How I Eat To Maintain My Weight – Saturday & Sunday

May 27, 2012

Saturday (5/26) - 6:30AM – up!  Hot tea.  9:30AM (hungry) - chocolate banana pancakes – 10:00AM hot tea with 1/2 & 1/2, plus a trip to REI.  2:00PM – strawberries, bar & a cup of coffee w/ 1/2 & 1/2.  4:00 – first, easy outing on the kayaks!  6:00PM (very hungry) - takeout pizza from Tomaso’s.  Evening – 1 Oberon.

Sunday (5/27) – 7:15AM - Up!  Hot tea w/ 1/2 & 1/2.  8:30-9:45AM Bike ride.  10:00AM coffee w/ 1/2 & 1/2, 2 eggs over medium, leftover fish, and a handful of bacon.  I know this sounds gross, but it tasted so good.  (Maybe I was just really hungry?)  Afterwards, I had a piece of dark chocolate.  2:00PM – snack of leftover mango salsa and organic blue corn tortilla chips.  4:30-5:15PM – bike ride with my  husband on my new bike!  6:15PM – dinner – NY Strip (grass-fed), glazed carrots, green beans with diced ham, 1 piece of dark chocolate.

One thing another one of my clients and I talked about at the gym this week was how freeing it is once you get your eating figured out.  I no longer look to food for comfort.  I view food as fuel.  I no longer eat “just to eat” or because something sounds good.  I eat when I’m hungry. The way I feel about myself now that I’m happy with my fitness and my body, FEELS much better and lasts much longer than the few minutes of pleasure that comes with a bowl of ice cream. 

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Posted by Barb Macy

How I Eat To Maintain My Weight – Thurs PM & Friday

May 25, 2012

English: Breakfast for dinnerFriday (5/25) - 5:30AM – Up with the damned cat. 5:30 – 10:30AM – tea & coffee with 1/2 & 1/2. 11:00AM – workout/lift. 11:00AM – lunch (hungry) – large salad – mixed greens, baby spinach, 1 chicken breast, red pepper, goat cheese crumbles, sliced almonds, balsamic vinaigrette, 1 cup strawberries, a piece of dark chocolate. 6:00PM – dinner – shrimp cocktail, grilled fish, mango salsa, chipotle cole slaw, guacamole & chips. . . Dessert tonight . . . Robert’s Frozen Custard! It’s Ultimate Cookie Dough night!  Evening – tequilla and diet tonic w/ lime.

One of my clients asked me this question this morning, after reading my last few posts. “How come you don’t eat breakfast? You always tell us to eat breakfast!” I guess my simple answer is that I’ve found an eating routine that works for me. How I eat might not work for everyone. Some people need to eat breakfast. Some don’t. Some people are hungry when they first get up in the morning. I’m not. And, since I stand around at the gym all morning and am not exerting myself, I just live on hot tea and coffee at the gym while I’m working. (Plus, it keeps me warm in the winter!) Like I said . . . it works for me.

I encourage my clients to eat something before they come see me. If I was going to have a long, hard workout, I’d probably eat something. On days I’m going for a long bike ride, I eat a filling breakfast. If I’m planning on going for a run, I’ll eat afterwards. I know my body, when I need to eat, and when I don’t – and I plan my meals according to my workout schedule for the day. Often, I can tell if someone has or hasn’t eaten just by the energy level during a workout. So, sometimes they go grab a shake during the workout, or they might need a bar even. Others get nauseous during workouts if they’ve eaten before they come see me.

I also think one of the contributing factors to me being able to survive on 2 meals a day, is the fact that I eat a lot of protein and fat – and my body has gotten used to the way I eat. I get most of my protein from real food. I don’t have a lot of shakes or bars, unless I’m in a hurry or am going to miss a meal. Because all of the protein and fats fill me up, I usually don’t get hungry in the mornings.

Back when I was fat(ter) and working at the hospital and preaching a low-fat, heart-healthy diet, I ate cereal for breakfast, whole wheat toast, and a lot of empty-calorie carbs that left me hungry all the time. I’d eat a big bowl of cereal for breakfast at 5:30AM, then, by 9 AM I’d be famished and need food again. I’d end up eating 3-4 fairly big meals, plus snacks – which were all heavy on carbs, and light on fat & protein. . . no wonder I was hungry all the time.

So, what works for you? Do you have a routine you follow? Do you have structure in your diet? I’m at a place now where I’ve found what works for me. I have my rules that I follow MOST of the time. Occasionally, I splurge. Most of the time, I eat well. And, I don’t have to worry about what the scales tells me!

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Posted by Barb Macy

How I Eat To Maintain My Weight – Wednesday PM & Thursday AM

May 24, 2012
Keurig.

Keurig. (Photo credit: suendercafe)

I’ve changed the way I eat.  Dramatically.  Losing weight can be easy, but the biggest challenge for most people is to NOT gain it back.  When I was in “weight loss mode”, I had a loose body weight goal, a daily plan, and I kept a food log.  Once I got to where I wanted to be, I changed my focus to my fitness and body composition.  I ditched the food log, and over the past couple of years, I’ve really dialed in my diet and now have a set of rules I follow  (most of the time!) .  What have been the biggest changes I’ve made over the past couple of years?

* We don’t eat out much.  Not that we did before, but now, we are very selective regarding our splurges.  I almost never eat out for lunch.  Although, when we go out for dinner, I splurge – I’ll eat french fries, bread, pizza, or anything I want.

* I’m not afraid of fat.  Gone are the days of eating a low-fat diet.  I buy whole fat salad dressings, I use real pasture butter or ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.  I do not buy any fake fats, low-fat or fat-free products.  Not only does it taste better, but it is real and not as processed.

* We used to eat pizza (homemade) at least once a week.  Now, I hardly ever fix homemade pizza anymore (sadly), unless it’s for the kids.

* I never eat cereal, crackers, chips, etc. .  A box of cereal, crackers, chips, etc. goes stale at our house.  The kids don’t eat much of that stuff either!  I’m also not much of an evening snacker.

* Speaking of kids, I quit eating their leftovers.  How many of you nibble off your kids plates?  Or, eat whatever is left that they don’t want?  Having a daughter that eats like a bird, I frequently would snarf down her leftover peanut butter toast.  Ugh.  That adds up!  No more!

* We used to always have ice cream in the house.  Now, it’s only a treat or we go out for it.

* In my chubbier days, I’d regularly “treat” myself to baked goodies whenever I’d stop for a latte.  Now, I hardly ever go to Starbucks or local coffee places.  Since, I’ve gotten my Keurig, I make my own coffee, which has helped me cut back on sugar and a lot of extra calories.  I can’t remember the last time I had a scone or muffin or piece of pumpkin bread.

My food from last night and today, so far:

Wednesday (5/23) - 4:00PM cup of coffee with 1/2 & 1/2. . . I had a headache and I was sleepy.  6:30PM – dinner (not terribly hungry) - salad (mixed greens, pear, walnuts, gorganzola cheese, balsamic dressing), 1 1/4 grass-fed burger, raspberries, 1 piece of dark chocolate.  Evening – 1 beer.  I ended up skipping my conditioning workout today and swapped days off with Thursday.

Thursday (5/24) – 6:15AM up . . . hot tea and one cup of coffee until about 10AM.  10:00AM – hard conditioning workout with medball throws outside (fun!), then I finished with 10 sprints the length of the back yard at the gym – approx. 50 yards or so.  11:30 – Lunch (very hungry) – 1 leftover grass-fed burger, leftover brussel sprouts w/ bacon, raspberries.  Dinner tonight will be eggs, since we’ve got a lot of kid-stuff going on and I won’t be able to cook a real meal.

What else have I had to eat this week?  Monday/Tuesday . . . Tuesday/Wednesday

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Posted by Barb Macy

How I Eat To Maintain My Weight – Monday & Tuesday AM

May 22, 2012
Tea Time

Tea Time (Photo credit: Maia C)

What do I eat to maintain my weight and fat loss?  This is a common question I get regularly from friends or clients who are trying to lose weight.  I’ll provide you with my planned meals & activity for the week starting on 5/21.

Monday (5/21) - 6:30 AM Get up!  6:30-11:ooAM hot tea & coffee with 1/2 & 1/2.  I have several cups throughout the morning and don’t get terribly hungry.  I also drink water at work, especially if I’m exercising.  8:30 & 11:30AM ride my bike to/from work (11 minutes each way).  12:00PM – lunch (very hungry) - 2 prime rib brats with pasta sauce, 1 cup fresh blackberries, 2 squares dark chocolate.  1:00-2:15PM – yoga class.  2:30PM iced coffee with a splash of 1/2 & 1/2.  6:30PM – dinner (very hungry) - 6 oz. pulled pork, 1/2 cup cole slaw, 2/3 cup broccoli & cauliflower salad, 1 cup pineapple, 2 squares dark chocolate.  Evening – no alcohol.

Tuesday (5/22) - 6:30AM Get up!  6:30-11AM hot tea and coffee with 1/2 & 1/2.  I usually only drink 1 cup of coffee, the rest is tea – probably 4 or 5 cups of tea throughout at typical morning.  11AM – I lifted for my workout.  12:00 – home for lunch (very hungry!) - leftover pulled pork, probably 6 oz., 1/2 cup broccoli & cauliflower salad, 1 cup of pineapple, 1 square 85% dark chocolate.

Here is a link to my original post about the rules I follow to maintain my weight and fat loss.  So far, it has worked for me.

On the menu for dinner tonight is chicken and asparagus.  Stay tuned . . .

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Posted by Barb Macy

“Everything: Fitness” on Pinterest

March 11, 2012

I admit that I’m intrigued by Pinterest.  I am a frequent visitor.  That being said, when I look at “Everything Fitness”, I tend to get disappointed very easily and bored very quickly.  Looking at these images confirms my theory why a lot of women & girls have eating disorders and body image issues.  And, it confirms why people fail at weight loss and fitness programs. . . For most people, their perception of “ideal” isn’t realistic or even attainable.  I’d guess that most of the photos of the “ideal” on Pinterest is of a woman with around 15% body fat.  How many women can honestly drop their body fat percentage to below 20%?  How many can get to 15%?  Is that realistic?  Is it healthy?  Not really.

Today, for example, when I clicked on it, I see a lot of the same stuff – every day:

* Women/girls want to be stick thin.

* Women like yoga, pilates, Zumba & running.

* Women still think lifting heavy weights will make you huge and build man-muscles.

* Women are obsessed with the unachievable, for the most part.

Of the first 230+ pins, I counted:

> 35 pins about running.

> 110 pins with “diet”, “weight loss”, “skinny”,  or some sort of diet or weight loss tip.

> 58 pins about a workout for various body parts – butts, tush, thigh, back, arms, abs, etc.

> 96 pins had a photo of a 1/2-naked woman exercising with a “perfect” body.

> Only 4 pins had a photo of a woman lifting heavy weights.

So, as I hit the gym this morning with my clients for Suffer on Sunday, I’ll continue to preach the gospel of lifting heavy, hard work, fitness, and clean eating.  At the same time, I WON’T allow them to bash themselves.  I will provide a positive environment for women that focuses on getting fit & strong – rather than promote being “skinny”, “thin”, or some other term that contradicts what I’m trying to do!

Here are a few pics of my buddies getting strong!  Have a nice day!

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Posted by Barb Macy

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