I've been Setback!!!

Eating right and working out is hard. Eating right and working out is hard when you have a tight schedule. Eating right and working out is hard when you have a tight schedule, are lacking sleep and just down right down feel like it. What’s harder is feeling like you fell off and have no way to return; when you feel like you’ve failed. (Sigh)
This weekend I had a photo shoot with my favorite photographer and my Radio Show Co-Host (Speak on That coming soon to blogtalkradio.com). We chose red dresses for one look; RED is my favorite color! I bought this dress two months ago and let me tell you, I look HOT in it!!

As I slid the dress on and zipped it up, I found out that I had gained weight in EVERYONE’S favorite spot . . . yes, the midsection, the belly, the dreaded abdominal devil had expanded just enough to make me say, “AW MAN” and at that point, I hated my favorite red dress. I didn't even NEED a spanx or ANYTHING to hold it in just TWO months ago. Now I’m thinking, “I’m here, I don’t have a back up red dress, WTH do I do?” I go for the suck in and PRAY that it doesn’t look that bad in the pictures. Do you know what happens when you suck it in? You look stiff and fake and scared and like you’re not breathing . . . makes it hard to look natural in pictures; my advice, don’t do it, no matter how good you think you look, it just makes you look like . . . uh, you’re sucking it in. (Sigh)

So now, I’m sitting here evaluating what did I do wrong? I’m drinking my water, I’m going Zumba crazy, eating good food, eating often . . . wait, how much did I eat? My new beau is a chef and has been making the best meals. Only one problem, he doesn’t know how NOT to fix me a huge plate of food and I’m bad at saying, “I’ve had enough” especially when it’s so good. And yes, I, even I have slacked on the weight training because of a tremendously busy schedule. Key Key, you’ve got to make a choice honey. I’ll admit, I went on scolding myself and then gave myself the “yo, snap out of it” look in the mirror. This is a minor setback that I can come back from. I just have to reorganize my schedule and tell some people and things, “No, can’t do it. I’m busy taking care of myself.” My schedule is already packed pretty tight (actually it’s being held hostage by my full time 9 to 5, but let’s not go there). Last summer, I was weight training on my lunch hour and doing cardio at home. That’s not hard is it? Nope, it just means going back to being diligent and going to the gym the same way I come to work every morning (I love seeing nice, hunky men sweating and grunting . . . oh, sorry, sometimes that is the extra motivation).

Let me just say, I want to beat myself up so badly and say to hell with it all but then I remember how good I feel now compared to how I used to feel. I admittedly think about the people I know that say to me, “I wish I could look like you” and I really want people to keep saying that. I like going into a store and being able to fit a regular size and even more than that, I think of how I’ve lowered my risk for a myriad of diseases that plague my family like Type II Diabetes, High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure, Gout, Migraines due to poor food choices, increased adult acne, chronic fatigue, joint problems because of weight, asthma, and on and on . . . That’s when I remember that it’s just a minor setback. We can come back. SO . . . if you didn’t do so well on the food challenge the past two weeks, let’s try again. This time, You may eat food outside of your house on the weekends (except fast food) but TRY really hard to be sure you fill up the food chart, eating vegetables and fruit. AND DON’T FORGET THAT WATER!!!

The next installment will be “What you don’t know about food.” You’d be surprised at how some foods we eat are marked as “Healthy” but some of them turn out to be the culprits in our diet. One that you’ve probably had recently: Cereal. I know, I’m getting ready to ruin your life over cereal but trust me on this one.

Keyona
#PixieDustPotent

Would you starve your children?

Would you starve your children? Would you let them leave the house without eating anything? For the mothers who adore their babies, they would never let their babies leave the house with empty bellies or something to eat on the way to day care or school. So, why do we leave the house without eating? Be honest, do you eat breakfast? No, no . . I don’t mean once you get to work, I mean within an hour of getting out of bed, do you have your first meal? No? Nothing? Not even a piece of fruit, a cup of water or juice, NOTHING?!?!?! If you skip breakfast, you are hurting your chances of having that killer metabolism we all want. “Oh, I just can’t eat that early!” Okay, let’s consider your food timeline.
What time was the last meal you ate yesterday? Count the hours to your first meal of the day.
If the last time you ate was oh, let’s say 8:00 pm. You went to sleep, slept good too, woke up to get yourself ready for work. Most of us leave the house about 7:30 so think about this, if you haven’t eaten yet, by the time you get to work, it’s already been 12 hours since you ate! Are you trying to starve yourself??!?! If you wait until 10 or even worse, lunch at 12, you are now evil, hungry, slow and unproductive. Now, let’s go back to my first question: Would you starve your children? If your answer is no (which I really hope it is), then let’s not forget to take care of ourselves and eat some breakfast.
Uh huh, that’s a long time isn’t it if you don’t eat breakfast. Even if you wait till you buy something at work, the stress of the commute has probably made you more irritable and stressed and you don’t even have anything in your stomach to combat that but the sound of growling!!!
According to Mayo Clinic Nutritionist, Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D., “Eating breakfast reduces your hunger later in the day, making it easier to avoid overeating.”

You know you go looking for the biggest donut to fill that hole in your stomach . . . yes YOU!! Okay, maybe that was me, sorry. But I don’t want my people passing out at work, trying to stay awake in the 9 o’clock meeting but fading fast, head ‘bout to hit the desk because you don’t have any food in your system. Food has calories; calories = energy. That’s energy to tell these people, “This meeting has gone on long enough and nothing has been accomplished.” Ooops, there I go again, inside voice jumping outside.
When you eat breakfast, you tell your body, your metabolism, “Hey everybody, we’re making moves, get ready to conquer the world!” Your body knows to burn the calories, use it for brain power, muscle strength, burn the fat. Oh, what should you eat? This is my favorite part. Eat a whole meal; none of that a little yogurt, a piece of fruit or toast mess. Eat some real food. Cook some eggs and bacon for a good protein fix. I often have salmon and vegetables in the morning; yes, I’m for real. It gives me the Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin D that doctors say we need to help combat a number of health issues.

So, I’m begging you, don’t starve your “child” in the morning and send them off into the world with nothing to fight with.