On Friday we hit the two week mark on our Four Week Fitness Challenge with Sports and Fitness in Chico. Our goal is to lose 15 pounds by the end of the challenge. After another week of constant running, push ups, sit ups, and lunges it was time again to get on that scale. Will all the hard work pay off? Did eating foods with no flavor work? Did canceling every plan I had with my friends to avoid any contact with food or alcohol work? Did pretending my roommate's dinner was just as good as mine made a difference? These were the questions running through my mind as I took off my sweater, shoes and any other article of clothing that may weigh me down while on the scale.
Let’s cut the dramatics, I hopped on the scale and I’m down three more pounds. Combined with week one I‘ve lost 8 pounds so far. I was kind of hoping to lose more than 3 pounds but hey I’ll take it or should I say lose it wherever I can.
Our trainer Roland Jesters who is also the owner of Sports and Fitness, is tough, crazy, and fun. I think most of you know we start our workouts at five in the morning. Roland is always awake and ready to go, unlike the rest of us. We always wine and complain before every workout, but none of us ever quit. There’s about twenty of us that are in the program, and every single person is dedicated. A typical workout would include jogging to warm up and then a lot of circuit training where we alternate between running, push ups, lunges, sit ups, squats, triceps dips, crunches and anything else Roland can think of to torture us. The most interesting thing about Roland’s workout is that you don’t need any equipment. We use our own body weight instead of pumping iron, and believe me it works.
My team mates are doing very well. Fellow reporter Jennifer MacDonald has lost four pounds and my News Director Trisha Coder has lost four as well. We can all see changes in our bodies and all of us will tell you our clothes are starting to fit looser.
Here’s part our of diet:
Breakfast
1 piece of toast or half a bagel or half an English Muffin or a small 6’’ corn tortilla (that’s my favorite option.)
1 egg for a woman, 2 eggs for a man.
1 or 2 cups of coffee or tea. No cream or sugar. A small amount of milk or non-dairy creamer can be used.
Lunch
Salad and fresh vegetables, (no avocado), do not cook any of the vegetables. Have at least three cups total without counting the lettuce. Do not eat to much lettuce. Use one or two teaspoons of oil but you can use as much vinegar as you would like. Try and have at least six different types of solid vegetables.
Dinner
1 or 2 cups of lettuce, cabbage or spinach, with other types of hard vegetables as desired. Quarter to one cup of cooked vegetables, limit the cooked vegetables. Four oz for women, eight oz for a man of lean steak or hamburger (less than 15% fat.) After the first week you can add other types of protein such as fish, boneless, skinless, breasts, chicken, turkey, or tofu. DO NOT EAT ANY STARCH SUCH AS BREAD, TORTILLAS, PASTA, RICE OR STARCHY VEGETABLES SUCH AS POTATO, CORN, BEANS, PEAS OR WINTER SQUASH.
Here’s the kicker:
Drink 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in 8 or 10 oz of water with each meal, and if you like it between meals also. This helps to lessen your sweet cravings, curb your appetite and provide your body with minerals.
That’s all I’m going to share with you, can’t give away all of Roland’s secrets away.
Here’s the food tip of the week: My Favorite Breakfast.
Chop up half of an onion and a jalapeno pepper. Throw that into a skillet with a teaspoon of olive oil. In a bowl crack open an egg, add a dash or Mrs. Dash and mix it well.Once the onions and peppers are slightly brown add the egg. Scramble it up and once its done add some spinach. Warm up a corn tortilla and you have a great tasting breakfast taco. Men can have two eggs.
If you have any workout or diet questions you can ask our workout Guru, Roland Jesters, and it won't cost you anything, because we want you, our viewers, to get something out of this too.
Email Roland at sportsandfitness@yahoo.com
