Eating healthy is a lifestyle choice and some days it will not be easy, but the rewards are great. What you fuel your body with will only help make your workouts that much better and help energize you throughout the day. “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT.” If you eat junk food you will have less energy; And we work too hard to let that happen!
We do not workout just for 6-pack abs and smaller jeans. We workout because we want to be active for life and build strong bones and muscles to help make daily tasks easier. If you want to see external results, eating well is the only way to achieve those goals. This challenge is not designed as a weight-loss program, although that may be a byproduct. The challenge is to help you feel the difference in healthy eating over time.
Guidelines:
•6 days a week of clean and scheduled eating
•Minimum- 5 hours of exercise. Exercise is different than activity, if it doesn’t make you sweat or challenge you it doesn’t count! We are all at different stages on our fitness journey. You need to be honest with yourself and choose the challenges that are right for you. Options are how we all get to the end- so be sure you are picking the ones that suit your needs.
•1 cheat meal- not a cheat day so make it count!
•1 day of complete rest for your body
What is clean eating?Eating as few processed foods as possible. Try shopping on the outside of your grocery store and if you buy food in a box, look at the ingredient list. If it has more than 5 items listed put it down.
Take advantage of all our local farmers markets and load up on great fruits and veggies!
After main meals wait three hours after snacks two hours. If you are going to have to wait to eat, keep a protein shake handy so you can keep your metabolism going. Your night time snack should be under 150 calories & most importantly don’t skip meals!!!
Aim to eat at least three different colors of fruits and veggies a day and a variety of them!
The proteins you eat for lunch/dinner should either be a meat or a meat replacement like tofu.
Sample meal plan guide
Day 1
Breakfast- ¾- 1 cup Oatmeal Snack- ¼ cup nuts & a piece of fruit
Lunch- 4-6oz. of protein & two servings of veggies Snack- Protein shake & a piece of fruit Dinner- 4-6oz. of protein & two servings of veggies Snack- 2 cups air popped popcorn
Day 2
Breakfast- 2 pieces of toast with 2 tbls. of natural peanut butter or Nut’s n’ More
Snack- piece of fruit & hard boiled egg Lunch- 4-6oz lean protein & 2 servings of veggies
Snack- ½ cup cottage cheese & ½ cup sugar snap peas Dinner- 4-6oz lean protein & 1 serving of vegetables with a small sweet potato Snack- 2 cups of mixed berries
CHEAT MEAL!
Do you have a function to attend? Use that as your cheat meal day during that week. No limits on what you can eat but it must be eaten within the hour of your meal. Try to keep it with your eating schedule and it is just the meal – you can have dessert too. However, your next snack and dinner must go back to clean. It is a cheat meal not a cheat day!
The scale is not the only way to measure success, however, it is one way we measure what we are doing. Before participating in the challenge weigh yourself, measure a certain body part and take note of your energy level. We want you to be aware of the changes happening to you if you are one that has to drastically change what you are doing. This is not easy for our instructors just because they teach classes! Some of us are going on this journey with you and we will support you through it. At Fore Court, we want to be the leaders in Health and Fitness so we can affect our community in a positive way! If you have questions along the way email Melissa at mrector@forecourtri.com.
