Guest Post: Nadia & Her Weight-Loss Mission

Hey guys! Please welcome Nadia’s fourth guest post detailing her progress with her weight-loss mission to lose 25 pounds and take over the world!
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“Cleanse” comes from the Middle English “cleansen” (oh, how ironic – what kind of cleansing was going on during the Middle Ages?), meaning to purify, get rid of impurities and clean by washing. In essence, a cleanse in the diet world is just that. You are washing away impurities from your body. And so, this week, I took four days and did my best to wash out the ickiness that resides in my stomach. Did it make a difference? As far as weight loss is concerned, not really. However, I felt better, and I’m a firm believer that if your soul feels better doing it, then it’s worth it. Here is what I ate, in varying stages of repetition, in no particular order (I promise, Cranky Ones, that when I have a tad more free time, I will develop a way more awesome version of this cleanse and re-test it!):

• Black tea (no coffee!)
• 1 oz. reduced-fat Laughing Cow string cheese
• 1 cup Pineapple
• 1/4 cup almonds
• Organic applesauce
• 3 oz. blackened chicken (olive oil, not butter, is used to grease the pan)
• 2 cups green beans
• 1 banana
• 1 cup carrots
• 1 veggie burger (Boca’s, then The Counter, both running around 200 calories)
• 2 cups organic greens
• 1 strawberry fruit bar

Mix up these lovely food combinations to create your own meal! If you’ve got any tips on foods I should add to this list as I compile the Nia Cleanse 2.0, let me know in the comments.

Best Meal:

Blackened Chicken:
[photo cred]
I love my blackened chicken! It’s one of the few things I can cook. Plus, it’s low-fat and low-cal. Instead of salt and butter, you use spices such as paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, and more to grill the chicken. Add some green beans, and you’ve got yourself a lean protein and vegetable dinner for less than 400 calories!

Worst Meal:

Tortilla Chips: When you’re at a party, it’s easy to forget how much you’re snacking! I estimate that I ended up eating a lot more of these deliciously salty chips than I should have. [Cranky's note: Damn the ubiquitous tortilla chip -- it's at every freakin' social function!]

Food I Didn’t Realize Would Be Bad:

Starbucks Old-Fashioned Glazed Donut: Okay, hear me out. I really wanted a donut. I know from past experience that if I don’t indulge, I’m far more likely to eat more later, or eat something even worse. So I rationalized – I’ll buy a donut and split it with my co-workers. According to most calorie counting sites like Calorie King, a cake donut has roughly 250 to 300 calories. This one has 420! What the hell are they stuffing this thing with? Even splitting it with people made it terrible. [oy.]

How I Worked Out:

As promised, I did my best to amp out my workouts to every other day. I’m not sure that it paid off, but it did make me feel better. Exercise goes along well with a cleanse, as you’re literally sweating out all the impurities.

What Did We Learn?:

Staying away from salt really does help your appearance! I looked pretty good in that bikini. If you’ve got a big event coming up, lay off the saltier foods in your life, as well as anything else that could cause bloating, such as carbs and caffeine.

This Week’s Goal:

I wasn’t 100% on target with this plan, but it was the first time I’ve tried to stick to a more rigid eating plan. For this week, I’m going to give myself the exercise goal of working out five times this week. Now, this won’t be tricky when I have more free time. However, I’m choosing to make this the week’s challenge because I have two classes, a show, and a three-day weekend ahead of me. The idea is that no matter what’s going on in my life, exercise will just have to be the priority over something else. Wish me luck!

Start Weight According to Crappy Target Scale: 144.6

End Weight According to Crappy Target Scale: 142.6

In one month, I’ve lost EIGHT pounds. Huzzah!

Ask me and Ana questions on Twitter at @nahdeeeyah and at @feedmeimcranky1!
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Wow, Nia! You’re definitely making amazing progress towards your goal and I’m stoked you felt amaze-balls in your bikini! The motherly instinct in me (I’m 2-years older, I’m allowed to have it for you! ), wants me to remind you to make sure you’re eating enough since, typically, a 5-pound/month loss is the max that health professionals deem as “healthy weight-loss.” I know that a part of any cleanse is rapid weight-loss, so that in and of itself makes me a little anxious (& in doing a quick calc, I’ve noticed eating ALL the foods recommended for the cleanse in one day would still yield a tad less than 1200 calories — too low), but, I’ll concede, I have no personal experience with cleanses. And, I’m sure (and hopeful) you did some additional snacking on those days! Do any of my readers have experience with or insight on cleanses? Good luck working out 5 days this week, Nia — you can do it!!!

To see Nadia’s first update, click here; her second, click here; her third, click here.

<3,

The Cranky One

Tags: cleanse, weight loss