Spring Makeover Challenge – Week 2

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Last week, I shared with you Derrick DeLay’s “Interval Diet” approach to maximizing fat loss during our Spring Makeover challenge.  It basically requires you consume a super healthy, low calorie diet Monday through Friday and then eat whatever you want on the weekends in combination with some cardio and weight training. If that approach doesn’t work for you, today I am sharing Jill Schiller’s approach, “Body Overhaul” to shedding that winter fat layer quickly.  Jill is a mother of two, our NWPT running clinic leader, certified VIPR and Schwinn cycling instructor and American Council of Exercise Nationally Certified Personal Trainer.

Body Overhaul’s Healthy Habits Success Guidelines:

• Eat breakfast. It will kick start your metabolism for the day and prevent you from overeating later. You haven’t eaten for several hours (possibly 10-12 hours) and your body needs fuel to operate!
•  Log your food and stick within your caloric limit. You may use apps such as “Lose It” or “My Fitness Pal”, or simply fill out a food log with pencil and paper. Using an app is preferred as it calculates calories consumed, goal caloric intake, and even takes into consideration how much exercise you have done.
• Drink half of your body weight in ounces, in water, daily. Drink more if you exercised. Hydrate well after workouts. An idea is to weigh yourself before and after your workout. Drink the difference in water.  For example, if you weighed 150 pounds before you went for a run and you weighed 149.5 when you got back from your run, be sure to drink 8 oz of water to make up for that sweat loss.
•  Include nutrient dense fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Be careful with the caloric intake of nuts. While they may be healthy, they can be high in calories! Some of my favorite seeds I like to incorporate in my favorite breakfast of warm quinoa are ground flaxseed and chia seeds! Great examples of fruits are berries, peaches, green apples, grapefruit, plums, cherries, bananas, avocados, etc. Veggies include peppers, cucumbers, spinach, dark leafy green lettuce, kale, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. 5 veggies and 3 fruits per day into your eating plan would be fantastic!
• Avoid sugars, alcohol, sport/soft drinks, juices, saturated fats, and processed foods, such as those that are sold as “food” and come in a box!  Usually processed foods are just a bunch of chemicals sold as “food”, otherwise known as “faux food” (i.e., fake food).  Additionally, avoid the fast food drive through. Just say NO. Replace white flours with whole wheat/grain choices.
• Get your sleep. Sleep a minimum of 8 hours per night. Your body recovers, builds muscle, and repairs itself during this crucial time. Plus, it’s less time you have to eat. 🙂
•  Incorporate cardiovascular exercise 4-5 days/week for 30-60 min/day with two days working at a higher intensity, the other two to three days at a moderate intensity. Your minimum goal should be 150 minutes/week of cardiovascular exercise. Add several bursts of speed to your walk or run to blast calories and fat! Ideally, your higher intensity days will be the 30-40 min workout!  Each ideal cardiovascular session will burn 350-500 calories minimum and help you reach your goal. Aim for this calorie burn Cardiovascular exercise ideas:  walking, running, a combination of a walk/run, elliptical, cycling,  swimming,  dancing,  Zumba,  aerobic exercise, stair stepper, etc.
• Strength training a minimum of 2 times per week, preferably 3 times per week, working all major muscle groups! Be sure to include a recovery day in between those strength sessions. The ideal session will last approximately 45 min. The more muscle mass you have the higher your resting metabolism, meaning you are burning more calories and fat at rest! Your bones also get stronger. More muscle also means your muscles get more chiseled, too. As you lose weight, it is entirely possible to lose some of your lean muscle mass. Preserve it by strength training!
• Adopt a mantra or two that you can use when you feel like you are failing or feeling discouraged.
  • Examples: 
    • “I am stronger than I think I am.”  
    • “I will succeed.”
    • “What would I do if I knew I could not fail?” 
    • “I will not let myself or my team down.” 
    • “I can do anything for 6 weeks.”
    • “No regrets.”  
    • “I believe in myself.”
    • “I am not afraid to demand great things of myself.”

Helpful Tips

• Plan ahead – Write your menus and shopping list out for the week.
• Cut/Prepare/Bag things ahead of time. (Important!!) Examples: On Sunday, boil a dozen eggs for the week, peel them, then bag them up 2 per ziplock (or small container); portion out your carrots, celery, etc. into ziplocks so you can “Grab and Go” for the week; pre-make your salads for the week, getting all of the work out of the way before your work week begins; make a batch of quinoa to have for the week; blend some filtered water and raw spinach leaves in a blender then freeze in ice cube trays for quick prep spinach smoothies
• Always have back-up snacks with you such as almonds, a very small baggie of raisins/peanuts, an apple, orange, healthy energy bars, etc. if the urge for sweets or snacks hit you!
• Let’s say it’s 8pm and you are feeling “hungry”. Don’t eat! Your body may think it’s hungry…but in reality it is more than likely ready for you to go to sleep. It’s craving energy, and we often eat instead of going to sleep! So let’s give our body energy in the form of sleep instead of feeding it food that is going to sit in our gut all night long.
• If you “need” sweets, blend some frozen fruit together in a blender w/ some water for a sorbet – but fruit and water only!
• Try not to go more than 3 hours without food. Keep your body fueled and your metabolism roaring! It’s like fueling a fire to keep it burning. This may mean splitting up your calories into mini meals throughout the day, such as 5 small meals and snacks instead of 2-3 big meals. Examples of “mini meals” are: Celery/apple w/ 2 TBSP peanut butter; half whole wheat turkey sandwich & serving of veggies; Half whole wheat tuna & pickle sandwich w/ cucumber; Veggies and hummus; 2 hard boiled eggs w/ an apple and broccoli, Broccoli w/ Cottage Cheese as a “dip” + a carrots or another fruit, etc. Incorporate lots of fruits and veggies, daily.
• Do not eat within 2 hours of going to bed. If you feel hungry, have some water and go to bed. J Avoid the temptation to have that late night bowl of cereal.
• Be serious. Invest in yourself. The more serious you are, the better your results. You are worth it.
• Throw it out! If there are foods in your pantry/refrigerator that you cannot resist, get rid of them! Don’t buy it thinking you’ll resist it. It might be for your kids but it will end up in your mouth.

Sherri McMillan, M.Sc. has been inspiring the world to adopt a fitness lifestyle for over 25 years and has received numerous industry awards including International Personal Trainer and Fitness Presenter of the Year. She is the author of five books including “Go For Fit – the Winning Way to Fat Loss” and “Fit over Forty” and is the featured presenter in various fitness DVDs.  She is the owner of Northwest Personal Training in downtown Vancouver and can be seen running, hiking or cycling with her two children, Brianna and Jackson.  She can be reached at www.nwPersonalTraining.com or www.ShapeupwithSherri.com

Note:  As an avid Columbian reader, you can redeem a 2 week pass at her world-class training studio to help get you started.  Contact 360.574.7292 for more details.