WAKE UP
I wake up at 4:35 am and i'm at the gym by 5am so i don't have enough time to eat and digest before i get on the treadmill. Therefore, since i DON'T drink coffee, i put a half packet of Eboost (eboost.com) in 8 ounces of water in my water bottle. It is loaded with B-12 which gives me energy to workout so early in the morning. It gives me amazing energy in just half a little packet. I save the other half for the next morning (Just beware taking this before afternoon or evening workouts. You may be too energized to fall asleep but if you must workout in the afternoon or evening, and you need a pick-me-up, then sprinkle just a third of a packet in less than 8 ounces of water.)
BREAKFAST
After my workout, I head to my 6:30 morning meeting and I drink a 16 oz bottle of water with lemon and a pinch of cayenne pepper in it. This is a great way to wake up your body and get it ready for the food you will soon put into it. I sip my hot green or oolong tea (teagarden.com) from Dr. Tea's Garden. He is on Melrose Blvd at a place called Tea Garden and before my wedding he had me drinking various slimming teas like oolong and another he made for me called Ti Kwan Yin Oolong. I believe Dr. Tea is moving locations, so I am going to start ordering off his website (teagarden.com) I drink two to three cups a day. I have gotten a few people at work on tea (instead of coffee) and they looove it!!! Coffee can actually hold onto fat whereas green and oolong tea flushes fat out (love that). At this time, I also open up a bottle of GT's Kombucha in Citrus or Gingerade flavor (gtskombucha.com) I sip this throughout the day because it is very good for you and it totally helps with hunger cravings. (see below under Drinks for more info)
At about 7:15am I have an ORGANIC grapefruit. This is an amazing fruit that helps keep you regular and also helps flush out fat. Then I have either an egg white omelet with veggies and herbs (i like to add things like spinach (always) mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, onions, cilantro, herbs, and tomatoes, sometimes a little grilled chicken breast or turkey breast) I alternate veggies depending on what i'm in the mood for but i always do spinach. So good for you. And i ALWAYS say NO BUTTER, NO OIL...instead tell them to cook it in a light mist of Pam cooking spray. Tell them your allergic to butter so that they don't slip it in there like a lot of places do. If they don't have Pam spray, then tell them to use just a DROP or two of Oil!!! If you don't like omelets, you can also do the same ingredients in a scramble or a frittata...once again, Pam spray or a drop of oil...NO BUTTER!!!
MID-MORNING SNACK
Between breakfast and lunch, my favorite snack in the world is Kashi's TLC bars in Honey Almond Flax or Cherry Dark Chocolate. I am obsessed with these!!! They are my favorite health bar because they are yummy, low in sugar and all natural. No high fructose corn syrup (the devil) in these puppies!!! I buy them at any grocery store. Kashi is an amazing brand and I love their cereals and oatmeals as well. I always have a Kashi TLC bar or two in my bag and I keep a box at home and at work so that I always have a healthy snack around. Keeps you from running to the vending machine (which you should avoid like the plague, by the way.)
Also, I sip on Muscle Power throughout the day (vpxsports.com) I have 1/2 or a full carton a day. If I workout in the morning, I will have half a carton in the morning (20 grams of protein for half carton) and then I will sip the rest throughout the afternoon and sometimes I have some at night after dinner to please my sweet tooth. It's delicious and the lowest calorie/fat/sugar protein drink I have found. It comes in Chocolate, Banana, Strawberry and Vanilla and they are ALL so yummy!!! They are a good alternative to dessert. Just take a few ships and it's like drinking a healthy milkshake...no joke:)
LUNCH
I never have time to leave the office for lunch so I usually order a chicken breast from Koo Koo Roo (the local chicken chain restaurant across the street from E!). I get a rotisserie chicken breast and I eat around the skin or just peel it off and toss it out before I take one bite. The skin is full of fat and nasty for you! I get a large side of steamed broccoli on the side. Lately, I've been bringing my own frozen veggies to work and making them in the microwave. I prefer broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, red and green peppers. Then I sprinkle some bottled herbs on them and I have a yummy lunch. I follow lunch with an apple or another grapefruit OR I will have another Kashi bar to get some whole grain carbs in there if I am craving carbs. Better than eating white pita or bread. If i'm bored of chicken, I try to get a salmon bowl with brown rice and steamed veggies at whole foods. Or I will get a healthy chicken salad, no wontons or fried stuff in it. I have them toss it LIGHTLY in balsamic vinaigrette which is healthier than most other dressings.
MID-AFTERNOON SNACK
If I've only had one Kashi bar, then I will have another as a snack to hold me over to dinner. Sometimes I will eat a Kashi and an organic apple (pink lady and honey crisp are my fads.) That way I get good carbs and satisfy my sweet tooth in a healthy way. Sometimes I will stop and get a fresh squeezed veggie juice made of carrots, beets, cucumbers, broccoli, kale, ginger and lemon (those ingredients aren't always available so my rule is usually, the greener the veggie, the better).
DINNER
I love sushi so I try to eat at sushi restaurants that serve brown rice sushi (call around...more and more sushi joints are doing this). Otherwise, I will order some albacore and/or salmon sashimi and a couple of rolls (no tempura, no mayo) and sauce on the side. (those yummy brown sauces are full of sugar). Instead, put a little low-sodium soy sauce on your sushi. I don't use anything sauces at all...I love the rolls and sashimi the way they are. When I go to restaurants, I try to order dishes like grilled chicken breast, grilled fish like halibut, all types of white fish, salmon, hay tuna. I always order steamed veggies, no butter and no oil. if they can't steam them then tell them you want a touch of oil...stress a touch...otherwise your veggies will be swimming in a pool of oil!!! You can't go wrong with ordering grilled fish and steamed veggies (especially if you are trying to lose or maintain your weight.) I try not to eat bread or pasta or anything made with white sugar and white flour but I end up having it about once or twice a week.
DESSERT
I looooove dessert but I used to love it too much. So much so that I had to completely cut it out for a while. Now, I will have a bite here or there but I find it is easier to just pass instead of getting that sugar in your bloodstream and then going nuts and chowing down the whole pie. Instead, I order berries after dinner or some sort of fruit. Your body and mind registers the (healthy) sugar and your craving goes away!!! I used to be obsessed with Frozen Yogurt but I found that it is better on your body and weight to have a scoop of real ice cream than a cup of frozen yogurt since the fro yo is all chemicals and your body doesn't digest it properly.
DRINKS
When I get to the office, first thing I do is take a water bottle and sprinkle some cayenne pepper (just a tiny pinch...if you go overboard, it will be impossible to drink) and I squeeze the juice from half a lemon (save the other half for later.) The cayenne and lemon combo totally revs up your metabolism and gets it going.
As I mentioned before, I am a big green tea and oolong tea junkie. So good for you!
I am a huge fan of Kombucha. The brand I love is GT's Kombucha at Whole Foods. My favorite flavor is Citrus. Second favorite is the Gingerade flavor. Each serving is only 30 calories, no fat, 7 carbs and 2 grams of sugar (natural sugar) and there are two servings per bottle so this drink is super healthy and super low cal:) I usually sip one bottle a day throughout the morning and afternoon. It aids with digestion, speeds up metabolism, helps make your skin and hair healthy, and is super good for your body...plus, it totally helps with appetite control. No joke!!! This is great for me since sometimes I eat totally out of boredom (which i'm sure a lot of you can relate to) so instead, i sip this and then i'm not "fake" hungry anymore because it totally hits the spot. I'm obsessed with it!!! It is a bit pricey but I hear you can get cheaper ones at various health stores or even make it yourself at home! I'm not that brave yet...maybe one day:)
I am obsessed with drinking half a carton of Muscle Power post-workout and sipping the rest of it throughout the day (vpxsports.com) See more details of Muscle Power in the Mid-Morning Snack section above. Love it!
I love stopping by a Juice bar and getting a veggie juice filled with super healthy veggies like spinach, kale, broccoli, beets, cucumber, etc. I add ginger, lemon and parsely when available. This is a terrific snack to have between meals and rather filling too. You will not get fat on raw and steamed veggies!
CHEAT FOOD
Of course I cheat sometimes (I'm human, after all) but i try to limit the cheating to once a week and once I cheat, i don't say "Oh to hell with it, I've cheated so now i'm gonna stuff my face and get back on track tomorrow." This is a terrible and dangerous attitude and something I used to do all the time. Instead, now I will enjoy the "cheat" food by having a little bit of it and giving the rest away. For instance, if i just MUST have pasta, I will let my husband order it and have some bites of his. Or I will order a healthy dish and ask for a half order of the pasta (no cream, ever!) on the side. I will eat half of the side of pasta and pass the rest around the table so my friends can try it to. That way you are impressing the table with your generosity and cutting lots of calories:) I know this is easier said than done but it all depends on how badly you want to change your eating habits and the way you look.
SWEETENERS
I was that girl who used to put 3 Equals in her coffee. Well, I've quit coffee (yes, coffee is bad for you) and I stopped putting all artificial sweeteners into my body. My taste buds have totally changed and now I don't need sweeteners at all on my food. If something calls for sugar, I opt for a little natural honey...but even that is rare. Or sometimes I sprinkle Stevia (all natural sugar substitute) on my cereal or greek yogurt if I need that extra sweetness, but once again, that is rare since I overcame my sugar cravings!
TIP
The secret to losing or maintaining weight and being healthy is to never go hungry. Anytime I'm hungry, I munch on a Kashi TLC bar (even half and put the other half away for a later snack) or I have an apple, grapefruit or some strawberries, or I have a veggie juice from a health store/bar, or I sip on Kombucha. As you know, almonds are a great snack too but I have had to limit almonds because I just can't stop after a palmful of almonds. I end up eating the whole jar!!! And that adds up to tons of calories. They now sell raw almonds in individual 100 calorie bags....good solution for a healthy snack.
That is all for now...I will give you all an update in the next couple of weeks. Feel free to twitter me (twitter.com/GiulianaRancic) with any questions or comments.
xoxo. G
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