WEEK 1 of my 15 lb weight loss project

This week was hard.  The first week is always the most difficult…your body has to get used to the changes you are putting it through.  Even though I was already used to exercise, it was the diet part that got me.  Recently, I had been giving in to the convenience of fast food because I went through a busy time in my life, but since there aren’t very many healthy alternatives available in the fast food world I was stuck with highly processed ingredients, simple carbohydrates, and saturated fats…not to mention sodium.  When you eat that kind of food for a while your body becomes addicted to it, and you start to crave it all the time.  Even though I hadn’t eaten like that my whole life, I still became chemically dependent on it because it happens fast, kind of like a drug.   Therefore, the first week of healthy eating feels a lot like a drug detox, and in a way it is.  You are cleaning out your body but your body has a great deal of cravings for the processed stuff.  Anyway, it was extremely difficult for me to stick to my diet but I did it…and I let myself go a little lax on Saturday and Sunday just so I wasn’t going cold turkey and putting my body through too much shock at once.

WEEK 1 DIET

Each weekday I would do something like this:

Meal 1: An oatmeal pancake (see my video on Healthy Recipes: Oatmeal Pancake on YouTube) which consists of 4 egg whites and 1/2 cup oats

Meal 2: Protein bar (I like Myoplex Lite bars)

Meal 3: Huge salad with grilled chicken from Panera Bread or Whole Foods with dressing on the side (limited dressing)

Meal 4: nonfat greek yogurt with 1/4 cup blueberries

Meal 5: 4 oz fish or chicken with 1/2 cup brown rice and broccoli or other veggie

Saturday and Sunday

Meal 1: bowl of cheerios with skim milk and strawberries

Meal 2: greek yogurt w/berries

Meal 3: salad from whole foods with chicken

Meal 4: Out to dinner, had a bowl of pasta and italian bread

(Both Sat and Sun looked similar to this)

Workouts

Weight training x 3 —->   One day upper body, one day lower body, one day total body

Cardio x 3 —–>  One day 30 min on elliptical, two days out in the park doing sprints and hills

Check back next week, I hope I don’t have as many cravings…we’ll see.