All posts filed under: Nutrition

Shakeology: from Skeptic to Devotee

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Ok, I’ll admit it: I was a Shakeology skeptic. That is, until I tried it for myself. Here’s some straight talk about the benefits, nutrition, ingredients and expense of Shakeology. When I first started doing challenge groups more than a year ago, there were a bunch of people doing Shakeology for breakfast everyday. It not only seemed boring (the same thing for breakfast EVERY DAY??) but we were all so focused on healthy clean eating… How could something so… Not only not whole but….powdered actually be healthy? I was eating some great healthy breakfasts (Greek yogurt oatmeal parfaits, mini omelets) why change a good thing? Then I decided to buy my first Beachbody workout, Focus T25. I learned the challenge pack was on sale which meant for the price of a one month supply of Shakeology, I would also get T25 essentially free. So I decided to give it a try and see if it really did what they said it would do: reduce food cravings, help build muscle, and aid in digestion. Well first …

Fit Data (for math nerds, and non-math nerds)

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At work, I strongly believe in using data to validate hypotheses,  measure success, and provide foundation for future assumptions.  I’m not sure why it took so long for me to recognize that principle and use good data and/or evidence to measure success with my fitness goals. All those years, I had it wrong.  I relied on the scale no realizing that the scale is a terrible measurement tool.   I love weight watchers and lost a lot of weight on it – so I’m not knocking the principle that you need to regularly check in against your goals with DATA, but I am knocking the method of measurement that the scale provides.  On weight watchers, there were weeks where I didn’t eat breakfast or keep up with my usual water intake – for the sake of wanting a “good weigh in.”  A good friend turned me on to “smooth move” tea, which helped me, um, clear things out before weigh in.  I recognize these are ridiculous little rituals, sort of like football players who don’t shave …

911 Emergency Snacks

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Before I made an active decision to be fit for life, being out and about, busy, short on time, out with the kids, or at home with the kids would be an excuse to make poor decisions that would take me off plan. Going off plan didn’t usually mean for that one unhealthy decision though, it would mean being off plan for the rest of that day, weekend or week. Staying fit in my kitchen and out of it meant that I needed to “think fit” for every meal, snack and situation. This meant being prepared with emergency snacks that would not only be there for me when I needed them but also satisfied whatever temptation I may face ahead of me during the emergency.  The requirements of these ESs would be to be yummy enough that I would actually want to eat it over, say, a bag of chips at the soccer field, but not so good that I am able to keep it around and not be so excited about it that I binge …

Protein is the Fit Mamma’s Best Friend

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In all the years I spent dieting on weight watchers and counting points and calories, there was a little gem of knowledge I was missing from the calculation. Protein fills you up. Aside from the other benefits of lean protein (building muscle etc) the appetite suppression is a huge deal if you’re trying to lose weight.  Think about days when you feel like you’ve been eating all day but never quite satisfied. Those days for me used to happen when my protein was lacking. I might have a giant bowl of steel cut oatmeal but if it was made with almond milk (lower in calories but also lower in protein) how was I possibly starving by 10am? Protein. Or those days when I’d have three 100-calorie packs in the afternoon and still be hungry. That’s right, no protein. When I met with my nutritionist I couldn’t believe she was telling me to eat MORE and eat things that I like: eggs, nuts, cheese, yogurt, hummus!  She mentioned that a meal (or snack) without protein was …