'Get Trimmer...' Week Six: Nutrition Post

This week we'll talk about 'Staple Foods' and will also be revisiting Snacking (again, I know) but this is a very important part of healthy eating.

It's easy to give excuses especially when faced with change...

I have this friend, let's call her N. She's been frustrated because she can't lose the extra 15 pounds which seemed to appear overnight about a year ago. We've had the same discussion countless times:

N: I know what I'm going to do, I'll skip breakfast, have a salad for lunch and eat little or nothing for dinner.

A: You shouldn't do that, you need to eat little and often to keep your blood sugar levels constant and to keep cravings at bay.

N: But this *always* works for me so I'm going to do it.

A few weeks go by:

N: I've tried my usual way of losing weight and it's not working, this is so frustrating! What do you suggest I do?

A: Eat little and often. Load up all your meals with protein, eat less processed carbs & sugar, eat more vegetables...

N: But eating once a day works for me!

A: o_O Nope.

As N is my friend, I can get frustrated with her and speak my mind. I am able to say - "This will most likely work for you, it's worked for a huge load of people, there is absolutely no harm in trying! Worst case scenario, it won't work and it'll be back to the drawing board for us. Stop giving excuses!"
Most times, I'm not that lucky... I have to be professional and neutral with my responses but it's hard. Lol!

Also... 'Staples'. I'm Nigerian, I get it - we grew up eating generous portions of fried/jollof/white rice, yam pounded, boiled, fried), eba, amala, etc. <-- This isn't a reason to eat large portions. Make some changes and you will see some changes... definitely :)

Try new things:
- Halve your portion of rice and double, even triple, your portion of veggies.
- Eat more protein (it makes you feel fuller for longer and most times we eat, it's cos we're hungry).
- Boil your yam, plantain. Use less palm oil. Try brown rice (cook it in home made stock) or basmati rice.
- The list is endless, take a look at previous GT posts.

So remember:

• Snacking is essential. Some ideas in this post: http://www.adura-odesanya.co.uk/2011/06/get-trimmer-week-three-nutrition-tips.html
• You can form new habits ie you can have new 'staples' <-- I loved Miss T's comment in last week's post about this :)
• Drink more water as sometimes thirst can be mistaken for hunger as you sometimes can feel peckish when thirsty.
• More protein, more vegetables and less carbs <-- Simple ;)

As usual, post any questions here and I'll respond as soon as I can.

Hello from Scotland :)

First time visiting and I've had a really nice time :) My birthday week - I over-indulged! I hope noone was as bad as I was o_O

Well... back to business as usual on Monday and I'll post my meals on the challenge posts this week. I need it!

The posts will be up later than usual tomorrow (at night) but they'll be up :)

Have a nice week ahead :)

'Get Trimmer...' WEEK FIVE

Hello :)

Hope you enjoyed your weekend – again I spent most of mine in bed or on the sofa trying to get a 100% better and I think I’m almost there :D  Just in time for my 30th birthday tomorrow – unbelievable how time flies, I remember my 1st day in primary school at the age of SIX.

As stated last week, the second half of the challenge will be a little more focused than the 1st half. I understand a lot of you are busy so won’t have time to check in everyday… but at least 2 comments from you per week would be great – one at the beginning of the week and one at the end. I’m feeling much better now so I’ll answer questions within 24 hours :)
Sooo…  what did you eat this weekend?

--> This Week's Nutrition Post <--
--> This Week's Fitness Post <--

'Get Trimmer...' Week Five: Nutrition Post

Oops, I'm in birthday mode this week... This year I'm not just havng a birthDAY, I'm having a birthday week :)

I'm going to try to eat healthy today, Thursday, Friday and Saturday because Tuesday's my birthday (anything goes) and I'm going out for dinner on Friday.

Inspired by my unhealthy eating during my birthday week, this week's post is going to be about Treats and Indulging :)

Tips on indulging:

• Do not completely cut out your most favourite treats because there will come a day when you'll binge. It happens, trust me.
• Choose your top 3 treats and rotate them every week... one of these treats a week.
• Eat healthy at least 5 times a week and have a day or 2 where you relax and treat yourself to a couple of indulgent foods e.g. ice-cream, cake, brownies.... don't get me started ;)
• When you do treat yourself, don't binge-eat i.e. have a slice of cake (just one), one brownie, one (maximum 2 cupcakes depending on size), 3 biscuits.
• Eat your treats slowly, savour the taste... a mistake I used to make was stuffing a whole biscuit into my mouth, chewing and swallowing it within seconds. Before I knew it, I'd inhaled 10 biscuits. Now, when eating my favourite treat (rich and creamy ice-cream), I take my time and use a teaspoon so it lasts longer ;)

What are your top 3 favourite treats?

'Get Trimmer...' Week Five: Fitness Post

• Aim to exercise at least 3 times a week
• I know I promised videos but it's my birthday week and I've been lazy and greedy (sorry!)
• I'm going to upload Fitter London (or Matt's iVillage) videos for now until I get the chance to focus on good videos and not rush jobs

Please ask me any fitness questions and if there are any specific videos or fitness help you'd like - let me know!

:)

Workout/Spin Track of The Week

Week #4

'Push It' by Salt-N-Pepa

This song is a classic! I could play it every week (but I don't of course) and it will never get old :)



I catch myself dancing EVERYTIME this track is played, even when I'm teaching ;)