So Bob has asked some very specific questions, as he looks to stepping up my program. So for today's entry, I am going to do an average day in the life of ME! For point of reference, these are the questions, specifically that I am responding to.
1. How and what is my breakfast?
2. Am I starting my day with a glass of water?
3. Am I doing any upper body muscle exercises yet?
4. What vitamins/supplements am I taking?
So, with this down, now I will give you an idea of what a day in my life is like. And I will even list the changes that I have made -- for those who are wondering what the process is that I am working on.
I usually get up at 5:30, and start my morning with a glass of water, in order to take my prilosec. (Otherwise, my tummy will never be happy.) Since I can't eat for 30 minutes, following my taking of my medication, I then go out and take my first walk of the day. I walk around the apartment complex 4 times, which takes me about 30 minutes exactly -- and is roughly one mile. (This is only an estimate -- I haven't actually clocked the distance.) Following my morning walk, I then go in and have breakfast.
This of course is a huge change from before. Prior to starting this lifestyle, I never ate breakfast -- or if I did it was usually a Super Big Gulp of Diet Dr. Pepper. Breakfast was something that I never really made time for. I just wasn't interested. So this was one of the biggest changes, was learning to cut my dinner way back, and making breakfast and lunch my main meals of the day.
Breakfast will usually be either a 1/2 cup of whole grain cereal (I have really found I like the Kashi brand cereals), with 8 ounces of
milk, and a whole piece of fruit. Or some mornings I will have one serving of egg substitute, with two slices of my homemade, whole grain bread. On those mornings I will also have 1 serving of low-fat yogurt, (I love the yoplait yogurts), and one serving of whole fruit. (Banana, apple, cherries, plums, peaches, etc. . .), On these mornings I will also have either a bottle of water, or 8 ounces of milk. During breakfast, I will also take my multi-vitamin. I have just a generic brand that I picked up at Wal-Mart. It is comparable to Centrum.
Once I get to work I make sure I try to get in 24 ounces of water during the morning, but I am not always successful at this. There are some mornings I just have to have my Diet Dr. Pepper. Between 10, and 10:15 I will take my break and I will have my mid morning meal. This usually consists of either a serving of veggies (I love peas, or baby carrots), and some string cheese. I will also have a couple slices of whole grain bread, toasted. Sometimes, I will have another whole piece of fruit (bananas, and apples are really easy to carry. But I have also found that they do alot in the produce section that is designed for easy transport, so you just have to look around.
At lunch, 
I will go out with my friend, and we will go for a walk for 30 minutes, before coming back and having lunch. This walk will also be a mile, and this distance I am more sure of. (Although I ended up getting really wet yesterday, when it started raining after I had been walking for only 5 minutes!) After the walk, I will usually have a sandwich for lunch. It will consist of two slices of whole grain bread, one serving of shaved turkey (sometimes ham or chicken, but I prefer turkey or chicken.), sliced tomato, a whole sliced avocado, and low-fat mayonnaise.
Sometimes for lunch I will also bring a beans dish in place of the sandwich. I use beans of all kinds -- and I use the dried kind that I prepare the night before. That way I don't have to worry about any additives. (See my recipe web site.) I will usually put either broccoli, peas, or corn in these dishes. When I do these dishes I don't have to add any thing else for the meal. This is plenty filling, and has something from all the food groups.
For dinner I will usually prepare either a serving of chicken, o
r a serving of salmon. This I will bake in the oven with either various spices, or sometimes just a little bit of butter with Splenda brown sugar baked in. I will also have a slice of whole grain bread, and a large side dish of veggies. These will vary -- broccoli, carrots, peas, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. . .
I will usually try to keep my soda intake down to 2 to 3 cans of Diet Dr. Pepper a day. And I try to make sure that every meal has something -- at least one serving out of every food group. I watch the portions, and make sure they are within prescribed proportions.
I have also found that I allow myself one free day -- which is Sundays, with family dinner. On these days, I have certain rules that I insist I follow. I never get up from the table feeling excessively full. I also have to make sure that there is something from every food group represented on my plate. That way, I don't feel like I have gone off the deep end. But I do allow myself dessert on this one free day.
For dessert alternatives during the week, when I am craving something sweet, I have found that I do well with the fat free chocolate pudding. I also use fat free ice cream for this trick. But I am very careful of when I allow myself to eat these, and the proportions that I eat them in.
As for my upper body exercises -- I haven't added anything of this sort into my program yet. I guess, I am not really sure where to start with this one. Hopefully this covers all the questions I was to answer. As you can see, I am not starving myself. I always feel satisfied food wise, and I never feel like I am depriving myself. Overall, I have found that this has been working. So let me know if anyone feels that anything needs to be adjusted. Basically I have decided not to diet, but rather to change my lifestyle, and my eating habits. This approach works for me, and it makes me feel like this is something that I can maintain.
Thank you for all of you, and all of your support. Talk to you all soon!
Me.
4 months ago
3 comments:
From Bob
That's a good program. The only thing I would urge you to change would be the vitamins. I would like you to go into gnc and tell them what you are doing and have them recommend a multivitamin for you. This will be a much different vitamin than the centrum or 1 a days. They are pharmaceutical grade vitamins and they are time release. They have more of what your body needs, and your body can use them and absorb them throughout the day much better. My nutritionist swears that if you don't get a pharmaceutical grade vitamin, you may as well throw your money away. The only catch is that they are like $37 a bottle. But its a big bottle and will last you a while, especially if you take only one a day instead of 2 a day like the label suggests. That's what i do to save money. I think 2 a day is overkill unless you are a world class athlete and my nutritionist agrees.
I also found that your body needs another essential supplement that you don't get in food very often. Omega 3,6,9. Otherwise known as fish oil, flaxseed oil, and borage oil. You can get all 3 in one pill. This is good for your heart, skin, and brain. Reduces the risk of heart disease. Also helps with memory loss. Good for your hair too. Get this at wal mart or rite aid.
And finally, I would like to see you take glucosamine, chondroitin, msn with hyaluronic acid. These are all in one pill. some pills don't have all 4 supplements, so you want to look for the one that does. Also, look for the bottle that only requires 2 pills a day. Some reqiure up to 4. I only take 1 a day though. The cheapest brand is called flex a min and comes in a purple box with yellow writing. You can get this at wal mart or rite aid. I actually find better deals sometimes at rite aid because they have super sales and 2 for 1's a lot. This will keep your joints healthy, and I would highly recommend it, especially if you will be walking a lot.
Also from Bob
Your meal plan sounds pretty good. Watch your whole grain cereal to make sure it is not high in sugar or calories. And try to mix in some type of protein regularly. If you start a weight training program, you will want to start every day with a good dose of protein. For me its ham and 2 egg whites every morning with whole grain bread and a whole nectarine. I like the whole fruit. Avoid juices. They are ok, but they are already broken down so your body doesn't have to work to break them down. This means that more of the colories go to storage than with whole fruit. (This was maybe the biggest blow to the orange juice king, and one of the hardest changes for me). Whole fruit whole grain, and lots of veggies.... can't go wrong. Chicken and turkey and fish are perfect choices for lunch and dinner. Your body will still crave red meat for iron and that's fine to satisfy that craving, but try to stick with the fish and foul.
As far as weight training goes, I will leave this up to you. I love that you are walking twice a day now, because that's the most important thing you can do. But if you want to kick it up a notch and loose pounds faster by converting fat to muscle, try a little upper body workout. Do this only if you are ready for it though. The last thing I want to do is disrupt your rhythm. Start easy with knee push ups... 2 sets of 10... or as many as you can do. Start with twice a week. Concentrate on keeping your back straight. Get an exercise ball from wal mart. This makes sit ups easier on your body while still targeting the proper muscles. The ball should not bee too firm when you pump it up (pump is included in the package). You should sink into it a little when you sit on it. Do 2 sets of 15 sit ups.. or as many as you can do. Again, start with twice a week. I suggest doing one set of push ups, wait a couple of minutes, then do the sit ups. Wait a couple of minutes, then repeat. This simple workout wont take long but will really put your body into a higher calorie burning, fat burning mode. The neat thing about muscle exercises is that they burn calories and fat throughout the entire recovery process. The recovery process is the amount of time it takes your muscles to stop being sore from your workout.
When you are first starting out, your muscles will be very sore for 3 or 4 days after you work out. This is something you just have to grit your teeth and press forward through. This will last a few weeks. After a few weeks, you will find that your muscles are only sore for 24 hours and not nearly as sore. Keep going for another month, and you will hardly notice the soreness after workouts.
Try what i have proposed above. If it feels too much too fast, then stop and we can try it later. If you like it, then you can do it until it becomes easy, then you can up to 3 times a week if desired. You should also increase the reps (15 push ups and 20 sit ups) as it becomes easier.
Keep it up girl!! You sound like you are doing great!!
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