Busy Mom Fitness – Eating Right and the 6 Week Body Makeover – Day 4

It was after my nine-year-old that I realized I wasn’t going to shed the baby weight so easily. I was put on bed rest for the first trimester, after I bled a lot with him, and even though he was alright during those scary times (thank goodness), they asked me to quit my high stress job, park my pregnant butt on the couch for the rest of the trimester, and, if I was okay after that, find a low-stress desk job from there.

The problem then became my weight gain – 40 lbs worth, from the combination of bed rest and desk job during my pregnancy. Suddenly I had weight I didn’t know what to do with, a newborn who needed me, and a body I no longer recognized.

Around that time I saw a new infomercial for 6 Week Body Makeover and took the plunge. I’m happy to report, it worked, and I lost almost all of it, and got down to this:
After that, though, my weight came back after a car accident. A car accident which injured my back and neck and prevented me from remaining active like I had been, and it’s been a battle with my weight since, especially after children. I’m limited by what I can and can’t do, because of the location of the injury and my upper body’s range of motion. However, despite that, I’ve been able to learn a great deal about not only what is healthy for my body to do, to lose weight by working out, but also what I can and can’t eat to help me. Thankfully, the 6 Week Body Makeover was gentle enough on my injured body, with my injuries, so that, after a baby, I was still able to lose weight.

You see, part of the 6 Week Body Makeover isn’t just about working out, and appropriate exercises, but also very much about what you should eat. It’s the whole package. The 6 Week Body Makeover believes that you should actually eat more often (something I had always believed to begin with, before the program).

When I was in high school, I learned this from a very wise, very knowledgeable health teacher, whose opinion I valued immensely. She told me there are two things that raise your metabolism – activity, such as walking, and eating. If you eat several small meals a day, as opposed to three big meals a day, you’ll encourage your metabolism to go and keep going throughout the day. If you combine eating with a metabolism-raising activity, such as walking, one after the next, you could even further raise your metabolism that much quicker.

So, for instance, if you eat a small meal, and then walk after you eat, you’ll be keeping your metabolism up, helping burn fat and calories, eventually losing weight. Then an hour or so later, eat again, then dance with your kids while cleaning house, again you’d be raising and keeping raised your metabolism, roasting calories.

Coupled with this knowledge already in hand, the 6 Week Body Makeover encourages this same line of thinking, eating several small meals a day, and then further taught me what foods I should eat during those meals. It wasn’t about the typical “No no, fat is bad.” It was “No, no, you’re too muscular already, so red meat is bad, as it will bulk you up further in areas where you’re already bulky.”

Red meat? Bad for me? Really?!

And they were right. I was muscular in certain areas, and I wasn’t looking to bulk up further. I was looking to tone and shapen while losing weight. And by listening to their advice, I’ve been able to do that. I did it then. I did it again. And again. I’m factoring that knowledge in now. (Recall, I’ve had a few babies, *ahem* hence my need to keep doing it over and over).

So I did as it told me to. I ate chicken. I ate turkey. And everything else it told me to eat. And I steered clear of what it told me I should avoid – red meat, salt, milk (and other things). It also said that, if I felt like cheating, or had to cheat (impromptu eating out, or banquet, etc), then to do it, to cheat, it is okay, just get back on the diet for your next meal/snack. I also did the exercises they said I should do, which involved stretching, strength, aerobics like walking, and using their purple variable resistance band.

And I lost the weight, just as they said I would. Why? Because they knew my body type. I knew what I should be eating, and what I should be doing to help my body. My body type? I’m a B.

(FYI – This is strictly my experience. This isn’t an “infomercial” or anything, I promise. I’m not telling you this because this is a paid endorsement, or I’m earning a commission. Not in the least. In fact, I haven’t spoken to them to tell them about this post whatsoever. In fact, I’m really disappointed to read that a few people who had the same desire as me to lose weight, ended up with problems with charges to their cards and such. My advice, with this and all products and programs you see on TV, read for yourself, on this and others. Knowledge is power, after all.)

I told you in the beginning that I was going to pass along my experiences with some of the popular weight loss solutions out there, so that you can use my experiences to help you choose what is best. This worked for me, however, it may not work for you.

What I am saying is, armed with the appropriate knowledge of what you should and shouldn’t eat will only help you be more successful.

6 Week Body Makeover calls it “Body Blueprinting“, in which they ask you a series of questions, and designate your body type for you, based upon your answers, as to how to proceed with your weight loss. Pretty comprehensive, if you ask me.

Did you know the guy, the mastermind behind the diet is the guy who trains all the people on Extreme Body Makeover – Michael Thurmond? And to think, I bought this way before those “makeover” shows. Cool, huh?

So, even if you don’t want to do the diet, at least for the sake of it, take their “Body Blueprinting” quiz. It’ll give you a body type breakdown of what they suggest you should eat, and what you should stay away from. And it will help guide you to the foods you should be looking out for, and hopefully, better assist you, as it did for me, in helping you eat the right way.

Keeping what I learned in mind, every time I diet, I immediately go to this program. I don’t do this program on it’s own, mind you. I like doing other things, and changing it up often to keep my body from hitting that diet-stopping, depressing plateau most of you are probably familiar with – when you get a good weight loss regimen going, and weight starts coming off, you’re doing well, and then all of a sudden, nothing. No weight loss. No change whatsover. Isn’t it so disheartening, especially when you’re working so hard?

To prevent that plateau, I change it up as much as I can, and keep it going.

My recommendations to you, busy moms, are – don’t cram a meal all at once. Eat a little here and there throughout the day. Help fire that metabolism up, keep it going. You may feel hungry a lot, but hunger is good, it means it’s working, and your metabolism is burning what you’ve eaten quickly. Do something aerobic after you eat. Keep that metabolism pumping. Take a walk with your kids, dance while you sweep, vacuum vigorously, something to get your heart pumping. And if you haven’t done it already, take the test and find out what foods you should be eating. It will help, and every little bit helps, right?

I bet you’re wondering, just what have I been eating on this diet? That’s for the next post, along with some recipes and recommendations on some tasty dieting products. Stay tuned!

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