Laughs really hard.
5 weeks ago, my mom approached me with a goal - to feel confident in a swimsuit in time for a January cruise to the Bahamas. The objective was to lose around 20 pounds in 2 months (which happen to cross Halloween, Thanksgiving, AND Christmas). Misson: ACCEPTED.
We discussed her physical goals and the reasons behind them. The routine of coming home and parking it on the couch for several hours and then going to bed everyday was becoming excessively boring. As a big time commuter with upwards of 15 hours/week of travel, how can she boost her energy with the winter coming on?
Where to begin? Meal makeovers. 3 main (350-450 Calories) meals, 2 small (100-200 Calories) snacks. Always remember, you simply cannot out-train poor eating. As a general rule of thumb, I eat as much whole and unprocessed food as possible. I'm not about to bake a loaf of bread myself, so I look for healthy versions in store (Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Flourless is my preferred). I also try to keep snacks to fruits/veggies and portion controlled nuts.
I strongly reject the idea of a "diet". Restricting or denying yourself any particular food group is just setting yourself up to fail. Your body needs all the food groups in moderation, you hear me low carbers?! The only exception to this rule is a diet preference such as vegetarian, pescatarian, or vegan. However, those who are on a specialized diet are presumably educated on how to properly compensate for the food groups they are eliminating. The big issue we needed to conquer was Mom's tendency to eat like a bird. She doesn't prioritize food in her day, so she eats out of necessity and chooses foods based on convenience. The easiest change we made was emphasizing the need for a vegetable at each meal instead of a starch. We've always been a very meat and potatoes family, but double starches at a meal is a sin! If you've got a burger on a bun, you best be passing on the fries if you plan to eat that bun! You get the point. The other factor was the emphasis on lean proteins at every meal, especially breakfast. Now, Sunday nights are when she cooks up a big batch of scrambled egg whites with spinach and crumbled turkey sausage that she can reheat with a slice of toast each morning instead of grabbing a bowl of sugar laden cereal because it's fast.
Next up: Training!! This is the fun part. We started slow with simple body weight exercises like squats and lunges. We work together Monday - Thursday, leaving Friday for her to complete some form of activity of her choice (usually biking) and Saturday for a good hour on the treadmill. Sunday is for recovery. Within three weeks, Mom had progressed from never having done a real pushup (not on the knees) in her life to doing 10 and by now, 12!! She also made small life changes like taking the stairs to her office everyday and going for a walk at lunch. We've moved up to more difficult weighted exercises and suspension training on the TRX, which can occasionally produce hilarious coordination related issues. She has also proven incredibly strong willed, going from huffing through a 16 minute mile to being ready to complete her first Turkey Trot 5K (sub-45 is the goal) this Thursday!
So here's the re-cap. Mom wants to get in shape. We fix diet. We work out. We get results. I say "we" because support is just as crucial as the actual work. We eat the same dinners and we work out together. We text each other when we've made good decisions in a restaurant. Support breeds success. Success sparks interest in those around you. Now Dad is on board!!
And about those results? As of week 4, 12 pounds and 6 inches lost. Week 5 weigh-in is tomorrow! I'll be sure to update with our 5K run times.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
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