So my current “fitness” program includes three main goals to achieve the dream of leanness.
1. Do the Focus T-25 workouts to the best of my ability.
2. Drink Shakeology everyday to see if it helps with cravings and digestion.
3. Eat clean.
I have already talked a little bit about the workouts, so on this post I will focus on the nutrition part of my program. I call it my program because I am doing what I think will work best for me. The first part of the nutrition plan is drinking Shakeology everyday. Shakeology is billed as the healthiest meal of the day. It is a protein shake made up of many nutrient dense super foods. I add frozen fruit to mine, like blueberries or strawberries. It is supposed to cleanse the body from toxins and help promote weight loss, curb cravings, increase energy, and improve digestion. So, I will put it to the test and see how it works for me. For more info on this product visit http://myshakeology.com/esuite/home/johnmccann
The second part of the nutrition plan is to eat clean, which means trying to avoid processed foods and junk food and eat veggies like it is my job. My plan is basically a high protein, high veggie, low starch diet. But it is not really a diet, it is a lifestyle. And I wouldn’t call it a low carb diet either because veggies are carbs. When I refer to processed foods, I mean foods that have a huge list of ingredients and contain artificial colors and flavors, dyes, chemicals, words ending in “ose”, high frutcose corn syrup, and words I can not pronounce. So most foods that come in a box or fancy package is off limits. In addition to limiting processed foods, I also want to eliminate starches and sweets such as candy, chips, pretzels, potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, cereal, cakes and other sweets. This will be hard for me, as anyone who knows me knows how much I love sugar! So what will I be eating? My goal is to eat a diet that consists mainly of the following: lean meat such as seafood, chicken, turkey, and beef (although some fatty meats will be okay once in a while like pork, bacon, and steak), eggs, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, veggies, fruit (mostly berries and citrus), nuts and seeds, raw cacao, green tea, and coconut oil/olive oil. Thats right, no grains if possible and no dairy other than the greek yogurt and cottage cheese. I will likely avoid high sugar fruits like apples, bananas, and grapes as well. Even though these fruits have good stuff in them, they also have lots of sugar, which is something I am trying to avoid like the plague for this program aka the experiment. I have also gone to drinking coffee black now, which was a HUGE change for me as I do like a lot of cream and sugar in my coffee. I also drink a ton of green tea, like 8-10 packets per day. I am kind of addicted to it.
So how am I doing on the program so far? Well it has been two weeks and I have been doing great with items 1 and 2, but 3 has been lacking, particularly on the weekends. I have drank shakeology everyday, and I love it and so far I feel great after drinking it. I have done mostly okay with the meals and snacks during the week, but I have slipped up a few times with the goodies on the weekend. For some reason I can not stay clean on the weekends, why is that? For example on Friday night I went off the deep end and ate a ton of candy, like as soon as I walked in the door. And today, went to a birthday party with the kids and ate a cupcake. Just could not resist the cupcake, although I did resist the pizza. And then this evening, I ate a bunch of candy again. Its like I almost blackout and don’t even realize what I am doing. It is a daily struggle resisting the candy! So for the two weeks I have been on this program, I have eaten cleanly for 10 of the 14 days. Not bad but I want to do better. My goal is the 90/10 rule, eat clean 90% of the time. So far I am at 71%. So it is time to rededicate myself to this journey and program, lets see if I can do it.
After two weeks I am down one pound in weight and I am down 1/4 inch in waist.
To be continued……