July 2004. If you've been following this site for long, you know that my #1 body sculpting guideline is to eat small, balanced meals throughout the day. Much more so than either strength training or cardiovascular exercise, this method increases metabolism -- really stokes it so that your body becomes a fat-burning oven and you become a new woman in no time flat. However, with our very busy lives these days, portable options are very important. Here are a few that I recommend.

Portable Foods

• Fruit (~40-60 calories each)
• Ready-to-drink shakes like EAS AdvantEdge Low-Carb (~200 calories)
• Bars, like ~200 calorie Detour, U-Turn, Luna Lemon, etc
• Pre-made fat-free sugar-free jello pudding (~100 calories per cup)
• Fruit cups at 50-100 calories each
• Dairy cups like cottage cheese, yogurt, smoothies at 80-120 calories each
• Rice cakes with a THIN spread (1 measured teaspoon) of nut butter
• WASA Crisp Bread at 30 calories per slice
• Baggied morning cereals like Total Protein (large sweet flakes make it good finger food) at 140 calories per ¾ cup
• Large dill pickles (~10-20 calories each)
• Veggies (~10-40 calories per cup)
• No-sugar-added popsicles (15 each), creamsicles (20 each) and fudgsicles (35 each)

Sculpting Basics

• Make one meal a large salad. Mine last night was:
  • Iceburg lettuce
  • Shoestring carrots
  • Peeled, sliced cucumber
  • 1T tomato/basil feta cheese (~45 cals)
  • 1T slivered almonds (~50 cals)
  • ~110 calories
• You MUST create a 3,600 calorie deficit to lose JUST ONE pound of fat. When you understand that 30 minutes of RUNNING on a treadmill burns ~250 calories, you begin to see that food is a very important component of the deficit equation. Just one ill-thought-out- snack or meal can completely obliterate one-to-two day’s exercise.
• You will only know what you are taking in with calories if you begin writing down each day as compared to the exercise that day (i.e. journal exercise and food)
• Unless your body is changing, your meals and/or exercise are not in line with your goals.
• Protein is the building-block of muscle. If you are trying to BUILD muscle, you need a higher relative amount of protein each day. If you are trying to MAINTAIN muscle, you need a lesser relative amount of protein each day. If you are trying to BURN muscle, you need a much less relative amount of protein each day.
• Generally speaking, ectomorphs and mesomorphs are either building or maintaining muscle, while endomorphs are generally trying to maintain or lose muscle. To learn more about these body types, check out my book, "At Home With The Body Sculptress".
• Here is an example of my “get lean” summer diet (takes me to 12% body fat). Each meal is ~200 calories:
  • ¾ cup Kashi Go-Lean with 1T blueberries, 1T slivered almonds and ½ cup almond milk
  • 3 egg white omlette with 1T feta, asparagus and onions, 1 low-calorie toast, 2-3 turkey bacon
  • 2-3 oz chicken with 1 small apple and 2 WASA crisp bread
  • ¼ cup low-fat cottage cheese with Splenda and ½ each chopped red pepper and cucumber and ¾ cup Total Protein cereal (dry).
  • 3 oz grilled chicken and 1 cup steamed carrots with 2 WASA crisp bread
  • Evening: 2 popsicles, decaf coffee with almond extract and Splenda, large salad with feta and almond slivers, no-sugar candies (like Baskin Robbins Mint Chocolate Chip YUM!), 2 cups steamed veggies or ½ sandwich.

If you've just said, "I'm SO discouraged. 3,600 calories is a lot to try and lose," then you are missing the point. Like everything else that you do which is meaningful -- excelling at your career, raising a family, staying married, getting an advanced degree, serving on a committee, and everything else, you KNOW that it takes planning and implementation of your plan. Why should your health be any different? Rather than being discouraged, be ENCOURAGED to know that what you want is possible, if you are willing to work at it. Just like everything else of value, you can earn the body of your dreams if you are willing to accept the truth and put forth the effort to create your dream.

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