Fired Up...Feels Good!

Goal: Get through this loooooooon day! 

This morning I had a reality check on a) I am not getting any younger b) my body needed more rest and c) I woke up late and didn't get to eat the breakfast I wanted to. I made a healthy smoothie jam packed with goodness and flavor and brought some organic oatmeal with chia and flax seeds in it. Lot of people have been asking me to share some thoughts on how I stay healthy and meal prep guides! 

Food

We each are very different when it comes to the foods we like to consume throughout our day! While yours might be different I will layout each meal time (breakfast, lunch, dinner) that include foods that are particularly great for your body if you want to lose weight and also be healthy. 

Breakfast Foods

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! We have heard it all before.I have listed a couple of foods I eat throughout the week that are high in protein and other antioxidants that help me stay focused through the day and gives me healthy benefits. Granted there are so many other choices for breakfast these are the ones I eat and recommend. Stay away from Juices (unless you have a juicer) because these tend to have high sugar content and high count of carbohydrates. Get into the habit of reading labels and if there is more than 5 ingredients then it is a processed food.


Egg whites-->I usually have two per morning; huge protein here!
Raspberries-->These are jam packed with Fiber
Oatmeal-->has tons of fiber and helps you feel full longer!!!
Greek Yogurt-->packed with protein (best kind if plain & some fruit!)
Grape Fruit-->immunity boosting oxidants
Bananas-->Helps curb cravings for those fatty foods
Almond Butter-->Just discovered this gem! Filled with good fats and protein
Blueberries-->Antioxidants galore! These help your memory, and metabolism
Strawberries-->1 cup of strawberries=full intake of Vitamin C
Tea--> less caffeine than coffee, and hydrates you in many ways

Lunch Foods

Quinoa--> this grain is packed with 24g of protein per cup & super healthy
Salads-->Be creative, know what your eating, you should strive to hit protein, complex carbs, and fiber!
Edamame-->packed with 17g of protein per cup, sprinkle some soy sauce and some sea salt and enjoy!
Wraps-Use your imagination, try to use wheat wrap add some hummus, turkey and avocado=goodness in your mouth! 
Tuna-->great in moderation, you don't need a whole lot of fish but can of tuna is packed with a whopping 39g of protein!!!!
Avocado-->Great in sandwiches, salads, or just by itself. This super food is packed with good fats, and vitamin C.

Dinner Foods

Broccoli-->I steam my broccoli (I but it frozen) A lot of vitamins packed in to this super green machine
Chicken-->I have chicken every night.There are many ways to cook chicken, my preference is to bake it in the oven or my crock pot! This meat has 0 carbohydrates (yay) and is packed with protein. 
Kale-->An acquired taste, this vegetable is loaded with Vitamin B-6 and Vitamin A. Sometimes I place avocado on top and sprinkle some EVOO and black pepper, takes away from the nasty flavor
Brown Rice-->common food among those who lift, this grain is packed with carbohydrates for energy 
Spinach--> This plant has barely any carbs or fats! It is jam packed with vitamin A and Vitamin C. 

Meal Prepping

For me, I always do my meal prepping on Sundays! It makes your week easier and you are able to set aside time on important things than worrying about food. I always go grocery shopping on Sunday. I write down each food group I am going to target for that week and then I see what I could make when combining food groups. I never go shopping on an empty stomach because then I will have more of a chance to spend money on food I want at that present moment rather than being smart. Buy baggies! They will help in the long run. Each night I pack my lunch and sometimes I will make sure I have it all labeled. I usually workout in the morning (fasted cardio is the best!) and then strive to eat egg whites and some tea. I don't eat snacks between meals and try to drink about 1 water bottle an hour. 

 

Goal: achieved

Today was an extremely long day for but I got through it! I am so tired I am going to get to bed early and workout tomorrow! Tomorrow is a cheat day for me but that doesn't mean anything! I am still going to workout in the morning. :)

 

Day three: Push Yourself

goal: Maintain motivation! 

I weighed myself today and I have lost 4 pounds already! :) What a great motivator !Today was a very busy day! I was woken up at 4:45 by a Yorkie dog that yelped for 3 hours straight. Those who know me know I absolutely need 100% quietness and I hate being woken up in the middle of the night. I pushed my workout to an afternoon workout since my body is recovering from the past two days of intense workouts. I am going to recover tomorrow since I have 11 hour day! 
When it comes to working out, the one thing that works for me is music that I listen to. I believe that it is different for anyone but for me I listen to music that gets me motivated! I have a few tracks that I listen to! check them out! I always listen to the beat, if the beat is perfect then I push myself. When I jump rope I usually do it do the pace of the song, the faster the song the faster I jump rope! Jumping rope is the best form of cardio you can do! When I was a little girl I was an animal at jumping rope.

My Top 5 Gym Songs

1. Can't Hold Us (Feat. Ray Dalton)--Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

2. Been Through It All (Feat. Cheri Dennis)--Machine Gun Kelly

3. I Need Your Love (Feat. Ellie Goulding)--Calvin Harris

4. Play Hard--Krewella

5. Get Lucky (Feat. Pharrell Williams)--Daft Punk

Today I was able to work for part of my day while using a medicine ball! I was able to stand while I worked and also helped my stability while working. I was very good at drinking my tea and eating healthy still! I feel much more motivated and in high spirits when I am healthy. Today my boss told me "you seem like you have some spark today!" Tomorrow will be a very long day; it will be interesting to see how I do throughout the day and if I am able to maintain motivation and not feel groggy during the second part of my day. Since I am not able to really move a lot during the day, I am much more conscious of my surroundings and make sure to take quick breaks here and there so I can get more energy. 

PM Workout 

Had a great workout though! Focused on upper body today! Did some dead lifts, bicep curls, should press, burpees, bench press, and jumped rope for my cardio. Wasn't as long as I wanted to go but I am glad I got in the gym! I feel much more comfortable each day I go there. I look forward to the gym each and every day! I am going to mix up my cardio this weekend with some ice skating and sprints outside (if its warm enough). 

*peace n blessings*

Luciana Reichel

10,000 Steps and Counting

Goal: push myself more in gym and focus on doing perfect form. 

Workout 

I woke up at 6:15 and went to the gym from 6:45-7:30. A big improvement from yesterday already. Today I did about 30 minutes on the treadmill with 1 minute all out running and then did about 1 minute of brisk walking to get my heart rate down just a little. I then did squat jumps and the stair master for 10 minutes. It was a great workout. I absolutely feel more confident and feeling my self esteem gradually come back! Not only do I feel great throughout the day I feel like I have accomplished something. 

10,000 steps and counting

Today I decided to see how many steps I took during the day using a app on my phone. Growing up I had always heard about needing to do 10,000 steps a day. It actually started in Japan and they told people they needed to walk over 10,000 steps in a day as a measure to sell more pedometers!! Today I measured up to about 4000 steps. I didn't count the 30 minute cardio session today. That would have made a different substantially. I realized just how important it is to be in shape and continuously moving will help one stay healthy. Main lesson today is focusing on accountability  WE all are busy! It is just the world we live in. It starts with that want to change; that feeling that your sick of living the way you have been. Being healthy is crucial to live a longer life! It's never too late to eat healthy and work out. 

Breakfast 9 a.m.

Jam packed smoothie with Kale, blueberries, pineapple, little whole milk, strawberries, vanilla yogurt. I also had two egg whites. 

Lunch 1 p.m. 

Had a great lunch! I had some jerky, banana, tomatoes, Almond peanut butter, and sunflower seeds and walnuts. I found that if I drank some tea 30 minutes before I ate lunch and I felt much more full. I am realizing that I don't need to eat such a huge meal! It all comes down to what you eat and how you eat it. I make sure to savor each bite :) this not only helps me be in the moment, but it also fills me up faster. 

Dinner 6 p.m.

After a hard day of work and fitness mania, I made sure to stock up on lot of green goodness! I had some more kale, avocado, EVOO, broccoli, edamame, chicken and carrots. I an honestly say I love eating like this!


Today Goal: Achieved

Today was a great day! I was able to push myself in the gym like I have never done before. I brought my speakers down and played my gym play list and I had a blast being in the zone!! The positiveness that comes from being healthy is such a motivational factor in my life. Tomorrow I am going to take a rest day in the A.M and then workout in the afternoon before I meet a friend out for dinner!!!! :) I have a really busy day tomorrow so I will have a shorter blog! Stay warm wherever you are! its -11 here!!! 

*peace and blessings*

Luciana Reichel

No Going Back Now...

Goal today: My main goal today is to take it slow, and get comfortable with the gym and eat all my food and enjoy every bite. 

Supplements

Supplements are the most important factor when living a healthy lifestyle. It is more vital the older we get as well. I am pretty good at taking my vitamins and supplements (although I hate taking pills) :) I take a complete multi-vitamin every morning with breakfast along with Super Omega-3 (EPA/DHA w/Sesame Lignans & Fruit Extract), Vitamin D-3, and Organic Cold Pressed Flax Oil. Its good to take your vitamins with food, especially the Omega-3's (otherwise you get that fishy burps). I also am drinking a Detox tea this week along with some organic green tea. There is nothing going wrong with tea ever! Remember to drink plenty of water as well!

Workout Day #1

Upon walking into my apartment’s gym, I was told that it was fairly warm in there but being in the basement I figured I was being told false truths! I walked into the gym and realized I dressed wrong. Since gaining some weight, I wore pants and a long sleeve shirt. Boy was I wrong! The gym was practically a sauna (88 degrees) which I do not mind, I love to sweat! Today I did a high intensity level workout on the treadmill. I incorporated 1 minute of all out running and then recovered for 2 minutes. I repeated this cycle for 20 minutes. I am out of shape that is for sure but my endurance is still there. I then did 5 minutes of fast paced jumping rope and then proceeded to stretch for 5 minutes. I am getting over being sick so I did not want to push my body too hard today so in order to be safe I am going to start slow and gradually add on 10 minute increments each day. High level interval training is essential for sculpting your figure! From years of being a swimming athlete, I know that high interval training starves your body of oxygen so even after you are done working out your body burns calories! My apartment gym has most of the equipment I need, and even a boxing bag. Looks like I will be ordering some boxing gloves! Although I was not able to work out more than I wanted; I will always stick to progress not perfection.

Breakfast 10am

The most important meal of the day: breakfast!!!! Breakfast not only rev's up your metabolism but it keeps you from binging on foods later in the day when they may not be healthy. Breakfast also helped me be in a great mood all day today. Today I had two egg whites, a handful of grapes, watered down cranberry juice, and detox tea. I also had all my vitamins. Eggs carry 4g of protein in each egg. I am going to drink a water bottle full of water about every two hours today. I am also bringing lunch to work today so I do not get caved in to eating fatty or junk foods at the college. The eggs really helped me stay full for most of the morning.  

Lunch 2pm

I am having an awesome lunch today packed with so much goodness! Making your own lunch at home will not only help you save money but will keep you from eating fatty foods at your workplace. Today I have some mixed nuts (sunflower seeds, and walnuts), banana, applesauce, carrots, detox tea, and a ham sandwich. I am focusing to eat as much protein I can and limit the number of carbohydrates I intake each day. In the next week, I will lose a lot of water weight. After that I will start to build muscle and continue to eat a balanced diet. 

When you work out, your body burns the carbohydrates and then the fat stored in your body. (Muscle burns at a higher rate than fat). The fat that you have on your body currently is basically stored energy. In order to lose weight efficiently, you must have a healthy balanced diet and exercise. Not to starve yourself! That will only hurt you more. When it comes to losing weight it comes down to calorie intake versus the number of calories you are putting out. Essentially our bodies are absorbing the fat: The body converts all the fat we have in our body to carbohydrates which in turn is metabolized into carbon dioxide etc. 

Dinner 6pm

Dinner was a protein explosion! Had some oven baked chicken I prepped on Sunday, kale, avocado, broccoli, edamame (with soy sauce...thanks mom & dad), tomatoes that I didn't finish at lunch and some extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) on top of the kale. I also had some whole milk and then washing down the awesome taste of kale with a small piece of jerky and some detox tea! For the rest of the night I am going to get my schedule put together and hopefully head to bed early! When I am at my best (healthy and in shape) I usually need about 6 hours of sleep but try to get at least 8 hours of sleep. 

Goal today: Achieved

Today was a very good day! I have never felt better and it is amazing how good you feel when you exercise. I didn't want to wake up this morning but I did because I knew I didn't have a choice. To be honest I didn't think I would make it without having sugary drink or candy. I am used to it in order to get through my long days. The suite that I work in always has candy out and I resisted temptation. :) I also visualized my goals this morning when I was getting ready: not only my body to be back into shape but my emotional well-being.Being healthy helps you have a positive attitude and you rarely get sick.  My dad taught me when I was younger before every swim race, visualize myself winning the race and then go kick butt. I continue to visualize as I believe it is a very important factor in success and failure. I am very excited to go to bed and head to the gym tomorrow once again. Even though I was only able to run for a little while, I was able to walk out of there sweating like a madwoman and I know I don't need to go 100% right away. Progress not perfection when it comes to body, health, & wellness. 

*peace n blessings*

Luciana Reichel

Preparing for D-day

Well today is the day! I am very excited to start a healthy road to fitness bliss. After turning 25, I realized I am not getting any younger! I would like to get back in to the gym, eat healthy, hold myself accountable and be a role model for others. I have been an avid swimmer all my life and loved to play any type of sports growing up. In order to change my life, it starts with a positive attitude and a dream. That dream becomes a reality and evolves into a habit. HEALTHY HABIT. I am ready to get back into shape and live a healthy conscious lifestyle. Each day I will blog about my life happenings, and what hardships I face and share some tips and motivation to others who are dealing with this winter depression and cant get into the gym. It's time to get healthy people! I will share what I eat each day with pictures and my own recipes! We all are busy, but no excuses anymore. Tomorrow is day one! Wish me luck. 

My promise is to do some form of workout everyday even if it is low key cardio. 

Join me on my journey to a healthy road of happiness. 

*peace n blessings*

Luciana Reichel