MODIFIED Jumpstart to Skinny

I talk about fitness and health and post recipes, but rarely to I endorse a certain type of diet.  This is just a blog for fun, not one to advertise.  But, I think that if I did not share this diet with you, I would be doing a diservice! 

Remember how I posted the Skinny Rules (just general healthy living diet tips from Bob Harper?), He also has a new diet book out that Mom saw on the TODAY show and we literally purchased the day it came out. The book is meant to be a quick fix for an event, something to jumpstart you, etc. It's far too restrictive for daily life!  This is the meal plan he puts celebrity clients on for the 3 weeks prior to a runway event - and it's meant to cause quick weight loss (UP TO 20 POUNDS!!) and then you move to a more permenant diet plan.  HMMM, someone with an event coming up and still has about 8-12 pounds she wants to lose? SOUND LIKE ANYONE YOU KNOW?

I eat healthy MOST of the time.  I have lost some weight but stopped losing the past few weeks--partly because I had 3 parties and a baby shower and was moving....but I still wanted to get a bit smaller! So I thought what the heck? And 6 days in and I cannot speak highly enough about this diet.  I usually lose weight SLOWLY. very little triggers my body to lose weight (IE, 15 mile runs did nothing for me) and so far I have lost between 4-5 pounds!  That's huge for me!  I know the last 2 weeks will be slower, BUT still, if I come out of this having lost 8-10 pounds, I would consider in a big success.  I don't have 20 pounds that I want to lose so that would be extreme for me.

Here's the rules in case anyone else wants to try it!

#1 - Take control with proper proportions--40/40/20 - 40% protein/40% carbs/20% fat plus unlimited vegetables on Bob's freebie vegetable list that you want to eat. Carbs you can eat DO include whole grain pasta, oatmeal and others he includes in recipes. The protein is not all meat-based, and he lists other protein sources for this plan.

#2 - Cut back on calories: 800 calories for women & 1200 for men - plus any additional calories from Bob's recommended vegetables.

#3 - Eat no complex carbs (in whole grains) after breakfast - eat whole grains with breakfast foods.

#4 - Get rid of water weight by drinking more water - he explains reasons for this based on research and names other beverages that meet this requirement.

#5 - Get your electrolytes - ensure you have enough electrolytes - Bob recommends a mix he likes that is fairly inexpensive that you can add to water.

#6 - Do 45 minutes a day of low-intensity cardio, preferably before breakfast.

#7 - Five times a week, do 15 to 20 minutes of Bob's Jumpstart Moves. Part III of book has seven distinct routines you rotate with over 50 photos of Bob doing the moves.

#8 - Cut the salt - recommended salt amount is explained.

#9 - Take advantage of the restorative power of fish oil - preferred amount is listed and why.

#10 - Fall back on veggies - a list of recommended unlimited veggies for optimum weight loss is provided.

#11 - No fruit during week three - the fructose (fruit sugar) in fruit can slow down weight loss. That's the only food that changed for the last week.

#12 - Lay off all booze - for a number of reasons including calorie count to optimize weight loss.

#13 - An espresso a day ... or two or three - Bob lists other hot beverages also acceptable for this three week plan.


I follow this diet about 80-85% and I am not changing how I do it until it stops working.

Rules I follow perfectly: water, limited salt, no carbs after breakfast, 800 calories a day, no alcohol, veggies, etc.

I TRULY BELIEVE ITS THE ONLY WATER, LIMITED COMPLEX CARBS AND 800 CALORIES A DAY THATS WORKING!!! Before I limited my carbs a lot even at breakfast but I think this is kickstarting my metabolism and 800 calories is enough to function on but not enough to stall weightloss.

Ways I modified the diet- you aren't supposed to have artificial sweetners or creamer so most mornings I drink the espresso. Luckilly for me I have kroger brand crystal light with added caffeine and on the couple mornings I forgot my espresso, I mixed a caffeinated drink at work.  I figured it was better than a diet coke or coffee with creamer and sugar. ALSO, I sometimes am travelling or at a meeting, etc and can't eat his 40/40/20 so I eat a balance bar and a piece of fruit or veggies (those bars are 40/30/30 so I think its fine especially if you add more carbs (via fruit and veggies) which evens it out)  I've done that twice and have to do it again tonight as I will be on the road.

Oh, and he gives you recipes and some are really good, but sometimes (particularly at lunch) I find it so much easier to just cook chicken or fish and veggies and maybe fruit.

I walk most mornings before work although I have missed one morning and the walks have been cut short if I was running late.  But I try to keep exercise in my diet every day, although because I feel a bit weak on this diet, its usually only walking.

Anyways I plan on finishing this round, eating healthy for a few weeks and if I feel I need to slim up a bit for the wedding, doing a week or two of jumpstart again. 

I know its not a sustainable eating plan (thank GOD because it would be miserable to never have a dessert or piece of pizza!) but I think its great short term and highly reccomend it.  Hoping to lose 4-5 more pounds.  I highly suggest this diet book if you are looking to shed a few pounds before bikini season!

SKINNY RULES!

I read these online and thought I would share!  These are rules that skinny people follow (according to Bob Harper off the Biggest Loser) I highlighted some of the ones that I need to work on...some are easy to fix: I like berries, I just never buy them but I could easilly eat more of them!  Banishing high salt foods?  you mean like my weekly sushi fix??? eek!! I may have to research low salt sushi!

I very much agree with the cooking your meals at home plan.  I used to cook most nights but haven't these past few weeks due to moving and I feel sluggish.  I am moving to my parents house tomorrow and can't wait to start cooking again instead of picking things up for dinner or making sandwiches!

What about you? Find any good new rules?
1) Drink one large glass of water before every meal - no excuses!
2) Don't drink your calories (basically, avoid lattes and sodas and juices because they pack a lot of calories)
3) Eat protein at every meal (to keep you full)
4) Slash intake of refined flour and replace it with whole grains
5) Eat 30 to 50 grams of fiber a day to keep your digestive system moving
6) Eat apples and berries every single day (for the nutrients and fiber)
7) No carbs after lunch (because carbs are primarily for energy, so if you eat them for dinner and don't workout after dinner, they could compel your body to store fat).
8) Learn to read food labels
9) Stop guessing portion sizes
10) No more added sweeteners (because it wets your palate for sweet-tasting foods)11) Make one day a week meatless
12) No white potatoes
13) No fast food or fried food
14) Eat a real breakfast (to jump start your metabolism)
15) Eat at least 10 meals a week at home (basically, cook more)
16) Banish high-salt foods
17) Eat your vegetables!
18) Go to bed hungry (stop eating about 3 hours before you go to bed, that way two hours into sleep your body will start burning fat stores)
19) Make sure you sleep enough and that your sleep is quality, because it will really help you lose weight and give you energy for exercise.
20) Plan one splurge meal a week where you can eat whatever you want and as much as you want, but only one meal.

Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies

I am trying to eat semi low carb but tonight I was craving something sweet. I discovered this recipe online.

Not as good as a gourmet dessert, but not too bad.  I love PB though, so anything made with PB wins me over.  (FYI I love PB so much that I do not keep it in the house.  There have been weeks where I eat an entire jar bc I have a couple spoonfuls a day...NOT OK)

You will need:

• Natural PB
• Splenda
• Vanilla
• Salt
• egg

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 350
2. Mix 1 c. PB, 1 c. Splenda, 1 tsp Vanilla, 1 egg, and a dash of salt together in a bowl
3. Spoon balls of the dough onto the lightly greased cookie sheets.
4. Press a fork on top of each ball.
5. Bake for approx 10 minutes.  I just watched them to know when.

I had two tonight. They were pretty good! I did the math and for 13 cookies (which is the number of cookies I made), each cookie was 108 calories and between 2 and 2.5 net carbs! If you are craving something sweet, give it a try !!

Easy Chili

I got this recipe from my friend, Liz, several years ago and I cook it many times during the fall! Its so easy and its healthier than other types of chili. So, if you come to my house any time soon to watch a football game, there is a good chance I will be serving you this!

• 1 can large tomato sauce
• small (or large if you like a lot of tomatoes) can of diced tomatoes
• 1-2 cans of black beans
• 1 - 1.5 pounds of beed (or ground turkey to be healthier)
• taco seasoning

1. Cook the meat.
2. Put the cooked meat into a pot and add the seasoning, tomato sauce, tomatoes, and black beans.
3. Let it stir for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Serve with 2% shredded cheese and light sour cream!! (and a little on the unhealthy side....corn ships!)

It's so good.  I made this recipe last night with 1 pound of laura's lean beef (4% fat), 1.5 cans of beans, and light Ragu sauce.  The recipe can serve 5-6 people and I calculated the calories on an online recipe calculator.  317 calories for 1/5 of recipe and 264 for 1/6! (before cheese and sour cream)  Pretty healthy! The turkey numbers were actually a little higher, not much, so splurge on the Laura's lean beef and make healthy chilly for a week's worth of lunches!

This is the first of many cool fall/winter weeks where I will be making this dish :)

Healthy Living

Back to a healthy lifestyle....

This may be a boring blogpost to some, so if it is, skip over it.  But, I was uber healthy until about a week and a half ago (vacation) -- not only was I on vacation, I was on vacation during a tropical depression so I couldn't run or work out much.   Its one thing to pig out, its another thing to pig out and not work out. 

So yesterday, I had my first "back to reality' day - although it wasn't such a harsh day.  I am easing back in...worked out for 50 minutes, ate healthy but didn't eat super restricted calories.  I have about 10 more pounds to lose, eh, plus maybe 2-3 more from last week (I refuse to weigh myself until I spend a week eating healthy, it will only upset me)

As I said, this post may bore those of you with perfect figures, but for those of us who have to make an effort, I would love your tips.  I was motivated by a fellow blogger who listed her healthy goals so I decided to do that too.

Here's the plan:

(1) Running/Exercise

I love exercise so this part is not that hard for me.  I like feeling productive and burning stress.

I don't necessarilly love running, I am to the point where I like running.  I am training for a marathon/maybe just another half depending on if my messed up hips can handle runs longer than 15 miles... This weekend is a 13.1 m run.  The reason is like running is that I am not exactly the best runner. It gives me a goal, something to improve on.  I feel proud when I do run a race because I know that although I am active, I am not a great runner so it was a lot of work for me.

(2) Buy a bike

I run, BF doesn't like running. So, he bought a bike and the plan was for me to buy a bike so we would have a healthy hobby together.  I was going to buy one a month ago, then had to drop 750 dollars on new tires so I put it on hold. He bikes daily and lost about 5 pounds in a few weeks.  I am excited for the new hobby with him and the additional way to burn calories. I like running, I don't LOVE running...so something else to do will be great! 

Anyways, I get paid tomorrow and have a bike picked out!

(3) My Fitness Pal

I love my fitness pal.  I had several ppl point me in this direction and I am glad they did.  It's like weight watchers without the points-- I have the app on my phone and type in what I eat.  It helps me realize that if I eat a lot for breakfast or lunch, I will be eating a small dinner...also, I can enter my workouts in so if I have a big day---I can figure out how many calories I have to burn. Last night my dad and I went to dinner.  I knew that dinner would put me a couple hundred calories over my goal of 1000-1200 cals a day, so I entered in elliptical machine and a certain time to see how long I would have to work out that night to make it up.  LOVE it...I did the math and realized I could burn it off, so I didn't feel badly about dinner.

(4) Cut out Diet drinks

I was only drinking Spark by advocare, but accidently left it at home on vacation, SO I intend on cutting out diet drinks again this weekend and only drinking Spark.  (with a couple splurges: I always allow myself a diet drink and yummy breakfast on the day I have my long run AND if I am out and want a drink, I usually get a diet coke and vodka with a lime since its only 60 cal)  Spark is 45 cal a serving, but has caffeine and also is a slight appitite suppressant.  I have one in the morning and I am good to go, I highly suggest it!

(5) Pick better carbs

I used to eat low carb, but I can't do that and train/run. So, I eat carbs but I want to do a better job picking which ones and when I eat them.  I virtually never eat bread, but I want to cut out most processed foods ---except popcorn (I probably eat 100 cal popcorn every day at work bc it fills me up!)

(6) Allow for a few treats

I don't eat a lot of sweets but last night I was craving something sweet and had a weight watchers dessert my sister recommended. It was 90 cal and did the trick.  I decided that I am going to buy some of these frozen treats and keep it in my fridge.  I can do the occasional dessert if its only 90 cal.

I have eaten healthy for 1.5 days already and feel so much better already.  Its funny how I enjoyed our vacation food, but driving home, I was so excited to get back to a normal healthy lifestyle.

Any other tips? Good workouts or food suggestions?