To Eat or Not to Eat (My Eating Plan)

Hi everyone,

I previously outlined my workout / exercise plan and now it's time to tell you what I eat or at least try to eat on a daily basis. First off my trainer stressed the importance of eating properly to the success of this program and to my journey as a whole.

I am a carbohydrate-sugar addict. No surprises there - I've always known. I don't care much for chips or pretzels, french fries (except McDonalds)!! I could do without the salt. But when it comes to the sweets, and I mean anything from cakes, cookies, donuts, ice cream and not to mention chocolate - chocolate anything!!! That's my problem, I'm weak!! So of course I knew all of those goodies had to go if I wanted to see any success with this program. They wouldn't be gone forever, I just have to be disciplined for a while until I learn how to properly and moderately incorporate some of these foods back into my diet. Let's get real, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL that I plan to live the rest of my life without ever having chocolate or sweets again. That just wouldn't work for this girl!!

So what am I eating??

Well right now, I'm eating a lot of veggies (spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, green peppers) and lean meats (chicken, turkey, beef, fish). I'm on a low carb diet. The carbs that I do ingest are from healthy foods like sweet potatoes and broccoli. I've been trying (so hard) to stay away from sugar, flour, salt, breads, white pastas, rice, potatoes (regular), processed foods, fast foods, fruit juices, soda, alcohol (that was hard). What's left??? Suprisingly a lot. When I say "low carb"I certainly don't mean "NO CARB" because as my trainer says, we need carbs to live, function....
Above is a pic of what I pack to take to work. Morning Snack - 1 hardboiled egg; Lunch (a spinach and cucumber salad with tuna fish and EVOO, vinegar and red pepper flake dressing - which I made myself); Afternoon Snack - cucumber slices and almonds...the only thing not in the shot is my water (I have four 800ml water bottles- one in my car, one at work, one at home and one in my purse).

So here's a sample of a day in the life of the new and improving Joania:

• Wake up and workout ( one day 1hr 15 mins, the other 20mins and I just keep alternating)
• Drink Water - I usually drink about 800mls by the time I'm done the workout
• Make Breakfast - {2-3 egg omlette with chopped green peppers and onions (very little)- YUMMY (really it is) and 500ml of water.
• Off to work
• Morning Snack - {Celery sticks with Almond butter (I'm loving almond butter - never thought I would)} about 500 ml of water
• Lunch - usually a salad (baby spinach, spring mix or romaine lettuce base) with a lean meat (chicken breast, turkey, or lean beef, sometimes shrimp) and 800ml of water
• Afternoon Snack - a few almonds (raw,unsalted, unsweetened, unchocolated - *heehee*) or some cucumber slices, some cheese or even a few slices of lean meat. Just enough to get me to supper time AND about 500 ml of water
• Go to daycare to pick up son and then home
• Dinner - This is my favourite meal of the day. This is where I can pretty much have what I want as long as it's a whole food and the portion is balanced. I usually have baked or roasted chicken with steamed mixed veggies and a baked sweet potato - YUMMY and this meal is really good!! Seriously!! Sometimes I make a 3 egg omlette and load it with veggies (mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and some cheese - really good). This is where i have pasta some times but it's whole grain pasta and a very small amount!! Also 500ml of water
• Evening Snack - Usually a cup of peppermint or cinnamon tea (unsweetened of course)...
• OFF to bed to do it all over again the next day.

As you can see I try to drink at least 3.5 to 4 litres of water. I'm not sure that you have to drink all that water but for me, I use the consume that much liquid in a day (just that most of it was either juice or pop and probably only 500 ml of water)!! So I decided to just sub water (around the same amount) every where I'd normally have a drink. DRAWBACK: Frequent Bathroom Visits - I visit the bathroom more often than when I was pregnant!! Question: How come I never had to pee as much when I was drinking soda and juice???

There are so many other different options of what I can eat that were provided by my trainer Rob (http://www.laganafitness.com/). Contact him if you're interested and the best part is that the plan is individually customized for you and it's also progressive...so it will change (can't get bored !)

I hope that helps a bit and sheds a bit of light on HOW I'm losing the weight. I must say that this is very difficult to do but it's a matter of living a healthy life or not for me!! So I just try my best to stay focused and not stray....SPEAKING OF STRAYING.....please see my next post titled, Cinnamon or Cinnabon!! :)

Joania (2000 MINE!!!)