My first session at my new gym was a little of a reinstatement of why I love exercise so much. First the group session/classes room had limit mirrors, second on my way out I took a few moments to full with happiness as I watch a blind man, early 20's do his own weights workout with a guide and I thought take away your mirrors and sight and this is exactly what exercise should be like... its not how you look but its how you feel!
Many women may frown upon weights or become scared they will turn into 'a man' with muscles, but the truth is we don't have the raging amounts of testosterone the guys have and while we can develop stronger and bigger muscles to tone our body we wont turn into the hulk!! but over the many decades we have been subconsciously or consciously taught that as girls need to be petite and lean and basically fragile so be beautiful, sexy and feminine, but tell me are these girls not sexy and feminine??
NOT only that but look at these girls and they are strong, confident, happy, beautiful and sexy! They are girls who know where they want to go in life and know who they are. And I look at girls running for hours on the treadmill, cross-trainer or bike then move to the scales to see if they have lost another 100g from the previous days workout when they are already so lean and skinny! Only to then either move away with a little satisfaction or say to themselves 'well I wont be having that muffin for a month at least!' that is not what exercise is about. The scales don't have to go down for you to feel great unless you are overweight! Instead lets try make the scales go up in the best way possible - lose that extra fat but build that extra muscle and you will feel your energy and strength increase as well as your confidence and love for your body no matter what shape and size you are!
I have been in the scales trap, I see so many around me both females and males in the scales trap... it is unfortunately rare these days to find someone who isn't. Calorie counting is also a large part of gaining muscle but having the correct proportion of macronutrients - carbs, protein and good fats, in your daily calorie intake. Initially it is good to have a rough idea of your calorie needs and look at the amounts on your diet and understand where they come from, but after you increase your knowledge and awareness I encourage you to STOP there. Calorie counting can be your friend or your enemy, especially in girls it can lead you to only count the carbohydrates and protein and try to totally eliminate fats both good and bad from your diet when in reality we need good fats to build our muscle and every ell in our body or else we will dwindle away. Calorie counting can also lead to obsession about foods to the point it is unhealthy and we stick to 'safe' foods which we know work and deprive ourselves of a variety of nutrients so while we think we may be getting healthier by eating the same healthy meals 24/7 we are in fact depriving our bodies of its essential variety of nutrients needed to keep us going, as a result we may become ill more often, feel fatigued and have an upset stomach if we do change our meals on rare occasions. Some people are stronger than others and if calorie counting works for you and you do not become obsessive with meals, skip vital food groups, spit food out or avoid a variety of meals then by all meals keep up with your counting if it helps!
Where am I going with this? After seeing the blind man workout and the happiness it brought both him doing the session and I watching him I decided to focus on a true purpose of exercise - how it feels!
So I have made the decision that while I will initially look at the proportion of macronutrients I consume daily with my diet to assist in building a stronger feminine body (curves in all the right places ;)) I am avoiding making calorie counting a big part of my exercise and diet program AND I am avoiding the scales!!
Instead I am going by how I feel! If I feel fit and toned and sexy then I know I am getting fit and toned and sexy and will not degrade how I feel with measurements and calculations. I vow to love my body no matter what shape and size I am but also vow to work hard on my fitness, well-being and general health.
So I am focusing on the basic facts to eating well while...
A strength training meal plan must include protein, carbs and fats, eating 5-6 times PER DAY is recommended...
- You need to eat every 2-3 hours in order for your blood sugar levels to stay even.
- You must eat within an hour after waking up in the morning. This jump starts your metabolism for the day.
- You need to eat at least 5-6 times per day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack, bedtime.
- Each meal should include one protein and one carb. The protein should be lean and the carb should be complex.
- You need to eat the proper amount of calories per day for your goal. If you barely eat or if you get around 1200 calories or less per day, then you are most likely sabotaging your fat loss.
Your strength training meal plan should be built upon those basic nutrition facts. I do not recommend spending all day counting calories, but do take few days logging everything down initially to give you a basic idea of your intake and ways to improve.
Once you know how many calories you bring in per day, compare that against how many you SHOULD be bringing in. Use
this calculator to determine how many calories you need per day to MAINTAIN your current weight.
If your goal is fat loss, then subtract 350-500 calories from that number. Most people will select sedentary or lightly active as their Activity Level. If you have a construction job or are an athlete then you can select a higher level. In the end, your strength training meal plan must include the proper amount of calories for your goal. Eating more will cause weight gain. Eating less could destroy your metabolism and cause gluconeogenesis to occur (eating your muscles for fuel). Each meal should be one protein and one carb, a few examples of these include
- Chicken on Top of Green Salad
- Egg Whites and Oatmeal
- Cottage Cheese with Berries
- Tempeh with Brown Rice
- Salmon with Steamed Cauliflower
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| Salmon and veges |
- Honey Glazed Turkey with a Sweet Potato
For the most part your strength training meal plan can include lots of veggies. Limit the fruit to 1-2 servings per day and try to eat them in the beginning of the day. If you eat meat, keep the protein sources lean (chicken, salmon, turkey, etc) and not fatty (sausage, pork, bacon, etc). If you are a vegetarian you should eat leafy green veggies, beans, tofu, tempeh, soy, cottage cheese, etc for as your protein source.
Before your workout eat a protein/carb meal. Some people can eat 30 minutes before working out and others need to eat 1 1/2 hours before working out. Find what works for you. But definitely eat before working out. After your workout, be sure to re-fuel the body with another protein/carb meal within 30-60 minutes after you finish such as the favourable protein drinks. Remember though that nothing replaces good, fresh, whole foods.... Nothing. If you use a protein powder or bar be sure it has low carbs and low sugar. Some bars claim to be healthy, but are nothing more than sugar sticks with protein mixed inside.
All in all remember to love yourself and your body no matter who you are, no one is perfect and we are all so unique that is what makes us beautiful! Do what works for you with your fitness and lifestyle but do not get bogged down in believing you need to eat certain amounts of calories or be a certain weight. Be brave, be strong, be yourself and above all enjoy how you feel :)
There is so much you can learn about life, and when witnessing labour and birth you can appreciate the little miracles life can bring. One thing labour teaches me is although we have the ultimate destination of delivering a healthy child, no matter how hard and painful the journey is, it is the journey that counts and determines how the outcome will be, and the journey is what we must follow the most.
