All of my food for Cooler 1, and what I am doing at the gym are in the comments for Hardcore Eating :)

Hardcore Eating.......

For the next 7 days I am going to be doing Cooler 1 diet plan from the Eat Clean Diet book. Cooler 1 is very hard because it is very restrictive, and should not be done longer than 2 weeks max! Why do it then?? Because it delivers awesome results if you stick to it 100% and follow it perfectly. Cooler 1 is used to jump start your metabolism, break through plateaus, use it if you have an event coming up and want to drop a couple inches or pounds. I am using it to break through a plateau my self. So for the next 7 days I will be posting what I eat and my exercise for the day. If you want to follow my diet you can, if you are new to clean eating I would suggest baby steps and not follow it unless you have great control because it is very hard. The best thing for beginners it to change your diet a little at a time, eating clean is a lifestyle and to go all the way from day one can be hard and frustrating and chances are you won't stick to it. Start out slow. But if  you are brave and want to give cooler 1 a try go for it. Here are the basics for Cooler 1:

EAT 6 MEALS PER DAY WITH THE LAST MEAL AT 6:00 PM
MEALS SHOULD BE SPREAD OUT EVERY 2-3 HOURS

- 1 APPLE
- CHICKEN, TUNA, EGG WHITES, TURKEY, BISON, ELK, NON-OILY FISH
          FIVE X 5 oz SERVINGS
- RAW VEGGIES: CUCUMBERS, RADISHES, TOMATOES, CELERY, LETTUCE,   ASPARAGUS, GREEN BEANS, SPROUTS
         FIVE X 1 1/2 -CUP SERVINGS
- YAMS AND/OR SWEET POTATOES
         1 OVER YHE COURSE OF THE DAY
- OATMEAL COOKED WITH WATER
         1 CUP COOKED
- 1 GALLON WATER OVER THE COURSE OF THE DAY
- NO JUICE
- NO BREAD
-NO SALAD DRESSINGS, ONLY LEMON JUICE

Remember to plan out your meals for the day, and pack your cooler even if you are going to run a few errands. It is better to be prepared with clean eats so you are not tempted to go through the drive through or pig out on something at home that isn't clean. I always take a cooler to the gym with clean eats in it to have in the car because I usually have other places to go so I make sure to re-fuel my body with good nutrient dense foods. Good luck to those who are daring enough to try Cooler 1!! I will post my food and workouts at the end of the day.

Getting back on track

So I am not perfect ( I know, shocking right) And the last week and a half  it has been a bit of a struggle for me to keep my diet in check. I had avery bust week last week with the house, a lot of showings so a lot of cleaning daily. Also my little girl had a cold so the playroom at the gym was out of the question because I didn't want to spread her germs to the other kids and I didn't want her getting worse either. I was terrible at eating every 2-3 hours and my water intake was horrible, I worked out a little at home, mostly just walking the dogs, and I could feel the bloat and I have been more sluggish and cranky. Go figure. It's funny how when you are not keeping to a good clean and healthy balanced eating plan, drinking your water, and working out regularly how much it affects your body and mood in a negative way. I always feel so much better when I do get in my workouts, eat clean, and drink plenty of water. I am happy to say I am back on track with my eating and getting back to the gym today. Now that it is getting warmer and lighter out in the evenings I have also started taking my big pup out for a 3 mile run at 7 o'clock at night. It's funny how quickly he learns what time it is and starts looking at me as if to say " are we going running" He really keeps me motivated and it is good for the pup and myself. I know how hard it is when life happens, the important thing is that if your diet and exercising happen to fall apart the best thing you can do if pick it right back up again. It is so easy to let that part of your life slip away, it's the getting it back on track that is the hard part. The best thing to do no matter what is to always try to put forth the effort to stay on track.  If you happen to loose sight of your diet and exercise pick it right back up as soon as possible and hopefully not too late so that you won't loose the progress you have made. If anything try to keep you diet as clean as possible if working out is hard to do at the time. I am going to do better at keeping myself on track when life gets in the way and I hope you will too. If you haven't looked into the Eat Clean Diet books yet I suggest you do, it will change your life for the better.

Food Journaling

I know it may sound a little strange to some "Food Journaling" but it can really make a huge difference in you weight loss goals. I suggest that you keep track everyday in a journal what you have eaten and how much of it you ate. A journal will never lie,  the proof will be there if you have stayed on track with your clean eating or if you have strayed. So if you get on the scale and the numbers haven't changed of if they have gone up and you look in you food journal and see the 5 chips one day, the can of soda on another day, and 1 small piece of candy another day then it all makes sense. It is hard to think back at every little slip up made in your eating habits and so you think you didn't go off that much but if you are keeping track you can actually see it and realize all those little things you think at the time "won't hurt" or "just this once will be o.k." really are hurting your progress. Also the proof will be there if you have been eating clean, writing it down and seeing it on the scale. You want to make sure even if you have been good with your clean eating to keep track so when you do have those slip ups you can look back at what worked and repeat it. It is a fact that people who keep track with a food journal have a higher success rate with there weight loss than those who don't. You don't have to share your journal with anyone if don't want to, it is just for you. However the key with food journaling is to be brutally honest with your self about what you have eaten. Eating Clean is a lifestyle change, and while not always easy the rewards from it are well worth it in the end. If you haven't yet checked out Tosca Reno's wedsite I encourage you to do so. Tosca has an amazing success story, and also there are other success stories on there as well of people who made the commitment to be healthy and start the Clean Eating lifestyle. I am going to start my journal today are you???    toscareno.com