Well the month of December kicked my butt! Nothing but holiday splurging and neglecting exercise. I gained two pounds. Thankfully I managed to lose them fairly quickly. However, December has left me in rut. I can’t seem to get out of the little treat here, little treat there mentality and because of it I have fluctuated between 156 – 151 for the entire month of January. There has been no solid weight loss to speak of. I can’t afford to stay in this rut. I have come too far to hover in one place for months on end. So today I am revamping my eating habits and exercise routine yet again. And here it is (any hints, comments, further info would be greatly appreciated):

Do:
Fresh or frozen fruits and veggies
Whole grain
Lean meats (chicken, turkey, fish, shell fish)
Low-fat
Sugar-free
Low-sodium
64 oz. of water
Strive for natural as possible
Strive for a serving of each food group a day
Prepare meals by grilling, baking, or broiling

Don’t:
High fructose corn syrup
Partially hydrogenated oils
Saturated fat
Sugar in the first 5 ingredients
White flour a k a enriched or bleached

Exercise
Cardio: walking, biking, or jogging (30 mins a day)
Flexibility: yoga stretches (routine of select stretches 1x a day)
Strength Training: weights (lifting routine 1x a day)
2 days off a week

The only comment I have...if you are lifting on the same muscle groups every time, you want to give yourself a day's rest in between lifting sessions. So for example, lifting with your UB every other day, and LB the days in between (if you wanted to do a weight training routine every day). You don't want to do 2 arm days in a row...your muscles need time to recover.

Similarly - you might consider adding in a rest day once a week. Your body needs time to rest and repair itself.

I wanted to also add another lean meat that everyone forgets about to your list...pork tenderloin! It tastes richer than a chicken breast, but actually has the same amount of calories in a 4oz serving. Just buy a nice lean pork tenderloin and roast it in the oven, maybe with a little marinade of some kind...a great way to mix up the "poultry rut", as I call it. And for the meal prep - don't forget that you can also saute in cooking spray and/or a little chicken broth on the stovetop if you don't want to grill, bake, or broil...and don't forget roasting!

Whoops, forget to add that I would be taking 2 days off a week. Thank you for the pork tenderloin suggestion, but alas I am not a pork or beef person. I'll pass it onto my friend though since she always complains about eating the same three meats day after day Thanks again.

One suggestion:

where your exercise is concerned, mix it up A LOT. For instance, when you're doing weight lifting, work with machines one session, and then free weights the next. Or instead of walking, try biking once in awhile. Replace one or two Yoga sessions with Pilates, etc.

Just mix it up - keeps it from being boring!