Between traveling 2 out of the 4 weeks in November, coming down with the flu and walking pneumonia simultaneously (think human viral/bacterial incubator), plus holiday party food consumption (oh you know, cookies, tamales, and more), my diet has seriously suffered. In turn, my body has too! I feel sluggish and swollen. Ugh. So, I decided that for the next 5 days, I would kick my healthy habits and physical activity into high gear with the “Beat the Bloat 5-day Challenge”. This challenge is also partially inspired by the fact that I hate feeling swollen and bloated on days when I want to wear cute holiday outfits, so it will be dual-purposed. 🙂 I hope you’ll join along! Here’s what I have in mind:
Since about August of this year, I’ve managed to do a relatively decent job of maintaining some form of physical activity on a daily basis and also managing to eat somewhat healthy foods. It all started off with the Whole30 challenge I participated in the month of August, wherein I followed the Whole30 diet for 30 days; in short, no sugar/legumes/grains/alcohol/dairy. Surprisingly, I did not lose much weight, but I did pick up some new recipes, healthy habits, and I did see some muscle definition. For this 5-day challenge, I plan to eat similarly, though not as extremely. For example, I will allow legumes, limited sugar, and some dairy. Here are some recipes I plan to use this week:
Grilled Chicken with a side of tomato and avocado, seasoned only with lime juice (not from a bottle, but from a real lime) and salt. YUMMY and super filling.
Grilled Chicken/Steak/Fish salad with yummy ad-on’s (remember, the goal is to eat lighter/healthier, but not exactly like on Whole30). This salad is from a local restaurant – Urban Cookhouse:
Eating at restaurants can be a challenge, but it’s not impossible to eat healthy while out and about! Here’s a blackened salmon dish from Ruby Tuesday’s (Photo: duplooyduo.wordpress.com)
I’m big on eating snacks, so here are a couple of my favorites from my time on Whole30:
1) Green apple with almond butter:
and, 2) carrot sticks with Wholly Guacamole! SO delicious!!
Finally, coffee. Oh coffee…how I love thee. After Whole30, I am able to drink coffee black (IF it is good coffee), but otherwise, do love a good soy latte from Starbucks.
Coffee is particularly essential while traveling…
Lately, I have a grande soy latte for breakfast (nothing else – that’s right, no pastries, bagels, nuts, etc.) and then eat lunch around 11-11:30am (see examples above). I may have 100 calorie snack around 3pm, and then a light dinner (see above).
Now, for the exercise. As a momma of two, time is limited, so this is how I manage to squeeze in some physical activity during the day:
1) I do 40 pushups, 30 or so squats, and two 1-minute planks a day. I usually do 20 pushups, a 1-minute plank before I shower and then do 30 squats in the shower. This *maybe* takes me 3 minutes to do.
Push-up (do “real” push-up’s, not modified ones), plank, and squat positions (more on these and other workouts on my “workout” Pinterest board:
2) At least 30 minutes of physical activity. That can include a walk from building to building for a meeting, taking the stairs, or if you are able, 30 minutes on the treadmill/elliptical. When I am able to get on the treadmill, I like to run for the first 15 minutes, then I do arm exercises for 10 minutes (e.g. biceps, triceps, etc while walking at a comfortable pace), and then walk at the highest incline for the last 5 minutes. It’s not a very difficult workout and not super tiring, so a nice one to do if you have to fit it in at 11pm. 🙂
So what do you think? Not too difficult or physically demanding, right?? I hope you’ll join me! It’s only 5 days, and hopefully by Friday, you’ll feel a bit less bloated and a bit more toned. Here’s to de-bloating before the holiday break!! Follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter using the hashtag #chicsbeatthebloatchallenge. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions or need further clarification. Looking forward to your updates!
Until next time! Stay Chic!
I hate that bloated feeling!! Unfortunately its going to last me another few months.
I will join you in the physical activity and trying to eat healthy.
xox
Andrea
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Haha, silly!! Baby bumps are perfectly acceptable reasons for bloating. 😉 I worked out quite a bit with my second pregnancy and felt great! Can’t wait to hear about your progress!!
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oooh good for you!!
Loving all this good looking food!
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