SKFitLife Challenge Week 7 Information

A: I just want to tell you– it’s okay. YOU are okay. A person needs to think of their diet in terms of what they eat in the span of their life….not some temporary fix. If a diet is temporary, then what happens when it’s over? But- if our aim is to just eat well for a healthy life…that gives us more room to grow. Also- in life- there will be cake. You can’t propose to go the rest of your life without a piece of cake or some toast with butter. It’s not what you eat every day. Every day you are making great, strong, conscious choices.

This is a wonderful thing you are doing for yourself…you are empowering yourself. 

So, I challenge you to own it, too, when you eat a piece of cake. You could approach it as– I want a piece of cake. I don’t have cake everyday…I am working out, I am eating very well. And right now I am allowing myself to enjoy a piece of cake. And tomorrow I will not have cake. You are a summary of everything you think/say/do…you are not 1 thing you ate.

It sounds like you made a lot of changes to your style of living….and permanent change is an evolution and takes time. Be kind to yourself and allow for that time. Maybe the woman that is at a wedding next year won’t be in the mood for cake. Or- maybe she’ll know she has totally changed the nutrition of herself and family for the good– so she’ll know she can have that piece of cake and enjoy it!

Feeling like I’m wasting away but not gaining much muscle. 

I’ve definitely seen some improvement muscle-wise but mostly notice I’m just getting thinner. All my clothes are baggy on me (including my bras!). Should I be lifting heavier? Eating more protein?

A: You can bump up your nutrition overall. The meal plan is a guideline to start from and it sounds like you need more nutrition:). The initial calculation of your nutrition is quite low so bumping your nutrition up across the board (fruits, starches, protein, and fats) will add the fuel you need to build. You happen to have a high metabolism and that is awesome but that also means you will need to eat more to build.

Example Food Log of Previous Challenger 

Meal 1: 1egg/2egg whites, spinach, Ezekiel muffin w/ almond butter, OR Protein shake (1 cup almond milk, scoop veggie protein powder, 1/2 banana, chia seeds)

Meal 2: 1/2 cup fruit, Ezekiel muffin w/almond butter, plain Greek yogurt

Meal 3: fish, veggie, starch

Meal 4: 1 cup carrots or red pepper, banana/carrot almond flour muffin OR egg white muffin

Meal 5: fish and veggie

Meal 6: Greek yogurt w/1 table almond butter

My feedback: I would add some variety to your good fat choices and would even add 1T of coconut oil to your last meal. Since you don’t eat any animal protein other than fish and eggs, your fat is naturally going to be lower than someone who eats higher fat protein sources such as beef. I would also add another serving of fruit (so that you end up with 3 @1/4c. servings) and see how you feel with that. Adding more green veggies to your plan would be beneficial too. If you find that this is not enough, I would recommend adding in a 3rd/4th serving of starch. Great job!!!

Q: Thanks! To make my life easier, I tend to do the same routine over and over. I’ll try to add some more variety:) I do include a little olive oil in eggs and other cooking but didn’t include that above.

How would you add in coconut oil? I use it to bake (in my carrot/banana muffins above). How do you use it? Any issues with two serving of yogurt per day? Thanks again. Loving the challenge! 

My Feedback: You can add 1T of coconut oil in place of other oils, add it to your meal once it is finished cooking, add it to your shake, or just have it from the spoon. You can bake with it too! Since you are shooting for that super lean mid-section, cutting out the dairy while trying to reach your goal is something you may want to do.

There is a difference between looking and eating great on a regular basis and dialing in for abs… the dairy can cause belly bloat. When I am prepping for a competition/photo shoot, I cut out all dairy, wheat, nuts, and soy. Cutting these things out for a short period of time is fine but you have to be careful when you reintroduce them…. many fitness competitors will cut them out and then slam their bodies with them once they are finished with the event.

Walking around with a 6-pack isn’t normal and takes a lot of specific nutrition to get there. 

I have created a document with some tips on creating the best “after pics”. It is a nutrition guide for the week leading up to your photos. You will have access to it in Week 10 so you all can decide if you are going to implement it. Doing it more than once every couple months is not advised. It is restrictive and that isn’t a way to live, but dialing in for a specific day is a ton of fun. So, no there is not an issue with eating 2 servings per day as a healthy way of life and maintaining a low body fat percentage, BUT when “digging for abs”, you will want to remove it for a few days.

This is where the fuzzy disordered eating can come into play so you have to be careful…. we tend to associate our results with the specific plan we followed in order to get those abs and we have to have the mental strength to know that the shelf-life on rock hard abs is about as long as a loaf of Ezekiel bread that is left out on the counter. LOL! That is why photo shoots are AWESOME…. documenting those 24 hours of awesome abs.

I had a great question today about journaling…. how do you do it?

For all of you who have been posting in the group… you HAVE been journaling… in your posts on FB!!! Yep… that is exactly what journaling is! There is no wrong way! If you are looking at the end transformation story piece and wondering where to begin, start by searching your name in the group by using the search feature… then copy and paste those posts into a word doc… that is a great start for your journal! If you are worried that someone would see it, set up a password and then NO ONE will access it!!!

My arms are already showing gorgeous results from the workouts. My legs are always delinquent. About how long do you think it’ll take to show results there?

A: SO happy to hear you love the results in your arms!!! The changes in lower body can lag by several weeks. By doing the HIIT, especially with the explosive moves of the plyos and the sprints, you will see results much quicker than if you were trying to change your body composition without this type of training.

Building shoulders will not only increase your resting metabolic rate (1 pound of muscle burns ~50cal./day), but it will created the illusion of having a smaller lower half. We can lose body fat from our waist but the structure of our waists depends on our hips and rib cage so unless we are prepared to remove a rib, our best options are to reduce body fat and build up our shoulders. Lift heavy!!!

I thought because I eat clean and generally avoid processed foods that I wouldn’t need to track my food. BIG MISTAKE!

So after 4 weeks my body hasn’t changed at all! I’m very disappointed (in myself). So I have decided to follow the SKFitLife meal plan. I’ve figured out my daily calorie needs but can’t quite figure out the amounts of protein/carbs etc. I should be eating.

A: I am the perfect example of how the portion creep happens. I have buckled down with my portions this week in preparation for my shoot in Houston and have noticed a big difference. Stick with the meal plan and start out by using 4 oz. for protein, 1/2 c. for your starch (which is about 27g of carbs if you are eating something like Ezekiel products). I have had great luck with the 40/30/30 plan Plug your numbers in here to get the exact macro breakdown: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/nutrient_calculator.htm​

Could you also share how long it took you to build these full, round arms/shoulders?

A: It takes YEARS to build. This is what I mean when I say that it is HARD to build muscle especially when you are lean and doing plenty of cardio. Your body needs the extra calories in order to build.

​Just because it takes years to build muscles doesn’t mean you should quit. If you quit, you will NEVER build them and that is 100% guaranteed. GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK and know that you are working on your masterpiece. 

Share your favorite GREEN smoothie! We are really focusing on accentuating your strengths and I would like for each one of you to share what your strengths are.