April 2010 The poppies are getting ready to pop, the days are warming and you are eating right and feeling strong! Was I right about that last part? Spring is a great time to clean out the cupboards and tidy up the pantry. If the junk isn’t in there you won’t eat it! Now is also a good time to dump any expired old medicines and those ancient supplements you bought and never took. Time to re-asses your game plan, re-stock, and make a commitment. All sugar, cakes, cookies, crackers, candy, and coke should get kicked to the curb. The ‘new you’ is strong, disciplined and smart! All carbohydrates will be complex carbohydrates – oatmeal, whole grains (read the label), sweet potatoes, and brown rice, apples, and bananas, green and yellow veggies. Dump the starchy carbs – corn, white potato, refined flour products, etc. Stock up on protein. Assess your pantry, refrigerator and freezer and ask yourself, “What are my lean protein sources?” These should include eggs, lean meats, low fat-dairy products, nuts, lentils, beans, and soy. As for fats, cut back on the butter (don’t replace with margarine it’s full of hydrogenated oils), no fried foods (maybe one cheat day a week). Eat healthy fats – avocado, nuts, and eat fish at least twice a week or more. Now, about your workout, it’s time to learn about cycling (not on the bike). Cycling is alternating your work-out load and intensity. If you have been going hard, it is time to go light for a few weeks. If you have been going light, it is time to go hard. If you have always done the same exercises for the last four months, it is time to learn some new ones. Your body is very sneaky when it comes to being lazy. Once it learns a routine or pattern it will begin to do that task utilizing the minimum energy or calories it can get away with. Keep your body guessing by simply changing the order you do your exercises, changing the intensity and pattern of your sets (high/low, fast/slow, standard sets/giant sets) |
April 2010
