week 6: december 6 - december 12

well it seems i can't get away from diet books and meal plans wherever i go. i was at a birthday party today where all the ladies were discussing the new book in the Eat Clean Diet series. within the time allowed, i browsed through it and as it turns out, we could have written the book. i pictured you guys reading it, rolling your eyes, as everything was being reiterated.

there were some valuable pieces in there, however, that we haven't mentioned during the course of this challenge. i liked how the author broke down in a pie chart the factors of a healthy lifestyle....10% genetics, 10% training, and 80% nutrition.

80% no matter how you spell it out is equal to a whole shit-ton!, in case you needed a conversion. they mentioned the importance of 6 meals a day, pairing complex carbs and protein with each meal and eating clean healthy whole foods, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

see what i mean, that we could have written the book.

they talked a little bit about salt, which is one thing i wanted to work on limiting for this week. lessoning your salt intake by 30% could shave as much as 3 lbs. of water weight, which may be the factor that is torturing some of you each week at weigh in.

so touching on the pie chart and genetics....yes, cellulite is genetic. can we change the genetics we've been given, or the body type that we've accepted in ourselves for longer than we can remember?....yes. will we ever have a long skinny legs and an hour glass figure if you weren't blessed that way from the start?....no. i will never have long skinny legs, i will never have long slender muscles, my chest will never be larger than a B cup (and that's on a good day), and i will never have feet that can fit into the shoes that are actually on sale. these things i have accepted, but making a scape - goat out of the rest of my genetics i don't do, and you shouldn't either.

they included another pie chart in their for macronutrients that we discussed last week...55% carbs, 27% protein, and 18% fat, but they also mentioned that their chart was the base minimum for protein. less than that, they mentioned, will induce deterioration in muscle mass. and, as we've mentioned before and they said it again, athletes can have as much as 2 times as much as their sedentary counterparts, but how much more exactly is still up for debate.

as far as that 10% training goes....they talked about the importance of weight training and its correlation with raising metabolic rates. they also mentioned interval cardio and you won't believe me when i tell you this, but i swear on my gma's grave....TWO A DAYS!!

What i liked about this book, other than i could have made a lot of money by writing it myself, was that they reiterated the importance of eating, and eating often. this woman ate oatmeal each morning packed with ground flaxseed, fruit, wheat germ, and bee pollen, and then she had three egg whites!! that even puts me to shame. she eats within the hour of waking up!!!! just like i told you, and eats all damn day long, 2 to 3 hours apart.

see people, i don't make this shit up. this woman was hot, and now she's rich. and she's even 40+, haha...so there, it can be done.

so this week, salt is our focus, also adding more super foods into your diet. ground flax seed can be sprinkled on salad, oatmeal, smoothies, whatever. yogurt, kefir, probiotics of any kind are great for digestion. high fiber foods, fruits and veggies, avocado weighing in at a whopping 13.5 grams of fiber per medium fruit. all of these will help move things through more readily and cleanse the system more quickly.....our bodies, ps, can store up to 25lbs. of waste in our intestines and colon....that part i definitely didn't know ....how's that for your next weigh in?

so rather than picking a number for salt, just be mindful of low sodium options, recipes, and eliminating salt from certain meals. processed meats are salt heavy, some cheeses are big salty blocks, and canned and boxed processed foods should be read very carefully if considered at all. if you normally add salt to your food, add only 2/3 of it and toss the rest over your shoulder.

as many of you have noticed with sweets, changing your taste buds is possible and if you're a salt person, that can change too.

fyi to my diet coke people, my aunt has found a "focus" tea by tazo that she has been trying as a replacement. buy some....if she can do it, you can. now i'm bugging her to eat her breakfast.

last thing...i swear. those of you interested in doing a food log, get on it. i will look at it and make sure you are on the right track.

questions and comments are welcome, complaints can be sent to santa with your wish list. maybe he'll listen;)

week 6 ....whooohoo!!! keep rockin'!