Day 13 – Bikini Body Boot Camp

Nothing Tastes as Good, as Being Slim Feels!

When I finally settled in to my "happy, healthy, feel good size 2, about 4 years ago, I came up with the mantra, "nothing tastes as good as being slim feels!" How true that is for me. No matter how good something tastes and how much pleasure I derive from eating it, it does not just feel as good as a light, lean, vibrant body. Now don't get me wrong, I love food and eating well is one of my greatest pleasures in life and I am definitely not a proponent of deprivation. I am a proponent of mindful eating. By mindful eating I mean making careful, conscious choices and listening to my body and the feedback it gives me while I'm eating and after I finish eating something. I use something I call the 85/15 rule of eating: 85% of the time I eat really well and 15% of the time I eat whatever I want.

After experimenting for many years I found what works best for me is to fuel my body with lots of lean protein (chicken, beef, fish, seafood), tons of vegetables of which I eat about 70% raw, nuts, fruit, coconut and almond milk, whey protein, pea protein and ground flax. I limit my dairy to small amounts of goat cheese and the occasional ice cream – by the way, when I eat ice cream, I eat a small amount and I only eat Haagen-Dazs. It's higher in fat but it only has real, natural ingredients in it because another principle I follow is to only put real food (stuff you could grow, raise, hunt and create in your own kitchen) in my mouth.
Basically I follow my own version of the Paleo Diet. This book has some very interesting concepts that make sense to me. If you want to know more check out the book The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, PhD. (see below)

6:30 am – coffee, water, banana while I meditate, read, write and do EFT
9:45 am – "Fit Fast" walk/sprints at track – 8 cycles (20 min.); Fit to the Core
10:45 am – Whey protein mixed in water; 4 baby carrots
1:00 pm – Large salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, sliced steak w/olive oil and balsamic
3:30 pm – handful of cashews, peach
6:00 pm – ½ cup vanilla ice cream
8:00 pm – large salad of mixed baby greens, tomatoes, avocado, cucumbers, onions, goat cheese and steak w/mandarin orange dressing
10:30 pm – bed

Morning Super Shake
1 scoop of whey protein or 2 T of pea protein
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk or almond milk
2 T ground flax seeds
½ cup frozen berries
¼ t stevia powder
Here's a link to order the protein powders online: http://www.loveuselflean.com/

Day 12 - Bikini Body Boot Camp

If you are exercising correctly your workout should leave you feeling like you worked really hard but you feel really good. After a good workout you should feel calm and invigorated. If you feel worn out, beat-up or like you need to lie down and take a nap, you are either working out too long or too hard, or both, for your fitness level. This is one of the reasons that I love "Fit Fast" exertion and recovery cycles. You can tailor them to your fitness level, whether you are an elite athlete or a total beginner and every level gets an awesome workout that leaves you feeling great and burning fat for 24 hours after you stop.

Here's how you do it. Warm-up for 3 to 5 minutes by walking and then start your first exertion cycle for 30 to 60 seconds. You need to push yourself hard enough that when you stop and come into recovery you are breathing hard. Then walk till your heart rate and your breath recover. How long you walk will depend on your fitness level. Those that are fit should walk for about 60 seconds and everyone else needs to listen to their body to know when they are recovered (you can use a heart rate monitor). By the time you end your third exertion cycle, you should be gasping for breath when you come into recovery. If you are very fit you'll want to sprint during your exertions, if you are a beginner start by walking as fast as you can pumping your arms hard or you can jog slowly.

Do 3 to 8 cycles depending on your fitness level and how you feel. It is important that you don't go over 20 minutes during your workout, so you don't cross over into the fat burning range. With this type of exercise you burn carbs during the workout and fat after you stop (for up to 24 hours!) With cardio/aerobic type exercise you burn fat during the workout but there is very little after burn effect and you are training your body to store fat for your next workout! That's why most people lose weight initially by doing aerobic/cardio exercise and then they plateau and stop losing or start gaining some of it back.

I love working out this way! I've been doing it for the last four years and I've gone from a size 8 to a size 2. I feel fabulous! - and it's so quick it's easy to fit in, even on busy days!

*****Make sure you check with your doctor before starting any new exercise routine!

6:30 am – water, coffee and banana while I meditate, do EFT and write

9:00 am – Teach Total Body Strength Circuits class (1 hour)

11:00 am – few slices of chicken with baby carrots

1:30 pm – large salad of baby greens, cilantro, avocado, tomatoes, onions and chicken w/olive oil and lime juice

4:00 pm - ½ cup strawberry Hagendaz ice cream

7:30 pm – grilled steak, stir fried veggies, salad of mixed greens w/mandarin orange dressing

9:30 pm – glass of coconut milk, bowl of fresh cherries

10:30 pm - bed

Day 11 – Bikini Body Boot Camp

I Never Say I Wish I Hadn't Done That After I Workout!

7/8/10 - I can honestly say that I have never said "I wish I hadn't done that after I finish with a workout – if that where only true for some of the other things I do! What a lot of you might not know is that I have another job, other than being a Personal Empowerment and Wellness Coach and that is working as a Graphic Designer. Unlike my Coaching, this job entails me spending lots of time sitting in front of a computer.

Today was another busy day for me. I had a whole lot of work that had to be done and it had to be done now! I didn't get out for my workout first thing in the morning like I like to. As the day turned into afternoon I was feeling more and more stressed and tired and there was still a large list of things that I had to take care of. A part of me really wanted to lie down and take a nap but my commitment to workout 5 days per week was nagging at me. I also knew that if I forced myself to put on my sneakers and go outside for a "Fit Fast" run, I would feel a whole lot better afterwards. So I made a deal with myself that I would go out and walk the mile loop that I have and just do two exertion/recovery cycles to clear the cobwebs out of my head and get the blood flowing in my body.

The first cycle was really hard, my legs felt like lead but after the second cycle, I felt a bit better, in fact I felt so much better that I decided to do 4 more cycles on the flat and 3 hill sprints. When I was done I was pouring sweat, my energy level was soaring and I felt like a new women! After taking a shower I was easily able to finish off the rest of my computer work. "Fit Fast" cycles are the best stress releaser, energy increaser and fat burner that I've ever found! I highly recommend you try them out for yourself.

Bonnie

 

7:30 am – Water, coffee and banana while I meditate, do EFT and write

9:00 am – Jump Start Juice; Pea protein shake w/flax, coconut milk and blueberries

12:00 pm – Grilled lamp patty with onions; salad of baby spinach and greens, tomato, avocado

3:30 pm – "Fit Fast" exertion and recovery cycles – 6 cycles on flat, 3 hill sprints; stretch

5:00 pm – Whey protein shake w/almond milk and raspberries

8:00 pm – Chicken and yellow squash baked with pesto tomato sauce; salad of baby spinach and mixed greens, grape tomatoes w/olive oil and lemon

9:00 pm – slice of watermelon

10:30 pm – bed

 

Sleep Better Tip – Want to fall asleep faster at night? Try a slice of watermelon. Watermelon is high on the glycemic index and in an Australian study people who consumed this treat before bedtime fell asleep twice as fast as those who ate slower-digesting treats. Plus, this tasty fruit increases the production of tryptophan, an amino acid that boosts levels of the sleep-inducing hormone serotonin.

How to Measure If You Have Visceral Fat

Are you an apple or a pear? When you look at yourself in a mirror (both front view and side view) where do you see most of your fat? If you carry your fat in the belly region and have thin arms and legs, then you have visceral fat deposits. If, on the other hand, you seem to distribute your fat all over your body or look thinner from the waist up with most of your weight from the hips down, then you have subcutaneous fat.

To get a quick idea of where you stand, place a measuring tape just above your hip bones. Men should take action if their circumference is over 40 inches; women, over 35 inches. The most accurate way to measure for visceral fat (outside of having it done medically) is to take your waist measurement (at the smallest point) and divide it by your hip measurement. The result should be less than .85 for women, .91 for men.

Day 10 – Bikini Body Boot Camp

A Day of Detoxing

7/7/10 – After having a three day Holiday Weekend fling, I've decided today is a good day to do a bit of detoxing and let my body rest and recover from the abuse that I gave it in the form of sweets, wine and starchy carbs over the last few days. Don't get me wrong, I didn't go totally overboard but my body is use to me eating very cleanly – no processed foods, very little sugar, grains or starchy carbs and lots and lots of raw fresh veggies and fruit. So today I am going to treat myself really well and eat only veggies, fruit, nuts and some pea protein and drink lots of water and green tea. All of these things are very easily digestible and will allow my body to flush out remains of the garbage I ate over the weekend. Remember, food is fuel, so if you want to look and feel your best by very mindful of the fuel that you are putting into "the vehicle" that takes you through this journey of life!

7:00 am – 2 large glasses of water, coffee and banana while I do EFT, meditate and write

8:00 am – Jump Start Juice (fresh veggie juice); Pea protein shake w/almond milk, flax and blueberries

9:00 am – teach BBB Camp class (1 hour)

11:00 am – handful of cashews

12:30 pm – salad of baby greens w/olive oil and balsamic; red and green sauce over smashed cauliflower (see recipe below); iced green tea

3:30 pm – Pea protein shake w/coconut milk and strawberries

5:15 pm – Jump on Trampoline (10 minutes) to get the blood and lymph flowing and clear my head after spending the afternoon working on the computer.

6:30 pm – red and green sauce w/carrots and celery for dipping

8:00 pm – fresh blueberries and strawberries w/protein cream made from ¼ coconut milk, ¼ t stevia, ¼ t cinnamon and ¾ scoop whey protein

10:30 pm – bed

I drank water with lemon all day long (around a gallon)

Red and Green Sauce

14 oz crushed tomatoes

15 oz chick peas

1 small bunch fresh basil

2 large cloves of crushed garlic

¼ cup lemon juice

1 T olive oil

1 T balsamic vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Serve over "Smashed Cauliflower" (steam a bag of frozen cauliflower until tender, add a little olive oil and salt and pepper, then smash until crumbly with a potato masher)