My husband and I have gotten more and more healthy over the years. Once we realized we weren't teenagers anymore and cholesterol was a thing, we made some seriously good changes. When we both got disabled and couldn't workout, we tried to eat healthy for most meals and started watching our portions. When we were able to workout again and weren't so poor that all we could afford was free loaves of bread, hot dogs, spaghetti, and ramen; we worked with the South Beach Diet and Nutrisystem to develop a healthier way of life in general and got really serious about our portions.
We've both wanted for years to go hardcore with eating well and working out, but haven't had the time, energy, organization, time management, or discipline to do it. Now that my husband's better and we've got our previously chaotic schedule and sleep nicely managed, we've gotten on top of housework and jobs. We got a chance to rise above survival mode and focus more on what we wanted. Thanks to food stamps we're able to do this - and since we've already been able to get ourselves off food stamps once, we're looking forward to being able to work more and get off of them again.
- Sleep 8 hours per night, at the same time every night, and no naps. Period. (Hardest thing I've ever done in my life btw). Do this one 100% unless you're sick - no cheating.
- No caffeine. (Or alcohol, smoking, or drugs, if that's something you do).
- Drink a gallon of water a day.
- Walk 10 minutes every day except Sunday (or whichever day you prefer). Grocery shopping and stuff does not count - even if you're on your feet for 4 hours in the store, doing dishes, cooking, or going back and forth to the laundry room. I am using an elliptical instead of a treadmill cuz it works more and it's easier on my joints.
- After 2 weeks walk 20 minutes a day.
- After 2 weeks walk 30 minutes a day. I hike once a week in place of this on a fairly serious hiking trail that's not flat. Add in gym machines or dumbbells to target strength training if you want.
- Start to follow the strict meal plan. See below. (My husband did say this was harder than quitting smoking).
- Now branch out. At this point Scott has started running again like he used to a few years ago. He spends 45 minutes a day on cardio and alternates walking with sets of running. He's also training with a body builder for specific muscle development. I chose to continue to focus on weight loss and a couple machines to tone my arms and get stronger in general. I'm hiking for an hour some days, starting to practice rock-climbing again (though I'm starting completely from scratch on that since I haven't been able to do it since I got sick at age 16), and am able to do fast bursts mixed with steady speed on the elliptical on the days I do that.
Yes, it's hard. No, it's not always fun. No, I did not think it was actually possible with our conditions. I saw all the motivational posters that said things like "If you don't reach your goal then you're just making excuses". I would say to myself, "Well we want to do better, and we're trying, but people with disabilities have some real limitations. Someone with M.S. crumpled in a wheelchair will probably never run a marathon. Maybe they could workout and try super hard and use their arms again or something, but there's a line." I had dreams that someday my husband would get better than he was and I would get well enough to at least rock-climb again, but it was so far off I couldn't imagine it. I literally did not believe I could function at work without a Monster or sleep normally. So I decided to do my best and go as far as I possibly could, and God showed me there's a lot more possible than I could have imagined. We found out we could do it; even when I'm on my period, even when we both got sick for 2 weeks with a cold, and while increasing the days I was going to work (every day I was scheduled so far this month!!!)
I feel stronger than I've felt in 10 years. When you experience what people call "runner's high" you actually start to crave it - even though you know it'll make you sore. I've lost 15 lbs. in just the last couple months. Our lives have become structured, disciplined, and boring, and we absolutely love it. It feels amazing to do what we've wanted to for so long and be proud of ourselves and each other. And the better we get, the more exciting our lives will be as we get even more opportunities to do normal things like go out to dinner; go on a camping trip; have a video game night with new friends from work; go to a concert; take a trip...
Meal Plan
We found a plan from this guy's site for the basic structure, consulted our Dr., a couple body builders, and a friend who doesn't workout to get huge but is very healthy with his working out and eating. After tweaking it and experimenting with a schedule that works for us, we came up with this:
Portions:
- The whole meal is the size of your fist. We're going pretty strict to make sure we lose weight so we're kind of hungry all day, but it doesn't take long for your stomach to shrink and get used to it - especially when you're drinking a gallon of water a day. Just think about all those people who get that surgery that makes their stomach smaller or the band - ALL they do is force themselves to eat smaller portions and people lose tons of weight. If you can have self-control this will go far all by itself - no surgery needed. (Later if you get really into bodybuilding or super hardcore physical training there are formulas to follow with carbs and proteins, but it's very high-level).
Food:
- The bodybuilder whose site we based this on says no oil, (obviously no butter), and no sugar. We had to make a couple slight adjustments - oatmeal tastes like feet without a little brown sugar, and for the potatoes and chicken we use a little bit of extra virgin olive oil right before we broil it or it dries up like sand - but we stopped marinating everything in oil overnight or sautéing. I also have a tootsie roll once in a while and diet hot chocolate to handle chocolate cravings. I can live with those adjustments.
- We've eaten the same meal every day for years - usually for every meal until it's gone - so this isn't that big a deal for us. To make sure you don't get sick of it, spices are your friend. Also see below for changing things up for one meal on your day off.
(Smokehouse Maple, Montreal Steak, Steakhouse Onion Burger, Montreal Chicken, Worcestershire Pub Burger, Roasted Garlic & Herb. The spice specifies if it's best on chicken, steak, fish, etc. All are super tasty. For the sweet potatoes I taped the seasoning packet's label onto an empty spice shaker and just use that: it's McCormick Produce Partners Roasted Italian Herb Potatoes. OMG so good).
Schedule:
- You eat several very small meals a day and one snack to improve your metabolism. The kind of meal you eat at a certain time is important because certain meats give you the right protein before or after a workout, and certain carbs like the oatmeal take a long time to digest so they keep you full and shouldn't be eaten right before bed or anything.
- This is a tough schedule to get used to, but you can make it flexible around work hours, errands, appointments, etc. *Disclaimer: we don't have kids. I have no idea how you'd manage this with kids. I'll find something to link you people later lol. Worst case, if you don't have time for a meal, throw a Clif bar in your bag and it only takes a couple minutes to eat; has about the same amount of calories, fiber, and protein as a meal would; 1/2 is plenty filling once you're used to these portions; and they're $1 each. Also, every one I've had is freaking delicious and gives me a chocolate fix. :) A smoothie with protein powder in it is also a great option - but a Clif bar is infinitely easier.
Our Schedule:
*Rice is cooked normally without chicken stock with only sea salt and pepper to taste. Broccoli is cheaper and easier if you buy a few heads of it fresh and snap off a branch for each meal with sea salt and pepper. You don't need to steam it cuz a minute in the microwave softens it a bit, but it's never soggy and lasts a long time.
*Mine has to be a little different due to work, so my version is in red when it's different.
- Wake up at 10:30 am.
- 11 am - We share the egg white of a hard boiled egg and a serving of oatmeal. (Our serving to share is 1/4 c. oatmeal, a little over 1/3 c. water, 1 tbsp. brown sugar, a couple shakes sea salt).
- 1:30 pm - Steak, brown rice.
- 3:30 pm - Tilapia, sweet potatoes, broccoli.
- (5:30, smaller than normal portion)
- (6:30 pm - Apple and small portion trail mix - see below for details)
- (8 pm - break at work so 1/2 Clif bar since I only get 10 minutes)
- 10:30 pm - lunch at work, 30 minutes, alternate fish and chicken, broccoli)
- 12:30 am - Snack. I have 1/2 a Clif bar or a smoothie with some diet hot chocolate; he has honey roasted almonds or an apple with some sugar-free apple cider.
- 1:30 pm - Be in bed trying to fall asleep by 2 am at the latest.
*Trail Mix: Since I can't have caffeine I found the rumor that an apple wakes you up more than coffee is true for me, so before work I have an apple with a container of trail mix. This wakes me up, keeps me full, gives me protein, and has some dark chocolate chips and dried fruit for energy (also: chocolate. duh.) I mix together dried fruit, almonds, cashews, peanuts, raisins, dates, sunflower seeds, and the dark chocolate chips - making sure nothing is salted and is natural. This also helps me not eat peanut butter (reduced fat or otherwise) with my apple, as I got in the habit of doing and became quickly addicted lol. This way has a lot less calories and fat.
Some suggested a "cheat day" once a week where you eat whatever you want, but workout really hard to work it all off. I know personally that if I do a cheat day, I don't do well with it and even wound up with an eating disorder once. I want to be a human and enjoy life a bit as I go, but work really hard the majority of the time to reach my goals. For me it works to have a yummy Lean Cuisine meal, or something small around 300 calories from fast food, instead of one of the scheduled meals every Sunday, and if my boss buys my team free pizza at work, or someone has a giant cake with "Help Yourself" written on it in the breakroom, I can have 2-3 bites and be happy. My boss can laugh at me while I take the knife out of my lunchbag and literally cut a strip out of a piece of pizza and give the rest to a coworker. It was heaven in my mouth. Who cares if I use my lunchbag fork and scoop a bite of solid frosting left when someone cut a piece of cake? That's the only part I want anyway, and if I don't have at least one bite of it I might kill people and eat the entire thing by myself in the parking lot. I know these things about myself, lol.
My husband wanted to do 100%, but started to go crazy with the cravings. After 3 weeks he got the lowest-calorie sour candy he could find, and physically rations himself with some honey roasted peanuts when he feels like he needs more protein or something to snack on. Most of his meals were healthy before but he definitely did some snacking: keep in mind this man went straight from eating 1/2 a bag of BBQ chips with 1/2 a jar of Spinach Artichoke dip in one sitting - pretty much every other day - during a movie or show. I found out these crazy looking Veggie Chips are actually super delicious and satisfying for snacking if you need something. I promise: they don't taste like styrofoam.
Once you get yourself on a treadmill you'll figure out how ridiculous it is just to burn 100 calories. It's discouraging when you know the point is "work off more than you put in", and realize you aren't able to work off that many calories every single day. We've decided this is as strict on the meal plan as is possible for us to live, and the gym has become a part of our lives for 1 1/2 hours every day. It's a way of life. We may not lose weight quite as fast as we would if we were perfect, but we are working incredibly hard, and we are seeing results. And with results like this we will get to our goal weight and strength, and we'll be used to this lifestyle so it will be natural to keep it once we're "allowed" to have more unhealthy meals. In the meantime, it's definitely worth it.
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