Shauna's Thoughts: Nutrition

To explain a bit about the blog, Jenni and I have decided that we will be starting off with four posts per week.  

Monday- Motivation Monday

Wednesday - Thoughts by Shauna

Saturday - Food & Fitness

Sunday - Thoughts by Jenni

I wanted to start my first Thoughts segment with a topic I get asked about daily.  "What are you doing to lose weight?"  It's really a two part answer.  I work out 6 days a week, and most importantly I follow my nutrition plan.  In this segment were are going to focus on the Nutrition part.

The reason why I kept going through the vicious weight gain / weight loss cycle is because I had an unhealthy relationship with food.  In my experience I would probably call it a Food Addiction.  It got to the point that I was hiding food and binging.  It would be my day off of work and I would be ready for lunch, so I would just start driving around.  What did I taste for today? I would pull into a fast food place drive around the parking lot with guilt because I knew I shouldn't be doing this.  It didn't matter though, I needed my "drug".  So, I would pull up to  the drive thru and I would order what seemed to be everything.  Just the small size? NOPE I needed the largest of the largest size.  Was one fry enough? NOPE I needed two. Would I like desssert with that? Of course I did, I'll take the order of three cookies (because it really was a deal).  Then I would park the car and I would consume all of the food. I felt like I needed to hide what I was doing.  I would dispose of all the wrappers, cups, and packaging like it was evidence. After my taste buds were satisfied, and my belly was extremely full (sometimes to the point of puking) I would fall into an euphoric state.  This high wouldn't last forever though.  After I snapped back to reality, the guilt would set in all over again.  Why did I just do that?  Why couldn't I just say NO? Why am I hiding what I'm eating? It was seriously like a drug addiction.  

I would compare an addiction to food to any other type of drug/alcohol addicition.  Except, when you have a drug/alcohol addiction they will put you into re-hab, and completely seperate you from your addiction.  You have people there to monitor and watch you, give you medicine to help with withdrawls, give you steps to live by, and offer support.  When you leave re-hab, they will even put you into a sober house to help you further transition into "normal" life.  Once you are done, you have the power to cut off ties yo your past life and make a new life for yourself.  A food addiction however is just plain torture.  Food is something we will use 4 - 6 times a day.  It is on every street corner, in every home, and every store.  We raise it, grow it, sell it, and consume it. Don't you see? We cannot survive without it. 

So how can we even begin this journey with all this temptation around us?  You have to want it.  You have to have the power to say no.  You have to open your eyes to the world of healthy, nutritious food.  You have to find a balance.  Farrell's helped me with this.  They provided me with information based off of my body weight and body fat percentage, then gave me carb and protein numbers to plan my meals.  They didn't provide me with the meal plan it's self, they just gave me the tools to build one.  I had to put the work into it. If I bit it, nibbled it, or drank it, I wrote it down.  I portioned, weighed, and prepped my meals for each week. I knew what I was going to be putting into my body, and I prepared myself for the day.  Even though I work in a restaurant, I took my snacks and lunch to work.  I still had my cheat day...and sometimes it ran into two days, but I was able to get back to the daily grind after the weekend was over.  WHY? Because, it was working.  I was starting to feel better.  I had more energy.  I saw changes in my body, my clothes started fitting again.  Then people started noticing a difference in my apperance.  It wasn't a vicious cycle anymore...I was finally on the right path to a lifestyle change.   

I am not a nutritionist, and I can't give you the carb and protien numbers you should eat for the day, again it's all based off your body.  I would recomend you see a nutritionist or registered dietitian if you are looking for help.  They can provide you with so much information about the why's and how to's of eating healthy and properly for your body. Here are a few changes that worked for me so maybe they can work for you:

1) Make small changes to your diet such as cutting out soda.  Try to limit how many cans or bottles you consume in a week.  Cut back on the fancy coffee drinks (O.K. this one was the hardest for me.  I love Scooter's Coffee so much that I should probably own a building by now because I've spent so much on their delicious coffee concoctions).  Cut out fast food, or make healthier options when you go out for example a side salad instead of fries or no bun on the burger.  Most restaurants carry a nutrition guide for their menus that way you can plan ahead.

2) Start trying new "healthier" foods such as quinoa, sweet potatoes, or ground turkey meat.  I mean seriously you can replace ground turkey for ground beef in any dish. 

3) Drink at least 80 ounces of water each day!  Stay hydrated and full at the same time :)

4) Plan for your day, and keep a food log!  A food log will help you see exactly what you are eating.  Write everything down no matter what it is.  My fitness pal is a great app. to use and keep track of your food.  

5) Try to eat smaller meals thoughout the day to keep your blood sugars from spiking.  I usually eat 5 - 6 meals a day.  This was the hardest thing for me to start, but now I don't even have to think about it.  

6) Read food lables, watch portion sizes, and measure everything you are eating.  You will be amazing at what you think a 1/2 cup of something is vs. what it actually is.  If something is given in a weight then measure the weight first, 1 measured cup of rice can weight very different depending on how much rice you pack into the cup. I have a food scale, measure cups, and table spoons ready at all times.

7) Alcohol = the devil.  Don't do it. Not. Even. Once.

8) Switch out white starches with whole grains and wheat. This is a preference of mine but it fits my new lifestyle plus I like the way it tastes.

9) Eat a good healthy breakfast. ( Dough-nuts do not count as healthy) Take the time in the morning to cook some eggs or some oatmeal. You will appreciate having the fuel to start off the morning and so will your body.

10) Get some sleep.  You body needs proper time to digest, re-charge, and repair itself. Most of us stay up late and watch our shows, I am guilty myself. Just turn off the TV and go to bed. You have plenty of time to catch up on Greys or Nashville some other time.

So thoes are some of my tips that have helped me along my journey, maybe they can help you to.  Like I said before I am not a nutritionist and I haven't researched or read every article, I experiemented and found the right mix to help me fit my new lifestyle.  This isn't a fad diet, this is my new diet. I eat, sleep, and live this new healthy life. I made the changes and so can you.

Best in Health,
Shauna

Welcome to our Blog!

                                                        

Welcome to our blog!  My name is Shauna, I am 29 years old, Married, and I have a handsome 3 year old (soon to be 4!)... oh and 2 Fur babies.  Jenni and I wanted to start this blog as a way to share our weight loss journeys, exchange delicious recipes, work-outs, and maybe just share our thoughts. 

Like many people, I have battled with my weight for years.  I have been a size 4 to a size 18 and everywhere in between. I have starved myself, been on crash diets, fad diets, binged, done it the healthy way, and rode this roller coaster all over again.  Why wasn't anything permanent? Well you see I have (had) an unhealthy relationship with food.  It probably doesn't help that I am a General Manager of a Restaurant.  I have loads of burgers, fried foods, and ice cream at my finger tips.  Sure eating this kind of food every once in a while is fine, but I ate this food every day, multiple times a day. 

December 2014 I was tired of this stupid cycle I was putting myself through.  Looking back to 2013 I had lost 30 lbs. and I was in the best shape that I had been in for a really long time... and I fell off the wagon...again...how many times was I going to do this to myself? So my lovely husband, who, I will mention is a personal trainer...yes I know how crazy that sounds, signed me up for Farrell's Extreme Body Shaping starting January 2015. Farrell's is a 10 week program where you commit yourself to work out for 45 minutes 6 days a week, while keeping your nutrition on point! The person with the best over all before and after picture wins $1,000.00!  Honestly, when he told me this my first reaction was what?! First, how will I be able to go 6 days a week and commit to the same time every day to do so? Second, anything I knew or heard about Farrell's seemed like a crazy group of people trying to get you into this weird fitness cult. I wanted to change though, and I  was ready to anything at this point...even if it meant joining a cult. 

       I could write an entire book on my first 10 week experience at Farrell's, but we still have to get to Jenni's introduction :) so we will save that for another time.  To sum it up, I went to my 4:30 class 6 days a week for 10 weeks, I did ever extra credit challenge my coach told me to do, I ran the mile before class as often as I could (it was winter). I used my 10 week student book and even turned it into a scrap book. I made forever friendships with my fellow 4:30 team, I gained confidence in myself and it helped me with my social anxiety. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone over and over again. I ate to fuel my body (and still had my cheat day).  I wanted to prove to everyone and myself that I wasn't going to give up this time. When we had our 10 week "graduation" party, I went to cheer on my fellow team in hopes one of us would be the lucky winners of that $1,000.00 prize. We all worked so hard, lots of sweat, tears, and transformations happened to all of us in that first 10 weeks. Guess what? I won....I won the $1,000.00 prize.  I was so shocked I froze and started crying.  All the hard work paid off.

 

                                     

         So that's my story in a nut shell.  I drank the Farrell's Kool-aide and I am a lifer. I couldn't imagine my day with out going to my 4:30 class and seeing all of my friends.  It is my drug, my therapy, my competition, and my play time.  Here are my before and after photos from my first 10 weeks.  The thing is, I found what works for me and I found a balance in my nutrition (which is the most important thing of this entire journey).  I started believing in me.  So I hope you like our blog, and yes we will probably talk a lot about Farrell's.  We want to reach out to as many people as possible and inspire others to take a hold of their lives and to start believing that you CAN do it no matter what! Ok enough about me here's the beautiful Jennifer to tell you a little about her!

   Although my weight loss journey started quite sometime ago.  My "fit" journey really just began in January 2015.  The words, don't give up...Not this time... Were said at orientation day at the new fitness program I was about to begin.  A program that would change my life.  A program that I wouldn't give up on... Not this time. 
     So, Let me start from the beginning. First off my name is Jenni, I am a wife and mother of 4 pretty amazing kids. I'm not that gal that has had to deal with weight issues my WHOLE life, but I have been overweight for most of my adult life.  When I was younger I was a gymnast. I wasn't the small boxy things that you see at the Olympics.  I was tall and skinny (yes, 5'5 is tall in the gymnastics world) I wasn't very limber, doing splits and bending crazy ways wasn't my thing either, but I was a powerhouse trickster. I could flip and flop all over the place.  Eventually I realized that no matter how hard I tried I would not be the next Mary Lou Retton.  Plus at 16 there were now more important things in life, like boys! I had always been able to eat whatever I wanted and still maintain my size 3 or 5 and then...came the babies.  I was 20 when I had my first son Dylan, after having him I was pretty shocked at how huge I had become. So I went to eating nothing and exercising several times a day to get back into my skinny jeans.  I finally did it! But by the time I was 23 I was wearing a size 16...and so it began...My struggle to love my body, to love myself.  As I got older and the more children I had the bigger and bigger I became.  Sure I did a few crash diets, fad diets, and starving myself diets here and there, and sure they worked for a few months here and there, but I always went back to my old bad habits (or I just started eating again.).
     In 2014 I really began to get disgusted with myself and how I felt and looked, and even how I was eating. I really really wanted to make a change, but wanted to do it the permanent way.  I wanted to be skinny once and for all, forever. The day that I put my size 20 pants on and busted the zipper out of them was the day I finally got mad enough to do something about it...well kind of.. I went and visited a bariatric surgeon.  At this time I weighed in at 288lbs. (I'm not sure I have ever told anyone that number agh!) We discussed my options.  Came up with a game plan and decided to move forward.  Now with my insurance they required that I have six months of "physician guided" weight loss.  Basically, I need to go see my PCP, step on the scale, lie to him for six months and tell him I have been doing all I can to lose weight but nothing is working.  I did that for the first month.  The second month I decided I would try to lose a pound or two.  I went to what I know worked before, starving myself and moving my body.  Of course it worked. I would only eat 500-1000 calories a day and whatever I ate, I made sure I burned almost all that at the gym.  The weight seemed to melt off.  It was great.  Never mind the fact that I was tired, hungry and grumpy ALL the time. After loosing about 65lbs, the weight stopped coming off. I knew I had to figure something out.  Something different, but wasn't sure what. 
     In January, my beautiful friend Shanon asked me to do this intense 10 week program, Farrells, with her.  It was a bit costly and didn't seem like the type of thing I would be into, but I needed to do something. I was not going back to those size 20 jeans again.  Plus, the 10 week program was a competition. I am super competitive. person.  Like steal candy from a baby competitive.  Bowl you over competitive.  I HATE losing.  Plus it had a $1000 prize! I was in.  We started at the end of January (2015) and I was a little taken back at first.  The program consisted of going to workout 6 days a week for 45 minutes.  3 days a week would be a cardio/kickboxing day.  The other 3 would be strength training (alternating lower and upper body).  Plus I was given how many carbs I could consume per meal and how many proteins I needed to consume per meal. and oh I forgot to mention I had to eat..6...yes...6 meals a day.  So I went from eating hardly anything to 6 meals a day... Ummm no.... I didn't want to gain the weight I had just lost.  Have these people lost their mind.  It totally didn't make any sense how this was going to help me get those rock hard abs.  After two weeks of working out and doing my own nutrition, my way I went in and talked with the managed and my coach about the food.  And in that small crowded office it finally hit me... I finally got it... They threw out phrases like "food is fuel" "food is not the enemy" "food builds muscles"...WHAT??!!! How did I not realize this till now? From that day forward I started paying attention to the ingredients on the packages of things I bought vs. the calorie number.  I started paying attention to how great and clean I was feeling vs. the number that the scale was flashing at me.  My life changed.  I was not only losing weight, and inches, but feeling stronger than I had ever felt before.  I have more energy, I feel good about the food I eat and about the example I am setting for my kids, and friends. 
     Since I began my journey, or I should say since people started seeing a physical change in me they have been asking "what are you doing","what do you eat" "do you ever eat fast food" "do you ever cheat" How do find time"... all those and a tons more and the crazy thing is Shauna and I have found the answer to all these questions.  Farrell's Extreme Body Shaping isn't a magic pill, or fad. They are a life line, they show people how to live.  Had someone told me years ago how great being healthy feels, and how obtainable it is.  I would of done it years ago.  Now both Shauna and I want to shout it from the mountains how great we feel, and that you can feel that way too.  I hope you will find a little hope and inspiration in our stories.  Because, truly if I could do it, so can you, so can anyone.  I had/have the cards stacked against me but with determination, drive and faith I blew that stack of cards over.  I didn't give up... not this time. :)
Jenni