Last week in Part 1: I know I have hit a weight loss roadblock, but how did this happen to begin with? I shared with you, my current weight gain and the mirroring issue of hitting a roadblock to losing that extra weight. With the help of the many nutritional articles, books, and blogs I have read along with my education I concluded that there are 3 main reasons I got to where I was.
Reason 1: Consuming too much high fat, sugar, and salt type foods.
Reason 2: A little thing that I like to call fit laziness.
Reason 3: (you can sing this along with me, don’t be shy!) Calories iinnnnn, Calories ouuutttt!
Now that we have that established, let us move on.
Part 2: Making a plan to destroy my weight loss roadblock.
When I am feeling as I am now, frustrated that my scale is not giving me the answers I want,when I want it,I look to my core diets and work out plans. I use the word diet lightly because, as you have heard from many influential people in the health and fitness industry, diet can be a bad word, I believe in that notion but we will talk more about that another time. We could call a diet a healthy eating plan, but that is just so many words to get jumbled in the mouth, so I’ll stick to the word diet (dun dun dun) mainly for the purpose that it is short and sweet and we all know what it means.
Before we get into the nitty gritty, let us go over what I (Erin as in Erintris) look for in a diet program.
1. I must already have most of the spices and base ingredients in my home and the amount of ingredients must be at a realistic level. (5 is good)
2. Easy prep, cooking, and clean up. I need it to be quick and easy. I like to buy my food, cook it, and store it ready to grab and I am not talking cutting carrot sticks either. (that’s hard…)
3. A no brainer. It has got to be realistic! Can I make those dishes? Would I eat that food? Do I HAVE THE TIME? Would I really do what the book asks?
Looking at my diet and fitness arsenal to destroy my weight loss roadblock; I continually go back to the 3 core programs below. Each are accessible on-line or at your local bookstore for purchase. The library is a great place to find these books as well. I go to each of these programs to get motivated, be reminded of concepts and information I had forgotten about, and to set up a plan for success.
1. “Body for life”
2. Tosca Reno’s “Clean Eat diet”
3. Jackie Warner’s “This is why you are fat”
All of these diets include a work out to go along with your healthy eating and why wouldn’t they? You need both healthy eating and exercise to lose weight and be healthy. These plans follow a 5-6 small meal a day, they all include a protein and a carbohydrate at each meal and how it is important writing down what you have eaten.
1. “Body for Life” was my first, do it almost all yourself, diet. My sister Shannon who was out in Arizona at that time was on the 3 month program and was having excellent results. Seeing her result I latched right on to the idea, bought the book, and started right away.
“Body for Life” is a 3 month program where the reader decides to take a challenge. A challenge to eat 5-6 small meals a day, each meal consisting of a protein and a carbohydrate, vegetable and fruits are mixed in. The challenge requires that the reader create a meal plan on a day prior to a weekly trip to the grocery store, to journal those meals and then to journal what was actually eaten. EAS Protein shakes and bars were highly recommended and so my love for those items came to life. A 20 minute weight training and cardio program is detailed and must be followed. Both programs are realistic, set to your own level of fitness, and is set as a pyraidization plan. A free day is included.
Dude, there is pizza inside pizza, inside pizza in there. Is it GF?
This day says you will get to eat what ever you want. What ever you want including Pizza Hut, Chinese buffet, Mexican, pancakes, donuts, you want it, you can eat it.
2. Tosca Reno’s “Clean Eat Diet,” why did I start this if “Body for Life” was so great. Simply put, I was at my goal weight, showing some muscle definition and started reading Oxygen Mag. A great Magazine for women who are above your “Shape” or “Women’s Health” level of fitness. This magazine blew my mind and Tosca Reno was a big part of the successful Canadian fitness magazine, and all the fitness models were eating that way, it was time for me to try it out! Mind you this was over 10 years ago and it was a new concept in the world of Weight Watches and Jenny Craig. A small note about those two, they work, they are realistic and they are great – I participated in Jenny Craig in my high school years and I think it is a great program I just grew out of them. So, no negatives from me on those, just Eating clean was a new concept.
“Clean Eat diet” also consisted of 5-6 small meals a day and asked the reader to create a meal plan before a weekly trip to the grocery store, and pre-making and packing your own meals to take with you throughout the day. The difference from “Body for Life” is that you are buying and eating products that are FRESH, what a concept! No pre-made, pre-packaged preservative chemical laden, fake sweetener injected foods. The reader is buying chicken breasts, brown rice, veggies of every color shape and size, Quinoa! I was first introduced to Quinoa, bee pollen, and Greek yogurt and the concept of protein with my carbohydrate, seriously mind blowing life changing stuff here! A big thing I took from this book that stays with me is that Oats (not quick oats mind you) and eggs (the whole egg) are hormone stabilizers! Our hormones are a huge reason why some of us struggle with our weight in the first place. 
You are telling me that two items that I can eat daily can help COMBAT future weight gain? MIND – BLOWN! This book was a catalyst to my own personal paradigm shift about what I put into my body and why.
Back to the program, weight training is introduced but the healthy eating is most of this program. This is also where I learned about gluten free eating. Gluten and I are not friends. There is more in this book but I could spend a life time, and probably will spend a lifetime talking about it but I will move on to my third and last core diet program.
3. Jackie Warner’s “This is why you are fat” Again, with the 5-6 small meals, the importance of writing down what you eat, the fresh foods the reduction or complete elimination of fake sugars, processed foods, eating clean and the importance of 
weight lifting and cardio work outs. The difference and why “This is why you are fat” is a core diet in my arsenal is that the reader learns of what macronutrients are important to eat for weight loss and hormone regulation and more importantly how many of these macronutriants to consume in a 24 hour period. Jackie also outlines the importance of weight training and cardio.
You might be asking, is Erin suggesting I read all and do all of these seemingly great diet programs? No, but what I am saying is these are GREAT to use as a main plan or as a mixture of ideas plan. These all have the basics of something a reader can stick to forever and make a great plan to destroy their weight loss roadblock. All’z I’m say’enz is… check them out but also realize that not every diet plan is going to be your rainbow to the pot of gold of breaking your personal weight loss roadblock.
These plans all share the concept of keeping your blood sugar level though out the day by eating 5-6 small meals with 2-3 hours in between and the absolute importance of writing down what you eat. That protein is important with your carbs, eating fruits and veggies are important but the portion size is more important. That a free day is essential for success and that six pack abs are made in the kitchen, but physical activity is key to keeping your body at its peak OVERALL health. I mean come on here guys, this is not rocket science, someone has already done all this work for us, and these are tested, studies, true, and undeniably the way to weight loss success now and keeping you at a healthy weight for a long lifetime.
Dear Diary, today I ate 1/3 cup whole oats, 1cup fresh mixed berries, and 2 whole eggs for meal 1.
Next week come back to read Part 3: Weight loss roadblock broken, stop it from returning. Where I show you a sample plan that works for me and more about what is it about that scale and why it doesn’t always give us the results we want when we want them!
The truth is. Everyone is different. I believe through test and result the tools in my arsenal will give the results I seek and I am executing them correctly, it just takes time. I know, I cringe every time I hear that answer too. What I can definitively say at this point is – results obtained over time stick with us. I know this, if I am consistent in using my trusted tools I will learn the process and then make the process a habit where I won’t need to think twice if I am doing it correctly or not to succeed. That is what we want is it not? To create and stick to a plan that is successful and make sticking to that plan a habit for long time use? Of Course! Yes! Jump up and down! We just realized that we already knew something great and now we can take action!
Enough babbling, on to bigger and better things. Take a gander at the sample 7 day meal plan and fitness program, review it, use it, make it your own with your own macronutrients, you got this!
erintris 