Body for Life

Did I mention I did another 12 week Body for Life challenge? I finished a couple of weeks ago and IT WAS GREAT. This is a reasonable, healthy, do-able eating and exercise plan from the 90's. I've adapted and updated it a bit and it works so well for me. This time the Gent joined me and now we both feel better, are stronger, and have healthier bodies. Here's basically how I do it:

Exercise
cardio 3x week (brisk walk, cardio machine at the gym, whatever gets you motivated to move)
weight training and ab work 2x week (I do lower body one day and upper body one day)
I also throw in some yoga and sneak in other exercise (walk around the park while the kids play, family hike) where I can.

Eating
I eat five small meals a day, balancing lean protein and whole-grain carbs. I count fruit as carbs, and eat all the vegetables I want. Here's a sample day:

Breakfast: fruit and veggie smoothie, Greek yogurt
Snack: Kind bar or Nature Valley protein bar
Lunch: homemade chicken salad with fruit, 1 serving whole grain crackers, green beans
Snack: 1 serving cashews, 1 serving strawberries
Dinner: whole wheat spaghetti with marinara sauce and ground turkey, green salad

I do eat whole-grain carbs, but try to limit that to 2x a day. If I need/want another snack in the evening, I add that. If I have the munchies, I pop a bag of Kettle Corn popcorn. If I want a treat, I drink a La Croix or eat some frozen fruit sorbet (easy to make in the food processor: pulse frozen fruit, add a little water to get the right consistency, put in a bowl and freeze). The saving grace of Body for Life is the "free day"--for me this is usually Saturday. I take the day off from exercise and eat whatever I want. So whatever I've been craving, I just tell myself I can have it Saturday. This usually involves a pancake breakfast and ice cream in the afternoon!

I also drink 8-12 glasses of water a day, avoid caffeine (my personal preference), and try to get 7 hours of sleep a night, even though they're interrupted. I generally go to bed by 10:30pm and get up at 6am, with Thomas waking me up once or sometimes twice in there. My body does better staying on the same sleep/wake schedule.

Anyway, in 10 weeks I lost the last 3 pounds of baby weight plus 10 more and got back into my skinniest pair of skinny jeans. I'm pleased! If only I'd been in shape before I got pregnant it would have been easier. ;) Now to keep it up!