Who wants to be overweight in there early 20’s? This is supposed to be the most exciting part of your adulthood. If you’re like me, you might have college courses to attend to, college debt to pay, a full or part time job, house mortgage or apartment rent, and all typical bills to pay while raising a family. How could any of us possibly have time to make changes for a healthier lifestyle?
The key for your new adventure is to walk daily if you do not have access to a gym or time for a regular workout routine. Typically walking 30 minutes a day would best benefit you in the long run. Another key advice to utilize is giving up sugar, fried foods and pop. Don’t panic already! Once a week, if you need it, have a meal that satisfies those craving needs, but limit it to once a week.
Most questions I have been receiving are about my diet plans. I didn’t follow a particular diet plan. Overall it was mostly common sense foods such as raw vegetables, healthy fruit, whole grains, lean source protein and overall cut out junk food, pop and alcohol.
Doesn’t everyone get excited about exercise? For most people, the answer is no way! You probably think that you have no time to exercise with your busy schedule. However, keep in mind that the key between exercise, weight loss and food is calorie counting. I know, I don’t like counting calories either! If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight quicker. Make it a habit to look at the nutritional facts of food you eat and fit some type of exercise in your daily schedule.
Some people financially cannot afford a gym membership. If this refers to you, push walking as your primary exercise goal, or jogging. Also, if it is possible try looking into gyms in your area that offer free trials. This little step could boost your weight loss goal. Another suggestion is helping with your children’s sports. Most leagues are always looking for extra help; just being on your feet instead of sitting in your lawn chair could benefit you. Also, look into a sport you enjoy playing. Pick up a game of basketball at your local gym once a week or a work out class.
Anyone can just go out and start jogging right? Not me! It took me four weeks to jog around my block without walking which is only a 4 minute jog. However, now that it’s been two years, I can finally jog for 20 minutes without stopping. For some it might not sound like much, but for me who has had three knee surgeries, it’s an accomplishment! Just remember, jogging burns two times more calories than walking. Even if you start out walking for two minutes and jogging for two minutes, it’s a start. You eventually will work your way into more jogging time.
Let’s review all of this information before I get into my meal plans. First you need to make a meal plan and stick with it. Understand the foods you need to avoid and the ones you should intake. Next, call around to your local gyms and ask about free trials. In my area we have two gyms, a snap Fitness and Curves. Both offer some type of free trial. I tried Curves first, and felt I needed more so than I tried the Snap Fitness trail and fell in love! Take advantage of the free gym trials in your area! Then you need to figure out what your calorie intake should be so you know how much exercise you need. I hope this has helped you in some way shape or form. I love trying to make a difference in everyone else life!
You need to consist of at least three meals a day, if you can add two small snacks between big meals that would be great! Snacks should be eaten one hour after breakfast and lunch. Also avoid protein drinks such as muscle milk if you’re trying to lose weight. My first 7 days I needed to consist of 1,000 calories. Days 8-23 I needed to consist of 1300 calories. Thereafter for 2 weeks I needed to consist of 1500 calories. Then start from the beginning again to keep your body from going into starvation mode.
My Adventure
I went and bought two 15 lb. dumbbells, an exercise ball and a jump rope. I also bought the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 DVD. For my starting work out routine I did 10 dumbbell curls per arm while standing up. Then I did 10 up right rows with my dumbbells. After that I laid on the ground and did 20 bicycles, 20 crunches while touching my knees with my hand, 20 side crunches touching the outside of my ankles then 20 normal crunches. You can decrease or increase this due to your stamina. Still lying down, put your exercise ball between your ankles and stretch your legs fully out. Then, squeezing the exercise ball with your feet and keeping your legs straight, try to lift the ball off the ground and crunch forward to meet the ball half way and touch it with your hands. If you can, do 10. After that, I did 20 squats and 50 jump ropes. This should only take you 20 minutes maximum depending on your reps. After 1 week, increase your reps. There were some days I wanted to mix my work out routine up, so I did the Ripped In 30 DVD.
As for my diet, I tried to do a variety of different styles. I wanted to keep it interesting and not follow one particular diet. I tried slim fast and VI Shake for my protein to get on a routine of cutting some access food out. After that, I cut out the shakes and substituted them with an all-natural fruit smoothie made with fruits and lactose free milk due to cost and I had the free time in the morning. Another food item I stocked up on were Special K cereal, snack bars, granola bars and oatmeal. I really enjoy their variety and the flavor. This is great for days I have no time to make a healthy snack myself. If you’re going to the store, pick up eggs, ground turkey, ground chicken, ham, pork chops, shrimp, lettuce, string cheese, kidney beans, carrots, celery, peanut butter, apples, strawberries and milk “lactose free for me”. The reason I have switched to lactose free is because of the bloating in the belly area. Dairy milk made my stomach bloat and since I have switched to lactose free products my stomach has been slimmer, but you won’t notice it for two weeks. I also made sure I was up by 8 a.m. every morning due to a study I read in college. People who get up earlier are most likely to have a more productive day than those who sleep in. At night, I am in bed by 10 p.m. to get my body the rest it needs.
For your first two weeks, avoid all starchy and sugary foods along with pop, alcohol and whole grains. Stick with water, coffee and tea. A detox tea to start with is great to get all the bad toxic waste products out.
Foods to avoid in more detail:
• Alcohol
• All canned fruit and vegetables
• All jam
• All Potatoes
• Avoid a lot of dairy product use in one day such as milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream and eggs.
• Avoid refined grains such as white pasta, rice, bread, crackers and some breakfast cereals.
• Bananas
• Beets
• Butter
• Cookies
• Corn
• Fried foods are high in trans-fat, or partially hydrogenated oil.
• GMO Soy products
• Honey products
• Ice cream
• Kiwi
• Make sure to check your juice calories! Regular Cranberry juice is 130 calories; you can get diet cranberry juice for only 5 calories!
• Mayonnaise
• No processed meats such as sausage, hot dogs, bacon, pepperoni, and other products that are smoked, preserved or salted.
• Orange juice
• Pineapple
• Raisins
• Rice cakes
• Soda of any kind
• Sour Cream
• Watermelon
Foods to STOCK up on!
• Almonds
• Anchovies
• Apples
• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Broccoli
• Brown Rice
• Cabbage
• Canola oil
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Cherries
• Crab
• Cranberries
• Cucumbers
• eggs
• Extra
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fat Free Cottage cheese
• Feta cheese
• Greek yogurt
• Grilled Chicken
• Hummus
• Kale
• Lemon
• Lettuce
• Light vinaigrette
• Low fat shredded cheese
• Mozzarella string cheese
• Mushrooms
• Olives
• Onions
• Peaches
• Peanut butter
• Pears
• Peppers
• Pickles
• Plums
• Ricotta cheese
• Shrimp
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Tuna
• Walnuts
• Zucchini
Monday – Day 1
• 8 oz. protein shake with skim milk (slim fast) 200 calories
• “you can substitute this with an egg and cottage cheese”
• Greek Yogurt for a snack 60 calories
• 8 Shrimp with 1 cup of Brown Rice and mushrooms 260 calories
• 10 blueberries and 5 carrots for a snack
• Chicken and lime soup 260 calories
• Mozzarella string cheese and salted crackers 200 calories
• About 1000 calories
Tuesday – Day 2
• Whole grain muffin with an egg and slice of pepper jack cheese 190 calories
• “you can substitute for Special K cereal or oatmeal”
• strawberries for a snack
• Spicy shrimp salad with croutons, little cheese and light vinaigrette dressing 260 calories
• Celery and peanut butter for a snack 190 calories
• Creamy chicken on pitta bread 260 calories
• An apple for a snack
• About 1000 calories
Wednesday – Day 3
• 8 oz. protein shake with skim milk (slim fast) 200 calories
• “You can substitute this for a special k granola bar”
• Fat free Cottage cheese with an orange 90 calories
• Grilled chicken salad with apple sauce 245 calories
• Greek Yogurt 60 calories
• Ham rollup, string cheese with celery and carrots 240 calories
• Hummus and crackers
Thursday – Day 4
• Breakfast Granola Bar with Yogurt 160 calories
• blueberries
• Turkey sandwich with cottage cheese 200 calories
• Strawberries
• Italian Chicken and Garlic Bread 260 calories
• Celery and peanut butter 190 calories
• About 1000 calories
Friday – Day 5
• 8 oz. protein shake with skim milk (slim fast) 200 calories
• “Special K substitute”
• Cucumbers
• Taco salad with ground turkey, onions, tortilla chips, tomatoes and cheese 260 calories
• Cantaloupe
• Spaghetti with whole wheat noodles and ground turkey 260 calories
• Popcorn 180 calories
• About 1000 calories
Saturday- Day 6
• Spinach and Swiss Omelet 160 calories
• apple with peanut butter 190 calories
• English muffin pizza with grilled chicken salad 260 calories
• Cottage cheese and grapes
• Grilled chicken nachos with tomatoes, little cheese and salsa 260 calories
• Humus and carrots
• About 1000 calories
Sunday – Day 7
• 8 oz. protein shake with skim milk (slim fast) 200 calories
• “substitute Special K”
• Greek Yogurt 60 calories
• Chicken Pasta Primavera 260 calories
• Cucumbers
• Barbecue chicken, steamed broccoli and Cole slaw 260 calories
• Greek ice cream 90 calories
• About 1000 calories
Megan Carroll : Megancarroll17@hotmail.com
