Eat Less, Move More

Don't these look stunning?  I went into this little shop, just to look and smell everything, I walked out and didn't buy a thing. It's not always that easy for me though, it's the deep, dark, rich, gooey chocolate that gets me every time.

I have had a few requests for diets lately, along with the usual, "how do I lose weight?", "what should I do?"

My answer is always the same. Eat less, move more. It's really quite simple.

You need to reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories everyday to lose one pound in a week. That really shouldn't be difficult. If you drink alcohol, drink less. If you drink soda, switch to sugar free. If you eat dessert everyday, stop.

Crackers, bread, butter, cream in your coffee, any and all snacks (packaged) are not your friend when you are trying to lose a bit of the jiggly stuff.

Then, if you start moving a little bit, that only doubles the calorie reduction! So if you start going for a walk every night after dinner AND reducing your daily calories by 500, you will lose even more weight!

Just think what will happen if you go to the gym and actually break a sweat, every single day?!

Start small, make easy changes that you can live with. Switch to no calorie sweeteners, eliminate soda and sugary drinks, use non fat milk, savor a piece of bread and not a loaf of bread, eat a portion of pasta and include vegetables and protein, instead of eating a bowl of pasta as a meal on its own. Use reduced calorie mayonnaise, or replace it with non-fat yogurt. Use low sugar ketchup. Avoid sugary jams, they have low sugar or even no sugar ones that taste fantastic.

Soon, you will really be able to enjoy the special treat you select at the bakery like the ones in my picture above, at least once in a while.   If you want to visit this bakery, it is in Santa Cruz, in the shopping center where The Cellar Door restaurant is located....

Calorie Free Chocolate

I was at the grocery store the other day and spied this in the fruit section. Now I usually stay away from packaged foods, but right about now, when I am on a pretty strict diet, just about anything looks good.

This is zero calorie chocolate sauce.

Of course, food labeling laws allow them to say this, as long as you stay within the serving size of 2 tablespoons, you are OK, but eat half the jar, and you will be consuming a lot of calories.

I cannot eat this now, but I did have a taste. I thought it was pretty darn good. They have caramel sauce and many other yummy sounding things.

It is Walden Farms Calorie Free Chocolate Dip . Once I visited their website, I saw quite a few things I might like to try, including the Whipped Peanut Butter Spread.

The main ingredients are water, there are thickeners but no bad ingredients, so if you are really watching your calories, these might be just the ticket for you.

So how good is this chocolate sauce? I made Cooper and Logan try it, they are 16 and 17 respectively. The 16 year old says "It's good if you can't have chocolate", the 17 year old says "It doesn't really taste like chocolate".

David  says "It's good in a Hershey sort of way, it definitely does not taste like a rich, dark Scharffen Berger chocolate bar"

Me? I am thinking this will be a great, guilt free way to make my oatmeal taste fabulous, spread some peanut butter on a rice cake and a tablespoon of this on top, and I will be in heaven! 

Next time I am at Cosentino's Grocery I will be looking for the whipped peanut butter,  blueberry fruit spread and their single serving items such as pancake syrup! If they don't have it there, it's my trusty friend the Internet!

Fish for Dinner?

If you want to be successful in your quest for a healthy body weight, meals take planning. I suggest finding a day or two during the week that you will always set aside to prep your foods.

In this picture I have marinated tilapia that I am wrapping in plastic wrap to place in the freezer. I realize that it only takes minute to take some fish out of the freezer then cook it, but I am just like the rest of the world, and the thought of coming home to a plain piece of tasteless white fish is not attractive. Plain, boring fish also makes it much easier to come up with a fairly lame excuse for going out, ordering take out, snacking on junk or just eating something that I really shouldn't.

I buy a large amount of fish, then marinade it all at once, in a couple different marinades, overnight. The next day I weigh it out in my portions (I weigh out  5 to 6 ounces uncooked), then wrap each portion in plastic and put them all into a freezer bag.

If I remember to take a portion out before I head off to work, that's great. If I forget, it will defrost in a very short period of time, usually as I prepare the vegetables, set the table, warm the rice, it's fast.

Tilapia, and most mild fish can easily and successfully be microwaved. Purchase a domed lid or use a plate to cover the cooking dish, never microwave plastic wrap.

I will place the fish and some water or broth in a shallow bowl and microwave it a few minutes, then place the fish on the rice and vegetables and pour the cooking liquid over as a sauce.

A lean, muscular body doesn't happen by chance, you need to make  great efforts to get it to a state it would rather not be in! Be prepared at all times.

Carbs

So just what is the deal with carbs anyway? Everyone always talks about carbs, "carbs are bad for you" "don't eat too many carbs" "never eat carbs 3 hours before bed", the list is endless.

I realize I have done the same thing yet neglect to really explain why I limit my carbs, so I will attempt to explain it now.

You will find just as many people who completely disagree with me as those who agree with me, so I suggest you consider all the facts, look at the person who is providing you with the information and make up your own mind as to which "camp" you choose to be with.

Me? I am a 49 year old woman, I have given birth to a child, I hold a full time job, I am surgery and drug free. In other words, I work my butt off and haven't had liposuction or breast implants and don't take growth hormone or steroids. I do not believe in fad diets or quick fixes. It takes a great deal of hard work and determination to get where I am. I also compete in Figure, which means I stand on stage, posing in a small "bikini" with women who are anywhere from 18 to 60 years of age. In every competition I have entered (other than my very first one), in the open division, I have placed in the top five. In every masters division, I have placed in the top four.

I have a physique that is better looking than most women half my age. You will be hard pressed to find another woman my age walking around  with a physique that looks as good as mine, unless of course, she has seen her plastic surgeon, or she is on drugs and then, well, I cannot compare myself against someone who has been surgically altered or is taking androgenic/ ergogenic drugs. We will have vastly different looks, almost as if we are from different planets.

So, I feel that I am fairly knowledgeable about this topic.

First of all, every successful diet is based on a set number of calories. It doesn't really matter what you eat, if you eat more calories than you expend, you will gain weight. If you eat less calories than you expend you will lose weight.

Now exactly WHAT you eat will determine your body composition. You can have two women who are the same height and the same weight, yet one of them is 26% body fat and one is 19%, that is determined by what they eat, not necessarily how much they eat.

Once you determine what your caloric intake should be, there is a percentage of that caloric amount allowed for each macro nutrient (protein, carbohydrate, fat). This can also vary depending on the school of thought. You may follow a balanced diet where the macro nutrients are somewhat equally divided; or you may follow a bodybuilders diet of a ratio of say, 30% carbs, 40% protein, 30% fat; there are many of them to choose from.

The ratios you follow are based on your needs physically, your goals, and what you respond best to. I would suggest a balanced approach for those starting out, then it can be manipulated later.

My year round diet was established working with a professional nutritionist. I was already very fit, with low body fat percentage but wanted to look like a Figure competitor. I had no desire to compete, I just wanted to look like I did.

It was so successful I did start competing, and haven't stopped.

So my diet calls for one serving (or 3/4 cup) of most starches at four of my meals (this is usually 4 ounces, so I prefer to weigh it all to be precise). My last two meals are less, dinner has 3 ounces and prior to bed, it is negligible.

Carbohydrates are utilized by the body as a source of energy for your muscles and brain function. On nutrition labels in the United States you will see "carbohydrates" listed; however, many other counties list the same ingredient as "energy" not "carbohydrates". The body uses what it needs for immediate use, and then has some "storage space" in the muscles. Once that storage space is full, it over flows and is then stored as fat. Numerous studies have been done on this and just about everyone agrees with the fact that excess carbs are stored as fat.

Not only does the amount of carbohydrate matter, but the type does too. Complex carbohydrates are best, simple ones should be relegated to your post training meal only. More on this later.

So to give you an example: You want to take your red Ferrari for a little spin. You need to fill up the tank with the BEST gasoline you can so the car will go long, fast and smooth. Once that tank is full of premium, if you keep pumping in gas, it will spill over the outside of the fuel opening, run down the side of the car and ruin that beautiful lacquer paint job! (too many carbs)

After your Ferrari is filled with gas, you drive it around as fast as you can and notice the car seems to be barely chugging along, why, the gas tank is almost empty! Time to add more gas! (need more carbs)

The more you drive the more gas you use. (the more active you are, the more carbs you need)

Now when it's winter time and you don't want to get the Ferrari wet, you don't drive it, so you leave it covered all nice and snug in the garage. You don't need to fill up the gas tank because it isn't going anywhere. It doesn't need any gas. (you aren't exercising or it is close to bed time, you don't need as many carbs)

carbs), just like that Ferrari ran out of gas, you need to fill up your muscles with carbs, this is the biggest carb meal of the day. It should be about double what you normally eat, to make sure your muscles are filled up with energy to allow you to continue with your daily activities.

Throughout the day, as you continue to be active, you need to keep filling up your storage tank. When you get closer to bed time, say your evening meal (dinner), you don't need as much carbohydrate, so it can and should be reduced a bit.

A lot of people take this completely wrong and say "well, I just wont eat ANY carbs!", but this is a bad decision. Your brain functions on carbs, and it is the best, most efficient fuel choice for your body. The carbs are fuel, the protein is there to build new, lean muscle. If you do not eat enough carbs, you body turns to the lean muscle mass you have worked so hard to build and it uses that for energy, it does not use fat.

Most people who drastically limit carbs start to look lean, but they look "skinny" and gaunt and their muscles are not full and round, with a nice healthy look to them. They look more like prisoners of war.

This is why some bodybuilders will "carb cycle" , they will limit carbs a couple days then overload a couple. It is not something an average fitness buff needs to do, nor do I recommend it. You get tired, grouchy, angry and unless you actually have a specific date and goal of an event that is prompting you to do this, you will end up binging.

The "carb slam" above? It is actually waxy maize starch, a plant source of carbohydrate that is supposed to be absorbed extremely fast, it bypasses the stomach and is absorbed through the intestines. The perfect bodybuilders post workout carb drink!

You can buy all sorts of expensive post workout drinks that have this ingredient, or you can buy the big tub like this, with nothing in it but some yam root, and save a lot of money by mixing it up with some protein powder and water.

Tomorrow, Good Carbs, Bad Carbs!