Healthy and Happy
Eating to me is enjoyable and satisfying. When most people eat they do not think about the nutrition part of eating. Like how many calories something has or the carbs, protein, sugars and fats. We are the “carefree eaters”. My mom on the other hand, her life is healthy eating and fitness.
My mom has been a professional body builder and personal trainer now for a little over six years now. She eats very healthy. Counting every calorie, fat, carb and sugar that she takes in. Not only does she count her grams and plan her meals she does the same for her clients. She calls it “eating the right way”.
I could remember a time when my mom did eat so “right”. Growing up she was always on the go but always made time to satisfy her stomach and please her taste buds. She ate anything fast food and plenty of homemade fatty foods. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, homefries, grits and even pancakes. She made the works. Lunch was the easy stuff lie pizza, chicken tenders, grilled cheese and French fries. Dinner was the best and most thought out. Dinner was the only thing that really needed any thought. She had to make sure she thought about what she was going to make early in the day so she could make sure the meat was defrosted, and that she had everything she needed for the meal and there were no surprises when it came time to cook. I remember carefree dinners when she made shepherds’ pie, fatty steaks, fried everything and mashed potatoes or rice just about every day. I don’t ever remember her ever making salad not that we don’t like salad, I love it but because I just wasn’t important.
As a professional body builder and personal trainer your eating habits and what you eat change dramatically. To my mom it’s all about the nutrition factor and how she can benefit the most from what she is eating. She told me she can eat lean boneless chicken breasts for lunch and dinner every day because her body shops the most results with chicken than any other lean protein. I cannot do that. I need variety, to satisfy my taste buds.
Making sure she gets plenty of water, a gallon a day. Just thinking of that amount makes my stomach full. She calculates between 1200-2000 calories a day, including 175g of carbs, 150-200g of protein and 40g of “good” fat. She will spate those grams in her meals. She eats 6-7 times daily with 2 hour intervals. Before she works out she gets her carbs in to help give her fuel and energy. After she works out she will get in the protein to help build and shape her muscle.
Planning her daily/weekly meals is based on according to her work out load. If she has more clients on Tuesday than she did on Monday she will take in a little bit more protein and carbs because her body is working double and she doesn’t want her training to affect her body negatively. She weighs out all of her meals and snacks. Today my mother doesn’t only calculate what she should eat but when she should eat it.
Her sense of taste I believe no longer exist. It’s not that she changed so much to now she no longer eats meat. The way she prepares food is different. I recently ate at her house and we had broccoli and chicken and rice. She needs the crunch to be in her vegetable or “all the nutrition will be cooked out of it and we just ate it for nothing”. That is the reply I received when I asked why I was crunching on my broccoli. The rice was brown, mushy brown rice but, “it’s better for your core it doesn’t sit and store fat like white rice”. The chicken, the chicken wasn’t normal. Where was the seasoned chicken the nice fluffy white rice and my soft steamed broccoli? I can answer that, at my house.
Her day begins at 3:30a.m. she starts by weighing in. Checking her weight helps to keep her on track. By 5:30a.m. she is at work and having her first snack by 7:30a.m.
– 1 slice of 100% wheat bread with 1tbsp. of peanut butter and ½ tbsp. of jelly. Two hours later she will have breakfast.
9:30a.m.- ½ cup of oatmeal, three egg whites, and 16oz. of water. Two hours later she will have another snack.
11:30a.m.- ½ of a banana, 2 scoops of amplified protein, 8oz. of water. Two hours later is lunch.
1:30p.m.- 1-2 cups of spinach or lettuce with a 1 tbsp. of honey mustard, 4oz of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and 8oz of water. Like clockwork she will have another snack.
3:30p.m.- one scoop of amplified protein and 1 cup of fruit. By 5:30p.m. she will be sitting down for dinner- ½ cup of brown rice, 2/3 cup of veggies, 4oz of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Her treat for the night usually will consist of a nice protein shake so two hours after dinner she will treat herself to 1 scoop of slow releasing protein with blended fruit. Even while she sleeps she wants to be building muscle.
On top of making sure she is eating the right foods, that can be difficult when you are constantly on the go. When this happens she results in using vitamins to give her the amount she needs for her daily nutrition. Vitamins are the worst for her to keep track of or to easy remember to take them. Vitamins help her a lot since her body is constantly working out.
My mom says she misses her days where she would only worry about what to take out and what she felt like eating for lunch. Where she was going to eat out for lunch and not worrying about what’s in it but worry about if it will satisfy her taste for the moment. I asked her if she would ever go back to “carefree” eating. She says no. She is very happy with her body and the results she gets from eating healthy and working out. To me this is a hobby for her, for her this is a lifestyle and career. She cannot be a successfully personal training career and not be in shape herself. She is her own personal advertisement. She will always focus on the benefits of food and eat what will most benefit her rather than eat what taste best.
One day maybe she won’t be so extreme. Maybe she will just make sure she gets all the main food groups in a day and work out three times a week. She loves seeing people achieve such an important goal as losing weight, she loves to feel a part of that. She will not change her lifestyle or career choice until she is no longer able.
My mother is maybe not eating her favorite foods and eating carefree but she is Healthy and Happy.