Today I bring bad new and good news. The first bit: I haven't been following my plan at all. Not one bit! For example, my husband and I made fudge together over the weekend. It contained chocolate, sugar, milk, and marshmallow creme (which is by no means un-processed!). I also had pizza. I have been religiously going to the gym. That's about it. But as always, I will plunge onward!
The good bit: I read a lot of nutritional resources online. I have decided to try IF intermittent fasting to melt fat and build my muscles. Months ago, I read a book called the Alternate Day Diet (The up and down day diet) by a Dr. Johnson. It was a good read, and discussed alternating calories every other day. He recommends eating 20% to 60% of maintenance calories on the down day *depending on your goals of losing/maintaining*and 100% on the up day. His plan is based on pretty sound research (animal/human) which proves creating this type of caloric deficit promotes health in a variety of ways. For example: blood pressure stabilization.
Drawn to this idea, I stumbled upon the concept of a daily fast in order to enhance metabolism and burn fat. Daily fasts affect metabolic hormones such as insulin, glucagon, leptin, and more. Many of these hormones involve the usage/storage of substances such as sugar, and fat. If you are interested in these topics in greater detail, I recommend exploring www.leangains.com or finding a text book.
I plan to consume all daily calories between 1PM and 9PM. Otherwise I will be consuming, tea, black coffee and water. I will maintain my calories at 1500 for now, however I suspect I will need to increase this # to see positive muscle gains in the future. I will consume three vegetarian/vegan meals. I will not belabor the vegan part of my lifestyle YET, as I know it isn't smart to make a bunch of changes at once. My workout will be incorporated after the 1st or 2nd meal.
And guess what! I started today. I was perfectly content all morning, just as long as I had something cool to drink. Specifically, I drank several cans of seltzer, black coffee, and one to go -diet coke (Must quit these!). I experienced no headaches, crankiness or confusion. I was on the run with my son all morning. I broke the fast at 1 SHARP with a delicious dish of quinoa and black beans...which leads me to my NEXT topic.
How to make quinoa/black beans. I found an awesome recipe on www.allrecipes.com . I memorized it pretty much:Ingredients (in no specific order)- black beans, quinoa, onion, vegetable broth, garlic, cumin, chili powder, cilantro.
1) In a saucepan, saute garlic (3 cloves) and 1 small onion in a teaspoon of your chosen oil. I just used PAM. Cook for about two minutes on low-medium heat.
2) Add 1.5 cups of vegetable broth, and bring to a boil over medium - high heat. Add in 0.75 cup of quinoa, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
3) Remove saucepan from heat. Toss in 1 can of black beans.
4) Add 1 teaspoon cumin, 0.25 teaspoon chili power, and 2 tablspoons cilantro. Stir it up!
That's basically it! I made it a bit more interesting by serving sauteed peppers/onions, and yves vegan ground crumbles over the quinoa. I topped it off with a tablespoon of vegan sour cream.
Pretty much the possibilities are endless. This could be served with any meat, salsa, avocado etc.
This will def. be a meal time staple!
As for exercise, today I will be training my chest. I will use the treadmill for 20 minutes alternating rapid/slow intervals. I will perform at least 1) the incline/decline chest press machine for 3 sets of 10, 2) incline/decline/traditional pushups, 25 of each kind, 3) the chest press machine for 3 sets of 10 (this machine differs from the previous ones, because once the arms are extended you press the arms together to form an arc motion).
Thank you for reading! 10 DAYS to CHRISTMAS! Peace and Love!
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