Monday Jan 11th ... We Begin Our Journey!

Hey Ladies,
I would like to say that I am looking forward to the next 8 weeks and watching the changes that will happen in all of us.

I realize that some of us are in a different time zone but we can handle that challenge. We are 14 hours ahead of US Eastern Standard Time so when I reference days they may yet to be for some of us. No worries.... we will all be "together" even with the time difference.

On Sunday be sure to prepare all of your protein for the week... cook it, cut it into strips and place it in a container for use when needed.... 6 times a day to be exact. Set your mind to eating every 2.5 to 3 hours... eggs or egg whites for some of us:-) for breakfast, and protein with broccoli, spinach or cauliflower for the remaining 5 meals. We are going to make it 7 days to carb deplete.

Be sure to take in 3 to 4 oz of protein with 1 cup of vegetables at each meal. A playing cards worth of protein... Lean steak, skinless chicken or fish.

Drink plenty of water since eating the correct amount of protein will possibly cause you to bind up... but the vegetables certainly help with keeping things moving along.

Take a daily vitamin either Centrum Chewable or Liquid. Exercise daily ~ get out to walk for 20 to 30 minutes or you go to the gym to take a class, lift weights or jump on a machine.

Lets focus on being prepared to succeed! We must eat on the clock. Meal spacing is very important. Every 2.5 to 3 hours you should be eating. If you find you are not hungry at the alloted time... then you have eaten too much at the meal prior. You are not metabolizing the food since their is too much so cut back on your portion size until you can go about 2.5 hours and you begin to get hungry. On the other hand if you are starving at the 2.5 hour mark... you metabolism is running high and you need to put in a bit more protein to get you to the 2.5 hour mark... and if you are just starting to get hungry and you look at your watch and it has been 2.5 to 3 hours since your last mini-meal... then you are right on track. This is how you tailor your intake to your metabolism. It takes about 2 weeks for your body to not feel hungry. The reason you will "feel" hungry is because your stomach is stretched to the 3 larger meals you consume a day. As you eat smaller mini-meals 6 times a day your stomach will feel less than full until it begins to shrink down around the new portion sizes. In a few weeks when you put in a smaller meal your stomach will feel full and your brain will get the proper feedback that says, "Hey we are full"!. So be faithful and understand that the process takes about 14 day and you may be cranky while this adjustment is being achieved, but you will be amazed at how much more energy you will have once you start fueling your body at regular intervals.

Say you plan on going out for a few hours during the day... be sure to take your LUNCH BOX with you....protein in a rubbermaid container so you can have it at "intake" time. Grab a Burger King side salad, put your protein on top and be sure to have a small bottle of balsamic vinegar in your lunch box to use in order to avoid the cream based dressings they offer. That is what I call... Lunch on the go!!

If you find other strategies that work for you ... please share them with all of us.
It surely helps to have lots of ways to win!

Be sure to grab a .99 cent notebook and on Monday begin by journaling your starting weight and all that you eat for your 6 meals... be accountable and be proud that you are doing this for YOU! We will be celebrating together on March 11th:-)

Continue to weight each day and stay true to writing down your intake. It will teach you just what your body does chemically with the fuel you put in it...

Let me know that you are all "weighed in" on Monday by posting on the blog...

Have a great weekend and I will see you on Monday!!

Always,
TT