Winners

After a break that has lasted much too long! And a contest that has dwindled (to which I take full blame)... It was easy to select the winners.
Three winners were selected based on these criteria: Diet compliance, Body Fat %, and Total Weight Loss.

Each of these lucky winners receives $95.00 for their efforts.

In no particular order, please give it up for:

Thais Wise, Curtis Liberda, and Craig Peeples.

Thank you for your hard work and discipline!

Cheating

Who is doing a cheat meal per week? More than one cheat meal? A cheat day? Please provide feedback on when you cheat and why? Is it pre-planned or did it happen due to poor planning? Cheat meals can be helpful if planned and timed specifically. For the best results, time your cheat meal following a workout. Preferably a hard weight training session followed by interval training or as some say a HIIT session. Another appropriate time for a cheat meal is after several days of diligent dieting (meaning 100% compliance). A cheat meal taken after this time will serve as a metabolic boost and may just be what your body needs to lose those extra few pounds. Remember cheating (on your diet!) is only good and beneficial if it is timed correctly and used sparingly.

Halfway Point

Today marks roughly the halfway point of this contest and a time to reflect, as well as make the decision to continue on. While some of us have faltered it's important to remember there is still a lot of time left to make a difference. Get back on the wagon if you have fallen off and commit to do better. Remember this is about making a lifestyle change. There are going to be peaks and valleys; enjoy the ride and be positive and good things will happen in all aspects of your life.
Please share your thoughts at this halfway point.

Bad Weather + Different Schedule= Poor Eating?

Just a quick post to see how everyone is handling this weather situation (only made a situation in Dallas right ;). I'm sure many of you have noticed that with a veer from your normal routine and habits that it has been easy to stray from your diet as well. We humans are amazing creatures. Creatures of habit. This is a simple testament to how easily we can revert to an old habit or pattern that is ingrained. It also reminds us how eating poorly can mistakenly make us feel good during the indulgence but can leave us with negative side effects: craving the crap again (dopamine and insulin response lead to this...), beating ourselves up and continuing in the pattern, and rationalizing why it is simply okay to eat crap (oh, it's cold outside... I'm stuck in here... why not, I'm bored and I deserve it). Crazy things we can convince ourselves of when we "really want something."
I'm letting these few days be a learning experience and a gentle reminder that straying from the path of eating healthfully is not a habit I want to continue. And dammit I AM using the bad weather as an excuse for eating brownies and Oreos and enjoying every last morsel. Do I feel crappier? Yes. Am I mad at myself? A little bit. Will I get back on track? Yes. Today, actually has been quite good. Looking forward to planning the week ahead and staying on track.

Oh, wait! SUPERBOWL Party! Hmm. An excuse to eat crap or a gimmie moment? You decide. Back on track ASAP!

Would love to hear how your last couple of days have been. I've enjoyed seeing quite a few of you braving the weather and making it into the club too!

Diet Phase 2 (and beyond)

For those of you diligent followers that have NOT strayed from the original phase one and have made it 21 consecutive days you are now successfully burning fat and can move onto Phase 2. Excellent work! For those of you that strayed, I recommend you stay on Phase 1 until you complete 21 days to get the best results.

Phase 2 Guidelines:

-Keep following the guidelines from Phase 1 but now you can add one of the following foods once or twice a day. Pick only ONE of these foods per meal. You must still eat this food with protein and eat five meals a day and continue to drink plenty of water.

Phase 2 foods/ pick one of the following one to two times a day:

Oatmeal
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt with less than 20 grams of sugar (do not get one with artificial sweeteners)
Apple
Beans
Grapefruit
Cheese
Milk (if you are not sensitive to it)
Handful of nuts
Pineapple
Apricot
Peach
Plum
Grapes
Berries
Cherries
Citrus Fruits
Ezekial Bread (one slice)
Sweet Potato
Baked Potato
Avocado
Carrots

Remember, one one to two times per day and with a good Protein source.

It would be great to hear from those that have made it the full 21 days without cheating. I know of a few!

Day 11

Today marks 11 days from the first day after the diet plan was posted. I would love to hear your feedback.
1) How do you feel?
2) Have you lost weight?
3)Do you have more energy?
4) Have nagging aches and pains subsided?
5) Did your desire for sweets and carbs do you in?
6) How are you coping with your cravings?
7) Have you enlisted the help of some outside support?
8) How do your workouts feel?
9) How does food taste to you?
Please comment and post your answers.
I'll go first!
1)Despite the onslaught of the female cycle, and the effects of a busy January, I feel great. My skin is clearer, I wake up in the morning devoid of puffiness (in my face, feet, and hands), and feel, in a general, a sense of calmness.
2)Using the female excuse I've still managed to lose 3lbs.
3) I do have more energy and haven't felt the need to rely on any afternoon caffeine :)
4) My plantar fasciitis that has hung around since June; miraculously went away when I got rid of gluten and added the Athletic Greens supplementation. Upon cheating and having two general bad eating days this past Sunday and Monday my foot pain reappeared. After a great day yesterday and today it feels fine and I have no pain at all! (I can't believe this!!!).
5) Yes, I'm quite addicted but am doing much better. Sweets and carbs were my daily staples. 6) Whenever a I get an urge for something sweet I grab a few pecans, eat a spoonful of almond butter, or drink an Orange flavored Prograde shake. (looking forward to cracking open the chocolate).
7) Outside support: well, quite honestly it is very motivating to me to hear how each and every one of you is doing. I'm very impressed with those of you that have shared and hope that you will continue to do so.
8) My workouts started off horribly. Gosh I sure was efficient at burning those carbs... not so much with burning fats. My heart rate was elevated and I felt dizzy. To combat this I've started drinking my protein shake during my workout if I had not eaten within two hours beforehand; and this has helped tremendously.
9) Call me crazy, but I can't believe how good a nice salad tastes and how strong the flavors of each veggie are. Meat has never tasted better either! When I did cheat and have some bread with peanut butter on Sunday I was a bit taken back at how processed and salty the bread tasted. I even smelled the bread to see if it was rotten because it almost tasted as if it had rotten butter or something on it. Very strange as it was the same bread I had eaten in the past and I never noticed this before...

Thank you for reading & I'm looking forward to and appreciate your comments!

Progress and Set Backs: Willpower

Am I at 100% compliance? No. Am I beating myself up? No. Am I giving up and just saying oh this day is shot I already screwed up...? No. Is this progress for me? Yes. In any other diet endeavor I've tried it seems the urge for carbohydrates and sweets is much greater than my desire for compliance. With this came the usual binge on "insert something tasty and sweet here" to the later feeling of remorse and then saying oh what they heck I already messed up why continue? I know what to eat, at what times to eat, and what I should think, and how I should act and react based on what I choose. Knowing and doing are very different creatures. Willpower is yet another. Listening to a brief segment on NPR yesterday I heard the word "willpower" and turned up the volume. The guest had written a book on willpower and how, as a society, our willpower has dwindled due to abundance and excess that surrounds us everyday. While I was only able to listen for 10 minutes I came away with some very important insights: 1) we innately do not have willpower & 2) we can employ the use of tools to train and strengthen our willpower.
Here, I will remind you of some tools that will help us all with our compliance.
1) Remove all bad foods from your sight of vision and easy reach; if they are in your house and you know where they are you WILL find and EAT them. Hint: I located a one inch square of brownie in the freezer this evening; and yes.... I ate it! (these are the times one wishes their memory was not photographic).
2) Have a plan. If you do not shop for healthy foods, and schedule your meals for the day or week and stick to it= you will get hungry/desperate/and lose all willpower. Another example: this Tues. for me. Had my Athletic Greens at 5:30am; had a great protein and coffee shake at 7:45am; got busy at work and stayed until 2pm. The plan was to leave at 12 or 12:30 to go home and cook. I got home at 2pm and cooked my nice egg, broccoli, and green salsa concoction but wasn't satisfied... and felt stressed. Picked up Grant at school and drove promptly to Lone Star? to pick up a container of cake doughnuts!!! I ate 5 (they were small). Did I feel defeated? Yes. Did I give up on the day? No. For dinner I fixed a nice salad and called it an evening.

Today: think about ways that you are improving your health and lifestyle by making a commitment with this challenge. Learn that this is a process and that one cannot change overnight. Understand that one mistake need not lead to another. Relish in the fact that you are open to change by doing something positive for yourself. Realize that even those that appear to be strongest have kinks in their willpower.