To follow up on my prior flexible dieting post, here’s a straightforward article on the concept!
http://impruvism.com/flexible-dieting-basics/
INFORM YOURSELVES! #spreadthetruth
Stop starving yourself! Never let food make you feel guilty! And forget the concept of “cheat meals”!
Want the details???
It’s now posted on the recipes tab! Enjoy!
The goal of this post is to shed some light on the concept of flexible dieting. There’s a lot of information you can find online about this concept; some better than others. However, this post is to tell you about MY use of the concept and MY experience.
For me, flexible dieting has been a way to stop cheating on my diet. With flexible dieting, foods are not banned or restricted. As a matter of fact that, they are encouraged in moderation. Think about it…. don’t you crave chocolate, chips, cookies, ice cream, etc the moment you tell yourself they are forbidden because you’re on a diet? Why not make changes in the way you eat to allow for healthier options while still making it absolutely okay to have the pizza or cookies you love?
With flexible dieting, I am able to focus on my overall intake and making that work for my fitness goals, rather than each and every meal having to be “clean”. Clean eating is great! And yes, it’s an effective way to lose weight, but without cheat meals or cheat days, it became an easy way for me to drive myself crazy! On top of that, it was a way of sabotaging so much of my progress because cheat meals turned into cheat days, and even food binges.
Now I focus on all the things I crave and that my little heart desires by adding them into my diet in moderation. When I know I want a huge serving of frozen yogurt and toppings, I balance out the rest of my day with options that have less sugar and carbs. When I know I want a hefty serving of peanut butter or already had the hefty serving, I plan the rest of my intake around smaller amounts of fats. The best thing is that all the negativity and guilt i had around eating my favorite food is gone! When you plan and make the necessary modifications, you don’t need to feel bad for eating your favorite food! When you plan and make the adaptations to satisfy your cravings, you stay on track with your goals. There’s no sabotaging or cheating involved. And when it’s so easy to plan to do the same thing again, you don’t need to binge and get it all down your mouth at once in fear that the next time you allow yourself to “cheat” is too far out in the future to be foreseeable!
This EASY and delicious recipe is now posted! Enjoy!
Do you know how much you could be sabotaging all your positive gains from a healthy week by indulging in your favorite cocktail on the weekends? Do you know the “goods” and the “bads” when it comes to mixing drinks while trying to be healthy? I do! That’s why you often see me ordering…. well most of you know my drink of choice! 😉
I keep it simple with my liquor of choice with a diet soda. Check out the graphic below to find out why!
Have you made baked tostada shells yet? They make delicious bowls for salads of all kinds! I made this bowl out of a high fiber flour tortilla by flipping my muffin tin upside down! I baked it in the oven till it got crispy.
This bowl was filled with mixed greens, quinoa, slow cooked pulled chicken, avocado, and sour cream. It was absolutely delicious!!!
I slow cooked my chicken in the crockpot with roasted pasilla peppers chile made by Herdez and available at your local grocery store.
Enjoy!
It only takes 60 seconds to make a mugcake! So what are you waiting for to have this protein packed treat???
Recipes are posted! Indulge!
High Intensity Interval Training should be a part of your workout regimen 2-3 times a week. That’s of course, if you are seeking a fast, efficient, and fun way to burn the maximum amount of fat in the least amount of time!
HIIT has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, burn maximum calories during your workout, and to keep your body in fat burning mode for several hours after your workout!
I use to spend endless hours a week on the treadmill and elliptical machine trying to burn calories with insane amounts of cardio. Little did I know that I was wasting my time. Now I spend more time with the weights and approximately 25 minutes (2-3 times a week) doing cardio! What a life changer!
So what exactly is HIIT (high intensity interval training)? HIIT training is an EFFECTIVE FAT-BURNING way of increasing your metabolic rate and building lean muscle tissue while burning fat. The idea is to alternate between periods of INTENSE effort with periods of moderate-to-low efforts. Studies have shown that you burn more calories during AND after your 20 minute HIIT circuit than you do in 20 minutes of doing cardio at a steady pace. With HIIT, your body has an after-burn effect that can last up to 48 hours after your workout! Now you can use your extra time to hit the weights… BAAAAM! HOT BOD in the making!
An EXAMPLEÂ of a way I HIIT:
warmup: brisk walk/light jog
alternate between 3.0 and 8.0 speeds every 40-60 seconds.
Cool down
Keep in mind that this is an example for the treadmill, but the elliptical, stair master, and stationary bike are ALL fair game for HIIT!
At my fitness level, I make my low effort periods 15-30 seconds shorter than my high intensity periods. Try it out and play with a variety of speeds and time frames. I think you’ll find this to be a fun and exciting way to workout! It’s rewarding to see your speed and stamina begin to improve with this training method!
I’d love to hear about your experience with HIIT! Please share!
Do you love carrot cake? Have it for breakfast without any guilt with one of my newly added recipes!
I came across this graphic and want to challenge you all to strong and sexy arms! I chose this one because it’s straight forward, can be done in just a few minutes of your day, AND BECAUSE THERE IS NO EQUIPMENT NEEDED! Meaning what?! NO EXCUSES!
Ready?! We start on Sunday, September 1st!
On days 1-15 we will be doing TWO sets of the push-ups/planks/chair dips.
On days 16-130, we will do THREE sets of the listed reps.
Have fun!
eatsquat 