Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Hey, beautiful ladies!  I hope you're doing great.  I'm sure some of you are still traveling back from summer vacation over the holiday weekend.  Whenever you're back, check in to say hey to everybody!  The cheering each other on is one of the things that makes this group work for everyone. 

A couple things: First of all, there shouldn't be anything scary about a reduced caloric intake....unless you're not eating what you're burning.   If you're at too much of a caloric deficit, then you'll experience scary things like weakness or lightheadedness, not to mention you won't be losing weight to keep it off, AND your body will enter "starvation mode" and your metabolism will hit the floor in an effort to keep you alive and your organs pumping.  Here's an example of how the "calorie counting" thing should be going:

• Enter in your age/gender/current weight/goal weight/activity level, etc. to My Fitness Pal (or other sites you prefer, like Daily Burn, etc.)
• It will then spit out that you should aim for (for example only) 1300 calories a day NET. 
• Then you start keeping track of what you eat.  So if I eat 300 calories for breakfast, 100 calorie late morning snack, 500 calories for lunch, 200 calories for afternoon snack, 300 calories for dinner, and 200 calories for an evening snack, then that totals 1600 caloiries consumed for the day. 
• But you're also tracking what workouts you do.  So if I went for a jog for 3 miles and burned 300 calories, that's subtracted from my total calories consumed for the day of 1600, so then my NET calories consumed is 1300, which is right on target. 
• So if I don't have time to get in a workout that day, then I'm going to be extra careful w/ my food intake and stay at 1300 calories consumed. 
• On the other hand, if it's a Saturday and I go on a 4 hour bike ride and burn 1000 calories, I'd better be consuming 2300 calories that day total (1000 calories above my net goal b/c I'm burning 1000 calories), b/c if not, my body is going to be burning muscle for energy instead of the fat & food I want it to burn, I'd feel weak, drained, exhausted, & have a really crappy workout.
• I can't emphasize enough how VERY VERY important it is that you're "eating what you burn" for workouts. 
• After you've got that figured out, then you can work on improving the quality of your diet, being sure that what you're consuming is the highest quality, highest-octane fuel possible.  Try to hit your protein intake goal, your fiber intake, etc.  Try to stay under your sodium limit.  Try to get in enough water.  Try to limit sodas, etc.  Your My Fitness Pal food diary will  tell you the protein amount you should be aiming for based on your current weight, gender, activity level, etc.  But if you're doing really hard strength training or race training, you should be aiming for way more protein, as close to your body weight as possible.  So if you weigh 160 lbs, you should be aiming for 160 grams of protein.  I know that seems like a TON, but just get in as much as you can up to that amount.  Most everything I've heard on the subject goes off this basic guideline.  And if you're not that active, don't worry about that much protein.  Just if you're really pushing it and really building muscle.  And eating every few hours is going to keep your metabolism roaring for you all day long- I like the mini meal method.  Keeps you feeling fuller longer, too.

There is lots and lots of medical advice out there for this being the healthiest way to lose weight.  Yes, it's really gradual weight loss, a pound here & there, but it's the best way to lose if you want to keep it off.  Ask any dietician for advise specific to your body and your circumstances- be sure to consult a physician for a good way to modify your diet if you have health concerns like hypo/hyper-thyroidism, hypoglycemia, diabetes, etc.  This is the principle behind Weight Watchers, too---you gain extra points by working out.

Ok, then SECOND of all, it's our day to swap recipe and snack ideas!  Please help; I'm in desperate need of fresh new ideas.  This past weekend I made a favorite, Summer Salsa.  Which I've posted before on here, but YUM YUM YUM!

Summer Salsa

• 1 can corn, drained
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 can chickpeas or garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 can blackeyed peas, drained
• 3 avocados, diced
• 1 package of dry italian dressing mix (prepared as directed on package, so w/ the oil & vinegar & water)
• Mix it all together
• Enjoy w/ whole wheat pita chips, blue corn chips, etc.