Healthy habits!

I’d like to post about our Biggest Loser Competition (BLC). I’m sure you all want to know how we are doing. As of last Friday, Emil has lost 11lbs and I have lost 10lbs! We only started January 11...! WOW. We’re ELATED!! I'm in a Nutrition 1020 class and have been learning there but our meetings in the BLC and talking with a Registered Dietitian have been really great! Now, this some of what we're learning AND what we trying to do:

We are eating on average, 1400-1600 Calories a day. However, we are making sure that 30% or LESS of what we eat a day, is fat. Like oils, nuts, fats from meat and brown rice, etc. That is actually the suggestion amount given my Registered Dietitians as well as the USDA food guide, which is based on a 2000 Calorie diet a day. As far as "Carbs/CHO" go, we are cutting it to WHOLE wheat, WHOLE grains, fruits, and veggies. ALL of these foods contain CHO. In fact, fruits and veggies contain quite a bit and because they are Energy Dense foods they fill you up and give you large amounts of nutrients your body cannot produce on it's own. We spend one day a week doing the shopping, and the other doing the cooking/preparing meals in containers/baggies. This is also something suggested by many many programs out there, and it's working for us! This is time consuming at first, but I'm getting faster!
We are making sure we drink plenty water. How much water? Well, take a 30oz "hospital" mug. Fill that up 4 times a day, drink water before and after working out, as well as another fill up of the mug, and that's about the amount of water we drink each day.
We are active, at least 40mins-1hr a day. However, we have missed work outs some days, but mostly to let our muscles recover. FYI, your muscle DO NEED to have to rest after working out. Most of the time, we just work out a different part of our bodies the next day. Then once out muscles are warm we stretch good. 15 seconds each stretch.

Here are some tips we've been following about diet:
-Have meals and snack ready to grab if you are busy. It takes time to be healthy, so if you really want it, put the TIME in!
-If you prefer recipes, get ONLINE to find low fat/low calorie recipes, you'd be surprised how many there are!
-Most of the time, when you are "hungry" you actually need to drink water. So try this first before you eat.
-Keep it simple. A serving size of most meat is 2-3oz, which is the size of your fist. (In fact, this as a guide for MOST serving sizes, even fruits and veggies.) Veggie and fruit serving sizes are usually 1/2 Cup, or medium sized apples, oranges etc. Example: about 35 grapes is a serving size.
-WHOLE wheat and WHOLE grain. Non of this multi-grain stuff. It is different.
-Get RID of the junk in the house! If you don't have it lying around, it may help with how tempting it is to eat.
-It is cheaper to be healthy IF you plan!! Know what you are doing a week at a time, then you will use all the food you bought AND go out to eat less!
-Use butter and salad dressing sprays for flavor. Keep condiments to the serving sizes! A spoonful is about 1 tbsp. (Another thing you can do on toast if you like eggs is sunny side up eggs, use the yolk for butter and add some salt..YUM)
-Keep your meals colorful!
-Drinking juices is fine, but they have a lot of sugar in them. Don't use juice as a substitute for fruit.
-If you can help it, try not to cook ALL your veggies, the nutrients is at it's best raw.
-Smaller portions, just eating less.
-Learn how to read Nutrition Fact labels!! If it claims whole wheat or grain there is sometimes a sticker on the package to prove it. LOOK AT SERVING SIZES. If the ingredients are too long or you can't really read them, you probably shouldn't eat it!
-Eat 2-3 snacks a day, and 3 meals each day. No crash and burn stuff! If you have a food plan each day, week, or even just for dinner, and have snacks ready, this shouldn't be a problem.
-One day, document your intake and be honest. Then add up how many calories you eat a day... A soda, with fries and a hamburger is typically 1680 calories. That's how much Emil and I eat a day!! Wow.
-Go online! But be careful to ONLY trust sites with .org, .edu, or .gov. Here's a really great one I'm learning about in class http://www.mypyramid.gov/ Look and make sure the sites are UPDATED and no quick fix claims are all over. If you watch for this, you can be sure you'll get the correct information and not some bogus claims. This applies to most internet searches in general actually. :)

The best ways to get a REAL work out & do it w/o injury is:
-ONLY USE THE MUSCLE YOU ARE WORKING OUT. Do NOT try to do it all at once. If you notice yourself straining in your back, neck or other areas your not focusing, get focused and try again.
-Do 10-15 reps, focusing and flexing only the muscle you are working out. (Example: Do slower reps, starting with lower weights, flexing muscle you are trying to work out. As you get stronger only increase the weights, NOT the reps.)
-Try to ALWAYS flex your abs. during a work out. It will take strain off neck and back.
-Use the internet for excersing if you can't/don't want to leave the house. There is SO much you can do just at home useing you body weight, to work out. Example: the picture I posted, all of those positions will get you a good work out if you do them 15 times, slowly.
-When lunging, squatting, lifting weights, of working out in a class, focus on staying STRAIGHT, and SQUARE. (Example: when squatting, don't allow knees to shadow over shoes. When doing crunches, DO NOT use your neck just use your abs. If you cannot go up all the then DON'T. Don't push it, it will NOT work out your abs, only strain your neck and back. As you get stronger, you'll be able to do a full crunch!)
-Trick your body, and continue changing how and when you work out. Even walking 10mins 3 times a day will do it! It's working for me!
-Warm up before you start, and cool down when you are done. Not doing this can harm your organs, mostly your heart and cause injury in bones and muscles.
-Stretch! 15 seconds each stretch. This will assist in the break down of lactic acid created by your body from exercise, which will in turn increase weight loss and decrease sore muscles. It's best to stretch before and after a work out, but be sure your muscles are warm.

Well, that's all I got for now! The last thing I will say is that it takes time. Even tho we've lost weight quickly, it's taken hard work and a pretty extreme diet change to do it. We are in a competition and want to win! But we are still staying within the guidelines for healthy weight loss because we are still EATING. And doing it 5-6 times a day.

Until next time!