Confused?

Confused?  I bet you are!  

I've been getting a lot of people asking me what I do for my meal planning day by day. And by what some of you have told me, you are a bit confused about Carbs and Protein.  For some of us, it's hard to know what type of food is a Carb and what is a Protein........although I think that most of us can figure the protein thing out but some things might surprise you!

Most people think of Carbs as potatoes, rice, wheat (bread, pasta) etc.......while this is true and it is also these carbs (the simple carbs) that I want you to stay away from during this   challenge and always actually!  You will be surprised how much better you will feel.

Now, i'm not one for a no Carb diet......that is just silly cause I don't know about you but I do not want to end up in the hospital from too many fainting spells or going into Ketosis or have low mood swings!  I do this to feel better about my self and damn it.........just plain feel good!  You've all heard the the key to losing weight is cutting out the bad carbs, the white carbs.......well it's true.

Bad Carb (but really yummy!)

Good Carbs (and still yummy!)

So I want you to get your carbs from vegetables (and some fruit, just remember that fruit is also very high in sugar!) and lots of them!  Veggies that are green, yellow, red or purple are very high in the good carbs.

The great thing about eating clean is the combining lean protein and complex carbs at each of the small meals eaten over the course of the day.  Together they normalize insulin levels and slow the release of glucose which in turns slows the carb-to-fat conversion cause it takes more work to digest these foods.  It will rev up your metabolism, so you burn more fat!  How simple is that?

Is this getting too technical for you?  I'll confuse you even more with the amount of protein that should be consumed at each and every meal.  25 grams of protein!  Now you can get your protein in many different ways and I will leave it up to you to choose which way, but here are some guide lines and I trust you to make the right choice!

Egg whites                        5-7                   115 cals

Low-fat yogurt                 2 cups              220 cals

Whey protein powder       1 oz                 128 cals

Tofu                                 1 cup                 274 cals

Skinless chicken breast     4 oz                 125 cals

Salmon                             4 oz                  234 cals

Lean beef tenderloin         4 oz                 240 cals

Quinoa                              2 cups             509 cals

Almonds                           3/4 cup            621 cals

Natural peanut butter        6 tbsp               600 cals

Well, I hope you get my drift!  Although things like almonds are also healthy fats ( and we really need those), they are calorie dense and should be used sparingly

So mix and match your proteins, add as many veggies as you want and aim for about 350-500 cals per mini meal!

Here's what I ate today:

•               1 cup of my Quinoa/oatmeal cereal with 1/4 cup frozen blueberries

•              1/2 cup low goat fat yogurt, 1/2 apple pair with 2 tbsp peanut butter, 2 slices low fat deli ham

•               4 oz lean beef, 1/2 steamed rutabaga, 1 cup steamed spinach

•               1 protein drink

•               4 oz pork tenderloin stir fry with eggplant, zuchini and onion

•               not sure what I will have for a snack if i am hungry!

Happy cooking, eating and combining!  If you do it right~it does pay off!

live life and love