Battle Plan!!!

Ok.  To be successful at creating a new, healthy lifestyle, there HAS to be a change.   One needs to change from their current, less-effective plan, to the "plan that will work for me!"  But, HOW do you find this plan?!

Everyone is different.  For me, I chose to focus on what REALLY mattered to me.  In all of my failed attempts at fat loss, I found some MAJOR similarities between the different programs and diets.

1. Eat the correct amounts of the correct foods!
2. Be active, or atrophy into an untimely death.
3..........well...ok, that's pretty much it.

So, EAT RIGHT, and EXERCISE!  Easy enough!  Wait...what should I eat??  I have a treadmill, weights, and videos, but WHEN do I use them!  HOW DO I DO THIS!!!!!!!!

Hi,  I'm back from my anxiety attack and I have a PLAN of ATTACK!!  Get it????

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!

 I am going to follow the only diet that I know how to REALLY do. This diet comes through my religion (which is a topic for another time) and I find that it goes along with all of the effective weight loss programs that are out there.
The basic idea is to eat fruits and vegetables in their season, which I take to mean locally grown and not "brought to season" from some weird science. Eat meat sparingly. I take that to mean- eat more plants than meat and when you DO eat meat, eat the correct portion size.  By the way, that is appx. 3 oz.  THIS is a great little article on portion sizes for meat.  This plan also talks about grains, but for the most part, again, it goes along with what we know in science.  Grains are good for you.  I think that wheat is included in this, but my body doesn't "do" wheat very well, so I have to use this with much moderation.

Those are the DO's.  Now, for the DO NOT's.  Basically, it comes down to:
NO ALCOHOL
NO TOBACCO
NO COFFEE
NO TEA
NO HARMFUL DRUGS

In the Word of Wisdom and other scriptures, the Lord has revealed health guidelines:

1. 1. 
   Fruits, vegetables, and wholesome herbs are to be used “in the season thereof” and “with prudence and thanksgiving” (see D&C 89:10–11).
2. 2. 
   Meat and poultry have been “ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly” (D&C 89:12).
3. 3. 
   “All grain is good for the food of man” (D&C 89:16).
4. 4. 
   We should not “labor more than [we] have strength” (D&C 10:4).
5. 5. 
   We should develop proper sleeping habits so “[our] bodies and [our] minds may be invigorated” (D&C 88:124).

Ok.  I can do that. For a full explanation and copy of this scripture that my religion uses as guidelines, click HERE.

I will tell you that through watching various films such as Food, inc., Forks Over Knives, and Supersize Me, plus reading In Defense of Food,The Omnivores Dilemma, and Green Smoothie Girl Diet, I am convinced that whole, real foods diet is the only way to go.  And, yes, I try to go organic when I can. Mainly, I follow these simple rules from Michael Pollen's book Food Rules. If you have never read Michael Pollen's Food Rules, you are really missing out.  That book breaks eating down into something that we can all follow.  I agree with these "rules" for the most part, and plan to use them to enhance my fat loss.  Using this along with the "rules" that my religion teaches, I hope will prepare my path for a lighter future!

Read more about his work at www.michaelpollan.com

1. Eat food

2. Don’t eat anything your great‐grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food

3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry

4. Avoid food products that contain high‐fructose corn syrup

5. Avoid food products that have some form of sugar (or sweetener listed among) the top three ingredients

6. Avoid food products that have more than 5 ingredients

7. Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third‐grader cannot pronounce

8. Avoid food products that make health claims

9. Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low fat” or “nonfat” in their names

10. Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not

11. Avoid foods you see advertised on television

12. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle

13. Eat only foods that will eventually rot

14. Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature

15. Get out of the supermarket whenever you can

16. Buy your snacks at the farmers market

17. Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans

18. Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap

19. If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.

20. It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car

21. It’s not food if it’s called by the same name in every language (Think Big Mac, Cheetos or Pringles)

22. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves

23. Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food

24. Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs and other mammals].

25. Eat your colors

26. Drink the spinach water

27. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well

28. If you have space, buy a freezer

29. Eat like an omnivore

30. Eat well‐grown food from healthy soil

31. Eat wild foods when you can

32. Don’t overlook the oily little fishes

33. Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacterial or fungi

34. Sweeten and salt your food yourself

35. Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature

36. Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk

37. The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead

38. Favor the kinds of oils and grains that have traditionally been stone‐ground

39. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself

40. Be the kind of person who takes supplements – then skip the supplements

41. Eat more lie the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.

42. Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism

43. Have a glass of wine with dinner

44. Pay more, eat less

45. Eat less

46. Stop eating before you’re full

47. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored

48. Consult your gut

49. Eat slowly

50. The banquet is in the first bite

51. Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it

52. Buy smaller plates and glasses

53. Serve a proper portion and don’t go back for seconds

54. Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like pauper

55. Eat meals

56. Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods

57. Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does

58. Do all your eating at a table

59. Try not to eat alone

60. Treat treats as treats

61. Leave something on your plate

62. Plant a vegetable garden if you have space, a window box if you don’t

63. Cook

64. Break the rules once in a while

Now that I know WHAT I am going to eat.  I need to be held accountable, and I need help keeping track.  I have found My Fitness Pal to be a great resource!  There is a website and an app for iphone or Android that is very handy.  As far as tracking, I think that this has the largest food database over Weight Watchers, LoseIt, or Livestrong. It is very user friendly.  It tracks your food (calories, carbs, protein, sugar, etc.) your exercise, and your water consumption.  PLUS, (and this is nifty) you can add friends and follow them!  It's like Facebook for weightloss.  There is a place to keep notes, a diary, post a status, comment on someone else's status, and really be involved.  This is really great motivation.  (No, I don't make any money off of this. This is just my opinion.)  If you decide to join, add me as a friend.  My user name is:

thehealthyredhead@gmail.com

I find that if I make a menu for my meals and snacks, I save money on groceries AND I eat healthier.  SO, look for me to post my menus throughout the blog. Not sure how I am going to do that yet.

EXERCISE

Ok.  This one was tough.  I have found multiple websites that really help and stick out for me. 

These websites are pretty cool.  We have talked a lot about iFit before.  iFit lets you virtually travel the world while walking on your treadmill.  Using Google Maps Street View, you can walk the streets of Paris OR Central Park!  It's pretty cool!  PLUS, there are workout programs for all levels.  These all sync through your wireless internet from the website to the treadmill.  It will also keep track of your work outs for you.  Multiple accounts can be linked together to one account so that others can use it on the treadmill as well.  The cost is $99 per year.  Meh, not the best price, but not too bad either. See the iFit website HERE. To follow me on iFit, my username is:

thehealthyredhead

BodBot.com is cool because all you have to do is fill in your information, tell it what equipment you have at home (or mark Gym if you are going to the gym) and it will create a personalized workout program for you!  Pretty sweet, huh!   Just do what it says every day and you are done!  Plus, it gives you a chance to click on that check mark and feel the sense of accomplishment!

I am using the two of these together along with my Yoga and Zumba videos.  So, I created a chart for Jeff and I to follow while we work out.  Each week, I will see what these sites suggest, and I will create my own workout plan for the day.  This way, I can personalize it more for my busy schedule for the week.  For example, if I happen to have a busy Monday planned, then I can plan a lighter workout  or a break for that day.

My Workout Schedule Board. Nothing Fancy.  Notice that it is empty.  Yeah...I'm working on that!  BUT , I have my motivational pictures pinned all around it!  Don't judge. 

So, there is my plan of attack!  Seems doable, right?!?  Yup!

I am on my way to becoming The Healthy Redhead!