After an epic failure last week in the diet category, I’m on track now. I have more knowledge and the foods I need to follow Phase 1 of The F-Factor Diet. I’ve chosen this program to help me get bikini ready to follow through with my Brookside Dark Chocolate Ballsy New Year’s resolution.
Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day? I know with The F Factor Diet it’s my favorite! My breakfast includes three egg whites scrambled with fresh broccoli, mixed berries, 1/4 avocado and chia seed pudding made with chocolate almond milk. Yes, the almond milk has a bit of sugar, but I’m only using 1/2 cup. It feels like I’m cheating, but I’m actually eating more than a third of my daily fiber goal of 30-35 grams. I’m seasoning my eggs with some Mrs. Dash Original Seasoning which is salt-free and delicious!
Even though fiber is supposed to help you feel fuller longer, I get pretty hungry after a couple hours. I’ll snack on one or two hard-boiled eggs (well, the whites) and another fiber source. My favorite is Cracklin Oat Bran, but there’s a little sugar going on there so moderation is key. I might substitute some All-Bran Buds or GG Scandinavian crackers. The latter are very dry and very bland. They are definitely best eaten with some kind of topping, but I’ve been eating them plain with my egg or a little roasted chicken. Stay tuned as I play with some toppings to make these more palatable. Initially it’s been all about utility.
Lunch has been shredded roasted chicken with raw spinach leaves or Romaine lettuce, flavored with a little Balsamic vinegar. I’ll add some cherry tomatoes and some colored bell peppers for interest, but I haven’t gotten very adventuresome yet. I’ve been eating ingredients more than recipes, if that makes sense, mostly due to time constraints. If you’re creative you can make it all much more interesting than I have!
I’ll have another snack in the afternoon, usually a protein bar and another GG cracker. Protein bars aren’t the greatest choice (more natural foods would be better) but I’ve been trying to keep it quick and easy since things have been so busy. I prefer bars by Pure Protein or Orgain because they’re the lowest in sugar. I’ll also add another veggie, like carrots or another bell pepper.
“Dinner” has been half a sushi roll (a caterpillar roll has more avocado, which is rich in fiber, but today I had half a New York roll. Oops.) along with a little protein found in the imitation crab.
I also include Cellucor C-4 pre-workout mix and Amino X recovery mix with my workouts.
If there’s a little room left, I might have a glass of champagne. I didn’t today – I was already over my sugar target. These first two weeks are a little more stringent than Phase 2 and Phase 3, but I’m allowing myself a little something here and there, hence the occasional libation.
I’ve been tracking my food choices with the My Fitness Pal app. I’m using the free version so I deal with a few ads here and there, but it’s not a big deal. You can program My Fitness Pal to your protein, sugar, carb, fat and fiber goals. My daily goals are: protein, 60 grams; carbohydrates, 150 g; fiber, 30-35g; sugar, 45g and fat, 40g. Today’s food choices, noted above, gave me 76g protein, 134g carbohydrates, 36g fiber, 54g sugar, and 35g fat. It was low in sodium and cholesterol (yay) and high in Vitamins A and C and calcium. It’s unfortunately low in iron and potassium so I’ll probably consider some supplements, more spinach leaves or some red meat. You don’t really count calories with The F-Factor Diet, but I’ve been around 1,200/day so far.
Yesterday’s workout was cardio and abs; today’s was legs. I’ll chronicle exactly what I’m doing in a future post in case you want to try it. So far they’ve been well under an hour. I’m working to drop body fat and rebuild a few sagging areas. To be bikini ready, I’ll need to work on both.
If you have any questions about any of this, please let me know!
