SO many people ask me what my ‘secret’ is to being 50 and still having visible abs.
I can tell you that I’m just like you. I’m not anything special. If anything, my genes are somewhat lacking. I have pasty blue skin and bad eyesight. However, I’ve worked with what I was given and made the best of things, just like you have to do.
A big piece of looking good is obviously related to your habits and nutrition and that’s what I want to talk about today.
In terms of nutrition, you’ll be hearing a lot more about the specifics as my new program, Challenge Diet, gets ready to launch in March 2014, but today, I want to share a little about my schedule, a sample nutrition day and what supplements I use. (This was requested by a reader.)
You’ll see that a good part of my day is spent being sedentary, after all, who do you think writes all these posts and emails?
I may be good at multi-tasking, but I can’t write and do burpees or jump rope at the same time 😉
So, firstly: I DO NOT workout for hours a day.
And secondly, I DO NOT starve myself.
However, here’s a confession for times of stress in my life: if anything, I’m a stress ‘non-eater’. Now don’t hate me for not eating at times of stress – this can be as detriment to health as overeating. When stressed, I may not gain weight, but my adrenals are taxed, sleep is difficult, and eating is tough. My energy is low, my workouts suffer and I fear for losing shapely hard earned sexy muscle.
I want to make it clear t
hat although we all experience stress from time to time, we can’t use that as an excuse for our physique. I know I’m a stress ‘non-eater’ so I need to make plans to include healthy foods into my day, just like the overeater needs to plan to include healthy foods and portions on their plate.
Although no day is ‘typical’ so to speak, this is what my day looks like today. On other days, I teach my own fitness boot camp (1-2 days a week), and if that’s the case, I get up at 4 am and teach until 8, then the rest of the day looks similar.
6 am – Half lemon in water – You can read all the benefits of this ritual here (I’ve noticed a difference in my energy and I think it helps me stay lean.)
6:15 am – Coffee (My guilty pleasure: cream and a packet of stevia)
6:15 – 8 am – Magic time for creativity (writing). Feed and walk Sev, have breakfast which may be:
- Greek yogurt, tbsp. protein powder and berries, walnuts
- Steel cut oatmeal with berries, Greek yogurt and a tbsp protein powder and walnuts
- Protein pancake (recipe here scroll down a bit)
- Protein shake (I’ll generally just use protein powder, greens and water)
8:30 – 11 am – GSD (get ‘stuff’ done) – This is more product creation time, writing time etc.
11 am to noon – Workout (Sometime I go to a gym, other times I go to my studio gym in my basement.)
I finish my workout with amino acids. I was taking Creatine, but I’ve found the amino acids are best at helping my strength and maintaining my muscularity.
Noon (ish) – Lunch.
I got a juicer for Christmas and usually make my favorite juice concoction that includes spinach, broccoli, a small carrot, small apple and fresh ginger. (If Hannah is home, she’ll juice for both of us and she throws every vegetable she can find in.)
A sample lunch may be some protein from the previous night’s dinner, like leftover fish, flank steak or chicken. Or, I’ll have some scrambled egg whites in coconut oil with avocado. I’ll have a handful of berries or half a banana for dessert.
12:30-4 pm – More time to GSD. This includes more writing, connecting with my assistant, colleagues, coaching calls with clients, customer emails…you know, basic world domination 😉
4 pm – Snack time and time to walk Sev. Snack examples may include things like almonds and an apple, ‘pudding’ (Greek yogurt and protein powder and fruit), a Biotrust cookie or half a Biotrust protein bar. 
5 – 6:30 pm – Chores, feed Sev, make dinner, etc.
6:30 pm (ish) – Dinner
Dinners are usually a protein source (I’m eating beef and chicken again, for a while it was only fish) and two veggies. For example, I may make salmon, roasted Brussel sprouts and broccoli.
7:30 – 9 or 10 pm – Hang out time with the kids or more work if they aren’t around and walk Sev again.
Maybe I’ll have tea with Hannah but usually I don’t eat much after dinner.
I didn’t mention the other supplements I use daily that includes a quality multi vitamin, vitamin D and fish oil (I use this).
You can see I don’t do anything ‘over the top’.
I have a pretty consistent bedtime and wake time (expect for boot camp days where I get up at an unreasonable 4 am – ug).
Keep in mind, I modeled this day after a typical Monday. All bets are off if I’m traveling or at an event, but you can be sure that my supplements stay the same and I do my best to keep my nutrition similar.
One of the BEST ways to meet your fitness and fat loss goals is plain old CONSISTENCY. Making small healthy choices day in and day out help.
Here’s a tip that’s helped many of my clients: One day/one meal at a time. All you need to consider is making a good choice for each snack or meal or getting off your butt for a particular workout. Don’t think of your entire life of never having your favorite chips (insert what you crave most here) again. Just take baby steps towards your goals.
Oh, I forgot to mention, that at least ONCE a week, I’ll eat ‘whatever’ my heart desires for a meal. I try to make it sort of an event, versus stuffing food down my throat standing over the sink or with the fridge door open (you know we’ve all done that before 😉
This helps balance the hormones (like leptin) that help keep me lean. If you feel like your leptin levels are outta whack, many of my clients have tried this supplement and it’s helped them drop weight.
What’s YOUR day like? Do you prioritize your health?
If you don’t, it’s time to start to make ONE healthy change this week. Next week you can take on another change.
I hope that gives you some perspective.