Only ONE Shake A Day?!

This is a question I get a lot. The way it's asked varies but it's still the same premise: How do you lose weight if you only do Shakeology ONCE a day?

Answer? Without secretly starving yourself.

I usually hate math but it helps make my point so *deep breath* here it goes...

The average person probably needs to eat a minimum of 1500 calories a day to LOSE WEIGHT at a healthy rate. That might be higher for you if you're more active or have a higher Basal Metabolic Rate. But we're going to stick with 1500 because it's in the middle.

That means if you eat 3 meals a day they should each be 500 calories. What's an example of a 500 calorie meal?

Click for recipe

Seared Chicken with Apricot Sauce
1/2 steamed broccoli with lemon
1/2 steamed spinach with lemon
Cheesy broccoli potato mash
Banana pudding pop


Okay, back to the shakes!
Those 2 a day shakes usually run 90 calories. The instructions say to eat a sensible dinner. So let's use our 500 calorie dinner above as our "sensible dinner."

90 + 90 + 500 = 680 calories

Not even one thousand calories for the ENTIRE DAY. That, ladies and gentlemen, is starving.

Even if you have a couple of snacks, and assume those snacks are 100 calories each, you still don't hit 1000 calories.

That's why people gain weight back after they stop their "shake diet." Your body has been starving and when you start truly feeding it again (with your healthy 1500 calories) it will hold on to everything because it's in a panic. When you go from eating 600-800 calories back to 1500 it doesn't matter how healthy you're eating...your body freaks out.

How does this change with Shakeology?

The big point is that Shakeology is more calories. We've been drinking the Chocolate Vegan so I'll use that in this comparison. It's 170 calories. Plus, the nutrition can't be beat! Check out the ingredient list!!

We want you to learn to eat healthy food! That means ACTUALLY EATING! So if we go with the "500 calorie healthy meal" assumption the math looks like this:

170 + 500 + 500 = 1170

MUCH closer. You could easily maintain this for a few weeks to jumpstart your weight loss and then add in healthy snacks to bump up to where you need to be for calories. Going from 1200 to 1500 isn't going to be as much of a shock to your system!

To learn more about the awesomeness that is Shakeology click here! Remember that I'm not a medical professional and I can only speak from experience!

Baby Steps to Better Health

I've been meaning to do this one for awhile. I know when I started changing my lifestyle I floundered a bit. "Where do I start?" is a big question. It's hard to know how to get started STRONG without inviting burnout.

If you go through and toss every junk food in your house, replace it with healthy food, and tell yourself you'll NEVER EAT BAD FOOD AGAIN you'll probably do fine for a few days. Some of you will do fine for a week or two. Eventually, though, you'll resent not being able to eat your favorite foods. You'll binge, feel like you failed, and give up for a few weeks only to do it all over again. It's common!

So here are a few baby steps to get you started!

1) Food Journal. When you start out don't worry about calories. This is more for volume and type of food. Put times on here. You may realize that your "weak spot" is in the evening (it is for me) or that you eat most of your calories at dinner after barely eating all day. Track for 1 week and put "bites" in there. 1 bite of a cookie throughout the day isn't a big deal...10 bites throughout the day is a serving of cookies and a bigger deal.

2) Choose Water. You can have your coffee but try to avoid fancy coffeehouse drinks. Those are LOADED with fat and calories and you should only have them if you work it into your plan for the day. (They're TREATS for me) Making your coffee at home will also save you money! Stop drinking sodas and juice! No one NEEDS juice! If you want a serving of fruit have an actual piece of fruit! You should be drinking 1oz per pound of body weight in water. Yep, that's a lot! You can add lemon/lime/cucumber to it for flavoring but try to ONLY drink water.

3) Protein Breakfast. Eat breakfast! This was the HARDEST for me. Try to eat close to 400 calories for breakfast and make them mostly protein. When I first started out I had to eat in shifts. I would make breakfast, eat half of it, wait an hour, and eat the other half. Now I devour breakfast! This is going to jumpstart your metabolism for the day!

4) Make Smart Swaps! Click on that to get 10 things you can swap to make healthier choices!

5) Get Sneaky. Top 10 Ways to Sneak in Exercise.


Those are 5 things to get you started this week! Next week we'll do "Toddler Steps To Better Health!"

Come on over to Kas Fitness and check in with us! Do you need advice or motivation? We're there for you!!
https://www.facebook.com/KasFitness

Bad Habits, Blog Series, and RevAbs

Bad habits are HARD to break. I'm not even talking about things like smoking or whatever...I'm talking about emotional habits.

I have a history of depression and anxiety. Over the years I've come to fight against it a lot. But, honestly, a lot of it is ingrained habit now. When I have a hard day, get bad news, get frustrated, etc... my first instinct is to curl up in a ball and WALLOW in that feeling. Truly, I have so much to be thankful for and, if I fight, can avoid giving in to the wallowing...but the feeling is still there. It's a habit just like anything else! Did you know you can have EMOTIONAL Habits?

Moving on...

I get a lot of questions about what I eat and how much we spend. Basically, we try to keep it at about $500 per month for the 4 of us. That does NOT include eating out money. That is an entirely different fund. Our Food Budget includes raw milk in it so the amount spent at the grocery store is less than that $500.

So, I've decided to do a blog series for July where I track our purchases and meals made with those purchases. Yes, this means you'll get to see when I sneak in junk food and when I throw up my hands and say "I'm not cooking tonight" at the end of a hard day! No, I don't buy totally organic produce (I don't even stick to the dirty dozen...I know...fail) but if you're on a super tight budget this series will be for YOU. Hopefully I can help you make some healthy choices and learn to shop a little more efficiently.

The first post will include a list of things I ALREADY HAVE. I'll tell you right now that the shrimp and chicken breasts were on SALE when I bought them...normally those are too expensive for my taste. Are you excited?

Expect some photo updates every 30 days or so as you follow my and my husband's RevAbs journeys. I'm loving this workout so far. Brett has charisma even through the screen. I'll tell you that phase one is already changing my body and I'm only about a week into it.


Which update are you most excited about?

Hungry But Not Starving

I'm hungry...all the time.

I'm also eating...all the time.

I'll be honest and tell you that this is sort of weird for me.

The last time I was hungry all the time I was eating 500-800 calories a day. Now I eat a minimum of 1700.

I have a metabolism. I'm not sure I've had a functioning metabolism for the last 10+ years. No, I'm totally serious here.

How did I do it? How can you replicate it?

1) Eat a filling, protein rich breakfast.
You should aim for 400 calories. A wrap with egg whites, avocado, potato, and veggies is perfect (just measure things out so you're in your calorie range) The first WEEK I did this I couldn't finish it. I'd eat half, wait an hour or so, and then eat the other half. Now I easily inhale my breakfast and wake up HUNGRY!

2) Eat every 2-4 hours.
Yep, even if you're not hungry. Eat SOMETHING. Even if you just eat an apple or have a small glass of milk. Think of hunger like a scale of 1-10. 1 is so starving you think you're dying and 10 is so full you could puke. You want to stay in the 4-6 range as much as possible. If you get to 2-3 you're more likely to overeat and end up in 8-9. (okay, enough numbers!) Eat frequently.

3) Stay hydrated.
Seriously. Drinking 8 glasses of water a day isn't enough for everyone. Aim for 1oz per pound of body weight. More if it's hot or if you're working out or if you just feel thirsty!

4) Exercise regularly.
Once you fuel the fire you need to keep it running....by running (or weight lifting or dancing or or or...just MOVE)

5) Give it time.
If you eat tomorrow and wake up the next day and don't feel hungry don't think you've failed. It takes time. Just keep at it!

Top 10 Chocolate Shakeology Recipes

These are my favorite Chocolate Shakeology Recipes! Yes, I've tried them all and they're all fantastic! I love that Shakeology gives me variety!

Click to learn more about Shakeology!

All are made with one scoop/packet of Chocolate Shakeology in a blender. All include ice to taste!

1) Peanut Butter Cup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1 Tbl peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

2) Chocolate Minty

1 tsp mint extract

1 cup water

3) Chocolate Bananas Foster

1 banana

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp rum extract

1 cup milk

4) Mocha Chiller

1 cup cold coffee

1 tsp cinnamon

5) Post Workout Recovery (my own recipe)

1 cup water

1/4 tsp sea salt

6) Cheeky Monkey (my own recipe)

1 banana

1/2 tsp coconut extract

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

7) Salted Caramel

1 cup milk

1 tsp caramel extract

1 dash sea salt

8) Maple Buttercup

1 Tbsp peanut butter

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 cup milk

9) Cinna-Nutter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp peanut butter

1 cup milk

10) Straight Up!

Just add water or milk!

Linking up!

Top Ten Tuesday

Such a simple link-up!




Ten Easy Ways to Sneak in Exercise!

1) Take the stairs: This is a common one to hear right? Seriously though, taking the stairs every day will burn extra calories.

2) Stand more often: On the phone? Walk around. Waiting for an appointment? Pace

3) Fidget: Tap your toes, stretch your hands above your head, swivel in your chair (if appropriate)

4) Calf Raises: Standing in line? Put your feet hip width apart and raise up on your toes several times (slow and controlled) So what if you look silly? Your calves will look awesome!

5) Squeeze a stress ball: Not only will you burn stress but you'll burn calories and strengthen your forearms.

6) Have stairs in your home? Take 7 mins: And do this simple stair workout

7) Dance like a crazy person: Getting ready for a date or for work? Put on something that pumps you up and dance around while you get ready. You'll get pumped and burn a few calories.

8) Carry your own groceries: Only getting a handful of things from the store? Carry your bags to the car instead of using a cart. Speaking of the car...

9) Park at the back of the parking lot! You won't have to fight for a space AND you'll burn more calories.

10) Or you can just plan for it! Check out my website and find a workout you think you'll love and DO IT!

Come over to Kas Fitness! We're almost at 100 fans.

Will Your Resolutions Fail?

Recently there was an article at Cracked.com (For Mature Audiences. The language and topics tend to be racy) that discussed the common reasons for failure in New Year's Resolutions. Did yours fail last year? See how many of these resemble you...

Mistake: Setting Vague Goals
I think everyone I've seen on Facebook has done this one year or another. Things like "eat healthier" or "lose weight" or "start exercising more" are in this list. I'm going to look at "start exercising more." What is "more" to you? Are you not exercising at all right now? Do you count taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work exercise? Are you going to exercise 10mins once a month? (That's "more" if you're not doing anything at all right now) 20mins a week? 30mins a day?

Remedy: Set a Concrete Goal
Using the above "goal" as a reference, a better goal would be "I resolve to exercise 10mins a day, 3 days a week." Now you have a time goal and a day goal.


Mistake: Trapping Others in Your Resolution
I'm guilty of this one. The goal of "eat healthier" carries into this one if you have a family because you know you're going to purge the house of all the JUNK. If you vow to never drink soda again (a great goal by the way) your family should be in on the decision so they don't come home with a 6-pack of Coke and torture you by drinking it in front of you.

Remedy: Make the Decision Together.
You're more likely to keep one of these resolutions if you make the decision as a family. Does everyone want to travel? Great! Make a list and choose a few places. Does everyone need to get healthy? It's time to get honest about the pitfalls in your diet and exercise and change TOGETHER.


Mistake: Not Doing Homework First
How much weight is healthy to lose in a week? Answer: 1-2lbs. Seriously. If you're obese you will probably lose more initially but it will taper off. You can't expect to pull "Biggest Loser" numbers here in the real world. And you shouldn't get discouraged when you don't!

Remedy: Do Your Research
Set a goal like "Lose 4lbs each month" and you're set. That's a healthy loss (1lb a week) and you'll still have lost over 50lbs by the end of the year. If you have more weight to lose you can double it and lose 100 POUNDS by Dec 31, 2012. Yep, I'm totally serious.


Mistake: Going All Out
I'm all for being gung-ho and excited. But if you start a marathon running at top speed you won't make it very far. If you jump up on January 1st and decide you're going to start running that's fine...but if you're not in peak physical condition you may need to start with intervals. You've heard me talk about P90X on this blog before. I love the program. But I'll be the first one to tell you that it is NOT a beginner program. Yes, you can modify, but it's not the best program for someone just starting to exercise. What happens to a lot of people is they start a new INTENSE exercise program and find that they can't keep up. Maybe they don't have time to workout an hour each day, maybe they wake up sore too often and give up, or maybe they just don't like whatever workout they think they're "supposed" to do. (I hear this about running...)

Remedy: Baby Steps!
Is your goal to exercise? Start with 10mins a day a few days a week. When that gets easy you can up it to more days or more time. Want to eat healthy? Try a new recipe with a new veggie. If you make small changes you can be a new person by the end of the year!


Mistake: Failing to Know Yourself
One of the mistakes that *I* made with P90X is under this heading. I thought "I'll do it at night after the kids go to bed." Yeah, that lasted 3 weeks. Several nights I didn't get into bed until 11pm (Hey, that's late for me) because the baby wouldn't sleep and I still had an hour long workout to do. When I tried to do it during the day I had kids running off with my weights. (Or, in one case, dropping them on me...) It just wasn't for me.

Remedy: Plan Better
This year I'm beginning the year with Slim in 6. It's a 6 week program with intense 30min workouts. THAT I can do!


So what are your resolutions? Remember: "He who fails to plan is planning to fail" ~ Winston Churchill

Stair Workout

Seriously. I challenged myself to get a quick workout in using nothing but my stairs and imagination. I did and I feel it today!

Equipment:
- Timer (I used my phone)
- Stairs (You could probably use a small set but I have an upstairs so it's a large set)
- Workout clothes if you want...I put on a sports bra and didn't change out of my jeans.

Workout:
These are each done in 1min increments. The cool thing is that if you're less in shape you can half it (30s each) and if you're in great shape you can double it (2min each).

- Running stairs (up and down)
- Pushups (Lean forward on the stairs)
- Forward Bends (I stood at the bottom and touched the bottom step. Kind of like a dead lift...do it slowly)
- Deep Squats (Again, standing at the bottom. Squat down until you're almost sitting on the bottom step. Knees over toes.)
- Plyo Step Ups (Kind of like this: http://youtu.be/2-IvoOYxt04 But I wasn't jumping as high. Just tap and switch)
- Regular Step Ups (30s each leg http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exercises.asp?exercise=25)
- Crunches (I laid on the floor and put my legs on the stairs at a 90 degree angle...so for me that was laying them on the 2nd step)

DONE! Try it!

But I worked out! I can eat it! Right?

This is a common belief! "I did X workout! I can eat an extra helping/slice of cake/candy bar!"

Source: cooklisacook.blogspot.com via Kasondra on Pinterest

Not if you want results.

The average INTENSE workout is going to burn 500-600 calories (average woman); the average dessert is double that.

Did you REALLY do yourself a favor there?

This is another thing that Beachbody handles for you! If you become a Club Member you get all sorts of neat discounts AND they'll do a meal plan for you! So, not only will they figure out how many calories you need to be eating, but they'll tell you WHAT you need to be eating too. It also makes up a shopping list! How cool is that?

I figured out that to LOSE WEIGHT doing P90X I still needed to be eating 2400 calories a day..but it had to be the right foods. I can't eat 2400 calories worth of Oreos and expect results. There's a protein/fat/carb ratio involved.

Have you signed up as a Club Member? Would you be interested in a meal plan and discounts?

"Eat Every Few Hours" But WHY?!

It's on every diet website: Eating every few hours (instead of 3 squares) can help you lose weight!

But how?! Wouldn't eating more food mean more calories and, therefore, more weight gain? Well, yes...but then you're not doing it right.

Beachbody actually cleared this up for me!

Think of hunger on a scale. 1 is STARVING and 10 is STUFFED. Ideal is 5-7. Most people wait until they're at 2-3 before they eat and don't stop eating until they're 9 or above.

Eating every few hours means that you always stay in the 6ish range. You're not STARVING so you're not eating a ton and if you stop after a moderate amount you're not eating until you're STUFFED. Believe it or not, you'll actually start eating less food!

How many times do you eat a day? Do you pay attention to how hungry you are and how stuffed you feel?

The Scale (insert foreboading music)

It's actually a bit of a controversial topic...How often should you weigh yourself?

I'm going to give you MY opinion.

I'll be honest, I chucked the scale years ago. I weigh myself if I'm somewhere with a scale (family, gym, etc...) but I don't own one and I don't plan to buy one.

I, like most people, get obsessed with the number. That number can dictate my entire day. Up a pound? Horrible day. Down a pound? Fantastic day. No change? Probably a horrible day.

It's sad, but very true and very common.

Some people will tell you to weigh yourself weekly. I still think this is a bad idea...especially for women. Our weight is affected my hormones! PMS can cause weight gain. Yes, there are things you can do to help prevent this (diet, exercise, extra water) but you can't prevent it totally. Weight training can also mess with the numbers.

A pound of muscle is not as big as a pound of fat. So you might not look different when you start weight training, but the numbers may go up. You may go down 2 pants sizes but be HEAVIER than when you started.

I recommend having a goal SIZE or an EXERCISE goal. Are you a size 12? Buy a size 10 pair of pants and try them on once a month. Or, take pictures at the first of each month and compare your progress. Or make it a goal to increase your endurance (Do you take fewer rest breaks during that intense video? That's progress!!)

If you want to weigh yourself I would say do it once a month. I know that's radical! I know that's difficult! I also know that it can be done!

*Disclaimer: If you have a medical condition that requires weight monitoring then listen to your DOCTOR instead of me! I know a woman who had her thyroid removed and now has to weigh herself each morning because a large fluctuation can indicate a serious problem. Always always know your limits.

What do you think? Do you own a scale? How often do you weigh in? Do you let numbers dictate your day?

Should WOMEN lift weights?

"I don't want to look like a man."

"I don't want to get bulky."

"I just want to be skinny!"


Then lift weights. Heavy ones.

Seriously, barring medical injury there is no reason women should not hit the weights.

Myth: I'll get manly muscles.

Fact: Only if you use steroids (and you shouldn't do that). Women don't have the testosterone to get big and manly muscles. We CAN get larger muscles and intense sculpting like other female body builders...but the amount of time spent in the gym (and the crazy diet required) isn't something that anyone does 100% of the time. You'll get lean, sculpted, sexy muscles and lower your body fat percentage.

Myth: If I stop weight training the muscle I develop will turn to fat!

Fact: Muscle cells and fat cells are two DIFFERENT TYPES OF CELL. I've heard this one since junior high...your muscle cells cannot become fat cells any more than your heart cells can spontaneously become brain cells. I mean, I guess it could happen...but you should see a doctor about it.

I recommend this guy. Source