I vary my calories per day, but aim for 1300-1600. I have more weight to lose though and I believe she advocates setting your calories at your basal metabolic rate if you only have a few pounds to lose (ie: < 20). My basal metabolic rate would be 1700 approximately, for example. The point here is that when you have less weight to lose your body is wary of dropping those last few pounds and wants to keep that little bit of extra weight as a survival mechanism (ie: for periods of famine). You have to make sure you're getting sufficient calories and create your calorie deficit through your workouts.
My diet is pretty consistent. I've switched out a few things to organic foods (produce and dairy mainly). I eat Ezekiel bread and tortillas and since I'm a balanced oxidizer aim for ratios of 40:30:30 for carbs, fat, and protein. Actually, I try to keep my carbs closer to 30 and up the protein a little.
Breakfast: kashi go lean cereal with 1% milk OR ezekiel toast with all-natural peanut butter OR fruit smoothie with frozen berries, yogurt, and milk
Snack (only if I'm starving): almonds OR a cheestring
Lunch: sandwich on ezekiel bread with turkey or chicken...sometimes an ounce of cheese OR grilled chicken in an ezekiel tortilla or with quinoa...turkey burgers are great too
Snack: fruit and protein
Dinner: spinach salad with balsamic dressing, chicken or lean beef or fish, quinoa or ezekiel tortilla or sweet potato fries
I only get hungry if I haven't eaten in a while (or if I'm getting my period of something...haha). I started trying to follow the general outline set forward by the book and then gradually started making more and more changes. For example, to start I focused mostly on calories and ate sprouted grain bread and lean meats. As time went on I made more substitutions like switching to organic. I also played with my calories a few different ways to see what worked best. At one point I had a really high calorie day and kept the rest of the week consistently low. Now I just have a range I aim for and days I'm hungry I eat more, days I'm not I eat less. I'm also working out a lot more now so having consistently low calories with one high day doesn't work for me. I get hungry. I feel like the plan is quite easy to maintain. I never feel deprived. I get all my food groups in. And I haven't been completely perfect. It's working though...and it feels like something I can maintain, which is nice.
|