Anna's Bananas on the EATS

<sup>Sorry this post took so long to get up! Our internet wasn't working for a week. But I think that was actually all good because all week I was thinking about all the different things I wanted to put in this post about what to eat. In this post I am going to try to give you just some of the information, ideas and tips I have on how you can use food to lose weight and tone up. 


Last week during my MOPS meeting (if you are a mom of a preschooler and you aren't a part of MOPS, just google MOPS and then put your zip code in after that and you will find a group near you), the topic was Self Control, or lack thereof. I noticed so many of the moms were saying that food is kryptonite to their self control. And man oh man I can relate!  We all know how food can be a comfort, hobby, an addiction, or even a source of entertainment when you are bored. 
I know that for me, while I was pregnant, I felt like food was one of the only physical things I could enjoy. I couldn't sleep well, I couldn't drink any alcohol, even if I was in the mood for sex it wasn't quite as enjoyable (something about a brand new big butt and huge stomach crush's my mojo); so my flesh cried out "give me SOMETHING!" So food was there, yummy delicious easy food, all I had to do was pick it up and put it in my mouth. 
 After I had my daughter, I was still in the habit of eating like I was pregnant. I know first hand that getting out of an unhealthy relationship with food can be very hard. But thank the Lord that I don't have to do anything in my own strength. I have the power of the Awesome Living God inside of me, I can live the reality of my flesh being dead and my spirit is alive, new and eternal through Jesus Christ. I know what you are thinking, "whoa Anna, you are getting a little religious on me, I thought you were just going to write about some healthy food ideas." I know, but I can't shy away from the simple truth that everything we do or don't do effects our whole person, body, mind and soul. If food (or anything else) has power over me, I am not living the truth of who I am in Christ. As Christians we don't have to be weak, we don't have to sin anymore. We won't even die because we have already died, been buried and now are risen from the death of sin and have a new life in Christ here on earth, and the hope of eternal life in heaven after we pass from here to His throne. I don't care if you think that it's a "small issue," you are allowed to call on your Savior for ANYTHING! Even if you are praying "Dear Lord, please help me, the pancakes on the menu look ah-maaayyy-zing!" Okay, I got that out! Basically, I just want you to know, that if you are struggling with food or anything else, call on the One who can help you. 

Ok, back to the eats! You can basically program your body to do anything you want it to. You can unintentionally program it to store tons of fat, or you can intentionally make it a calorie burning and muscle building machine. I hear people talk about genetics all the time, "it's in my genes, my mom was fat." Here is my Bananas on that: you can't naturally change the color of your eyes, the shape of your nose, your height etc... however, you can naturally change the way your body metabolizes food. I really like to think of my body as a computer, all I have to do is download the right program(food) to make it do what I want it to (burn fat). Eating the right foods will program your body to burn calories, even when you are sleeping!
When I made the decision to make losing weight and getting in shape my mission, I started doing a lot of reading and research on line, books and magazines. It can be pretty overwhelming because there are so many people out there with the "secret to losing weight." What I found for my self was that there isn't a secret. In fact, most of us have been taught what to eat from a very young age. We know what to eat, we just want to instantly erase the results of eating the wrong things. Well too bad sweet cheeks, there is no instant fix to months or years of eating bad. The good news is, with hard work, dedication and self control you can get to a healthier skinnier you! 

I have to put a disclaimer here that, as I stated before, I came up with this so called plan after lots of reading and research. So not all these ideas are mine originally. I wish I could site all the websites I looked at over a year ago, but I can't. But I'm just letting everyone know that I'm not the genius that came up with these, I'm just the girl who merged them all together for my personal plan.</sup> 

^{So here is the non-secret food plan:}

<sup>First there is a rule I try to eat by: for each major meal of the day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) my portion is only as big as my fist. I was very strict about this in the beginning, and I really believe in it. So I want you to make a fist, go ahead make a fist,... okay look at that! Not very big is it? Well that's the amount of food you should be putting in your belly if you are over weight. Your body doesn't need any more than that. At first this might seem difficult, you might feel "hungry" still after the first day of eating like this, but I promise you aren't starving! I suggest eating three fist full meals a day and three snacks a day. 
Just as an example, a fist-full breakfast for a normal woman's sized hands (I have what I joke around to be man hands, but that's my normal k?) is: two eggs (exclude the yolk), and a spoon full of peanut butter. That's it, that's about a fist full and that's all I need in the morning. Then two hours later I will have a snack like low fat yogurt, or another egg. 

Second rule I try to eat by: I don't eat after 5pm. I got this off of Extreme Makeover Weight-Loss Edition. I had heard it before, but the trainer on there was so passionate about it I started doing it last spring, and all I can say is I believe it worked! 


Now I'm just going to list some of the main foods I ate in the beginning of my weight loss journey, and that are still the staples of my diet. You can ask people that know me (my bff Candace, my hubby Josh) how strict I was about only eating these foods, especially in the beginning I was pretty much a Nazi about it. But when I decide something, I do it.. so yeah!

Eat lots of protein! In the morning (after you work out) eat straight up protein, in the beginning I suggest eating protein only for breakfast. But make sure that everyday out of all the things you eat, you are eating protein the most. Like:</sup>

• ^{Eggs - Do egg whites if I can. I boil three or four eggs and eat them throughout the day. When you boil them it's easy to separate the white from the yolk. The yolk is rumored to have cholesterol and other stuff I don't want or need, so it's best to just stick with the whites. It's so easy and simple and you know you are getting pure protein. If the thought of boiling an egg and eating it sounds disgusting to you, then scramble it or whatever.}  
• ^{Turkey- Turkey burgers are really actually tasty, you can make them on a skillet in 17 minutes and eat them with a tad of ketchup or mustard (mustard has virtually no calories and is basically sodium, but not a LOT of sodium, so dipping your meat in a table spoon of mustard wont hurt ya I promise).  Eat ground turkey instead of ground beef, it's a leaner meat, and it tastes almost the same.  Turkey bacon, turkey sausage, they have it all.} 
• ^{When choosing between beef or pork, I try to go with beef. It is my belief that beef, good beef is less fatty than pork. The Hebrew National 97% Fat Free (don't worry too much about fat free, I will get more into that later) are pretty tasty.}

• ^{Don't fall for the protein bars, they have little protein compared to all the other crap in them} 
• ^Salmon 
• ^Tuna

 <sup>Eat spinach. I use spinach instead of lettuce or pretty much all the other things I would eat that are green. So when I eat a salad,  I make it a spinach salad, when I  make a taco I use spinach, when I make a (turkey) burger use spinach, ok I think you get the idea here. 


 Diet Green tea. Google the benefits of green tea if you are curious or don't believe me, but I'm telling you, if you drink a glass of diet green tea a day, it will help speed up the weight loss process.  

 Water, water, water and more water. Drink water all day long! I didn't drink anything but lots of water and diet green tea. Water helps hydrate you, energies you AND it keeps you full! Drink one or two glasses before a meal and you won't want to eat as much. Drink ice cold water and your body will burn calories digesting it... say what? oh yeah, that's what I said, your body will burn calories digesting cold water. Pretty cool huh? 


Veggies. Eat your veggies raw. Eat normal portions, but out of all the things you eat, protein and veggies are kinda like a free for all. Baby carrots are great for moms on the go.


Eat peppers, like red, yellow, green and orange peppers. The spicy ones really can help with revving up your metabolism, but if you don't like hot and spicy, the ones that are big and not hot (that usually come in a package of three) are good too. 


You don't want to eat a lot of fruit. If you want something sweet eat half a banana or apple, but try to keep it a small serving. Tomatoes are good for a fruit source as well.


 The deal with carbs and bread: In the beginning, if you are really trying to lose fat, I suggest, and what I did was for the first month I didn't eat ANY carbohydrates that came from wheat or any bread form, or any white carbohydrates. So no white bread obviously, no bread at all the first month. You can get your energy and carbohydrates from black beans, veggies and the small amount of fruit. After the first month I introduced whole gran wheat bread and oat meal. When I eat carbs I try to make them complex carbs.</sup>

• ^{The White Rule -stay away from white foods (so racist I know) - So no foods like:}
• ^{White bread, or white flour. So no fried chicken.}
• ^{White Rice}
• ^Potatoes
• ^Milk
• ^{Cream in your coffee}
• ^{Etc... ice cream yada yada.} 

<sup>Here is another thing. Granola and cereal type things are not good to eat when trying to lose fat weight. They have a lot of non-complex carbohydrates, knowing this I don't eat cereal anymore. I sometimes eat oat meal, but truly, for me the best way to start my day is with a high protein breakfast.  

Worry less about "fat free" and more about carbohydrates. Did you know that carbohydrates are sugar? What I have come to believe is that non fat this and not fat that, that's not the issue. I'm not saying you should chow down on a pound of lard while guzzling whole milk. What I  wonder  is, why now, now that we have all these fat free options, now there are more obese people than ever before?  You see these huge people, poor enslaved people, on these TLC reality shows that are three hundred pounds, spreading fat free mayo all over their sub sandwiches. What I think (and I'm going to really try to keep this short)  is that the problems are portions and carbohydrate/sugars that aren't being used. When you eat three pieces of pizza, or lots of chips for instance, and then you don't burn or use those, your body, (being the survival specialist that it is) stores them for later, by turning them into fat. You might already know all this, but I'm just saying that don't be so worried about fat, be more concerned about the amount of carbohydrates and sugars you are putting in your body. You want to make your body use the fat you already have stored. 


That leads me to cheat days. You may have heard of cheat days or splurge days. There are pros and cons to them, but I totally had one, and still do! I think that if you are a grown woman, wife and mother, you are responsible enough to have a cheat day for crying out loud. Having a cheat day can fire up your metabolism by boosting your leptin levels that have been lower from eating so healthy and working out. It's okay if you don't know what leptin is, it's just the hormone that can cause your body to store and keep fat in savings when it's low. Basically you don't want your body to go into survival mode, so giving it a high calorie day lets your body know, "ok, we can burn what we have in savings because food is obviously everywhere and not in shortage."</sup> 

• ^{The Cheat Rules}
• ^{Only ONE day a week}
• ^{don't go over board, don't eat a whole pizza, but if you have been craving pizza all week, order one and have a few slices.}  
• ^{this is your day to get frozen yogurt with the kids and hubby, or eat some brownies, whatever.} 
• ^{You can eat your white foods, just be reasonable about your portions.} 

<sup>My in-laws probably think I'm a real pig, because Sunday is usually my cheat day, and that's when we visit with them. At church I will eat a cookie or even a doughnut. When we go over to my husband's parent's house I eat everything on my plate. For example, we got subway last Sunday and I ate the whole 12 inch sub along with my chips. I have never really explained my cheat day system to them, so they probably think I'm just a good ol' southern girl that knows how to eat, they might even be a little grossed out... I should probably let them know huh? Well anyway, that's how the cheat day goes for me. And usually when I get to my cheat day, and I order or prepare my "bad" food, I don't want to eat that much, or at least as much as I thought I was going to. It gives me something to look forward to, I'm a gal that likes rewards, so it works for me and it might work for you. Again, just don't go over board, think of it as a "little treat," not a day at the fair.

Sodium is a bad guy! I try really hard to stay away from sodium/salty stuff. The reason is it totally makes me feel, and I swear, despite what my loving husband says, look bloated! It slows me down too. If I eat too much salsa and chips, for example, the next day when I run and work out I am a dead weight! So I'm not an expert on the science of why sodium is bad, I just know I don't want to eat something that's gonna get in the way of me having a rock'n booty, ya feel me? 


Titus 2:3 - Likewise, teach the older woman to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 
Now don't get your panties all up in a wad ladies! Relax, I'm not taking your precious wine away. Just from my personal experience, drinking too much alcohol makes me drag butt the next day. Same as with the sodium, if I'm on a mission to get in shape and lose weight, why would I do something to my self that's going to slow me down or counter act my hard efforts? Also, for me, it's hard to only have one glass. So just be cautious! And just to scare you into submission: Did you know that</sup>  For every ONE drink (1 shot, 1 glass of wine or 1 12-ounce beer), it STOPS fat loss for one hour. If you eat during that time, you are gaining fat. This might help you be more conscious of how much you drink and what you eat during or after (no one craves veggies after drinking). http://www.facebook.com/UndergroundFitnessRevolution





<sup>Buwahahahahah! (lighting strikes, woman screams in the distance)... yeah I know, I am almost evil for telling you that aren't I?





Here is another verse that I think is funny but true. "If you find honey, eat just enough - too much of it, and you will vomit." haha! So yeah, don't go over board on the sweets obviously. I love carrot cake, ate it like a champ when I was pregnant, but now when I try to get after it, I end up sick and on the toilet. Not worth it! I'm not saying I don't do it, but I don't do it near as much as I used to. ;)  


I feel like I rambled a little so I'm going to sum it up as best as I can. Eat small portions, don't eat after five, eat lots of protein and veggies, stay away from simple carbs, drink lots of water, and have fun on your cheat day! Also, just know that you don't have to be perfect, you won't be, its impossible. Try to be, but just understand that if you are eating well the majority of the week or days or meals, and you mess up, it's ok! If you are really running and working out, it's not gonna put you back any, it just wont put you forward any. Usually I say if you aren't going forward you are going backward, which I stand behind, but don't give up if a snickers bar has it's way with you on Sunday night while watching Desperate Housewives (obviously speaking from personal experience!). Don't give up, you can do this. If you fall off the wagon, get back on it again! I'm here for you, for anyone that is actually reading this weak sauce blog, I'm here to encourage, pray for and help you any way that I can!  I was there, look ,</sup>

<sup>look how wide my hips and stomach are! Look at my arms and full puffy face! Haha! 












But now look at this goofy picture my husband took, and I know it's laughable, but I'm so happy and feel so much better! 55 lbs later and counting!</sup>