First Weigh-In & More Details

THE WEIGH-IN

There is a generic calculation in this book that is suppose to help you determine how many calories you can have each day, according to your weight. This means it will change as I lose weight (being positive!). The calculation is as follows:

weight x 12 = _____ TO weight x 13 = _____

To figure out what you need to maintain your weight, you simply replace the 12 with 15 and the 13 with 16. It is recommended to stay between the lowest and highest point of these two numbers, and each of SIX WEEKS TO SKINNY JEANS' meal plans will have to be altered for me at the beginning.

As of February 17, 2013: 176 Lbs. 39 In. ("waist")

This means my daily calories intake should be: 2,112 to 2,288

I should probably add that I'm 5'5" and soon to be 29 years old, so this weight, while not technically obese, is still unacceptable. I'm also going to be in a wedding in May, and need to be at least one dress size down for that, but preferably more than that.

FIRST WEEK GROCERY LIST

This first week is suppose to be an IGNITE PHASE, which basically is focusing on jump starting my metabolism and trying to even out the body's cravings due to spiking blood sugar. This is the most strict of the two diet regiments, the MELT PHASE being a little more relaxed. Neither of these phases calls for food that is unhealthy, I will stress that, it's just that even healthy foods can have some bad qualities when you're trying to learn a new way to eat (i.e. naturally high in sugar, etc).

If you would like to take a look at some of AMY COTTA's recipes, all you have to do is jump over to her website. I may list out a few here and there, but I won't go fully in-depth with any of them (kind of not fair to someone who is trying to sell a book). As with any new dietary change, I find myself in the same predicament: I'm a picky eater. Extremely picky, and while I'm willing to try a few new things, there are several changes I'll have to make in order to stay on this program. I will always switch out things I don't like with other things I do like in her program. It means I may be eating the same thing more often than not, but I'm fine with that. 

Have you ever noticed that modern nutritionist want us to eat like Hobbits?

It's true! On this program I will be eating 1) Breakfast, 2) Morning Snack, 3) Midmorning snack, 4) Lunch, 5)  Afternoon Snack, 6) Dinner, and 7) Evening Snack. Seems a bit excessive, but there are studies behind eating more often but at smaller quantities.

For some reason I decided to start this program on an off week, paycheck wise, so that will limit what I begin with. I have a budget of $30 - $50* to get me through to the next weekend. My shopping list based off of the book's list:

• Fat-free Milk
• Sugar-Free Pudding Packs
• Green Bell Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Baby Spinach
• Reduced-Calorie Caesar Dressing**
• Part-Skim Mozzarella String Cheese***
• Dry Roast Peanuts
• Canadian Bacon**
• Eggs/Egg Whites***
• Pre-Cooked Grilled Chicken
• Romaine Lettuce

There are a few things, like edamame (sub. protein) and green tea (sub. coffee) that I have at home. The idea, based off of the above mentioned hobbit-eating plan:

• Breakfast: Green tea with a 1/4 cup fat-free milk & Canadian bacon** with scrambled egg whites.
• Morning Snack: 30 Peanuts (I'm going to have fun counting those out) & String Cheese
• Midmorning Snack: Chocolate Pudding
• Lunch: Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad
• Afternoon Snack: String Cheese
• Dinner: Lettuce wraps with edamame
• Evening Snack: Chocolate Pudding

*I blew this budget by $7 and change. Harumph! However, this gives me a small idea of how to budget my food category in the coming months, which is good.

**I deviated from these items. As I calculated up what my total calorie count going by just what the book said, I realized I wouldn't be making my minimum. So, instead, I allowed myself small changes; I'm using real bacon (reduced sodium, no sugar added) and regular caesar dressing (which is only 80 calories for 2T of dressing anyway). I know the bacon is frowned upon, however, I do plan on baking it ad heavily patting down the extra grease. 

***I ended up going with just a reduced-fat Mozzarella String Cheese. To be quite honest, it was a little cheaper than the part-skim, and for this, I went for a lower calorie count. I also chose to go with egg beaters, while not as cheap as regular eggs, I don't always separate eggs well and decided just to try the this product to start off with.

FIRST WEEK EXERCISE LIST

Like the recipes, you can find a listing of workouts on COTTA's site too. Instead of just two workout phases, there are three: BLAST, FIRM, BURN. These alternate daily (meal plans alternate every three weeks) and are also accompanied with an additional "Supercharge My Skinny" challenge. This challenge is just a call to do some extra workout like a class, etc. For the SMS challenge, I will probably just jump on my stationary bike for 30-60 minutes. Since each phase begins with the same warm up, I'll list that out first.

WARM UP:

• Leg swings
• Hip circles
• Knee circles
• Twists
• Twists, one leg out front
• Swan Dives

BLAST: moderate tempo routine; upper and lower body exercises

For the first two weeks, it is recommended to do 1-2 sets at 10 reps with 0-30 seconds of rest between each. The reps is the only thing that changes throughout the six weeks: 12 in the third and fourth week, and 15 in the fifth and six.

• Alternating Forward Lunge with a Twist
• Pushups
• Wood Chops
• Single-Leg Dead Lifts
• Shoulder Press
• Plie Squats
• Biceps Curls
• Drop Steps
• Triceps Extensions
• Alternating Curtsy Lunges
• Side Plan Crunch

FIRM: floor routine; lower body

For the first two weeks, it's recommended to do 1-2 sets with 5 reps on each side held for 10 seconds. In the third and forth week the reps increases to 8 on each side, and the fifth and sixth to 10 on each side.

• Side Leg Lifts
• Knee Toes
• Lying Donkey Kick
• Clamshell
• Open the Door
• Isolated Front Kick
• Isolated Booty Burner
• S Lifts
• Glute Raises
• Crunches
• Pretzels

BURN: "heart-pounding, fat-burning, total-body-shaping routine" 

For the first two weeks, it's recommended to do 1-2 sets done for 30 seconds with a rest period of 0-60 seconds between. In the third and forth weeks it's increased to 45 seconds and only 0-30 seconds of rest and the fifth and sixth weeks a total of 1 minute for each.

• Mock Jump Rope
• Bob and Weave
• Elbow Strikes
• Squats with Alternating Snap Kicks
• Speed Skaters
• Knee Smashes
• Alternating Squat Lifts
• Jump Squats
• Jab Steps (moving quickly)
• Alternating Twist with Punches

WARM DOWN (aka The Daily Lube):

• Leg Lifts
• Static Hold
• Open Leg Hold and Circles
• It-Band Stretches with Circles
• Open and Close the Door
• Sweeping Hip Circles

There is no discussion, that I've seen so far, of when to do the workouts. I'm going to try and do workouts in the morning, with SMS in the evenings, but I'll have to play it by ear. Me and mornings don't always work out.

THE DAILY ROUTINE

SIX WEEKS TO SKINNY JEANS comes with a nice form to help you keep up with each day's goals. They're labeled as D, E, A, and SMS. The 'D' is obviously about diet, while the 'E' is exercise. The 'SMS' is the Super Charge My Skinny as was mentioned earlier, but the 'A' is less obvious. It stands for attitude, which is a journaling objective. That is what this blog is, for the most part. 

On top of just check in's, and listing off what I did and didn't do off the daily checklist, I will also be logging my food here. There are logs in the book, which I plan on using, that include seven slots for food consumption (we're eating often so we don't overeat; I should never need more than seven--though, as COTTA stresses, you shouldn't ever leave one blank; skipping a meal is a big no-no in her book, literally), the time it was eaten, along with the calories in each item, the running total for the day, and the "hunger rating." This is a rating of perceived hunger. At the bottom of the log is the total calories in with the total calories burned (though I haven't quite figured out how to measure that one), then eight "glasses" of water to be crossed off as they're drunk. There is also a "Yay Me!" section, which is something that has to be done each day for motivation. It can't be anything negative at all. Only positive marks, hence calling the logging/journaling "Attitude." 

My goal is to wake up early and try to get either the SMS or regular exercise (Blast, for tomorrow) out of the way before work. I'm going ahead and getting all my snacks together tonight, and may go ahead and prep my lunch too. After work, I'll do which ever exercise I hadn't completed before jumping into dinner. Then, start the whole thing over again the next day. My blog post will come at the end of each day, as I have all my logs completed, with weigh-in's being added on every Sunday. 

And that's it for all the prep stuff. I'm excited, and hopefully dedicated. To get a start on my "Attitude" requirements: this is going to be it! This is going to be the beginning of my changes! Wish me luck, I'm sure I'm going to need it.