Biggest Loser: Week 1
Guys, we are ONE week down. How did it go? Have you lost weight? I did really well in the beginning of the week, planned out my meals and workouts but didn’t plan it for the weekend. And guess what? I did terribly this weekend and probably gained a pound back (I’m too scared to check!). But I learned my lesson. To have success, you must plan ahead. I also learned a couple other things this week. Found a couple things that really worked and thought I’d share them with you!
- Like I said earlier, success starts with planning. So, plan out ALL of your meals and snacks ahead of time. Then prepare as much as possible ahead of time. Also, schedule your workouts. Side note: I went to a fitness dance class this week and it was so fun! I was the most out of shape person there which was kind of embarrassing, but I still enjoyed it!
- Make snack bags! Last Monday, I cut up and bagged up all the veggies I wanted to eat every day. Then each day, all I had to was grab the new baggie and just snack on those through the day if I was getting hungry. I also washed my fruit ahead of time and bagged up servings of grapes too. Snacking is really what gets me in trouble so having those baggies ready really helped.
- Drink tons of water. Whenever I felt hungry for a snack, I tried to drink a big glass of water first.
- Keep track of what you eat. I use the app MyFitnessPal on my phone (you can also do it on their website) and track everything! It looks at the nutrition breakdown too, which gets really addicting. It turns out I eat way too much sugar (duh!), never enough potassium, and at first not enough protein. So, to fix the protein deficiency, I decided to add more to my breakfast. I’m one who typically skips breakfast or just will snack on some dry cereal. But this week I really made an effort to eat a big breakfast everyday. Most days I ate a hard boiled egg white, turkey sausage links, light & fit vanilla Greek Yogurt sprinkled with oats (I like that for the texture), and a cup of carbmaster chocolate milk. That big breakfast prevented me from snacking every day in the morning/early afternoon,gave me a lot of energy, and got me 100% of my DV of protein! Seriously, get the app, it’s awesome. And add me as friend on there!
- Have a support system! I got TJ on board with me (he’s not doing the competition though because if we BOTH won, it would look like we rigged the whole thing haha!) and was open and up front with him about my weight. I don’t know if I have ever told him what I’ve weighed in the past, it just has seemed embarrassing. But he told me his weight, his goal weight, and so I did the exact same. Then when we have success we can cheer each other on and also find ways to eat healthy and exercise together! Oh, and talking about success… he’s down two pounds and I’m down five! Yeah!
Good luck on week 2! I guess I shouldn’t be sharing what worked for me because I don’t want you guys to beat me! But hopefully you all can share with me any other tips you guys have… Maybe you can give me tips on how to do well on the weekend. I have it in my mind that weekend=cheat days but if I cheat for 2.5 days a week then I’m going to definitely fail. Help!
I usually plan my cheats ahead too – I’m gonna eat a bucket of popcorn on Sunday night. That’s just fact. It’s easier for me to eat well during the day on Sunday because I know my popcorn is coming! Also hi I didn’t lose a single pound last week but good news I didn’t gain a pound either so that’s nice.
At dinner I have to get my portion and then put the rest away or I’ll want seconds. I think the hardest thing for me is distinguishing if I’m actually hungry or if I just want to eat more food because it tastes good or I’m bored. I’ve also stopped eating snacks after dinner. I gained so much over the holidays it’s great to be losing some!