Kick Ass & Take Names

Hi everyone!  I am finally writing a blog to share my little tricks that I used to help me get through the first hard weeks of clean eating.  For about 20 years, I knew how my bodybuilder friends ate, but I was so sure I could never do it!! I would try for a little while & give up. 

First of all, you have to get MAD  - mad at yourself & mad at that belly fat! I had added 7 lbs of fat over the summer, my shorts & pants didn’t fit & I finally got MAD!!

I hooked up with a great Holistic Dr/Nutritionist (Jeff Moser in PA) and he taught me how to change my diet.  I was sooo ready to do it, that I took what he told me & ran with it!!

Anyone on here will tell you, small portions - often, lean pro, veges, water……so here are some tricks that got me through it…

1)  Small portions was tough for me - I used to go about 5 hrs between meals & be starving! 2 huge plates of protein & veges was my norm.  Dishing up a small portion felt more like a punishment!  So I started making myself 2 plates with a small portion of protein & veges & sometimes a whole grain (br. rice).  Wrap one up, put it in the frig and tell yourself that you are going to eat it, just in 2-3 hours.  Same goes if you eat out - wrap up at least 1/2.  It worked!

2)  I had a food journal sitting open on my counter all the time - everytime I ate, I wrote down what & when I ate.  Sometimes I’d walk by it & be shocked that it had been 3 hrs since I ate!  Keep feeding the furnace every 2-3 hrs!!

3)  I love sweets!! So in the middle of winter, at night, it was tough to not think about snacks.  Luckily, I would search the net for fitness sites to keep me motivated & I happened onto BB.com.  Every night, I was on bodyspace looking at all the motivating physiques & it kept me from cheating on my diet.  I finally signed up because I wanted to ‘talk’ to people like ChickenTuna & MsFitness & tell them how much they had inspired me.  I also use my kids Gummy Vits as a ‘cheat’.  They are so good, you feel like you’re eating gummy bears - they have ‘whole food’ & multi - I give them to my kids & have a serving myself & it’s like you’re cheating!  If I have to have something sweet, I have a lowfat candy (junior mints are a fav) but first I try to squash the craving with a double mug of french vanilla tea or a big glass of water.

4)  I also started a journal that I was supposed to read everytime I had a weak moment.  It is titled - ‘This is your conscience speaking’ - I wrote in it all the reasons I wanted to eat clean.  Any compliment I would get in the gym or elsewhere got jotted down in there.  When I wanted to drink wine, but instead had a huge glass of flavored water, I wrote down how proud of myself I was.  Any random thoughts - it reminded me why I committed to eating clean & ‘brought me down from the ledge’.

5)  I HATE plain water, so I carry those propel crystals in my purse & always add them to water.  I have a huge glass at home that I constantly carry with me & sip on.

6)  Every morning I have a huge glass of water w/ a small bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch - sometimes oatmeal w/ spray butter & mineral salt on it - weird, but I pretend it’s mashed potatoes my fav food! 

7)  It seems like a pain, but make a huge batch of chicken, boiled & shredded or baked & keep it in the frig.  Make a big batch of Basmati rice & veges too.  If it’s always there ready to heat up, it’s pretty easy to stay on course.  I can eat the same meal 5 times a day w/o a problem.  The less choices I give myself the better off I am.  I still do egg whites if I’m in the mood & 1 or 2 protein shakes a day.

8)  I have 2 kids & I’m always making mac & cheese or pizza etc.  I can finally say that I really feel like those foods don’t exist for me anymore because I’m so happy with my results - my boiled chicken & veges sound pretty good to me.

I hope these little goofy tricks can help someone on their journey to the physique that they desire.  It’s tough to do it alone - there’s lots of great people on here willing to help you through it!  Just get MAD!!!