9 a day keeps the flab away!

For the first time since Lily has been born people are finally telling me that they have noticed I am losing the weight I gained during the pregnancy.  I guess the old saying, "it takes 9 months gain the weight it will take 9 months to get it off," this is definitely true for me.  I have to admit I had ambitions of getting my body back in 12 weeks, I had no idea how hard it would be to get back on track.  A combination of things helped me get back to training hard and eating clean. 

Lily started sleeping through the night (most of the time) : looking back the sleep deprivation was taking a toll on my metabolism.  I was craving carbs all of the time, I was too tired to workout the way I used to, and was just mentally exhausted.  Now that I am getting 6-8 hours of sleep in I have my energy back and I have been able to control my food cravings and kick up my workout intensity.

Triathlon Training:  As soon as I registered for Iron Girl it was like a light went off and my workouts started to have a purpose behind them, I was not skipping workouts anymore and I started getting competitive again.  Every week I get in 2 rides, 3 runs, 2 swims and at least 1 Pilates and 1 weight training session.  Before I was probably doing only 1/3 of that.

Now for the most drastic change - 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day (ratio is 1 fruit to 3 veggies).  It takes some effort to get in this many servings of fruits and veggies/day but I have found that if I do I do not get cravings as much, I feel great and best of all the weight falls off.  The majority of my carbohydrate intake comes from fruits and vegetables now, this is probably the biggest change overall.  For the most part the only time I eat starchy carbs (steel cut oats, potatoes, pasta, rice, whole wheat bread, tortillas, etc.) is right after a training session, if leaning out is the goal avoiding starchy carbs unless you just worked out is a quick way to do it.  I am not an advocate for "low carb" dieting, I am a promoter of increasing fruit and vegetable intake and decreasing the amount of starchy carbs not eliminating them.

Here is a typical day at the Yarn house packed full of fruits and veggies:

Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 egg white, 1 c mushrooms, peppers, onions, spinach and 1/2 slice of pepper jack cheese scrambled together with a side of dark purple grapes. 

Snack: clementine and 1/4 c almonds or cashews

Lunch:  Grilled chicken over dark leafy greens, with carrots, peppers, onions, tomatoes and balsamic dressing with another clementine

Snack (usually post workout): Smoothie - 1/4 c pomegranate juice, 1/2 c water, 1 c spinach leaves, 1 c frozen berries, and 1 scoop protein (add ice and blend)

Dinner:  steak fillet, 1 c roasted potatoes, zucchini, and squash (toss in olive oil with seasoning and roast in oven 45 min. on 350) 

The calorie content is around 1500-1800 depending on the portion sizes of meats, dressings, etc.

This 9-a-day is no joke- try it and you will see results!