Today is February 14th 2023, Valentine's Day. It's Tuesday morning and it's really cold in Georgia. 36 degrees is hat and gloves weather and definitely moisturizer weather---chapstick, Vaseline, castor oil--- all of that. I feel good this morning even though I'm a little dehydrated.
This week, I am eating 5 meals a day. This is very different from how I ate just a week ago before beginning this program! Before, 3 standard meals a day, and the 2 "meals" in between would have been considered "snacks". This program requires eating a balanced meal with protein and vegetables and minimal starchy carbs. MINIMAL STARCHY CARBS-----this is challenging for Caribbean people! We are used to putting rice and potato or a starchy ground vegetable (Cassava, yam, yucca, etc.) with every meal, and then, criticize those who don't indulge in a high-sugar diet plan! The meal plan prevents "hunger" (which is an emotional cue) by advising 5 meals in the day for consistent energy.
My training session last night was actually my day one on the training schedule with J. Lopez and it was my first time getting to the gym at 10:00 p.m. and working out until almost midnight. Eating after that time before bed was absolutely heavenly if you if you know what I mean. Sleeping on a full stomach can feel really good even though it's not the best thing, but I didn't have a choice last night. It took me a while to get myself together yesterday, to prepare the meals was actually quite quick because I baked the seafood, blanched the beans and blanched the asparagus and I sauteed the ground turkey. Upon tasting the ground turkey (which I'm not really a fan of unless it's like a burger), I realized that it would really go well with the chili especially if since I have to eat 5 oz of it.
I'm seeing that this meal plan I'm on is super clean. There's no sauces and if there are sauces, it is olive oil based recipes for glazes and sauces and such but other than that it's super clean so I don't want to add something that might destroy my results.
I'm going to create a vegetable base using tomatoes and onions and garlic and peppers and other spices and then use that base of vegetables and spices for my ground turkey chili. I've never really been so creative with food. I can see that I'm already starting to get sick of eating salmon and it's already day two and I have to eat salmon twice a day this week for a few days, so I have to figure out ways to make it palatable and make it interesting and add some variety to it without destroying my meal plan.
Training in the gym at 10:00 - What was that like after a full day of working and moving around? It's really not about the time, it's about the energy that I have to push through my workouts and recover. Recovery takes energy as well you don't just stop working out and then you know knock out and go to sleep your body actually has a cool down phases . That lasted for me until about 12:15 at night and I was out of the gym by 11:45 or whatever so 30 to 45 minutes of a cool down. I had adequate energy to push through my workouts. I felt really good my body felt really good you know I felt I felt like I was right at my limit you know when you think you can do more well I knew that I had done enough right I just followed meal plan followed the exercise plan I didn't do anything extra. I feel I had good energy due to the meals I've been eating over the last few days!
I need to be aware of the time I go to the gym. There wasn't a lot of people in there after 10:00 I mean there were still people in there and but around 11:30 everything started to go completely silent---- nothing but the gym music. It was very quiet and there were people in there still but they were not lifting they were on treadmills. I like those peaceful gym hours but I don't like being out late and having that cool down between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m.
My sleep was definitely better on my day one because my body knows when it has been exerted properly and so I appreciate that because I always appreciate a good night's sleep. A good night sleep is absolutely restorative and restful I did wake up around 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning to use the bathroom, but I don't feel like dead tired like I have been feeling over the past couple weeks or months.
Old habits did not die hard on day one. I still ate outside of my meal plan and I actually ate and drink outside of my meal plan because there's an Atlanta restaurant that has a seafood buffet on Mondays! This salmon and the tilapia thing is killing me! Discipline is challenging------I love seafood and to be only stuck with a couple of options is very hard but I understand why I'm eating for a specific goal.
So yes I had some crab (a lot of crab) and yes I had a couple of sips of a house Long Island and I realized that I would not be able to push through my workout if I drank the whole thing. So I left the drink on the on the bar counter and I left about eight crab legs and I really wanted them------- they were extremely juicy------but I said "what's more important to me right now?" Crab ain't going nowhere! The ocean is full of crabs so when I'm ready after the 90 days, I will indulge in some crab and I will put that on my goal sheet. I'm not going to go crazy but I'm going to have a nice steamed seafood dinner at the end of my 90-day challenge.... just to let the crab and other seafood know that I'm still in love. Salmon is getting all of my attention right now.
Yesterday, day one was also my first time on a fitness training coaching call and my first time having zoom calls with personal trainer. It was a pleasure to hear other clients stories and their goals. It's also helpful for me to see how women are managing their presence of mind and maintaining fitness as they're traveling, taking care of kids and businesses.
Looking forward to Day 3!