I am putting a diet challenge out there for those who would like to follow with me. We will start this Monday the 15th and try it for 5 days. I am so excited to start this new diet challenge with you because I am 100% confident that if you stick to the rules and pair this approach with workouts on a regular basis, you can transform your body, lose fat, and get really hot muscle tone fast and in a healthy way. I have already started to follow these basic principles so I hope that you will join me.
My 4 Diet Rules that will help you to lose fat fast and keep your muscles:
1. Aim for 5 meals a day. This means that you have to eat approximately every 3 hours. This strategy is recommended to everyone who is trying to lose fat and extra weight. If you are a skinny person who wants to gain weight in the form of lean muscle mass, then you have to eat more frequently – every 2 hours and 6 to 8 times a day.2. Eat complete lean protein and a good size portion of veggies with every meal. The right portion size of protein should be about the size of the palm of your hand if you are a woman. Guys should eat twice as much protein in one meal. The portion size of veggies should be approximately the size of two cups full of chopped vegetables. You should also include some fruit into your diet so instead of eating 2 cups of veggies with each meal, you can mix things up by eating one cup of chopped veggies and one medium size piece of fruit. I am adding chopped fruit right into my veggie salad.
The best source of complete lean protein:
Lean ground beef, Chicken, Turkey, bison, Salmon, Tuna, Egg whites, cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, tofu, soy meat, and protein supplements. We will be adding foods to this list as we go, so take this as a starting point so that you know what to shop for in the grocery stores.
Vegetables and Fruit: Spinach, Carrots, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Apples, Pineapple, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Oranges, Bananas, Berries, Peppers, green leafs, etc.
3. Include some healthy fats into your diet. You can find these healthy fats in extra virgin olive oil, avocados, flax seeds, fish oils, nuts, nut butters, etc. Don’t go over board with them – moderation is the key. You can sprinkle a spoon of flax seeds into your yogurt, or chop an avocado into your salad bowl, or eat a handful of nuts. Take this rule as a starting point and we will get into more specifics as we go.
4. No Eating the last 3-4 hours before bed. For most of us, this will be no eating past 8. Studies show that a calories is a calorie is a calorie. But most of the time, late night snacks are not always the healthiest of choices and these bad choices like that bowl of ice cream or that bag of chips will not get used up with activity so your body will convert this energy (or food) into glucose and then stored as fat. Yes, FAT!! So if you are looking to pack the pounds, like Bridget Jones, keep up that late night eating. But if you are on this challenge not eats before bed.
To add a few more tips:
- Eat when you start to feel a little bit hungry. Don’t wait until you are starving – when you are famished you run the risk of overeating and eating too quickly.
- Take your time eating and enjoy your food.
- Eat small portions. This weeks challenge will also be about portion size control, so if you are unsure about what “small portion” means for you, I will be spending this coming week going over it. When you are finished eating you should feel light and satisfied. If you feel heavy, too full or tired then you have most likely eaten too much. If you give your body too much food, it will start to store it as extra weight.
- Listen to your body. This expert may tell you this and this diet book may tell you that, but what helped me was getting back in tune with what my body was trying to tell me. I get a little call from my brain every 2-3 hours that I need to eat something because I’m a little bit hungry. If I’m not paying attention I can miss it, so it’s important to develop this basic body awareness. I believe that my body is more than capable of telling me when and how much I should be eating – the trick is learning to listen.
Until next time.....
Live Active........Live Healthy..........Live Happy
Charis
