Vitamins!

When you think about supplements, what are the first thoughts that go through your mind? Whey protein, creatine, fat burners, or maybe something else? These are the ones that consume the ads and promos.

What if I told you, though, that the most important supplement that you must have in your body is not on this list? Could you guess which one I am talking about? I will save you the effort. I am talking about your basic multivitamin. From the Flintstones that you took as a kid to the ones you have now. Oh, you don't take them? If not, you better change that immediately if you want to meet your fitness goals!

For the human body to complete all the tasks it has in a normal day, it must be given a wide and complex variety of vital nutrients, and a multivitamin will do the trick!

Even if you're not embarking on the journey to eat clean or even to exercise .... listen up! You still need to take a multivitamin DAILY to keep you well. It gives you all the nutrients you need that aren't in your diet.

By now, y'all should know that I am eating clean and have lost 11 pounds since I started back on January 2.  Now, I want EVERYONE to know... that I AM NOT TAKING ANY DIET PILLS! I have in the past, and they didn't work, so now I am doing it the natural (and healthier) way.

I'll show you the supplements that I am taking daily to help aide my weight-loss and to keep me healthy.

 
Calcium - The LiveFit Challenge that I'm doing focuses heavily on building lean muscle. So since I am lifting a lot, I need calcium for my bones!

Flaxseed Oil  - Flaxseed oil contains high amounts of an omega-3 fatty acid called alpha linolenic acid, or ALA, which is similar to the omega-3 acid found in fish oil. A healthy diet should consist of a balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Flaxseed oil supplements are heart-healthy!

Multi-Vitamin - I've already told you! (read above)    :)

Vitamin B-12 - We all know about B-12.... It gives you extra energy!

Now, I am not a doctor, nor a scientist so that's about as good as my explanation can get. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to supplements, so the better I get, the more I'll blog about!

Key take-away: TAKE A MULTI-VITAMIN!

Weight Loss Chart

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we fear the scale. I mean, I could go the rest of my life without ever weighing myself.. but what will that do? Only make you bigger. Well, at least that's what happened to me.

I was very active in high school, as I competed in basketball, track and power-lifting. I would regularly go to the gym and would HAVE to weigh myself to make certain that I maintained a certain weight for power-lifting. After I graduated from high school, maintaining a certain weight wasn't a priority anymore because I was in college and had other things to worry about. The result: I stopped weighing myself and gained 35 pounds since I got my diploma.

Once I started eating clean last week, I knew that I was going to be losing weight and I wanted to be sure that I track each week's progress -- so I made a weight loss chart!

It's a great way to chart out your weigh loss program to keep a track on your progress. With this you can easily figure out your regular plan and the amount of weight lost in a period of week or in months.

Now, it doesn't have to be fancy! I'll show you mine....

At first, I wasn't going to put this up here for the whole world to see, because I was sooooo embarrassed. But then I realized that it's nothing to be embarrassed about anymore, because I will never let myself get up to almost 200 pounds again. This only will motivate me THAT much more to work harder, knowing that everyone knows my starting weight now.

If you are about to embark on your weight loss journey, go weigh yourself and start a weight loss chart. That way, you know exactly where you stand and you can keep up with your progress along the way.

Week 1 - DONE

Well Happy Wednesday! I hope y'all are having a fantastic week so far —  I know I am!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I told myself that I would try to blog every night...but you know how that goes. I'm working on a super huge project at work right now, so that has taken the majority of my time, stress and energy. But I promise to post more!

I have to say, though, that the response I have been getting from maintaining this blog has been huge! I'm able to see the metrics on how many people visited my site and each page, and it's a lot! Like.. a lot! But it's encouraging me to keep blogging since I know people are reading.

Today marks DAY 8 of eating clean. I really can't believe I've done it, but I'm so glad I did. I started on a Wednesday, so I told myself that I would do weigh-ins every Wednesday to measure my progress. During previous times when I would diet, I would weigh myself every day to try and see immediate results. EPIC. FAIL!

RULE #1: DO NOT WEIGH YOURSELF DAILY!!!!! Trust me, it is so discouraging to work your butt off in the gym every day and then jump on the scale, only to see that you haven't lost a single pound. That's why I have given up on so many diets before. It's because I was weighing myself daily and was not impressed by the little numbers of progress.

Anyway.. today was my first weigh-in since I started eating clean, and I am down 11 pounds, y'all! I haven't seen those numbers on the scale in months, so I did my happy dance in the gym this morning.

Now, a lot of you are probably thinking... that's a whole lot of weight in 1 week. That's not healthy, right? Well, I also drink a gallon+ of water a day, so a lot of the weight I lost was water weight. From here on out, I doubt I will see that big of a loss in a week. It is my goal to lose 2 pounds per week. I've done a lot of research and that seems to be a healthy and realistic goal.

I highly recommend purchasing this Waist Trimmer Belt! It's $5 at Walmart in the workout section.

It makes you sweat like CRAZY when you are in the gym lifting weights.

I've gotten a lot of messages about the program that I am doing, and how people can get started.

It's called Jamie Eason's LiveFit 12-Week Trainer. 

Click here to check out the site.
Click here to check out the approved food list of clean eating.
Click here to check out some clean recipes.

The 12-Week Trainer is divided up into 3-LiveFit Phases:
1.) Phase 1 - Start Your Transformation With Weight Training And Clean Eating!
2.) Phase 2 - Add Cardio And Cut Carbs To Sculpt Your Muscle And Burn Body Fat!
3.) Phase 3 - HIIT Training, Carb-Cycling, Super-Setting — And Your Brand New Body!

So, once you navigate thru those links above, you will notice that she has every day lined out with what she recommends to eat and the workout that goes a long with it.

I've been following that plan word-for-word, and the results are showing! My pants are so much looser now, I have so much more energy, my complexion looks fabulous and I just feel so dang healthy now!

RULE # 2: If you are going to eat like this, YOU MUST DO SOME KIND OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY!! As I stated in one of my previous posts, eating clean is eating 5-6 small meals a day, to allow your metabolism to rise. In a typical day, I consume about 1500-1800 calories per day, but I burn it off with weight training. If you are not working out (lifting weights, walking, jogging, Zumba, etc.) and are eating that much, you are going to get bloated and will gain weight.

RULE # 3: Take a Multi-Vitamin! This will not only keep up your immune system, but it will help expedite your weight loss. I'm a sissy when it comes to swallowing pills, so I get the gummies. They are wonderful!

This was $13 on sale at Vitamin Shoppe.

RULE # 4: PREP YOUR MEALS ON SUNDAYS! If you are eating 5-6 small meals a day, you need to be prepared. Eating is like clockwork. Eat every 3 hours. Set alarms on your phones, put it in your calendars. Tell someone to text you every 3 hours. Just make sure you stay on time.

Here are a few meals that I've had over the last week.

Meal # 3 - 01-09-13 - Sweet Potato, Turkey Chili, Veggies

Meal # 2 - 01-09-13 - CARBmaster yogurt, blueberries and celery.

Meal # 4 - 01-07-13 - Turkey muffins

Meal # 5 - 01-04-13 - 6oz chicken, 3/4 cup brown rice, and broccoli.

Meal # 3 - 01-04-13 - 6 oz chicken, 3/4 cup brown rice, and veggies.

Meal # 4 - 01-02-13 - 3 rice cakes with PB2 and 3 oz chicken.

Meal # 1 - 01-09-13 - 5 egg white halves, 3/4 cup of Kashi cereal, blueberries and blackberries.

I hope that gives a little more insight into eating clean. To keep up with what I'm eating at every meal, follow me on instagram! @brittanybellair

If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email, text.. whatever!

Have a great night y'all! :)

First Day of Eating Clean

Today I started my transformation journey to become a healthier (and cleaner) me! I am seriously smiling from ear to ear as I write this, because I've never been so fired up about health and fitness.

Tuesday night, I went shopping for clean food. See below. Not going to lie.... I looked like a fool because I had no idea what I was doing/looking for. Austin didn't come with me because he was passed out on the couch, so I had to go alone. But, I made it! Even when I worked at a grocery store a few years ago, I remembered how expensive healthy food was, but I swear the prices have skyrocketed since then. I paid about $60 for everything in the picture below, but it will last me a while.

So... I've had a lot of people ask me what eating clean is, what my meals look like and what I'm doing in the gym. I'll give ya the deets!

The soul of clean eating is consuming food in its most natural state, or as close to it as possible. It is not a diet; it's a lifestyle approach to food and its preparation, leading to an improved life - one meal at a time. You eat three meals and two to three small snacks. Include a lean protein, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and a complex carbohydrate with each meal. This keeps your body energized and burning calories efficiently all day long.

1.) Eat five to six times a day
2.) Drink at least two liters of water a day
3.) Avoid processed and refined foods
4.) Choose organic whenever possible
5.) Consume healthy fats
6.) Take it to go - Prepare you food!


Here's an example of what I had today:

7 a.m. - Meal #1 (2 1/2 egg white and spinach muffins, 3/4 cup of Kashi cereal, and a handful of blackberries)

10 a.m. - Meal #2 (CARBmaster yogurt, handful of blackberries and carrots)

1 p.m. - Meal #3 (6oz chicken, 3/4 cup of brown rice and a cup of broccoli)

4 p.m. - Meal #4 (3oz chicken and 3 rice cakes with PB2)

7 p.m. - Meal #5 (6oz chicken, 1 sweet potato patty and a cup of broccoli)

 I am supposed to eat one more meal at 10 p.m., which is 5 egg whites and vegetables, but I literally can't eat anymore. I had to force myself to eat Meal 5. See pic below.

The good thing is... you're never hungry because you are constantly eating and burning calories from the workouts.

On the challenge, Jamie Eason has planned our workout every single day for the next 12 weeks. Instead of posting all of those workouts, I'll just be sure to blog every day and let y'all know what I did.

The following are all 3 sets of 12 reps:
- Wide Pushups
- Dumbbell Bench Press (20 lbs)
- Flat Bench Cable Flyes (20 lbs)
- Narrow Pushups
- Overhead Triceps Dumbbell Extension (20 lbs)
- Triceps Pushdowns (20 lbs)

I'm also participating in a monthly fitness squat challenge, so I did 20 squats as well.

My hubby loves to work out with me!

Well.... I'm super tired and am ready for bed, so I'm out for now! Until tomorrow.....

New Year... New Me!!!!

New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. For the past... uh...5 years, my New Year's resolution has been to lose weight. Like every other person, I eat healthy and work out some in January, and by the beginning of February I call it quits.

Well, this time I'm serious. DEAD. STINKIN'. SERIOUS.

What's different this time, you ask? The answer is Facebook.  Facebook? Yepp.. you read that right.

A couple of weeks ago I was just Facebook creepin' and I saw that one of my friends liked a before/after photo of a girl who had lost 70 pounds between April 2012-December 2012. Naturally, I clicked on the photo to see who this girl was and what she did that I haven't done tried before. I ended up staying on the site for a while and noticed that the girl (Lacey) was only 20 years old with a baby, started at 250 lbs, has a husband and was a dental hygiene student. She started out walking 2 miles a day back in April 2012, and increased the mileage as she got used to the physical activity. At first, she was eating Subway sandwiches and salads, thinking that it was "healthy", but then one of her friends told her about "eating clean" and she's never looked back since then. She's down to 170 lbs, and still wants to lose more.

Lacey has completely inspired me and has challenged all of her 3K followers to do Jamie Eason's 12 Week Challenge with her. She set up a Facebook group (with 500 current members) so we can all motivate and support one another through the 12 week challenge. We were encouraged to take before pictures in our bathing suits/bra & underwear so that we can see how far we came once week 12 is complete, and post them on the FB group's wall to hold ourselves accountable.

Ya see, whenever I have done "diets" before, I am always doing it alone and I don't have anyone to push/motivate me when I get discouraged. I try and follow strict diets and end up getting frustrated because I don't see results fast enough, or I just really miss a Chick-fil-A sandwich.. so I just give up.

But not this time. The words quit or give up are no longer in my brain. I WILL DO THIS and will get back into shape. Don't believe me? I can't wait to prove you wrong!

For the first time ever, I am actually so excited to start my transformation. I'm eating clean now and am following the Fitness Challenge and can't wait to see my body at week 13.  I have a goal weight poster in my apartment, I have a binder of workouts and recipes for all 12 weeks of the Challenge, and I have even made a motivation collage of the skinniest I have ever been.

Now...I don't expect to be a tooth pick after this challenge. I know I will lose inches and pounds, but I will have to continue this new lifestyle change of eating clean and working out for the rest of my life to maintain and sculpt lean muscle. The Fitness Challenge only sparks up the process and gets you going.

My goal weight is 145-150 pounds. Let me tell you... I have a longggggggg way to go. I still have a lot of muscle from my power lifting days back in high school, so I don't expect to get any lower than those numbers (as muscle weights more than fat).

I am going to faithfully update this blog to keep my story going and to keep me even more accountable. So please, I encourage you to come back and check on me every now and then. A little encouragement here and there never hurts either! :)

2013 is my year, y'all! I KNOW IT!