10 Minutes

I only have 10 minutes to do a post, so what's more fitting that doing a post about a quick 10-minute workout when you don't have time for a full-fledged cardio session?

So, if you have 10 minutes, work off of the acronym U.C.M.L. to get a quick, total body workout:

Upper body: Do as many pushups as you can (still in correct form.  And I say, yes, "girl" pushups do count)
Cardio: mountain climbers or running at max speed for 60 seconds
Middle: ab exercises for 30 reps (crunches, sit ups, etc)
Lower: squats/squat jumps for 20-30 reps

Repeat until you've hit the 10-minute mark.  Add in lunges if you want extra lower/cardio combination.

Stop, Collaborate, and Listen.

Vanilla Ice.  Tha's right. So gangsta. That man is a genius....Okay, he probably has no idea how many times his lyrics have been used.  I actually just found a blog that related his lyrics to the perfect marketing strategy.  Well, I'm applying it to food.  And really, I'm going to veer off a bit.  It just sounded like a good title.

So I don't know about anyone else, but from what I gather, there are a lot of people out there that are mindless/bored/emotioinal eaters.  I'm totally in the "bored" spectrum.  If I'm busy all the time, I don't even think about food because it's busy,busy,busy, work work work.  But if I'm sitting with nothing to do, that's when things get crazy. I have to go through the steps....

First, I distract myself - find something, anything to do.  If I'm at work, I write this blog (jokes!....sorta) I never get bored at work **wink wink**.  If I'm at home, I clean the house (more jokes!) paint my nails, or brush my teeth.

If that alone doesn't do the trick, I think it through.  Am I just tired? Am I stressed out?  Am I emotional (always), am I just bored?

If that doesn't work, I drink water.  Now, if you're tired, drinking water can help.  It can rejuvenate you and keep you from falling asleep, say, at your desk.  It can also slightly help stress levels.  Think of it as sort of a way of counting to 10.  I once read somewhere that to know how much water you really need in a day, you divide your weight in half, and that's how many ounces you should drink....so I did, and basically trained my body to need a lot of water.  Now, I feel like I drink more water than the average person, so after a while, I start to feel like I'm drowning myself.

So, let's say that also doesn't work....You listened to your body and you really are hungry.

Smart snacks are the key.  And here are a few ideas for any craving you're having:

sweet - low fat vanilla yogurt and a sliced banana or strawberries.  I personally like the Dannon Light & Fit yogurt. I also found a recipe (which I haven't tried so don't blame me if it's not tasty) that says to warm, in the microwave, 1/2 sliced banana, a square of chocolate, 1/4 c. oats, and drizzle of honey, mash it all together and enjoy.
salty - edamame and sea salt.  One of my personal favorite snacks.
savory - water packed tuna and dijon dressing
creamy - Laughing Cow cheese on veggies
crunchy - carrots, peppers, etc with hummus or guacamole.  The Roasted Red Pepper Hummus by Sabra is my fave.  I also have a friend who absolutely loved sliced cucumber with sprinkled pepper and Splenda.  Sounds weird, but it was actually pretty tasty.
sweet/salty - mix Smart Pop popcorn, pretzels, dried cranberries, and chocolate chips for a healthy trail mix!

And MOST IMPORTANTLY.....

Plan a splurge!! You have to give in to your cravings every once in a while.  It's unrealistic to think you're never going to eat Chinese food, pizza, alfredo, or CARBS ever again.  And if you plan out your splurge, you look foward to it and are less likely to sabotage and eat unhealthy the rest of the week/month/year (however long your willpower is).

Know when to Plan a Splurge.

Okay, so just to share for a second, the first week of no-carbs went like this:
 
Day 1: I'm feelin' good! So much energy. This is a piece of cake!! (or NO-cake, actually)
Day 2: Yep, still feelin' pretty good. So many options for no-carbs. Didn't even feel the need to eat dinner. Just not hungry
Day 3: Ate a light breakfast. Feelin' good.  By lunch I was hungry; ate my salad with grilled chicken. By 3 p.m. I was STARVING. Like, "throw this no-carb thing out the window and eat a whole loaf of bread" level of starving.  Could have something to do with not eating dinner, and barely any breakfast or lunch.  BAD IDEA.  But I thought, I'll hit the gym first, and see how I feel after. And by the time I was done running, I had resolved to make grilled chicken and green beans. **Insert self pat-on-the-back here**
Day 4: Back on track....except that I'm now jones-ing for a soda like no other....

Over the weekend I took a short break from no-carbs since I went to Dallas with friends, still keeping in mind that I should eat healthy-ER.  Oh, and we went to brunch on Sunday at this amazing, trendy place called the Dream Cafe. It. Was. Delicious.  And, well, the term No-Carb should never ever be used when referring to brunch, soooooo you can guess what happened there.  Whatever, it was worth it.

See, it's my personal philosophy that no "diet" actually works unless you puposely cheat every once a while, as long as you can get right back on track.  So that was my cheat.  Now, I'm back on no-carbs.  So far it's totally worth it, because I feel so much better and don't have that gross, "heavy" feeling in my stomach from eating something that just seems to sit there and never digest. (i.e. Chinese food. You all know the feeling)

Run It Out.

Officially, it's on the record books....Valentine's Day = worst day to start the 2 weeks of no carbs.  All I wanted all day was chocolate, and, of course, since I personally loathe the day, I was trying to pretend it wasn't happening.  Then the lack of carbs started messing with my head, and I almost went crazy (okay, it was all in my mind, and only lasted about 20 minutes).  I almost gave up and said "Screw it! I'll start tomorrow!"....but isn't that the way most healthy eating or "diet" decisions go....and then you never start it.

NO, I was determined!  I've got to get those carbs cut down!!

Then, it hit me.  Go run.  Running always releases all the frustrations of the day.  Fight with boyfriend? Go run it out.  Rough day at work and couldn't scream at clients? Run it out. Frustrated at wanting to quit your healthy eating and stuff your face with carbs? RUN. IT. OUT. It's amazing. Even if you hate running, try it when you're frustrated about something. You don't have to do long distances, just enough to get those endorphins pumping.  Running is no longer done as punishment. It's FUN!....no, really.

Bye Bye, Carbs

So, I've been inspired by my friend, Shanna.  Like her, I never have believed in the whole no-carb/low-carb craze.  In fact, I subscribe more to the idea of the ALL-carb diet.  I would rather eat breads, grains, cereals than any other food group.  And after thinking about how many carbs I take in on any given day, I thought "holy hell! I need to get this level WAY down!!!" 

And then, Shanna shed new light on it.  She said the whole purpose of cutting out carbs for 2 weeks on diets--like the South Beach diet--is to get rid of the CRAVING for carbs and sugars.  If you cut out anything for 2 weeks, your cravings for that thing decline by a huge percentage.  So if I cut out carbs for 2 weeks, then gradually allow them back into my diet, I will have made a HUGE step in cutting down on my carb-o-level.

So, I'm trying it.  For 2 weeks, no breads, grain, starches.  I'm leaving in some fruit, but cutting back by a lot. Lot's of protein (who'da thunk it) and leafy greens, here I come!

One thing I'll need help on--breakfast.  I came up with menu upon menu for luch and dinner, but there's seriously not a lot of options out there for a low-carb breakfast.  Turkey bacon, check. Eggs, check. Yogurt, check.....and that's about it. So help!

It's all about the math

I'm not a huge advocator of just doing something just because someone else said it worked for them. I want to know how it worked and why.  This is the very reason I love Jillian Michaels.  I get a lot of awesome info from her site, but this is my favorite so far.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness-specialist/how-much-how-fast.aspx?xid=nl_LosingItWithJillianMichaels_20110131

For the quick version:  Jillian breaks it down into one of the most logical ways I've seen.  It's all about the math.  First, you have to know your BMR (basal metabolic rate) or the amount of calories you burn off just by doing your daily activities.  Here's the calculation:

For Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
For Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

So, in order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume.  One pound of weight equals 1.500 calories.  So, if your BMR is 1,600 and you burn, say, an extra 500 calories in a workout, that's 2100 calories.  Based on how quickly you want to lose weight, you cut down your daily calorie intake accordingly.

BUT, here's another cool fact.  So your BMR is 1,600.  If you do 2, 1-hour sessions of cardio a day (morning and night) you burn 500 calories in each workout.  The morning and night workouts can actually speed up your base metabolism to 2,000.  So you've just burned 3000 calories just by adding 1 extra workout.  As a result, you burn 1500 calories a day, resulting in a weight loss of 3.5-4 pounds a week!!

Don't kid yourself.  There's no way I have enough time to workout 2 hours every single day of the week, but I try it as often as I can.  Every little bit helps, especially when you can speed up your BMR by a little!