The nutrition tip in our newsletter this week is all about how to make the most of your grocery store experience. (If you haven't received it, download at AAYBootCamp.com.)
Being well-prepared, well-fed, and well-focused will not only help you make healthier choices, but will also save you both time and money.
A great way to be efficient with your shopping list is to keep a magnetic note pad on your refrigerator. As you cook & prepare your meals throughout the week, jot down any items that you notice you're starting to run low on. (Most of our members have a magnetic AAY! notepad. If you never got one, see Nar or Elaine.)
In addition to this notepad, you should also have a pre-printed sheet that lists all the staples you buy nearly every week. Make this sheet easy to find: keep it in your car, print it on colorful paper, laminate it, etc.
When it's time for your trip to the grocery store, just grab your pre-printed "staples" sheet and tear off the first page of your notepad. Follow your lists as if you have blinders on so that you don't get distracted by all the delicious-looking food that you don't want or need to buy.
Now it's your turn. Click on "comments" and post your suggestions for making your shopping trip easier, healthier or more convenient. Feel free to post questions as well.
In our newsletter this week, Linda gave us a list of the things she's doing to see results. We want to hear from you too!
As a reminder, here are Linda's tips again:
1. Eat small, frequent meals & snacks throughout the day.
2. Stay within the calorie range that Nar & Elaine calculated for me.
3 Balance protein & healthy carbs with every meal.
4. Eat at least 4 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit everyday.
5. Get at least 25 grams of fiber per day.
6. Eat whole grains instead of enriched grains.
7. Write down everything I eat & drink in my nutrition journal and calculate my calories.
8. E-mail my nutrition journal to Nar & Elaine, get feedback from them, and incorporate their suggestions.
9. PLAN! One of the most helpful things I've been doing is planning out all my meals and snacks a day ahead of time so that I know I'll get the correct number of calories, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, protein, etc.
10. I got out of the "dieter mentality" and instead started focusing on my health & wellness.
Now it's your turn. Please click on the comments section and tell us what is working for you.
On Friday morning, a few of us met for our first "All About The Food" Support Group. It was a nice, small group so we had time to open up about the obstacles we're facing with our eating habits & to brainstorm strategies to overcome them.
For the first meeting, we discussed which eating habits we wanted to focus on just for the upcoming weekend.
At the end of the meeting, we decided we would each send an email to the group stating our focus again and also writing down any strategies or steps we're going to take to make sure we stay on track.
At the end of the meeting, we'll email again to report back about how well we did. This is a great open forum for exchanging ideas and for holding ourselves accountable to each other.
Why don't you post a comment here telling us what you want to focus on to improve your eating habits? Making yourself accountable to others is a great way to keep yourself in check!
Last week, Nar posted her food journal every day on this Blog. (For those of you who couldn't find, it, click on the "comments" link at the bottom of the "Commitments" entry for last week. You'll see all her posts, as well as questions & comments from others.)
This week, Nar wants to tell you about her experience posting her journal:
Blogging my food intake for our BootCamp members has been challenging. I felt more pressure than usual to eat correctly. Everytime I ate something, I thought about what our BootCampers would think if they saw me eating it. This helped me to make good choices all week.
I think it's very similar to what BootCamp members feel when they send us their food journals. Hopefully, it is a positive motivator to help them choose their food & drinks wisely.
The support of the group was also very helpful. I fed off of the encouragement from our members, and it kept me motivated to blog and to do my best with my food intake. Preparing my food ahead of time was the key for me to stay close to my calorie intake.
The best advice I can give anyone who wants to stay within a specific calorie range, is to PLAN AHEAD!!!!!!
Oh, and I have one more journal entry to post for all of you. Here's my journal for yesterday.
I knew I had to be extra good because I had a wedding to attend! I was careful throughout the day and had consumed 889 calories before the wedding. I had 600 calories left over for the wedding, which was enough to enjoy myself & not feel deprived.
9:00 AM
Cereal
Soy milk
12:30 PM
1/2 tsp Nescafe & 1 tsp coco with hot water
2 Ezekiel Toast
1 tsp yogurt butter
1 tsp Blueberry Jam
1 apple
3:30 PM
Fresh Veggies (Bell Pepper, tomatoes, cauliflower)
Light String Cheese
5:30 PM
Almonds
Cherries
8:30 PM
Green salad
Mushroom salad
Chicken
A full shot of vodka…. Ouch!!! I have to say I did fake a lot of other shots with my friends. (I hope my friends don’t read this blog.) I would sip from that one shot every time they took a shot.
Total calories consumed: 1489
6 cups of water…. I was busy all day and forgot to drink water. Need to make up for it tomorrow.
I was so busy talking and taking pictures that I didn’t really care about eating at the wedding. This helped me stay below my allowed calories.
Now it's your turn. Click on "comments," and post your journal for all of us to see. Or, just ask a question or write a comment.
The nutrition tip in our newsletter this week is all about how to make the most of your grocery store experience. (If you haven't received it, download at AAYBootCamp.com.)