In three weeks we are heading to Cancun, Mexico with some friends. I am very excited. I have never been to Cancun, and I hear it is absolutely beautiful. One of my favorite blogs for traveling is The Blond Abroad.  I went to her site and found the top 10 things to do around Cancun. Her blog shows some amazing pictures of snorkeling and scuba diving. I am thinking Jeff and I will get a chance to practice our scuba skills that week. I am excited and terrified at the same time. I am hoping, just like with skiing, the more I do it, the better I will get.

Therefore, three weeks from today, I will be in a swimsuit on boats, at the pool, and at the swim-up bar. I want to feel good and confident in that bathing suit. I know most women think everyone else has a better body than they do, and we’d be happy if we had her body. But you know what? That girl with that body feels just like you do. For some reason, we are never satisfied with what we have.

So I have three weeks to get it together, to eat healthily, not cheat, and make good choices. Overall, Jeff and I eat pretty well as you read in “Eat Better and Move Better”, and we try to have lean protein, healthy fat, and the right carb at every meal (either a “high energy carb” after a workout or a “low energy” later in the day) as we learned from the owner of our gym in Pennsylvania. Of course, life happens and we aren’t as strict as we should be.  It’s time to get strict with my nutrition and consistent with my workouts. Today instead of a recipe, I am sharing a sample “day in the life” of Stacy. This is how we try to eat 90% of the time. When big events are coming up we tighten up a bit…less ice cream, less cheese, less alcohol.  I hope this helps and gives you a better idea how you could incorporate this lifestyle.

Stacy’s Suggestions for Eating Better

We go to the gym in the morning, therefore, most of our caloric intake is over by 11 am. This lifestyle can be a little bit complicated until you truly understand it. And even then there is always more to learn. If you want to work on your fitness and nutrition, I suggest Bill Lawrence’s Personal Fitness in Pennsylvania. He may work with you virtually as well. (Make sure you tell him I referred you :)) Here is the list of what I eat almost every day.

1. Pre and Post Workout– 1 scoop BLN Recovery Protein and 1 scoop of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides before and after my workout.
2. First Breakfast (about an hour after finishing a workout)– 1 egg, 3 egg whites, 1/2-1 cup spinach, scrambled, and Ezekiel toast (a tiny bit of avocado butter or almond butter). The egg yolk is your healthy fat but you can add a little flaxseed to your eggs if you want more. You can also add lots of other veggies here to your scramble. You can also make an egg sandwich or have over easy and skip the veggies. Lots of options with eggs.
3. Second Breakfast (about an hour after your first breakfast)– 3/4 cup of granola cereal (Ezekiel is the best but harder to find. We use Kashi or Cascadian Farms. We try to find the one with the least amount of added sugars), 1 cup berries (I like blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries), 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (we add 1 scoop of BLN Complete which is vanilla protein powder to it for our protein. If you use another protein, just add a tablespoon of flaxseed as well). If you don’t want to use protein powder you can add homemade turkey or chicken sausage for your protein.
4. Lunch- salad with lots of veggies and a lean protein (canned tuna, canned chicken, 1 cup of shrimp, or serving of chicken or fish), and homemade dressing.
5. Snack– 1/2- 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese, flaxseed, and grape tomatoes (if you like fruit then put fruit in your cottage cheese 1/2-1 cup).
6. Dinner– lean protein of your choice (I have been doing fish all week seasoned with spray EVOO and Nature Seasons), your choice of veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, asparagus, or cabbage)
7. Snack– 3/4 cup non-fat, plain, Greek yogurt with one scoop of vanilla BLN Complete Protein. Since you are going to bed soon you don’t really need a carb here. BLN has flaxseed in it but if you don’t use it, add a 1/2- 1 tablespoon. I use the protein powder for extra protein as well as to flavor the disgusting plain Greek yogurt 🙂 You can also use powdered peanut butter for flavor, or a little bit of honey and cinnamon. There are a lot of different flavors of protein powder or collagen that you could add to the yogurt to make it taste pretty delicious!

Generally, this is the plan we try to follow throughout the year. However, sticking to it and not cheating is what I plan to do for the next three weeks until we are off to Cancun!  Try to incorporate some kind of physical activity each day whether it’s going for a walk, doing one of the Weekly Wednesday Workouts, or something else you enjoy. I have been doing CrossFit six days a week which includes an active recovery day to give my body two days of “rest”. I also have been doing 8-minute abs and Romwod every day. Try to drink plenty of water and if you drink “pop”, try to give it up or limit it to a day or two a week. I have been trying to drink 50-60 ounces of water a day and only one cup of coffee with Quest liquid protein as creamer. I hope this helps. If you want other ideas for meals or a sample meal plan based on your preferences and needs, just let me know.