Food Challenge

As I mentioned, I belong to a Les Mills PUMP group on Facebook.  One of the the challenges that we have is to take our weight and multiply it by 10 and try to hit that number of calories for the first 30 days of this program.  Most Beachbody programs are intense enough that you need to up your calories (Yay!  Food!) in order to sustain yourself during the workouts.  And let's face it - a TurboFire workout can average 300-800 calories depending on your weight and level of intensity.  

I remember a few years ago when I was working with a trainer at Lifetime Fitness that she said every single person she trained ate too few calories because they were eating garbage, and didn't eat enough calories of whole foods.  So really - 1500 calories of crap is not equal nutritionally to 2000 calories of whole foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains.  Have you ever tried to eat 2000 calories of whole foods?  It is a LOT of food compared to 1500 calories of crap foods.  Seriously.  

I am tracking my food in Sparkpeople.com because it is free and comprehensive.  I love that you can choose favorite foods and customize them and then save them so that when you use them again they are easy to track.  Kind of like Weight Watchers only calories and nutrients can be added in rather than just points.  Since I am big on making sure that I get enough nutrients right now to fuel my workouts (and not just protein, fats and carbs) I like having that control.  Plus I can track fiber, which is a big deal to me right now as well because I am trying to get an abundance of fiber in my diet.  And finally, I can run a report to see what my calorie ratio is for fats, proteins and carbs.  I didn't do so well today in calories - I was actually under what I should be.  However, I don't exercise on Sundays and took a nap so it probably balances out.  And I need to go to the grocery store.

I am very excited for Wednesday when our neighborhood Health & Fitness Club starts.  We have a fun group of women who are a variety of shapes, sizes, and fitness levels.  I am looking forward to the accountability and to be able to share ideas with each other without judgment.  We won't be working out together and I am sure that everyone will be following completely different programs.  It's all about the support.  

Tonight my bestie and I took our measurements and before pictures (which I am not allowed to post until after the 90 days so we can post after at the same time).  We are both so excited to see what the next 90 days will bring!