Alana lost an additional 5 pounds from when we originally shared her story last month, for a total of 70 pounds. I asked her to tell us more about her eating habits and she provided a great deal of detail. She has embraced the Flexitarian lifestyle. Check it out!
“Losing the weight and maintaining can be challenging, especially if you are not aware of what to eat and when to eat certain foods. To lose the weight, I became a Flexitarian. What’s a Flexitarian? It is when you go meatless most of the time, and you’ll lose weight and get healthy with ease. I only eat meat when my body craves the protein. If I do eat meat products, I try to stick to Chicken, Fish or Turkey. Very rarely will I eat red meat or touch any pork. Studies show that both vegetarians and semi-flexitarian women have lower BMIs (body mass indexes) than women who regularly eat meat. When I cut red meat and pork out of my diet, I had more energy. There has been a change in my body and I noticed my mid-section (stomach) has gotten flatter. (I get asked daily, how to get a flatter stomach.) Certain meats take longer to digest in our bodies and to lose the stomach it is 90% what we eat and 10% exercise. You can do crunches all day but until you change what you consume, all you will have is a six-pack under your belly fat. This is not what you want. The goal is to turn your fat into muscle.
I am a big fruit eater and sometimes I will substitute a meal with a plate of various fruits and veggies. If I’m not eating whole fruits, I’m drinking a smoothie that contains all the nutrients I need and will add multi-vitamins or antioxidants to my smoothies. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you need this to function. Your body is in starvation mode while you are sleeping so you need food to rebuild your energy. Now, with that all being said, I am a chocolate lover. I don’t deprive my body of all sweets, I just know when to eat them. You should treat your body, because what will happen is you will start to over indulge when you come in contact with the things you love to eat. Pick a day out of the week where you will eat those delicacies that you cannot eat on a daily basis. My day is Sunday. Why? Because I know I go hard on Monday with my workout.
Just to give you an example of my day on Mondays, look below: (I’m a night owl because I teach majority in the evenings so the times will seem a little late for some.) I have to wind down off my natural energy so I go to bed a little later and get up a little later in the mornings. Also, water is very important. Water washes the fat out of your body and helps with digestion and the functioning of your major organs.
9:30-10am Breakfast
Croissant with Omega3 eggs and 1 slice of cheese. (I make this into a breakfast sandwich)
Water, Orange Juice or Cranberry Juice
10:30am Snack
Granola Bar with Water 16.9 oz
12pm Lunch
Salmon Burger with Wheat Bread.. Apply light ketchup with fruit on the side
Or a plate of veggies and fruit
Water 16.9 oz
1pm #GetPulsed
Teach a 1 hour high impact Zumba Class (Burn between 800-950 calories per class)
(By now I have burned off majority everything I have eaten earlier. Because I teach another class 3 hours later, I try not to eat too heavy but enough to sustain)
Drinking two bottles of 16.9oz of water during class.
2:30pm For Energy
Fruit Smoothie with vitamins “Eat to live , not Live to Eat”
3:30pm Snack
Granola bar with water 16.9 oz
4:00pm Mid-day Meal
Salad with chicken and ranch dressing. Watch what you put on your salad. It can up the calories. Water or natural fruit juice
4:30pm #GetPulsed
I take a body works class for toning (Burn between 550-650 calories per class)
Drinking plenty of water
5:45pm #Get Pulsed
Teach a 1 hour high impact Zumba Class (Burn between 800-950 calories per class)
Drinking two bottles of 16.9oz of water
7:00pm Dinner
Baked Fish with Spanish Rice
Natural juice…
9:30pm #GetPulsed
Night toning exercises (burn 350-400 calories)
Water 16.9 oz
If I snack, I will eat some grapes or popcorn with no salt. All carbs are not bad. You actually need carbs to build muscle. You should get to know your body. Every body type is different and your exercise structure should fit you. Don’t compare yourself to someone else. Try to gradually eliminate those foods that are bad for you. Start by eating less of them to eventually only consuming twice a month. Being healthy is a lifestyle. We want to be here for our children, family and friends. Your body is a temple and you only have one, so take care of if. Feel free to ask me questions at www.Facebook.com/GetPulsedFitness. Let’s do this together!
sarah says
Congrats. You look wonderful. Just wanted to add that fat cannot be turned into muscle and muscle will never turn into fat.Muscle and fat can both be either lost or gained but they cannot turned into one another. Two different types of tissue.
Barbara says
Congratulation; You really look good. Thanks for sharing. From now on I’m using your phrase “I’m eating to lose weight” It’s straight to the point. I’ve been saying Flexitarian for some time now, because I have vegetarian days, raw food days, carnivore days and juice fasting days. Your teaching workout schedule is crazy. LOL