

Today is all about PROTEIN.  Are you getting enough?  Chances are that the answer may be "no"!  I am thinking back to last year at this time. I would typically get one, maybe two servings of protein per day.  How many servings should I be getting in order to operate at my optimum level??  For the past four months I have been at FOUR protein servings per day and am actually stepping up to FIVE with the PiYo nutrition guide!  Crazy, right?  Especially for someone who is not the biggest fan of chicken.  Because let's face it... when I think of "lean protein", chicken is what comes to mind for someone who is not really a seafood eater.  I do have this ONE Salmon Recipe that I actually enjoy.  I pull many of my images from "google images" and even doing a search on "protein" just now made me feel a bit queasy!  WHY all of the raw meat photos there?!!?  At least the one below includes some cooked protein examples!  

Protein plays a very important role in weight control. Lean protein helps you maintain your lean body mass when your calories are restricted. It also helps you suppress your appetite.  Let's put our thinking caps on to learn more about how/why this works. 

Eating lean protein increases your metabolism due to the thermic effect of food, which is how much energy you burn to digest the food. Protein has a thermic effect of 30 %. This means that if you eat a lean protein food that has 100 calories, 30 of those calories are used to digest and process the food leaving only 70 calories of net energy available. Carbs have a thermic effect of 10-15 %, while dietary fat has the lowest thermic effect of only 3%.   See this page for more info on the thermic effect of foods.

Whoa!  Interesting, right?  Now let's remember to keep THIS food pyramid in mind, as opposed to the one from when we were kids when it was all about the carbs! 

So we need to be sure to not skimp on our protein and definitely watch our carbs! :)  For me, carbs along with too many nuts are the areas where I am most likely to get off track.  It is not as often that I find myself gravitating towards taking in an extra serving of protein or veggies in my diet.  Reading all of this will definitely make me think hard before eating foods that take me in a direction opposite of my goals! 

Here is the good news!  Protein is not found only in meat.  I get one of my daily servings through my Shakeology.  Another comes from Greek yogurt.  Many veggies contain a helpful boost of protein as well.  Here is a great article which talks more about which percentage of calories come from protein with various veggies.  This seems crazy, but spinach comes out AHEAD of steak when compared calorie-by-calorie in the protein race!