What Kind of Car are You?

So, are you a BMW, a Porsche, or maybe a hybrid SUV?   Whatever vehicle you decide we all know what is going to get you from point A to point B.  What?  Did you say fuel?  BINGO!  We are designed exactly like a car and in order to move or expend energy we need fuel, or as we call it food.

Many Americans are overweight and barely consume 1,000 calories a day.  Now how can that make sense?  Well, our body is a very fine tuned machine and when we do not eat every 3 hours or so our metabolism completely shuts down and stops doing its job.  It’s interesting and still blows my mind how our brain works.  By not eating our brain has an automatic switch that turns off when it thinks you are starving your body.  It literally shuts the switch and decides that whatever next gets put into it, whether healthy or not will automatically get stored as fat.  That just does not seem fair!  Unfortunately this leads to many medical problems; one being our thyroid comes to halt.  A lot of people who have been “yo-yo” dieting over many years notice that in their 40’s or so something interesting happens to their bodies.  They have a more difficult time losing those 5 pounds which soon turns into 10 pounds.   Our hormones also have a role in this as well.

So, what can we do?  Simply fill our tanks up and move!  We need to eat whole grains, vegetables, fruits and of course protein.  We need to eat breakfast, a snack 2-3 hours later, lunch, a snack 2-3 hours later and of course dinner with a small snack a couple of hours later.  Now I know what you’re thinking.  “But Sandi, I am never hungry and there is no way I could eat that much”, or, “I don’t have enough time in the day to eat that much”.  Well, if you want your body to be a fat burning machine then that is the only choice you have.  If you work full time and do not have time to prepare your snacks or lunches every day do it on SUNDAY!  By taking a couple of hours on Sunday you automatically eliminate any excuses or urges to go for that dreaded vending machine.  Your food choices are endless when you bring your own snacks or meals.  I love an apple with a string cheese or an apple with peanut butter.  How about some veggies in a sandwich bag and a small container of hummus?  Almonds are fabulous with some veggies or fruit and I love plain Greek Yogurt!  Remember, eating is our friend and we need to embrace it in order to get the results we want.  No eating, no metabolism, no energy but plenty of fat storage.   YUCK! It is that simple.

Some of you may run out of ideas or get bored with the same snacks. The internet is a fabulous place to go to and even GOOGLE healthy, yummy snacks!  I have done it many, many times.    In the meantime, please, please eat!  When you are not eating and are exercising you are not giving your body the energy it needs and will not be receiving the optimal levels of fitness you should be if you were filling your tanks up!  Now get out there and filler up!

Peace,