the 90/10 rule

I often teach my clients the 90/10 rule: If you focus on eating healthy ninety percent of the time, the other ten percent of eating can be for other reasons, such as social engagements, comfort foods, a special treat at the corner bakery, or a sugar craving in response to hormone/stress levels.

Last week, I definitely followed my meal plan about 90 percent of the time. But the problem was that in my “plans”, I had already accounted for my ten percent of non-healthy eating! So, in addition to my planned fitness muffin and glass of wine and pizza night, I consumed about 200 Calories worth of chips, 300 Calories worth of wine, 300 Calories worth of chocolate, and 200 Calories worth of salad dressing! Now over a week, this is just fine, if my goal was to maintain weight. A little over 100 Calories per day of “discretionary Calories” fit nicely in to a nutrient dense diet! However, all of these little indulgences added up to 1000 Calories: with roughly 3,500 Calories in a pound, my “treats” hindered my weight loss goals by 1/3 of a pound this week!

One tactic that works for some people is to create a very healthy plan, and then “budget” for some discretionary Calories throughout the week. This creates a “buffer zone” for wine and chocolate and cheese cravings, as well as a little extra salad dressing, butter on an english muffin, or cream in a coffee! I will work with this plan this week Monday through Friday, and "report out" next weekend!

The following is my stricter nutrition meal plan (roughly 1600-1700 Calories per day), with a 700 Calorie buffer zone! I will be a bit more relaxed on weekend nutrition due to increased physical activity, and will update that as my food and activity plans emerge 

Monday:
Workout 1: 6 easy miles
Am coffee with soymilk
Breakfast: 1 cup plain soy milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 scoop amazing greens
Lunch: chicken salad on bed of greens
Workout 2: spinning class
Dinner: chicken thighs (note, substitute ½ cup butter with ¼ cup olive oil and 1 Tbsp. butter), baked sweet potato, broccoli
Snack: 1 cup plain soy milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 scoop amazing greens


Tuesday
5:30am Workout: 12 mile steady run
Am coffee with soymilk
Breakfast: 1 cup plain soy milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 scoop amazing greens
Lunch: Meeting a client at Big Mamoos in Springfield
6pm weight workout 1
Dinner: Leftovers from Big Mamoos
Snack: pear with 2 ounces nuts

Wednesday:
Am coffee with milk
6am Workout: 8-10 mile track workout
Breakfast: 1 scoop whey protein, 1 cup soy milk, 1 scoop amazing greens
Lunch: Student Culinary Luncheon: sautéed veggies with 4 ounces chicken
Dinner: UMass speaking Engagement: salad with meat and vinegarrette dressing
Snack: banana with 1 Tbsp. peanut butter

Thursday:
Workout 1: 6 easy miles
Am coffee with milk
Breakfast: 1 scoop whey protein, 1 cup soy milk, 1 scoop amazing greens
Lunch: turkey sandwich on gluten free whole grain bread with lettuce and mustard, crudites
3:30pm workout: weight workout 2 and teach spinning class
Dinner: burrito with 4 ounces lean, local ground beef, tomato, onions, black beans, wrapped in brown rice tortilla
Snack: apple with 2 ounces mixed nuts

Friday:
Am coffee with milk
5:45am Workout: run 12 miles with 3 miles fast finish
Breakfast: gluten free multigrain english muffin with peanut butter and jam
Lunch: 1 scoop whey protein, 1 cup soy milk, 1 scoop amazing greens
6 pm yoga with Kathy!
Dinner: leftover burrito

Weight Loss Meal Plan 1

As I move away from rowing and back to running, I will work on trimming down a bit while maintaining muscle mass. I will record my meal and exercise plans for the next 10 weeks to monitor my progress! It takes a good amount of thought and careful preparation to create a healthy meal plan that promotes optimal performance while allowing for energy deficit needed for weight loss.

The basic idea of my plan is to keep kilocalories around 1800 per day (my typical intake for maintenance is around 2400), focus on adequate protein and healthy fat, and focus high quality Carbohydrate intake around my exercise. Eating is scheduled at 2-4 hour intervals to rev my metabolism and fight cravings. I also allow myself to enjoy food in social situations and special treats (see the muffin from my favorite bakery on Wednesday, date night on Thursday and pizza night Friday!). The only way for me to successfully change my body to optimize performance is to create a program that addresses my unique metabolism, my physical activity, my food preferences (and my love of pizza with girlfriends, dates with my sweetie and my love of Woodstar fitness muffins!)

Prescription meal plans do not often work for people unless they are tailored specifically to one's goals, body type, and lifestyle. All of my clients' plans look quite different from mine. However, feel free to use my model meal plan and recipe links as guides if you are an omnivore looking for healthy and fast meals on a budget :-)

Note: In addition, I supplement with daily omega 3 fatty acods, vitamin D, probiotics, a multivitamin/mineral, and 10-12 cups water.
Monday:
Breakfast: 1 cup plain soy milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 scoop amazing greens
Lunch: Chicken salad on bed of greens, 1 cup raw carrots and cucumbers
Workout: 6 easy running miles plus spinning class
Dinner: Thai Lime Chicken with 3/4 cup quinoa and 2 cups greens with cucumbers, goat cheese and onions, drizzled with balsamic vinegar


Tuesday
Am coffee with milk
Breakfast: 1 cup plain soy milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 scoop amazing greens
10am Workout: 12 mile steady run
Lunch: Leftover chicken salad and greens on a gluten free brown rice wrap, 1 cup raw peppers
Dinner: Spinach and chicken sausage pizza (I use Udi's GF pizza crust instead)
Snack: pear with slice of brie

Wednesday:Am coffee with milk
6am Workout: 8-10 mile track workout
Breakfast out: Woodstar Cafe Fitness Muffin (gluten free high protein muffin), hard boiled egg
Lunch: 1 scoop whey protein, 1 cup soy milk, 1 scoop amazing greens
3:30pm Workout: Lift session 1
Dinner: leftover dinner from Monday, garden salad with chickpeas,carrots, peppers and cucumbers
Snack: banana with 1 Tbsp. peanut butter

Thursday:
Am coffee with milk
Breakfast: 1 scoop whey protein, 1 cup soy milk, 1 scoop amazing greens
Lunch: 1 can tuna mixed with greek yogurt and light mayo on bed of greens, carrots, cucumbers
3:30pm workout: run 6 miles and teach spinning class
Dinner: "Date Night"-out to dinner (large salad with chicken and wine)
Snack: apple with 2 ounces mixed nuts

Friday:
Am coffee with milk
5:45am Workout: run 10 miles with 4 at Half marathon pace
Breakfast: gluten free multigrain english muffin with peanut butter and jam
Lunch: 1 scoop whey protein, 1 cup soy milk, 1 scoop amazing greens
1:00pm Workout: lift session 2
Dinner: "Pizza Night" with friends (2-3 slices GF pizza)

Saturday
Day off running
Am coffee with milk
Breakfast: 1 scoop whey protein, 1 cup soy milk, 1 scoop amazing greens
Lunch: Roasted Butternut squash with 2 ounces mixed nuts
Dinner: beef burger wrapped in lettuce with side of sweet potato fries


Sunday
Am Coffee with milk
Preworkout: 1 scoop whey protein, banana, 1 scoop amazing greens, 1 cup water
9am Workout: Run 20 miles (consume 2 cups gatorade during run)
Brunch: Broccoli and carmelized onion frittata, 1 GF multigrain english muffin with tsp earth balance butter
Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, roasted butternut squash, steamed broccoli

I am a Business Woman!

At the Institute for Integrative Nutrition Conference in September, fearless leader Joshua Rosenthall had us do an exercise. He told us to turn to our neighbor and tell him/her where our business would be in our dreams by January 1st.

Mine was the following: "I will have 6 paying clients and will have given 2 paid nutrition talks by January 1st"...this was a huge dream, that I could not really imagine accomplishing.

Then, we had to tell our neighbor what we would reward ourselves with if we met our goal, and what we would punish ourselves with if we did not (had to be something really bad). Excuse me? You mean this is real? This totally freaked me out because I thought we were just brainstorming-not committing! But, I continued the exercise, because that's what students do....follow directions...right? Well, at least I wish that's what my students did :-)

Mine was the following:
1. If I reach my goal, I will treat Michael and I to a real relaxing vacation this summer, and will take July and August off of teaching.
2. If I do not reach my goal, I will not shop at Whole Foods or Atkins Farm (my FAVORITE, albeit, sort of decadent, places to shop) for all of 2012.

For some people, this "punishment" might seem silly, but anyone who has taken my classes or listened to me rave about Whole Foods' gluten free fare most likely "gets" how my world would be a whole lot worse by taking these places out of my life.

So, November rolled around, and I only had 2 clients and no talks. I decided I needed to hoard all the Whole Foods gluten free freezer items for the next two months because there was NO WAY I would reach this goal!

But then something happened. I became open to new opportunities and got out of my comfort zone. I worked with my smart and marketing savvy buddy to put on 3 Nutrition/Rowing talks, and got asked to book another Nutrition talk as a result. I started talking about my business to friends and colleagues, using the language that Joshua teaches without fear that I looked like I was trying to "sell" myself. I was just honest. I shared my struggles and my passion for helping others develop a sense of well-being. I committed myself to following this passion, even if it meant shuffling my own life around a bit to exercise less, sleep a little less, and spend more time on my new passion. Low and behold, it is January 20th, I have 7 paying clients and am meeting another potential client tomorrow. I have given 4 Nutrition talks and have another lined up for next weekend. I have written about my long history of personal struggles with food for an "ebook", which was received with love and support and encouragement by my colleagues, even though it was scary to feel so vulnerable as I try to act as a "expert health professional".

Through all this, I have learned that just by being myself....my imperfectly silly, crazy, disorganized, "real" self, I have built a business and feel more joyful and grounded than I ever have. I have been fighting for years, trying to uphold some sort of wall between my students/friends/clients to prove that I am an "expert" who knew the "truth" about nutrition.

Turns out that what I needed to do all along was say, "I'm Laura, I'm educated and I'm human. I have a PhD in Nutrition and am well versed on hundreds of diet theories and holistic health practices. I've been through the ringer myself, with a history of disordered eating, body image issues, and numerous injuries related to compulsive execise. If I can overcome that, you can too. I 'get' your struggles. Let's work together to see if we can navigate this crazy, messed up world so we can come out healthy and happy and live to our potential."

Now I jut need to decise where Michael and I will take our awesome summer vacation :-)