The sun felt so good this weekend.  I hope you were able to get outside and enjoy it.  It felt like the end of a long hibernation.  Have you started digging out the spring and summer clothes yet?  How do they fit?  How do you feel?  If you are ready to progress, I challenge you this week to get clear about your goals and your strategies for achieving them.  I thought I would share some of my favorite strategies with you and ask you to do the same.  What are some of yours?
 

1.  Schedule my workouts weekly.  I sit down with my appointment book every week and write down my workouts for the week.  If it is on my calendar I am much more likely to do it than if it is just floating around in my head.  I schedule my cardio and my strength training, whether in a class or on my own.  Write it down, schedule it, and don't give that time away.  Don't give the time away.  This is your time for your health and happiness.  Without it, you are not your best for everyone else.

2.  Prepare food on Sundays.  I would eat very badly if it weren't for this one crucial strategy.  I take about one hour and prepare food for the week.  This week I baked chicken, cooked salmon, made the broccoli cheese frittata (recipe below) and made tuna salad.  I also chopped 2 cucumbers for salads.  If you put them in salad dressing, they keep for days.  I am amazed at the things you can prepare ahead of time (or buy that way).  The key is to make it faster and easier than junk food.

3.  Check for added sugar in what I buy.  I no longer care about low fat or fat free.  I believe that was all a bunch of hype to make junk food look healthy.  I bought Snackwells cookies for years!  But is all this fat free stuff working?  Nope.  Now I am not talking about dairy.  When they make lower fat dairy, what happens is they skim the butterfat off the milk, then use the skim milk to make the yogurt, cheese, etc.  Good idea unless they are adding a bunch of sugar to make it taste better.  But making a cookie lower fat but adding twice the sugar?  Bad idea.  Our bodies actually react much worse to too much sugar than too much fat.  There are definitely good and bad fats, and I highly recommend the good ones.  But substituting tons of sugar for fat is not a good strategy.  Check your yogurt.  The one I buy has 3 grams of sugar and 8 grams of protein and it's delicious.

4.  When out to eat, minimize the sides.  That's where all the calories are.  In the potatoes, rice, pasta, and bread.  You can eat at any restaurant anywhere and get a pretty healthy meal if you order a lean protein, a vegetable and a side salad.  Doesn't a petite filet, grilled asparagus, and a chopped salad sound good?  Or grilled chicken on a salad with veggies and balsamic?  Have ideas of what to order and stick with them.  You can have a pile of potatoes, rice, pasta or bread anywhere.  Make dining out a treat and order things that have more taste and nutrition.

5.  Have a list of places to go when you I'm on the run.  One of my favorite fast food stops is Arby's.  I get a Jr. Roast Beef and a Diet Coke.  It's $2 and 200 calories.  Not a whole lot of nutrition, but definitely better than a burger and fries.  I don't like the fries there so they don't tempt me, either.  Come up with three choices that you can default to when you are in a hurry, can't think, or just need something quick in the car.  Get online and find out the calorie value.  Then make those three choices your default.  Fast food is OK for something quick, just be prepared and follow your plan.  It doesn't have to wreck your calories for the day.

6.  Find random ways to get your strength training done.  You do not have to set aside an hour to work your arms.  You don't need to put on workout clothes or change your shoes.  You just have to pick up a weight and do a few sets of an exercise.  If you don't have them, buy a pair of 8 pound weights and keep them handy during your day.  Need a break from what you are doing?  Instead of wandering to the kitchen or candy machine, do a few sets of triceps or shoulder exercises.  You will feel so much better about yourself.

I have lots of others that I have found worked for me over the years whether I was trying to lose weight or maintain.  At the heart of each of these is a false belief that I struggled under such as:

• Fast food is not allowed
• If I don't work out 45 minutes, it's not worth doing
• Eat anything as long as it is fat free
• All this food on my plate at this restaurant couldn't possibly add up to 1800 calories
• I don't need to plan, I'll get my cardio in when I have free time

I am sure you can identify many of your own false beliefs that have turned into a long list of repressive rules under which you are attempting to live and lose weight.  That is just not the way to live and thrive!  Rules never create change.  Change comes from filling up with so much good, healthy stuff that the junk is no longer appealing.  Remember the truth and find strategies that work for you.

Now get moving!
 

Broccoli Cheese Fritatta
 6 egg whites and two whole eggs (or 2 cups egg whites from carton)
2 tbsp skim milk

Fresh chopped broccoli (whole head)

1 cup shredded carrots
¼ cup crumbled Feta cheese

¼ cup Shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tbsp ground Flax Seed

Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and pepper

Put eggs in a bowl.  Add milk.  Whip.
Add chopped broccoli and shredded carrots.
Eggs should almost cover veggies.
Add crumbled feta cheese and shredded cheddar.

Add flax seed, salt and pepper.  Stir.                                              

Non-stick spray a large baking dish.  Pour mixture in.  Leave a little room at the top.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes to one hour.
4 servings, 150 calories per serving.  Keeps well in fridge.

If you can't hold for a whole minute at first, take breaks and build up to it.  Great job!!