Last week I wrote about Consistency, which I believe is the most important aspect to an effective healthy lifestyle. Once you've sealed a consistent approach to your goals, keep up your motivation and dedication by implementing: Variety; the topic of this week's "Summer Sizzlers Series".
So often I've been asked how I stick to a healthy diet because.... "it's just so boring."
Well, firstly I don't like the word "diet" and prefer to use it to describe the way I eat, instead of as a word describing a time period of restriction and suffering! The food I eat can be described as "clean", which basically means I eat whole, fresh, un-processed foods as much as possible and avoid processed foods and sugar. The way I eat does vary depending on my goals and objectives. One of the goals of competitive bodybuilding is to be lean with as little body fat as possible, so I manipulate what I eat to fulfill this requirement. This means that I may have a breakfast of egg whites and vegies as I get closer to a competition, opposed my normal breakfast of oats and fruit. I always ensure to have enough food for energy and satiety and the variety also helps to keep life interesting.
There is allowance for huge variation in my clean way of eating. I've been called a foodie; I'm passionate about food and I love eating! I focus on two main objectives when it comes to food:
This means understanding food labels to a certain extent, as well as energy expenditure (e.g. calories in versus calories out). For example once you realise that one Starbucks muffin (370 calories) is worth a 90 min power walk you might reconsider. I've got a great muffin recipe that's all round much more nutritious (less calories, carbs and no fat, and more protein) and still delicious! (see below).
To get some food variation, it really is amazing what you can do with salads and vegies - get creative! I remember when I stopped grabbing convenience foods (which usually ended up being junk); and really starting spending time in vegie shops, I got inspired by the variety and came up with wonderful results. In summer, salads are great and you can use almost anything you want. Try chopping up all different salad leaves, red cabbage and then add grated carrot, grated broccoli and grated cauliflower, tomatoes and herbs. This is fabulous with some cooked chicken tossed through or grilled salmon, but anything works really. The result is a huge, satisfying meal, with superb nutritional value and a happy full tummy! The point is variety is good and you don't necessarily need a cookbook, just experiment from time to time and it is well worth the effort!
The same is true for exercise. I believe variety is a fundamental aspect to sticking to an exercise plan. I try to mix things up to keep me stimulated, but the added benefit is that the body actually responds better to varied stimuli. If you do the same thing all the time your body will initially adapt but then get used to it and plateau. Plus it can get boring and for me a positive mental state is very important, so I try to keep things exciting! My daily exercise routine includes cardio every morning and weights in the evening, and in the lead up to a competition I'll do another cardio session after weights. The majority of my cardio is walking but I spice it up by including skipping, spinning and kickboxing sessions once each a week. I walk on the treadmill in the mornings, but then outside in the evenings. Again, the key is variation, try to keep things exciting and interesting and you're much more likely to achieve your goals. Make sure to plan this though; as a good notion can come to nothing is there is no plan for action.
I've given examples of how variety can positively affect our diet and exercise, but variety (as the spice of life!) in all aspects can really add to a more healthy and balanced life. We grow with each new experience so don't be afraid to try new things and enjoy the learning gained from new challenges.
Spice it up!!
Ruth's Berrylicious Protein Muffin (makes 12-13)
1.5 cups rolled oats
9 egg whites
1 tsp baking powder
1 mashed banana
1 tsp cinnamon
3 teaspoons sweetner (optional)
1 tsp vanilla essence
Mix ingredients together
Add 250g lite Cottage Cheese
Add (optional): 100 g frozen berries
Bake for 20 -30 mins in non stick muffin tins
*Get creative and try other combinations instead of berries (like grated apple and raisins, or grated carrot and walnuts, or dried mixed fruit to make it Christmassy).