It’s been 6 weeks, and I feel amazing. March 25, 2014

Well, it’s been 6 weeks since I changed my eating habits. Though I always ate a lot of veggies, my portions were way too big. I wasn’t eating enough protein, either. I’d often skip meals, which is the worst thing you can do. When I got weighed yesterday, I was down 18 pounds!

So, this morning as I was getting dressed to go see a client, I decided to see if a pair of pants fit that I hadn’t worn in 3 years. I could barely get them on around Xmas, and would have looked like a total asshole if I HAD worn them. They fit! They fit perfectly! I was pretty happy about it. Since I work from home, my wardrobe is basically yoga pants and a T shirt, so I don’t wear a lot of the clothes I have. I wanted to FEEL the results of my hard work. And I’ve worked REALLY hard.

I hike a LOT. I have an app to track my walks and hikes. I’m hiking at least ten miles a week right now. Last week, my best friend Deb and I did Tom’s Thumb, which was WAY up in North Scottsdale, almost to Carefree. The first two miles were tough, but we did it. It was up all the way, then down all the way back to our cars. Some people think going down is easier, but it’s a harder workout, because you really have to stabilize yourself and make sure you don’t slide. My legs get tired going up, but they get a workout going down. There was an older man (70s!) hiking up as we were going down, and he told us there were several rattlesnakes down the hill, so I kept watch.

I made an awesome snack last week. I always have a squash or two on-hand, because I just love it. This time, I had a butternut squash. I sliced it thinly (I could have saved time by doing it with my KitchenAid, I bet!), put the slices in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of cinnamon. I had the oven preheated to about 400. I spread the slices on cookie sheets, and turned them every 15 minutes. I think it took about an hour. I wanted them to get a little crispy. It was so good! Everything caramelized, too. My boyfriend saw them, took a bite, and thought it was a sweet potato. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard him say he doesn’t like squash. Hahaha! Psyche!

A couple other tips:

Always have hard-boiled eggs on-hand. No, they don’t make your cholesterol shoot up. That’s an 80s food myth.
A handful of pistachios goes a long way!
A serving of most fruits is about a cup. Yes, you have to measure it. No, the world won’t fall apart while you take 30 seconds to measure it.
Two servings a day of fruits. 4 or 5 a day for  veggies.
Parmesan cheese (FRESH. Don’t buy that Kraft shit. Seriously.) is your best friend! A serving is 6 tablespoons, which you can put on pretty much everything. But it fresh, and grate it fresh. The world won’t fall apart during the MINUTE you are grating it, I swear.

The best exercise? Walking. February 27, 2014

While meeting with a client yesterday, we started talking about weight loss. She hadn’t seen me since just before Xmas, so she could tell I have been losing weight. Every woman seems to have this frustration! She mentioned losing 7 pounds and wanting to start exercising more. When I asked what she did, she mentioned walking, but wanted to add something else.

Guess what? Walking is one of the BEST exercises out there! And when you think about it, that’s pretty easy. Have a dog? Take it for a walk. Live near the grocery store? Grab a canvas bag and pick up a few things. I walk to a couple in my neighborhood, even if I buy only 2 things. It gives me an excuse to get off my butt!

I also downloaded apps for keeping track of my exercise. My favorite is MapMyWalk. (I also use MapMyHike.) It logs how far, inclines, calories, speed, and much more. It’s good to see that I’ve actually DONE something that day, even if I feel like I haven’t. Another great app, though I haven’t explored it much, is Noom Coach.

I HIGHLY recommend getting your body composition tested, too. (Also called BMI test for “body mass index.”) For starters, it tells you your muscle mass, water mass, fat mass, etc. It also tells you how many calories you burn just sitting there. I am at about 1600 calories burned during resting, so I am eating less than that amount a day, plus exercising. My walks usually burn about 100 calories, and my hikes from 600-800, depending on length of time & speed. Once you have this test done, you will see ON PAPER, where you need to improve.