Week 1 of PiYo Challenge, Almost Complete! But I'm Still HUNGRY!!!!!!

Week 1 is almost done!  This mantra is so true!

I've been a very good girl this week!  I've been working super hard to get balanced meals and all of my exercise in.  It hasn't been easy! However I LOVE the workouts!  Chalene you are AWESOME!  Now you and Jillian need to get together and make a PiYo/Jillian Workout DVD...oh man that'd be wicked awesome, right?

Okay I'm getting off point here.  The workouts are great...the eating part has taken me sometime to adjust to.  According to the plan, in order for me to lose weight I would need to only consume 1200 calories.  NOT GOOD!  There are NO SAFE diet plans that encourage you to go lower than 1200.  Yes I am quite smaller than some folks, so yes I should be closer to the 1200, but I have never been told to go that low.    But you know, I want to lose the last few pounds I've acquired from bloat and stress so what the heck, I'll give it a shot!  It's only like 5 pounds so what's the big deal right?

Well I got that wrong.  Turns out on Monday, first day out on the gate, I almost fainted.   I learned that it isn't how many you consume, but it is how many NET calories (calories you consume-burn) is what counts! Since I work out on top of the PiYo program, I need more.  No shame in that!

But HOW do I stop from being hungry?

I realized that most of my meals are carb-a-lovely heavy!  This is a big NO-NO!  The carbs burn off quickly and leave you hungry!  Plus sugar, even in the form of fruit isn't going to keep you full for a long time.  Not saying you can't ever eat fruit (you should because there are so many benefits to eating them), but you should keep them in check so you don't have a sugar crash.  What you should aim for is having carbs, protein AND healthy fats in each meal.   When I achieved this, I was able to stay fuller longer!  It prevented me from over eating and I was no longer starving myself.

Here are some of my faves from the week that have that nutritional balance!:

Haberano Garlic Shrimp w/ 1/2 cup of Whole Grain Rice 

1 Medium Cucumber w/ 1.5 Tablespoons of Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Sunshine Orange Salad w/ 1/2 Cup of Whole Grains

Spicy Egg Cucumber c/Grapes and Ice Tea

And my favorite, Garlic Salad Chicken Wrap c/ 1 slice of toast and mango jelly!  (Oh and ICE TEA!)

What are YOUR favorite balanced meals?  Remember, I'm not talking pancakes or sandwiches!  I'm talking about a meal that has protein, fats and carbs living in perfect harmony!

<3

Em