A little about myself: I have played soccer my entire life, kind of obsessively actually. Luckily it worked out for me and I got recruited to play NCAA Division I Women's Soccer in College. I love sports and the body soooo much that I graduated in Sports Medicine with a minor in Biological Sciences. Seriously, I am level headed enough to confess that I am a biology nerd. I hope to spread some of my nerdiness knowledge to you and ignite the "awe" of wonder inside of you about how your body does what it does.
Since graduation I have taught 2 years of Medical Assisting, worked 4 years as an Exercise Specialist in Cardiac Rehabilitation, and have 4 years and running with Personal Training. A cool fact about me is that I got accepted to a Physician Assistant program but decided to focus on the family first and become a professional outside the home a little later in life. Hardest choice I have ever had to make but that's a different story!
I plan on uploading workouts within this next week but for now I have a challenge to post:
Mission #1- Count Carbs
Start reading nutrition labels. The 3 macronutrients our body needs are protein, fat, and carbohydrates. We break down everything we need from those three macros. Lets focus on carbohydrates.
Within this next week I want you to start to read how many carbohydrates are in the foods you eat. Total them up for your daily sum. I have read a bunch of websites stating the recommended grams/day for women is around 130 grams. So Mission Super Moms here we go! Let's give it a go!
Now, we are talking good carbs! Sure, I love bread and pasta like the average Jane so this is a challenge for me too! I'll track my progress with you. To give you a starting point, if you have one cup of pasta it is going to be around 80 grams and that's without dressing! Dang, right!? On the flip side, an apple is around 30 g. Our body needs majority of our carbs to be from fruits and vegis. They are not processed, they are pure; I'm sure by now you have seen something about the Paleo diet and the arguments about it. If not give it a read. Here's a site that I found that was pretty funny and informative: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/10/04/the-beginners-guide-to-the-paleo-diet/
I am not totally gung-ho about the paleo diet. For me feeding a family of 6... yeah right?! But I think all things in moderation an it's time to moderate them carbs! LOL.
In conclusion, count your carbs by reading nutrition labels or googling "calorie counters" and let's adjust our diet this week to aim for <130g. Good luck!
I have included a tracker sheet for you, I'll continue to build as we go!