Do You Do It In the Morning Or At Night?

First week back to work after 4 years is done.  Why is it we don’t cherish what we have until it’s gone?  This recession finally hit our home this year and I am forced to go back to work.  The real estate market did us in just in the past 3 months.  We were used to having at least 5 bank-owned listings each month and now we’re lucky to see 1 every couple of months.  Last year at this time it was more like 20 a month. 

It was proving to be a wonderful way of living until President Obama decided to place a national moratorium on all the foreclosures forcing banks to go the way of short sales.  What a lovely band-aid placed on a decapitated head, Obama.  It’s not going to work long-term.  It has only forced banks to get paid by FDIC insured monies.  I’ll skip over the politics and stay on the path of the realist that I am. 

I started this week at what is looking to be a very promising opportunity and while I am excited about it, I am also missing my previous position as my household’s domestic engineer!  No, I have never referred to myself as that when I was a stay at home Mom but now that I can no longer claim that title I find it so true to it’s intended meaning. 

When I’d get home from work this week I felt like such an outsider.  The girls were on Spring Break this week and Frank is still struggling to work from home so he had all 3 kids in the house.   He did manage to make it work and did it pretty well too.  He wasn’t able to get much work done but he took care of the kids better than I thought he would.   Granted, the dishes never got done, the laundry is calling my name (as I write this) and the baby got sick because a sippy cup of milk got left out but other than that the house held up without me.  He also made dinner 4 of the 5 nights!  It was all grilled but at least I didn’t have to do it!  I renamed Frank Mr. Mom this week and the kids have adopted it too. 

Anyways, it really hurts to start a new chapter of life especially when you’re forced to do it.  The kids want me back home but I think that was just based off their boredom from being out of school.  The baby ignored me when I got home from work.  If he needed something he went straight to Frank even though I was right there!  That hurt so bad. 

I am very grateful to have a job right now in this terrible job market.  So, in hopes of finding the silver lining in all of this I started focusing on trying to work out this week to combat my disappointments of not being needed!  Only problem:  I couldn’t figure out when to work out!  Monday I got home from work and we immediately ate dinner.  Then Frank left to go work out and I had to get the kids ready for bed so I could work out.  By the time they were in bed I was completely exhausted and just wanted to curl up on the couch with a glass of wine!   But I couldn’t - those were my old ways before P90X!   I decided to not have the glass of wine but I also decided not to work out because it was so late.  My plan was to wake up early and do it before work but then I would cut my hours of sleep to only 5!   That doesn’t work for me so needless to say, this week I only worked out 4 times!  It was thankfully a recovery week of Phase 2 so next week I really need to get it together and make no excuses.

But this begs the question:  when is the best time to work out?  There is a fitness center at my work which is fantastic for the guys.  But for me… not so much.  I can’t work out for 45 min, shower and get ready and be back to work all within an hour!  Not going to happen.  I also know now that I cannot work out at night so my only option is in the morning.  But it’s a struggle just getting out of bed in the morning.  How in the world will I get the energy to want to go meet Tony downstairs for chest and back or worse when it’s plyo Tuesday?!  I have no idea!

Want to Get in Shape But Don’t Know Where to Start?

Does getting healthy and fit seem like a jigsaw puzzle that has you stumped?  Are you wanting to do something but don’t know where to start?  If you’re still reading this then you know you want to do something and that’s the very first step!  The second step is deciding if you have the commitment it will take to see it through.

As you might know already, I started P90X in October of last year and I’ll be honest, I didn’t really put the focus on it from the beginning.  My plan at the time was just to incorporate it into what I was doing already.  I was running, attending spin classes and doing a few push-ups, lunges and crunches right after cardio.  That alone made me lose 10 pounds of my goal.  I weighed about 145 after a year of breastfeeding (A Secret To Weight Loss That Men Don’t Possess) and I wanted to get back to where I was before I had kids which was 125.  I’m only 5’5 but I thought if I got down to 120 I’d have a 5 pound cushion to play with.  So my exercise routine got me down to 135 but I couldn’t seem to break that mark and it started to really annoy me.

So then, I realized I had to start making some real changes.  I started keeping a log of what I ate every day to give me an idea of where I could change things.  I also got 2 metabolic tests done at my gym that determined my resting metabolic rate and my metabolic rate after I had been running for 15 minutes to figure out where I burned fat most efficiently.  That right there was the missing piece of the puzzle that I needed to start making seeing changes.  I found out that all those days at the gym without a heart rate monitor really held me back from attaining my goal.  I wasn’t ever getting into my fat burning zone, not to mention, prior to these tests I had no idea what my fat burning zone was.  At the time (September 09) the zone I needed to be in the majority of my workout was 160-168 beats per minute.  Wow, what a difference that has made.  It turns out, I was hardly working my body to the degree I need to in order to see results.  I was also doing very light resistance work and only about 15 minutes of it.  Not good enough to see the changes I wanted.   The other key piece of these tests gives you your caloric intake for the day on days you work out and the days you don’t.   On days I don’t work out my caloric intake is 1100 calories.  On the days I do work out it’s about 1400-1500 calories depending on the workout.  This astounded me because I was eating 1800 calories.  I thought that was where my intake should be, being a female.  Wow, was I way off?!  Everyone is different.

Since I didn’t take P90X seriously at first I have no formal before and after pictures.   But here’s a picture of me in Hawaii last July.  I’m not very proud of this but hey, you have to start somewhere, right?

And here’s picture of me taken a week ago….

I also made huge changes in my diet.   I cut down my coffee from 3 or more cups to just 1 and started using sugar free liquid creamer (not powder) and 1 tiny teaspoon of Splenda (but I hear Stevia is better for you).  The other significant change I made was cutting out alcohol.  I now only drink on a Friday or Saturday night and only if we’re going out to dinner or hanging with friends, and even then I try to only have one drink.  Below is a sample menu of what I eat every day.  If you can handle this, then start doing it!  The hardest part is making yourself eat every 2 hours.  You will see the results and I’ll be here to help coach you along the way!

My Sample Menu

Breakfast (eat breakfast within an hour of waking up)
- cup of coffee (with my sugar free hazelnut CoffeeMate creamer)
- 3/4 cup oatmeal w/ 1 tsp of Splenda (Quaker Oats not the processed sugary oatmeal)
- 1/2 of a banana (I give the other half to my 2 year old)

Snack (2 hours later)
- 1 small apple with 2 TBL of organic peanut butter (I share this also with my 2 year old)

Lunch (2 hours after snack)
- a sandwich with Light whole grain bread, 2-3 fresh slices of low sodium turkey from the deli and a thin slice of pepperjack cheese,
 I use light mayonnaise on 1 piece of bread and regular on the other
- a side salad (romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes and 1 TBL of light champagne dressing (Girard’s brand)

Recovery Drink (after I work out)
- protein shake with glutamine (P90X recovery drink or Hi-Health’s brand).  the Hi-Health protein shake I use is 120 calories, 24 g protein, 1 g fat and 4 carbs.  I also will have another shake right before bed at night if I feel so hungry that I might not be able to sleep.  This is the best thing to eat if you HAVE to eat before bed.

Snack (at least an hour after snack)
- a 6oz yogurt (Light and Fit -strawberry or strawberry cheesecake) or I’ll opt for a granola bar (Nature Made Oats and Honey)
- a baby-size handful of raisins (I won’t do this if I choose to have the granola bar)

Dinner (2 hours after snack)
- grilled, baked or sauteed chicken, fish, or turkey
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- favorite veggies (my fave is the Steamers broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas and water chestnuts)

….. and of course WATER!  I drink about 90 ounces of water or more (on workout days) EVERY DAY!

Is this seems feasible for you then do it with me.  We can do this together.  As an Independent BeachBody Coach (creators of P90X, Insanity, ChaLean Extreme, etc.) I can help you reach your goals, just as I did.   I coach many others every day.  I am primarily on Facebook where I can interact with you and give tips, tricks and links.

Now, I must be going.  It’s Thursday, time for Yoga… X Style.  Come on Tony, let’s go! 

 

Low Fat, All Healthy (P90X Approved) Chicken Cacciatore

When I first started P90X I kept my low carb diet in tact.  But after the first month I wasn’t losing any weight.  I felt better and was definitely a little stronger after that first month but you couldn’t tell just by looking at me.  So I decided to start the fat shredder option of the P90X Nutrition Guide.  From that point on, I started finally seeing the results. 

You’ll notice from my other posts that I love taking good recipes and tweaking them to be acceptable foods my family and I can eat. 

So here goes another one.  I made shredded chicken tacos last week and had diced onions and peppers up to my ears AND 3 pounds of shredded chicken left over and I had no idea what to do with it all.  So I found a can of crushed tomatoes and threw in some different spices to make this wonderful Italian dinner.

Chicken Cacciatore

1 1/2 – 2lbs shredded chicken (from cage free chickens of course) 
2 TBL EVOO
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 med onion diced
3 bell peppers (green, yellow and red)
1 large can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
2-3 bay leaves
1 tsp italian seasoning (or just sprinkle in dried basil, oregano, thyme and sage)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried ground chipotle peppers (grinder)
1 pckg whole grain rotini or fusilli
pecorino romano as topping (for the kids!)

Saute onions and garlic in EVOO until soft (about 3 min).  Add peppers and continue cooking for 3 more minutes.  Prepare pasta as indicated on box.  Transfer peppers (minus the drippings) into med saucepan, add tomatoes and seasonings and simmer.  Add chicken. Once pasta is done, serve!

Eating Healthy is Cheaper Than the Alternative

Ever heard someone say that they can’t “afford” to eat healthy.  They’ll say eating healthy  is too expensive.  I hear it all the time and I even used to say it too! 

Yes, typically it is a little more expensive to buy organic foods, grass-fed meats and cheeses and free range eggs, etc.  But if you consider the things you spend money on each and every day such as your morning coffee, an energy drink, your lunch at work (especially if you go through a drive-thru), or even the happy hours that we all know turn into “happy evenings”, than spending $1 more on organic doesn’t seem to be a big problem, now does it?  This is a simple question that can be answered as easily as which of the pictures below seems like a better life for a chicken.

  

                                                                                                                                                                                  In reality you’re saving your body from chemicals we as humans should not be ingesting, long term effects of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and by preventing type 2 diabetes, not to mention, the chance of getting cancer.  Plus, the poor health of this country will eventually result in high health care costs for everyone. 

I know everyone has heard these tips I’m about to share with you a million times before but they still hold true.  If you don’t want to start exercising yet but want to do something, the tips below will still make you lose weight.  Guaranteed.
1)  Avoid the inner aisles of the grocery store.  It’s all bad!  (think about it:  alcohol, the freezer section, the sauce aisle, etc.)
2)  Stick to buying 1 ingredient items i.e, bananas, apples, fresh chicken and other meats, etc.  Avoid packages of any kind (they have a long list of ingredients you can’t pronounce)!
3)  have a cheat meal (not a cheat day) every once in a while.  It keeps your metabolism working hard!
4)  try your hardest to never eat the following:  processed soy, fried food, high fructose corn syrup and sodas

I hope this helps encourage everyone to eat cleaner.  I recently saw a comment by a friend on Facebook that said “Keep your diet CLEAN and your workouts DIRTY”!  I love it. 

Also, in case anyone is wondering, you can’t buy grass-fed meats and cheeses at a commercial grocery store.  I buy mine here:  http://healthygrassfed.2ya.com