This Sunday millions will be watching the “Big Game”. Even if you’re not an actual football fan the game day festivities are a lot of fun, but they can also wreak havoc on your diet.
One of the best things you can do to stay on track is take some healthy delicious eats with you to the party you’re going to or to lay out a few healthy options to munch on if you’re the host.
Here are some recipes to get you started, and trust me, no one will know it’s diet food.
So you’re resting enough and you don’t have a care in the world 🙂 but you’re still not losing weight. (see the last blog post to get up to speed if you missed it)
If I was a betting woman (I don’t gamble, that’s throwing away perfectly good shopping money) I’d say it’s because of one of two other things-your nutrition or your workouts.
Let’s talk about your nutrition today.
Nutrition is off in some way (eating too much, not enough, too much sugar, not a balanced ratio of macro nutrients)
I don’t believe in being a total calorie hard nose ‘cause frankly counting calories can be a drag. But you do need to be aware of how many- ish calories you need to take in and how many-ish you actually are taking in. For instance if you know that you need to be in the 1800-2,000 range and that on average you take in about 1,925. As long as you hit somewhere in that range daily there’s no need to know your number to an exact T…….except for if the scale is no longer budging. The it’s time to get down to the facts and figure out EXACTLY what you are doing.
Last week we talked a little about hitting that wall where nothing you do seems to make the scale budge in the direction you want it to. I listed some of the most common reasons why you may have hit this thing called a plateau, and how to identify if you actually have in fact hit a true plateau. If you need to come up to speed you can read that here: Are You Stuck At Your Weight?
Ok, so now that you know what and why, let’s get to the ‘what to do about it’ part:
First, you need to look at that list and determine which one(s) apply to you. Today let’s talk about external factors in a plateau. That means things that you can’t always seemingly control (notice the word seemingly).
Q: True or False: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day? (cue jeopardy music)
A: Sometimes……
That’s right on certain days it is in fact the most important meal of the day, on others it’s the second most important.
What takes its place of importance 3-4 times a week?
It’s here-just look at the seasonal shelves in your favorite store. Retailers refer to this time as the holiday season, but I like to be more accurate:
Weight Gain season starts now and runs straight through New Year’s.
The next month and a half will bring ample opportunity for you to indulge, to enjoy and to expand your waistline. Of course the choice is yours.
Why do I bring this up now and not mid way through December? Quite frankly now is the time for you to plan for the weeks ahead. Once the whirlwind of activities and obligations begins, you’ll be too caught up to put a plan into action.
So in this moment of clarity, this calm before the storm, let’s outline a plan that will save you from unwanted holiday pounds.
I’ve highlighted two simple steps that could make the difference from squeezing into your little black dress to slipping into it easily.
I hope you enjoyed my article yesterday on the best way to keep dieting simple. It really isn’t as complicated as we tend to make it. In fact my husband swears by his “Chicken and Rice” diet. When he really wants to get lean and “get on it” he eats, [Read more…]
I’m a realist. I know that you should probably avoid sugary coffees, teas and chocolates if you’re trying to be lean and fit into those skinny jeans, BUT, come on, it’s gonna happen, at some point you’re going to run into the mall during a pouring rain this winter and run smack dab into the “corner coffee shop” and be tempted to have one of their limited time seasonal drinks.
Now if you’re really serious about reaching your skinny jeans (skinny arms or whatever your “problem spot “is) goal then you need to think ahead and have a plan. One of my clients asked for my help in making a plan. Check out our email exchange below and take some tips away from it:
Initial email:
“Hi Sarai,
I am being very tempted with coffee drinks as they all came out now that the holiday season is starting. I have not bought any and fear I will start drinking them. Knowing how many calories are in them helps. I’d prefer not to exercise more to work it off. BUT as the holidays near and I am out it is difficult. Any ideas? During holidays from SB I tend to drink pumpkin spiced latte, white mocha, hot chocolate or apple cider”.
Alecia
Yesterday I shared 5 reasons that people fail in any goal and specifically weight loss.
I originally planned on listing just the 5 reasons I gave you yesterday but there are three more that I think are probably the most important so I couldn’t leave them out and let you miss out on the “aha” moment I’m positive you’ll have after reading them.
Recently I was at a business mastermind in Las Vegas and we got into a discussion about why people fail. The discussion was geared toward business and we ended up with a list of 10 reasons people fail. As we were creating the list, it really struck me how many of the reasons applied to all areas of our life, even weight loss and fitness.
Here are the top 5 from our list that I believe apply to fitness: [Read more…]
Me and about 15 of my most awesome fitness boot camp clients ran a
half-marathon through the Santa Cruz Mountains this past Sunday. We ran
uphill BOTH ways, had to keep our footing over some pretty treacherous cliffs,
ran through creeks, practically crawled under trees, jumped over logs and,
unfortunately, a couple of ladies got stung by hornets before the last 2 miles
were re-routed. It sounds like a horror story but it was actually an incredible
experience. I already can’t wait to do it again next year.
But as we were “carbing up” on Saturday night (yeah, yeah, that’s what that
was all about I swear!) and I was piling my plate high with food in preparation
for the event Sunday. I got to thinking about how easy it is to develop a
distorted view of how much of everything we should be eating and what we
actually are eating, even healthy stuff.
I have this quiz that I give to new members of my Boot Camp program about
portions. I think it might be eye opening for you to take it and see how well
your eyeball “scale” is calibrated.
I posted it below. It’s a fun, quick quiz. Take it and see where you stand on
your portion knowledge. [Read more…]