Food Plan for Week of April 27th- May 3rd

Monday
W- 1 scoop UMP vanilla protein powder mixed with water for training
B- eggs, spinach, oeatmeal
s- orange
L- Thai ground beef
S- all day long pork loin chili
D- steak, spinach salad

Tuesday
W- 1 scoop UMP vanilla protein powder mixed with water for training
B- oatmeal, strawberries, blueberries, eggs, spinach
s- carrot, cheese
L- spaghetti Squash with venison meatballs
S- banana bites for kids, mixed nuts for Nancy
D- hamburger, summer squash saute

Wednesday
B- omelet, lemon poppy seed muffin
S-orange
L- hamburger, salad
S- hummus, gr. pepper
D- grilled chicken, salad, mixed veggies

Thursday
W- 1 scoop UMP vanilla protein powder mixed with water for training
B-quiche
S- peanut butter balls
L- crockpot jambalaya
S- cucs  and hummus
D- shrimp K-bobs

Friday
W- 1 scoop UMP vanilla protein powder mixed with water for training
B- egg burrito
S- peanut butter crunch bar
L- crockpot jambalaya
S-mixed nuts
D- roast chicken, green beans, salad

Saturday
B-egg, biscuit, spinach
S- orange
L- leftovers
S- yogurt and apricots
D- steak, salad

Sunday
B- super shake
S- craver
L- eggs, blueberry coffee cake
S- hummus, veggies
D- turkey, salad, mixed veggies

Do You Measure Up?

I mean that in the literal sense – when you set a goal, do you measure to see if you are reaching it?

There’s a saying “What get measured gets done”.

When a client comes to me expressing frustration about lack of progress, asking advice about what to change in their nutrition plan, I will usually ask a question –

“What does your nutrition look like now?”

And then ask for their food log.

You see it is impossible to make suggestions without seeing what’s going on currently.

Let’s think about it from an athletic perspective. You like to run 5k races (you’re crazy, but that’s beside the point). You have a goal to run your next 5k in under twenty minutes, and your current best time is 22 minutes. So you want to shave a couple minutes off your time. What would you do? How would you know your training is effective and you are getting faster? You would time yourself periodically to see! If you were getting faster, you more than likely would continue your present training. However if your time was stagnant, or worse yet you were getting slower, you know you need to change something up. Logical, yes?

Or maybe you are business person, and you want to know if your latest direct ad campaign is bringing in customers. You would track the number of responses to the ad to see if it was effective and profitable. If not, changes will be made next time around.

In either situation, you are not going to just leave it to chance and let the chips fall where they may. You are going to measure.

If you have been following my food blog (http://getfitnhbootcamp.com/category/food-blog-dean/), you may have noticed that I changed things up a little this week. I have been on my present plan for a few weeks, my compliance has been high (this is critical – you can’t accurately measure if you are all over the place on one of the metrics) and I have detected a trend that is contrary to my goals. So it’s time to change up. I measure myself once a week: Scale weight and waist measurement. The tape tells me my bodyfat has most likely increased over the past couple of weeks (1/2″ increase on the waist measurement). Why? Most likely because I have eaten more grains than I was during my previous phase (I am very sensitive to non-fibrous carbs, not everyone is this way). Because I want to keep those grains in my diet, I have decided to eat my last meal before 6:00pm. How will I know if this was the right approach? The tape will tell me over the next couple of weeks!

If you are in our bootcamps, we encourage the same approach: Scale and waist measurement, once a week. Detect the trend over a 2-4 week period, and adjust food intake (up or down, depending on the goal) as necessary.

Critical Points:

• Be consistent – measuring once every two months is way too long. You could gain or lose  10 pounds in that amount of time and not even realize it.
• Be consistent Part II – weigh yourself at the same time of day in the same clothing; be as careful as you can to measure yourself in the same place every time – It takes practice!
• Be consistent Part III – As I mentioned above, you must KNOW what you are currently eating on a DAILY basis. It isn’t good enough to guess. Studies show that the average person trying to lose weight underestimates calorie intake by 25%!
• Don’t get discouraged – Discovering what is optimal for you can take time. That time will be reduced by, you guessed it, being consistent.
• Don’t think you have to make huge changes right way, IF you are following the points above. I eliminated one meal (snack) that averages about 250 calories. Not a huge change, but it may be all it takes. DON’T stop feeding your body by taking drastic measures.

Measure, analyze, adjust. Step-by-step, week-by-week.

Do you measure up?

Make It Happen!

Dean

Food Plan April 28, 2009

For a quick and easy way to prepare fajita’s, go visit your local Sam’s Club and pick up their pre-cooked steak or chicken fajita meat. Because it’s pre-cooked, sliced and spiced, it only takes a few minutes to reheat! Best of all it tastes great (but it isn’t less filling 🙂

4:30am:

• Water, Ultra 40 Protein, Mass Aminos

7:30am:

• 3 eggs sunny side up
• 1 cup oatmeal w/frozen strawberries and blueberries

10:00am

• 2 scoops UMP (Ultimate Muscle Protein) in water
• Super Pak Multivitamin

12:30pm

• Fajita Salad: greens, tomatoes, stir fried peppers and onions, 1/2 oz cheese, fajita steak

2:30pm

• 2 scoops UMP

5:00pm

• Crockpot Jambalya
• Spinach salad w/ oil&vinegar
• Mixed Veggies

Food Log April 27, 2009

4:30am:

• Water, Ultra 40 Protein, Mass Aminos

7:30am:

• Breakfast Burrito: 4 egg whites + 1 whole egg, 1/2 oz cheese, green pepper, red peppers, onions (veggies left over from Sat. night’s dinner)
• 1/2 Banana

10:00am

• 2 scoops UMP (Ultimate Muscle Protein) in water
• Super Pak Multivitamin

12:30pm

• Crockpot Jambalya
• Spinach salad w/ oil&vinegar

2:30pm

• 2 scoops UMP

4:30pm

• Workout Drink

5:30pm

• Super Shake

Thank-You

You ever have one of those days that by the time 8:00am rolls around you are ready to be done for the day? It’s not that got out of the wrong side of the bed, but it just seems like everyone and everything is out to get you?

For me today was one of those days. I don’t necessarily know why, it just was.

Did you catch that? I said it was, not it is…

You see I am learning (I can always do better) that it’s not what happens to you, but how you react to what happens to you that determines the quality of your life, and ultimately, your happiness.

So I was aggravated with what was going on.

But then I thought to myself “Wait a second, do you know how blessed you are? Snap out of it bonehead”.

And that’s why I want to thank you.

Because you are special. And you inspire me to be better.

You could be doing a zillion things right now, but you take the time to read our newsletters and blogs.

Instead of coming to bootcamp you could be sleeping in, or going to happy hour.

Instead you get up really early in the morning, come to bootcamp, and challenge your mind and body to get better.

Others of you come in the evening after a long hard day at work and put out 100% effort toward your goals.

Busy moms who change up their schedule, learn new ways of shopping and cooking in order to give their families a chance to be as healthy as possible.

You come because you want to be better.

You want more out of your health.

You want more out of your life.

You refuse to settle for the ordinary, but instead strive to reach your potential and exceed what you thought was possible.

I see it over and over again, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of it.

You are special.

Don’t ever forget it, because I never will.

Have a great day, and…

Keep Making It Happen!

Dean

Change is not Bad

Change of plans are okay. My wonderful new daughter in law is up visiting us while Tim is doing several job interviews. She is allergic to seafood and this weekends meal plans had seafood two times. So I did  a little rearranging to accommodate her. Meal plans are just that, they are plans but life happens and sometimes new plans need to be made. Sometimes you can’t foresee a change of plans. That is okay too. A plan makes you prepare for the meal. I have the food in the house to make that meal, I have arranged my meals so they contain different foods and we try new ones. But a change is not bad as long as you maintain focus for the reason the plan was set in place. Don’t replace a healthy meal, that has to be altered, for a lousy, unhealthy, fat laden, calorie dense one. Make wise decisions.

10:30 AM Apple

1 PM Thai Ground beef

3 PM banana bites

6 PM 4 venison meatballs and spaghetti squash

8PM ½ scoop chocolate protein powder and ½ tablespoon peanut butter

Friday

5AM 1 scoop vanilla UMP with water at training

8 AM 2 eggs, old fashion oats, spinach

10:30 orange, slice of banana bread

1 PM 3 venison meatballs and spaghetti squash

4 PM almonds, cashews, walnuts ¼ cup total

6 :30 ham, mixed veggies

8::30 protein powder and 1 Tablespoon peanutbutter

Saturday

8:30 2 eggs, bran muffin, ½ banana, spinach

11:45 1 protabello mushroom pizza

3 PM almonds ¼ cup

6 PM 1 ½ beef fajitas with onions, gr and red peppers, cheese, mango salsa, 6 tortilla chips

Food Log Saturday April 25, 2009

The most important days to plan are the weekends. No matter if you are staying around the house or going away for the weekend, you must know what you are eating and when. Set yourself up for success!

8:00am:

• 3 Eggs Easy Side Up
• Whole wheat and blueberry cake

10:30am:

• 2 scoops UMP
• Multivitamin

12:00pm

• Baked Ham
• Garden salad w/ oil & vinegar

2:30pm

• 2 scoops UMP

5:30pm

• Crockpot Jambalaya
• Garden salad w/ oil & vinegar

7:30pm

• 1 scoop UMP w/ 1 tablespoon peanut butter

Food Log April 24, 2009

4:30am:

• Water, Ultra 40 Protein, Mass Aminos

7:30am:

• Omelette: 4 egg whites + 1 whole egg, 1/2 oz cheese, spinach
• 1  cup rolled oatmeal w/ 1/2 cup blueberries/strawberries

10:00am

• 2 scoops UMP (Ultimate Muscle Protein) in water
• Super Pak Multivitamin

12:30pm

• Meatballs
• Spinach salad w/ oil&vinegar
• Spaghetti Squash

2:30pm

• 2 scoops UMP

4:30pm

• Workout Drink

5:30pm

• Super Shake

7:30pm

• 1 scoop vanilla UMP with 1/4 cup lowfat plan yogurt

Fat Burning Pasta – Can It Be?

Now you know how I feel about foods that make health claims, so let me make this disclaimer: There is NOTHING you eat that is a miracle or can be eaten without consideration of total caloric intake NOR do I endorse all the marketing tactics of this product. You can’t eat these noodles with a pound of sausage on them and expect to lose weight! However this product IS a very good choice when your are avoiding a lot of pasta and grains.

Earlier this week in class we talked about choosing carbs, particular grain products, that have more than 3 grams of fiber and less than 10 grams of sugar. If there is any “magic” it is the ability of fiber to keep you feeling full, your blood sugar stabilized and insulin at bay. This is why cruciferous green vegetables should be eaten often.

Without further adieu, let me introduce you to the Shirataki Noodle. This Asian noodle is easy to prepare, has the fiber and nutrient profile we are looking for, and works great in a ton of recipes that call for noodles or pasta.

You can ignore the “miracle” hyperbole, but check out the video as highlighted on the news, as well as a page from Men’s Health:

Here’s a tasty and health recipe from Nancy so you can put your new found noodle (k)nowledge to good use! 🙂

Pasta with Mushroom Marinara Sauce

2 (8 oz.) packages of Shirataki Noodle or Shirataki Fettuccine Shape
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. chopped garlic
2 1/2 cups (6 oz.) fresh sliced mushrooms
2 cups prepared marinara sauce
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Prepare noodles according to package directions below. Cut into 3 to 4-inch lengths. In non-stick skillet, toss noodles over medium-high heat until dry. Set aside. Heat oil in skillet, add garlic and mushrooms. Cook over high heat, stirrin continuously until mushrooms are golden. Add marinara sauce. Bring to a simmer, cook 3 minutes. Stir in noodles, cook 3 minutes. Garnish with basil. Serve with cheese (optional).

For more info on the shirataki noodle, visit http://www.miraclenoodle.com

Food Log April 23, 2009

4:30am:

• Water, Ultra 40 Protein, Mass Aminos

7:30am:

• Omelette: 4 egg whites + 1 whole egg, red peppers, mushrooms, green peppers
• 1  cup steel cut oatmeal w/ 1/2 cup blueberries/strawberries

10:00am

• 2 scoops UMP (Ultimate Muscle Protein) in water
• Super Pak Multivitamin

12:30pm

• Pot Roast
• Spinach salad w/ oil&vinegar
• Mock Mashed Potatoes

2:30pm

• 2 scoops UMP

5:00pm

• Roast Ham
• Spaghetti Squash
• Spinach salad w/ oil&vinegar

7:30pm

• 1 scoop vanilla UMP with 1/4 cup lowfat plan yogurt