Nobody needs to be skinny, that's crazy 0.0 Well I guess it depends on what you define as skinny... I've noticed that nowadays people's definition of skinny is someone of a healthy weight which makes sense since the average person is overweight. However, if the person who searched that is reading this please reconsider that statement. Being stick thin is not healthy nor is attractive. Being healthy and fit is. Period (how ironic... often stick thin girls don't get their periods).
Anyways, on with the post!
My planks have improved drastically. You have no clue how happy it makes me! I took much fewer breaks during my 5 minute plank workouts and I'm actually starting to extend the workout. What I'm adding in are the Up-Down planks. It's a great way to add a solid arm workout to your plank series. I find them extremely difficult but I'll get there with time. My stomach itself is starting to look a lot more toned which is always a cherry on top :D I had my grandma feel and she gave me a thumbs up, Yay!
Something that I came across is this:
It makes sense because you can have amazing ab muscles but if you have excess fat then the fat will cover them. That's why sometimes you meet "chubby" people who are surprisingly really fit. So 70% of looking toned is just clean eating.
- Ditch the sugar. Don't even buy white sugar, it tastes like **** Honestly when you switch to less refined sugars you will realized just how tasteless white sugar is in comparison.
- Complex carbs. Whole grains are filled with nutrients, energy, and fiber. Stick no unprocessed grains like buckwheat, millet, quinoa, amaranth, oats, wheatberries, ryeberries, spelt, kamut, non-white rice, sprouted grains and various beans.
- Start your day with a green smoothie.
- Lean protein with every meal such as goat yogurt, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu/ seitan/ tempeh, sesame seeds, beans, lean fish and meats.
- Include sources of healthy fats to keep yourself full and have radiant skin such as nuts, avocados, extra virgin olive oil, and chia seeds.
- Veggies, veggies, and veggies. Did I mention more veggies?
- Fruits- Yum!
- Drink a lot of water
- Eat when hungry, stop when full
- Finishing a 10 mile run doesn't mean coming home and having cake. Your body needs proper nourishment to rebuild those muscles
- Don't drink your calories. All of those fancy drinks at cafes are loaded with sugar and fat!
I tried checking out some sample healthy meal plan and I was in shock. Most of them were 1200-1600 calories, which seems excessively low. A lot of the meal plans were not balanced and were basically protein + vegetables. Living off of protein is amazing for weight loss but it's not exactly healthy for the body.
My goal at the moment is to formulate some sort of a meal plan to maximize the nutrients I'm getting. Although I eat clean most of the time, sometimes I end up eating handfuls of cereal or sweets or peanut butter from the jar or just grab a slice of bread here and there :S I think that if I can have some sort of a solid meal plan then it can help me eat things that will properly fuel me instead of grabbing everything I see. I did some online calorie calculator thing which seems legit so hopefully that'll be a start point. I will also take a look into how much protein I need to consume and I'm thinking to write a post about the health problems with over-consumption of protein.
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| 1200 calorie meal plan my a** Do these numbers sound reasonable? |
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| Strength |
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| Flexibility |
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| Endurance- one day I will do an ultramarathon! |
Any suggestions for good sites where to build a meal plan? Do the numbers from that calculator sound reasonable? Do you follow a meal plan or have you noticed improvements in your fitness due to clean eating?
For me, my calories fluctuate depending on my activity (and giving in to cravings;) but my eating choices are pretty consistent. I noticed the biggest improvement in my overall feeling of well being and fitness when I drastically reduced grains in my diet. I don't think this would be the case for everyone, but it has been fantastic for me. My skin cleared, energy increased, lost fat, lost the constant bloat i always felt. I just started reading Water Logged, by Timothy Noakes and when I looked him up found an interesting article he wrote about being carbohydrate intolerant. It sounded a lot like me! I think everyone is different and we change as we age, so eating is probably always a balancing act in progress. You are so tuned into your body and what feels right for you and I think that's what's most important :)
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who is grain intolerant as well and she follows the Paleo diet. I'm Ukranian so I've been raised into the world of carbs (the yellow in our flag represents the wheat fields). I've noticed really bad energy up and downs when I ate high carb so now I'm trying to keep things balanced. I feel sluggish if I eat too much fat too :( This whole blog experience has been an incredible journey for me in terms of understanding my body and knowing what works for me. Hopefully one day I can be able to do all those crazy things in the last 3 pictures :P
DeleteIf you're working out, than I DEFINITELY think 1200 is way too low. 1200 calories is often referred to the bare minimum number of calories you need to just exist. I know that everyone is a little different in how much they need, but I don't think you can really go wrong by eating whole, clean foods!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't understand why so many of the meal plans I've seen were 1200 0.0 I felt hungry just by looking at those :S Some had huge amounts of protein in their diet- like 4 eggs for breakfast followed by a protein shake 3 hours afterwards. Eating too much protein is no great for the kidney and the brain- I'll do a post about it later :D
DeleteOh and speaking of 1200 calories- that's like way under my BMR 0.0 I really can't imagine why trainers come up with these plans
DeleteUgh, diet is such a sore subject for me right now. I think I eat pretty well overall, and I feel fine, energized and fueled on my runs, but I am not as toned as I would like. I snack a little, but it certainly isn't a huge amount. I remain very balanced, but I just suck it I guess. I cross-train and run 5 days a week - wtf.
ReplyDeleteHey you looked pretty toned in the picture you posted, well at least your arms did ;) I guess it's something that takes time too and I heard that running is a bit counter productive when it comes muscle building.
DeleteI'm not sure how hard is it for guys to be toned but don't compare yourself to those 6-pack guys you see on TV/ magazines. All it really takes is a low percentage body fat and you really don't know what those models went through to get to there... might not necessarily have been healthy...
I've actually had my RMR done and (without exercise) I only burn 1400 calories per day. So those meal plans don't seem that surprising for me. I wish I burned more! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm loving your 5 minute plank, we've been doing it for our core workout twice a week and I'm getting better!
Glad you're doing the plank. One of my fav exercises- it's short and sweet or I should say sore.
DeleteWell from my understanding those 1400 is just for your body functions like breathing, digesting... We burn a bit of calories throughout the day by doing things like walking to the washroom, getting dressed, cooking, and so forth. Over the 17 hours that you're awake I'm sure it adds up...
Wow, once you should come to LA and try and get more people on board with the idea that skinniness is not healthy or attractive. It's sick what people consider "normal" here. Like, just disgusting.
ReplyDeleteAlso scary how many people have eating disorders. My only meal planning advice is not to let it go overboard or get to obsessed. Food and exercise is only one aspect of life. From the sounds of it you already have a great grasp on that.
Thank you for this entry. It really is refreshing to hear someone talk about doing what we do with diet and exercise for health...
Thanx for the advice :) I really just wanted to see what a "healthy" meal plan is and most of what I came across were these scary 1200 calorie meal plans :S
DeleteYeah about LA! I was talking with a friend about how Jennifer Lawrence was criticized as being fat. like WTF??? She looks amazing and fit. It's horrible what kind of an image is set to teenagers. I remember when I was lifeguarding all these 14 year old girls would talk about diets and other bs like that. That's really sad :(
As my grandparents always say- only dogs like bones...
oh goshh..at the skinny search. yikes. so much pressure on girls. So much pressure, it saddens me.
ReplyDeleteAny way, GREAT stuff with your planks!! I've been doing them daily too - haven't added the up-down planks yet - that's neeext!
those are GREAT tips btw! (I think I'm addicted to sugar..ugh).
The not drinking calories tips is super fantastic and helpful
Yeah... that search really scared me :(
DeleteI love that people are actually doing planks. The up-down planks are HARD!I can do like 2 in 30 seconds. Do give them a try though ^^
I think 1200 is ridiculously low. I think focussing on calories can be problematic because your needs change all the time depending on what is going on in your life.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you know how to eat well. Eating perfectly all the time is not a good thing either.
If you find a good meal plan let us all know!! :) I can't think of any to recommend to you.
Totally agreed :) I'll keep you guys updated ^^
Deleteanother good blog , nadiya! I need to start planking soon. I follow a 1500 calorie bases diet, 1200 is too low.
ReplyDeleteThe tips are pretty helpful:)
Right! Plus you're trying to lose weight eating that much. It's crazy to suggest something so low calorie as a healthy diet 0.0
Deleteps-I need to learn how to love veggies! Sigh
ReplyDeleteVeggies are the best! It takes time for your taste buds to develop though ^^
DeleteThat girl in the black is pretty inspiring! I definitely know this is true. I can work out till I am blue in the face but if my diet is not good, there are no results. And simple carbs are so last century. It's so easy to get whole what anything these days. I actually grind my own wheat and oats but you can always start simpler than that.
ReplyDeleteI know and if you look closely that girl is wearing heels! True it's so easy to get whole grains nowadays and you can even cook them and store in the freezer :D Life couldn't get easier ^^
DeleteWhen I first signed up for MyFitnessPal, they had me at 1200 calories, too! Insanity! I've just been reading everything I can (including message boards) and listening to Jillian Michaels' podcast for ideas about calculating my total caloric needs. It constantly changes as I learn more. Right now, I calculated my BMR and then multiplied it by my activity level, which (supposedly) gives me the amount of calories I should eat if I want to maintain my weight.
ReplyDeleteWow 0.0 I didn't know Jillian Michael has podcasts- I should check those out ^^ I found her exercise video's on youtube but haven't tried them yet.
DeleteDiet is such a complex issue. I think as long as you mostly eat a healthy and nutrient rich diet, a splurge snack or dessert once in a while is totally ok. Just have to learn how to not go too overboard. As runners/athletes we have to remember that food is fuel, and you need to have enough to sustain your workouts!
ReplyDeleteI know right... It's hard to imagine something only eating 1200 calories when I probably burn like half of that after a 10k run.
DeleteYup, I'm so with your food philosophy :D
thanks for share......
ReplyDelete