Daily Fit Tip: Hair?

Recovery has shell shocked me back almost 5 months. Although I am sticking to my diet, and VERY happy with the results of my reduction. I had no idea one could sit with no back support for more then five minutes and not have screaming pain down their shoulders, hmm. Moving along aside I have not put my running shoes on in over a month! It's odd how something that was my daily focus is now in the back of my closet. I know that if I push myself now I will pay for it later and truth be told a little break feels needed. I am holding onto my final goal and am giving myself into the new year to complete it: just eight pounds to go coffee and all.

Although I am not running on the daily I am receiving daily pop up reminders of the fit life. I subscribe to several email newsletters about what sponsored publications have to say on the getting in shape topic. One in particular I don't read too often although the subject line always tickles a little, and today it just made me give the, "huh?" face to my computer screen.

It read, "Daily Fit Tip: How To Tame Hair Frizz"

I was not aware until this morning's enlightenment that taming frizzy hair was on the daily fitness agenda! That is surely not going to help motivate me into getting back out there. As a woman I am surrounded by headlines every day shouting about the right skirt for your hips, how to make your eyelashes longer, how to eat carbs and not see them in your a**. I am sad to see that also being a woman who cares about her body and is aware of her own personal health and well being means being confronted with making my hair look better when I am pooling in sweat during a run. Food for thought as it were.

xoxo,

A vice is oh so nice.

As I saunter down the road to recovery it is getting hard to keep my head from filling up with ridiculous ideas. Like that I have gained everything back plus at least ten pounds, or that I will never get to run again. A little drama is what got me into this in the first place. I have in fact not gained anything back and I will hit the road in the next couple of weeks with my running shoes.

Another interesting part of playing in the recovery field, my diet seems to be justifying a little bit more then before. Case in point my best friend turned frenemy: coffee. We used to be so close, the mornings were all about us. Now the coffee beans sit on the other counter and although I can daydream I am not to venture to that side of the kitchen. Then a peculiar thing happened, I ordered a latte. And it was like heaven. Heaven in a cup. It was not even the best cup of coffee, but that is not the point. It had that aroma that sparked so many happy memories and as I carried my unoriginal cup of coffee around I felt a little bit more like me.

This is one vice I am not so sure I want excommunicated from my life. I am going to find a small place for it not in the everyday but every once in awhile. It could be a worse vice, like donuts.

Power of Protein

One of my favorite eating habits I have obtained is adding some sort of protein to just about everything I eat. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and each of my snacks have a protein component. I kept hearing, "are you getting enough protein?" and my reaction was always, "why?".

Turns out protein in your diet breaks down into amino acids and glucose which is basically sugar for the body and that sugar is energy. This is different then carbohydrate energy because protein helps your body build and maintain muscle. And building muscle is a good way to burn fat in addition to cardio. I have lost a fair amount using cardio but feel even in my 6 days a week running routine my body is sticking at its current weight and look. I want to push farther and know that doing strength training is going to be my break through. I am not talking mad muscle building, rather simple core strengthening tools that don't always require weights, just resistance bands.

So eat your protein with every meal! Here is an example of a day with protein added (protein is in green):

Breakfast: Whole Grain toast with almond butter, 2 Egg whites with sauteed spinach, and fruit

Snack: Greek Yogurt with flax seed granola and honey topped with berries

Lunch: Spinach salad with almonds, black bean and brown rice burger (no bun!), fruit

Snack: Protein Bar and walnuts (make sure your protein bar has at least 10g of protein and fiber, less then 25g of carbs, and little to no sugar.

Dinner: Baked salmon with red pepper, spinach, and asparagus satuee, quinoa cooked in low-sodium veggie stock.

Post Dinner: Don't eat and let your body rest but do enjoy green tea, it helps digestion!

Happy Protein Eating!

The Skinny On: Carbs

Carbs are not your diet's enemy! Carbohydrates turn to glucose in your body, upping your blood sugar and that is essential energy. But thanks to the one hit wonder diets such as The Zone, Atkins, and well just about anything with the sub-title, "low-carb" followed by "diet" many of us trying to get thin folks have been scared into close to carb-free corners in pantries all over. I was no different. I banned all bread, pasta, rice, and cereal from my cupboards and made my room mates keep their ration on the opposite side of the kitchen. I have since let a few of these back into my life but in moderation. When letting the bread basket back into my kitchen I took some control that I had been led to believe I didn't have before. I added some time to my grocery excursions so that I could read the ingredient list of just about everything I placed in my basket. This includes bread & pasta!

A Few Bread Tips

Number 1: No white flour! Step one is finding wheat bread, but not just lonesome wheat bread, only buy Whole Wheat.

Number 2: Venture into other flours such as spelt, buckwheat, oat, or quinoa.

Number 3: Bread is a simple food. Do your body a favor and keep that simplicity and get choosy about what you eat. Ingredient lists should not be longer then maybe 5 things.

Number 4: Ration your portions and watch your toppings. Breakfast- add a single piece of toast and skip the butter. Lunch-if it's all about the sandwich try it open faced. Dinner- Skip the bread. Get full on something with more flavor.

Number 5: As calories become precious be mindful of what your bread is adding to your meal. Stay under 120 calories per slice.

Once I was more comfortable eating bread carbs I re-introduced pasta back into a few meals. Since I am anti-white flour I looked for whole wheat pasta. I have fallen in love with rigatoni whole wheat pasta because the smaller pieces cook a little nicer and are less dense. When eating pasta make it a side dish and skip the heavy sauce. Try a handful of pasta with fresh pesto.

Last use carbohydrates to your advantage. Eat more with your breakfast and eat little to none with your dinner. You need energy in the morning and will burn up all that good blood sugar through out the day. Later in the day or at night you don't need carbs. They will turn to sugar and not get used up so skip the late night snacks. If you are going to the gym up your carbohydrates, your will need the boost.

xoxo,