NeW YeAR, NeW YoU!

Let me start off by saying I am by no means a skinny minnie! I have however, been able to maintain a healthy body weight, and BMI (Body Mass Index) for many years now. I can see the older I am getting the harder it is. Hormones, I am sure play a big role in this. For the Past two Years I have been doing Boot Camp sessions with a personal trainer. I am part of a group with 5 women, and it has been a wonderful experience. Since it is Winter and cold I am back at the YMCA and doing some classes, custom cuts, kettle ball, and Yoga. I do miss boot camp and have learned a lot from my trainer that I would love to shAre  this with You. I haVe diet menus, Recipes,  and some key facts that you really should know if you want to lose weight. Whether you are slightly overweight, or normal weight.....YoU are what you eat. FIRST, let me tell you everything you should NOT eat......

All Flour Products basically anything white!


Fast Food and Junk Food
Trans fat/hydrogenated Foods
Anything with GLUTEN basically is not good for you.  If you can try for two weeks to stay away from it to see how you feel that would be key.  Listed below are some examples of why.

Carrots and Parsnips baked
Now you are asking what the hell am I suppose to eat? I will get to that, but let me first tell you why you should not be eating the above. Chronic health and weight problems have been associated with GLUTEN. Do you feel bloated, gassy, fatigue, brain fog, mood problems, headaches, sinus and nasal congestion, joint pain, acne, eczema,? Any of this sound familiar? Gluten causes inflammation. You may be sensitive to one of the above and never have realized it is from what you are eating. First key to success when going to the grocery store is.....shop the exterior ONLY! All fresh. No reason to pick up a can or a box. If it has something in it and you can't say it, it is bad for you! Most EVERYTHING has high fructose in it, which is sugar! When possible buy organic, at least in the meats as well. Ground turkey should be ground turkey BREAST, the rest has all added crap in it. I will tell you I did this diet for two weeks, and I lost weight and felt AWESOME! Now is it realistic?....it can be once you get use to it. I can honestly tell you a lot of these tips and tricks did stick and I have followed with them.  If you want to lose weight and start todaY....you are now on a 1,500 calorie a day diet.  Sounds like nothing right?  Well it's not that bad really.  Now what I did was substitute my milk with Vanilla soy (unsweetened), which was great.  I also used the soy cheeses available, cheddar, and different flavors.   The bottom line here is you must burn more calories then you take in. So start back on that treadmill I know you have one. You should be doing that at least 40 minutes a day. While doing your treadmill work outs add short duration, high intensity drills....which means go fast, and then regular pace intervals, you want to get your heart rate up. We also need some light weight training in there.  We tend to develop osteoarthritis and our bones get weak and frail as we age.  I have  kicked in the weights these days. And no you will not bulk up like Arnold Schwartzenager! By no means am I a Dr. or certified trainer, what I am passing along to you is what my trainer did for us, and we paid her big bucks for this information! So yours is FReE!!!

EXTRA Virgin Olive oil
Coconut Milk
Coconut Oil
Organic chicken broth
Avocado Oil
Walnut Oil
NO Canola, peanut, safflower sunflower, corn & cottonseed....WHY? because they are refined, and anything refined is no good for you.

Free Calories seasonings, salsa's or and a light amount of GoOD oils!
Drink a glass of water every time you eat.
Keep each meal no more than 300 calories. Diet sodas are bad for you, as we know but hey we have to live too, so I say on occasion we can still drink them.
RED potatoes and sweet potatoes are now the only potatoes you should eat, that is all I buy now. The Red potatoes are awesome boiled, sprayed with a little Pam, and seasoned slightly with Mrs. Dash. The sweet potatoes are awesome sliced, sprayed with Pam and sprinkle Cumin on them, bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, those are good!
NO eating after 6:00pm...tell your husband he can eat alone! You are on a serious mission to lose weight. In case you are really hungry after 6:00 you can have 150 calorie snack. I found having dark chocolate in the house really helps. It has to be over 70% coco.

OK now here are a list of foods for you to enjoy! Get creative and you will be surprised how great everything tastes.

Lean White Meat (Chicken, Turkey (skinless)
Fish, Tilapia, salmon, cod, sole
Sirloin or Lamb loin again as I mentioned above Organic if you can.
Frozen or Fresh Fruit
Avocados...oh how they are my buddy, I love them. Yes high in fat, but it is a GooD fat!
All veggies
refried beans, lentils, navy and all other beans, excellent!  I sometimes take an avocado with the beans, olive oil and some chicken breast, dash some red vinegar on and you have an awesome filling lunch!
Brown Rice/wild rice gluten free excellent
NUTS and Seeds, almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamia, flaxseed, cashews. Try some of the NUT butters too they are not bad and they have no sugar! all except peanut butter. I buy the Almond butter and put it on my toast, which I talk about below what bread to buy.
As mentioned try Soy Milk for the first couple of weeks...make sure it has no sugar as well.
BREAD I use EZEKIEL it is in the frozen section.  I like their english muffins and their sesame bread is great too.  Toasted is the best!  


EXAMPLE MEALS
BREAKFAST:  1 cup of organic frozen strawberries, 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla soy milk.  Flax  seed grounded and sprinkle on top.  Flax seed is a great source of Omega 3's.

SNACK: 150 calorie, protein based...you can take rolled turkey breast and eat a few pieces of that

LUNCH:  Ground turkey breast ( make some and have it on hand)soft CORN tortillas all the time now CORN, they are great flipped in a sprayed skillet....sprinkle a little organic cheese, salsa, tomato and that is great!

SNACK:  You can always grab a handful of almonds

DINNER:  Grilled chicken breast with your choice of seasoning, ie. garlic, pepper, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, rosemary, any of these will do. Potato and salad on the side.  Do not use any more bottle dressing, olive oil and balsamic is the best choice, or red wine vinegar.  Salad dressings are loaded with sugars.  I also want to mention a great sugar substitute is Stevia.

Make sure you are taking your calcium supplement.  I buy the chocolate chews and they taste like candy!
Grab your measuring tape and take your measurements, now watch them shrink in the next couple of WEEKS!!!