Day 7: Reccomended Fitness Programs

So I'll be honest the first week has not gone perfectly to plan. I struggled a lot more than I thought I would, but the same time I struggled about as much as you would expect for someone who didn't have a plan.

It is important to have a plan when you are taking steps to change your life. And if my "progress" or lack thereof isn't evidence of that then I don't know what is. You may be someone who is disciplined and able to make changes without one, but there is a reason why the health and fitness industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. People who don't have enough self-discipline to have a healthy lifestyle aren't going to be able to say "I am going to be healthier today", flip a switch, and magically and miraculously have self-discipline. They need a plan.

This is why if you're just starting out or if you struggle with self-discipline, having a couple of tools to help you get started and stick with a plan over a sustained amount of time, let alone a lifetime is really useful. 

I would recommend a few different programs. A great program to help you get started if you are just starting out is Jillian Michael's body revolution. This is a 90 day program that includes 15 workout DVDs, a seven-day kick-start your metabolism guide, and a meal plan. The program takes you three months to complete and the videos are broken down into three different tiers of physical ability from beginner to moderately advance so that you can work up to it over time. The meal plan is great because you can mix & match whatever food options you like from the recipes or use them as a guide to build your own. Programs like these are great because they are pretty brainless. You wake up in the morning you choose your food out of the recipe book you you put in a DVD for the day and you're done and that's great when you're starting out so you don't have to think about it too hard you just do it. The hardest part about starting to change your life is actually just getting started.

Another great tool is Bob Harper's book, "The Skinny Rules". The book includes 20 rules to help you "get skinny". These are really practical's rules to make smarter choices with your diet and he goes into detail by chapter and explains the rules one at a time. The book also includes recipes that you can use that follow his rules and give you practical meals that embody his principles.

I first got started with regular diet and exercise by watching "The Biggest Loser" and this should be no surprise give that my first two recommended tools are products made by the two trainers from the show. 

So here is my plan: The program I am going to use is Sean T's "Insanity". Now I know what you may be thinking, "Megan you're insane", but my plan is to use Sean's guide on how many calories I should be eating to fuel the exercises, and the recipes from this program. Also, for exercise, I plan to do the Insanity workout only twice a week, do strength training twice a week, and be training (interval running) for my 5K - "The Mud Factor" 2 to 3 times a week.

I really encourage you guys to come to leave me comments about this and ask me questions about how insanity is and how the whole process is going. I really do need the accountability and this will be a great place for you guys to harass me about making sure I'm actually doing the workouts, especially the Insanity workouts. This is my Insanity binder ------->

Just a quick note the food recommendations for the insanity diet plan include eating five smaller meals throughout the day. At the beginning I will be consuming 1700 cal a day breaking them up into five meals. The first and the third meal of the day will be for hundred calories and meals to four and five will be 300 cal. The breakdown of food should be 40% protein 40% carbohydrates and 20% fat. I may not stick to only the recipes listed in the insanity guide because that's not totally practical. Having a plan means planning ahead a lot of the time but when I can't I will stick to the rule and the...

***Tip of the Day***

When trying to eat healthier a good rule of thumb is to always shop the outer perimeter of the grocery store, where the fresh fruit, veggies, meat, dairy and bakery sections are. The more natural and untampered the food the better. 

I'm going to do my best to steer clear of processed grains and only eat 100% whole wheat bread, quinoa, steel cut oatmeal, and starchy low-calorie vegetables like spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes.

I'm also going to have to wake up earlier because I find it if I don't do my workout first thing in the morning usually it doesn't happen. Case in point, when I finish writing this blog I'm going to have to do the Insanity fit test and it is 9:30 at night on Sunday. This is not ideal.

SIDE NOTE: at my church, they have a food bank, which regularly has an overstock of donated baked goods. Sunday morning after church they wheel in this cart loaded with bread and stuff that they have too much of and that will go to waste if not shared with the church family, so each week, I have to face temptation. This week was especailly hard because not only were there different kinds of artisan breads and bagels to forego, but there were several shelves of pies, cakes, cookies, pastries and cinnamon rolls (my biggest weakness). I chose two loaves of whole wheat bread, and otherwise escaped temptation! Woo HOO!!

So really quickly let's talk about my food intake today, in case you are keeping track.

Breakfast: playing Greek yogurt, raspberries and blueberries, and one piece of whole wheat toast with apricot preserves

Lunch: a turkey bacon BLTA and dill pickle's (surprise, surprise)

Snack: half a PB&J and a string cheese. This is actually Sean T's "healthy" PB&J. I made mine with 1 slice of WW bread, 1 TBS almond butter, and 1 TBS apricot preserves (no sugar added).

Dinner: Sunday nights I work so I had to have Q'doba. Yes it's true I ate out! But I want to assure you that it is totally possible to eat out and still eat healthy. I had a craft 2 size Mexican gumbo with black beans, pulled pork, and pico de gallo. Notice what was missing from that: I had no rice, no sour cream, no cheese, and no tortilla strips. It's totally possible to eat out and still eat healthy, you just need to take the unhealthy elements out of the equation, watch your portion size, and only eat things that are natural, low-fat, and untampered with. I actually really like eating at Q'doba but because you can have a craft 2 size portion rather than a regular size. Most people could totally eat a full-size portion of Mexican gumbo, a full-size burrito, or any other of the full-size entrées but they feel stuffed and disgusting afterwards. The nice thing about the craft 2 size is that it's a good-sized portion that will make you feel full without making you feel disgustingly overstuffed. I especially like the fact that when you order the craft 2 you get essentially two meals in one. Typically speaking, I will eat one portion for lunch and one portion for dinner or save the second portion for lunch the next day. It's a lot healthier, and a lot less expensive. And if I'm still hungry I also bring along chopped vegetables or a piece of fruit to snack on in between.