I've come to the realization that no matter how many do overs I give myself, and I give myself a lot, I will never (as in EVER) be a perfectionist. I strive to do a certain amount of self care things in a day, no matter how busy I am. The reality of that is that there are not enough hours in the day for all the things I want to do so something always falls off the list, hence the 80/20 rule. 80% is good, let yourself off the hook for the other 20. And then every once in a while the stars will align and we might just have that 100% day.
Eat less workout more is my husbands favorite expression. When I bitch about loosing weight he's a broken record, eat less workout more, eat less workout more, eat less workout more. ERRRR I just want to eat more!
And this middle age thing. I get it, we're in the middle, or are they referring to the middle you now have, that foreign thing, in the middle of your body commonly referred to as muffin top, fat roll, middle age spread? One of my friends said her Dr. actually told her there was nothing she could do about it, a man no doubt. Well I say HELL NO!
A few Saturdays back as I was gasping for air, climbing up a trail to the back of the Hollywood sign, trying and failing, to keep up with two 20 somethings and moving aside on a very narrow, very steep and very rocky path, as other 20 somethings passed me by, I had an epiphany. Not an earth shaking spiritual one just an "oh shit I'm not going to make it up this f'n mountain" one. We hike a lot, we live in the hills where technically walking the dogs is a hike, but this, I had not been challenged like this since I had a trainer post child birth. It was the only time in my life that I'd be on the verge of throwing up after a workout, until now. If you've ever watched The Biggest Looser you know what I mean, red face nauseous, the whole enchiladas. Oh yum now I want Mexican food...
OK, I had to stop twice because I really thought I would vomit, so I rested on a rock trying to figure out what happened to my lungs. The thing is I didn't want to quit, really! I just wanted to rest, and then I got my second wind and kept going. It made me realize how wimpy my workouts are. Turns out (don't tell him) but my husband is right, eat less, workout more, but more than that, work out harder! Ding, ding, ding. I realized the workouts of my 30's and 40's will not cut it in my 50's. I didn't feel old climbing that mountain I felt proud and I want to do it over and over until I don't have to stop or get nauseous. Well, maybe not that mountain. It was so steep we all fell on our butts going down. And by all I mean everyone, not just me, the 20 somethings too :)
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| Behind the Hollywood Sign |
So back to the reason I do the 80/20, here it is ~ I cannot stay on a diet for more than a day, I eat really clean and healthy, there's not much to give up so I've taken a few tips from the experts. You may want to join me. First up is Jillian Micheal's 7 day fat flush drink, it's not a cleanse, you eat, but you drink 64 ounces of this a day for 7 days. So far I've only gotten up to day three and then I forget and then I start over. Starting over is good, always start over. (80/20!)
- 64 ounces of water
- I Dandelion Tea bag
- 1 Tbs of lemon juice
- 1 Tbs unsweetened cranberry concentrate
That's it! I make a big pitcher of it at night leave it in the fridge and in the morning I divide it into two large mason jars. (Trying not to use plastic*)
This is my eating plan. I'm not a nutritionist or any kind of expert, I'm just sharing what I'm doing to get rid of an extra few pounds.
Here are my every day food musts, everything else is gravy. Haha, OK, NOT GRAVY, but healthy combinations incorporating these foods. Also cardio, weights and yoga.
This is my eating plan. I'm not a nutritionist or any kind of expert, I'm just sharing what I'm doing to get rid of an extra few pounds.
Here are my every day food musts, everything else is gravy. Haha, OK, NOT GRAVY, but healthy combinations incorporating these foods. Also cardio, weights and yoga.
- Greens & veggies
- Berries
- Vitamins
- Greek yogurt (no sugar added, check the label) 1 cup has 22 grams of protein
- Nuts & seeds
- Avocado
- Apple Cider vinegar
- Protein - chicken, fish or beans
- 64 ounces of water (the above way, plain, lemon, cucumber, etc.)
- Yams
- Quinoa or Quinoa pasta
- Apples
- Green Tea
- Gluten free bagel or bread
- Eggs
- Almond Milk
- Green Juice (kale, carrots, apple, cucumber, ginger and lemon)
- Lemon
- Turmeric
- Ginger
Here are a few of my easy combinations;
- Hot water with lemon first thing in the morning. FYI - Christie Brinkley swears by this and have you seen her lately at 63!?!
- Breakfast is an O'Doughs Gluten Free seeded Bagel (100 cal) toasted and topped with 1/2 an avocado and some pumpkin seeds, so good! Or eggs. Some weeks I make Gluten Free Flat bread recipe here.
- Lunch is when I do salad usually with chicken, veggies, nuts and seeds.
- For my mid afternoon slump it's 1 cup of Greek Yogurt with berries, nuts, half a chopped apple and I put a tiny bit of agave in for sweetness. Once you kick the real sugar habit, this becomes an amazing sweet treat.
- Dinner incorporates more veggies and protein, sometimes Quinoa is the protein, no meat.
- I either take the apple cider vinegar by itself, 2 Tbs, it's to harsh for some people but I like it, or I make what I call a mock tail, mixing it with water, lemon slices, 1/2 teas baking soda and a little Stevia. See the wonders of Apple Cider Vinegar here.
- Turmeric goes into green juice or sometimes a Golden Milk before bed.
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| Prep for green juice |
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| Berries at the farmers market |
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| Acia bowl |
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| Cobb salad at Food Lab, West Hollywood |
UPDATE: Last weekend I took a Body Blast class with a girlfriend, I was so proud of us, we burned almost 300 calories, we kept up and we sweat! It definitely made me more conscious of every thing that went into my mouth the rest of the day and according to My Fitness Pal, if I had days like this for the next 5 weeks I would reach my goal!
BTW My Fitness Pal, is a great free App, it will calculate how many calories you should eat to reach your goal, has every food and restaurant imaginable and calculates your steps all day. So if you rather wear a bracelet than a fit bit give it a try. 10,000 steps is the goal!
*check out my families blog on why we're avoiding plastic and how we're attempting to live a greener life at OFF THE GRID IN THE CITY.
See you in sleeveless this summer with my tank top arms :O
