Eating to Live not Living to Eat

Hey Sista’s, this week it is all about food and not just any food but good real food. As a Mamavation Mom we were lucky enough to get a nutritionist to help us with food choices. Alyssa is heaven sent she made a personalized food chart for myself, Jeanae and Joanna. Each one of us has our own since we have different needs and some can’t eat certain foods. We also each received a nutrition book with an exchange list for weight management it is based on a low glycemic diet which is what a diabetic would use. This plan works differently because it is’t about low carb, low fat or low calories but about good carbs, good fat and good calories.

My problem before wasn’t that I ate too much but that I didn’t eat enough. I would normally not eat until 3 or 4 when the kids got home from school. Then I would be busy getting dinner ready and helping the kids with homework that I would end up eating a little this & a little that which would turn into a lot of crap. At first when I got my list from Alyssa I thought there had to be a mistake with all the food and snacks on it. The first few days I felt stuffed and BLAH so I spoke with Leah who told me to contact Alyssa. Wouldn’t you know it before the end of the day Alyssa gave me a new plan with less food and substitutions for milk. Lesson 1 if you have a problem or a question ask Alyssa, Leah, Shannon, Shelley and Mark are here for us. Now I am eating breakfast, lunch, a snack and dinner all before 7 pm . I am also drinking more water if I am feeling frisky I will put some lemon or orange in it. A typical breakfast for me is either oatmeal made with unsweetened almond milk & strawberries, a smoothie with fruits, spinach, water & a spoon of coconut manna or scrambled eggs loaded with veggies and a fruit. Lunch is my biggest meal I like to eat a lean meat ( beef or chicken) with sweet potato, steamed veggies and a fruit or some fish ad a stir fry. Dinner consist of either soup or a giant salad with romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots, cucumber, black olives, tomatoes a hard boiled egg or piece of chicken and for dressing I love balsamic vinegar with extra virgin olive oil. Almonds, cheese sticks, apple & peanut or almond butter are my snacks. I honestly have never met a fruit I didn’t love so eating more of them is fun. Living in Miami we always have big supplies of mangoes, avocados, papayas, ugli fruit, mamey and they all taste good in food, smoothies or alone. The first week of eating like this I gained weight and that scared the living daylights out of me. I thought I am doing all this exercise and I am gaining what gives. Leah said not to worry trust her, Alyssa and the process it was just my body getting getting a shock of goodness. Well wouldn’t you know it Leah was right the second week I lost 5 lbs. Lesson 2 Leah is always right. I have too much energy, my skin is smooth, my hair looks less dry and my eyes are very shiny.Now my grocery cart looks like a garden and less like a recycling bin of cardboard. If you have a nice car you treat it good, put premium fuel, get it professionally detailed and schedule tune ups. Well I am a Lamborghini and I am putting nothing but the best in this vehicle for now on.

                                                                 WEEK 2

Weight Loss            5 lbs

Inches loss              Hips     4 inches                                    Waist  3 inches

Arm      1 inch each                             Thighs 2 inches each