Calories calories calories

If you are going to guess how many calories are in something (already prepared in the store) then make sure you give a high estimate. At least guess 200 calories over what you think might be in there, because chances are, calories are hidden in something.

Always start you day with a set amount of calories, then as you eat throughout the day subract them IMMEDIATELY. Don't try to guess at the end of the day, or add everything up at the end of the day. Do it right then and there. You will probably forget to add that cracker or cookie at the end of the day. Most people eat over their calories because they don't add in the little stuff: mayonnaise, sugar, creamer, salad dressing.

Speaking of salad dressing...do you want to know how many calories are in a McDonald's salad (if you eat all of the dressing provided)? OVER 2,000!! Do NOT drizzle or pour salad dressing on your salad. Pour it in a ramican, dip your fork into the dressing, stab some salad and take a bite. You will eat about 3/4 less calories that way. Bonus: you get a taste of dressing with each bite :)

Battle of the Brides

I have dreamed of having a Bridal BootCamp for years now :) I am so excited to start this off in March. Here is the info:

BootCamps will be: EVERY Mon, Wed and Fri at 5pm. They will be a mix between circuits, metabolic conditioning (revving up the metabolism) and strength. Will we be doing things that are completely out of the norm; and stuff you can't do in a gym, ie. sledgehammers, tires, agility ladders, ropes, etc.

There is no whistle, there are no combat boots :) We get down and dirty, we don't take ourselves to seriously and we laugh through the pain.

Also, if you have a bridesmaid, groom, mother-of-the-bride, etc that wants to join, they can come too!! The more people you have to keep you accountable, the more successful you will be.

Here are the contest rules:

Payment is $60 per person per month paid upfront. Weigh-ins and measurements (body fat and girth) will be done at the beginning and end of each month. The bride (or person in the bridal party) that loses the most body fat % for that month gets their entire $60 back. I will reveal the winner at the very last BootCamp and will hand them $60 cash. Here is the great part: if someone in your bridal party wins for that month, YOU (the bride) win the Rock the Dress session with Stephie Joy Photography.

Also, there needs to be 10 participants for this contest each month, so bring your maid-of-honor and your girlfriends for more chances to win the Rock the Dress.

What could be better than going to a BootCamp, getting the results and getting your money back? If we have a Battle of the Brides for 3, 4, 5 months, then you have 3, 4, 5 chances to put that $60 back in your pocket.

Our first Camp will be March the 2nd. Payment will be due when you come to get measured. I need all participants to be measured before February 27th.

You will have unlimited access to nutritional and exercise advice; I am a modified vegan, and know just about everything you can think of when it comes to what you should and shouldn't be eating. Working out, losing weight and getting fit is 80% nutrition, 20% exercise.

You will have people holding you accountable (super important), and you get to look on the outside how you feel on the inside for your BIG DAY!

Please email me to get signed up! We need at least 10. mandolyn_thomas@hotmail.com
You can also "like" Black Sheep BootCamp to see what we're up to until March. OR come on out and try us before then :)

Mandi Thomas

Clean pantry = Clean eating

One of the questions I get asked the most is: Can you tell me what to eat and what not to eat?

My answer is always the same: No.

Weight Loss is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise, no joke! It's easy to show up to the gym and do the workout, or show up at BlackSheep Boot Camp and do the work...the REAL test is when you go home and no one is looking. Unfortunately, on a daily basis, our quest to be fit and healthy is sabotaged by marquees, commercials, friends/family and ourselves. If you have healthy stuff AND crap in your pantry, chances are you will grab the crap stuff first. Because our first thought is, "Well I just worked out so I can have this..." And the thought SHOULD be, "I just worked out, I would hate to sabotage my efforts because I want this..."

So I'm sure your question would be, "Well, when CAN I have the stuff I want?" And the answer is, "When you "GET IT"." When you realize that there is a delicate balance and you are able to eat just one of something, or just take a bite to satisfy that craving. Having been in the fitness field for 4 years, I have had oodles of time for self-reflection. I know what makes me tick. I know what my weaknesses are. I know what I can and can't do. I know what foods I can and can't have. Time and time again you are going to have people that will unknowingly sabotage your weightloss efforts. All it takes is a, "Want to go eat here?" or "Come on, you can have a little of..." The second you realize that NO, you can't eat there because you always eat crap or you CAN'T just have a little of...because you will DESTROY the entire plate, is the second you will have "got it". It is a daily walk and slippery slope once you let your guard down.

When Brett left at the beginning of last year for 11 months, I had a lot of time to expirement with different ways of eating, ie. vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free since I was only preparing meals for my little ones and myself. And this was the most crucial part of my learning. I realized the more vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free we eat, the more likely we are to drop healthy weight naturally and the more likely we are to feel better. I'm not saying to drop everything and go vegan right out of the gates like I did, I am simply saying, "Start small and incorporate SOME veganism into your weekly meals." For instance, instead of real butter, use vegan butter. Don't drink cow's milk, drink Almond milk. Try to find healthy snacks that are vegan and/or gluten-free. I know my weakness is chocolate. Luckily, at Whole Foods they have the most amazing chocolate cookies EVER MADE, and they are both vegan AND gluten-free! I also eat Ezekiel bread. The only white/wheat bread I will eat is the 110 calorie Thomas bagels, otherwise I eat NO white/wheat bread. None. Zero. Zilch. It is NOT good for you if all you eat is wheat stuff.

Wheat is NOT good for you in large amounts. Neither is corn. Or milk. And I tell you what, all three are in EVERYTHING we eat. Read your labels and you will be shocked. Corn, milk and wheat are super hard for the body to digest...ever wonder why we are weaned off of milk when we are babies? Ever wonder why animals are weaned off of their mother as babies? It's because we are NOT supposed to drink it like we do now. Not to mention the antibiotics that are being fed to cows in order to mass produce milk or chickens, cows and fish that grow at an alarming rate. I highly recommend watching Food, Inc. Or go to: www.meat.org.

Ever hear of the statement, "Everything in moderation," ? Well, what they didn't tell you is that there is nothing moderate about the wheat and milk in our foods; it is all in excess. Find more organic foods, eat more vegan/vegetarian. Try to eat meat only about 3 times a week. Eat more nuts. Did you know that we don't need as much protein as the weightloss industry would like us to believe? The protein shakes and meal replacement shakes that people are trying to sell are a marketing ploy. Just something they can make money off of by having a famous name or by swearing that you will lose weight by taking them instead of an actual food meal. YOU DON'T need them! Eat real food! And the hCg drops and pills that are out there: Anyone could drop weight if they only ate 500 calories a day! It's not some miracle pill/drop...it's called common sense. You eat 500 calories and your body goes into starvation mode, you drop weight at an alarming rate, and you become anorexic. Whether or not you want to admit it, when you eat 500 calories, you are anorexic. The second you start to eat normal again, you pack on the pounds because your body is in survival mode, meaning: It will store up fat because it doesn't know when you are going to feed it again.

I just needed to put this out there because I want people to lose weight safely, healthily and smartly. There is NO quick fix. I guarantee you, because if there was I would have found it by now. When I started eating gluten-free (no wheat), I naturally lost 11 lbs in a month, without going to the gym because my body wasn't being overworked by trying to digest and breakdown the wheat that we are tricked into thinking is BEST.

Random thoughts for the morning.

Mandi

Murphy's Law

So I immediately learned a couple of things while doing this Day 1 cleanse:

1. Do NOT do a cleanse when you are sick :( No fun. I have a headache that would bring Chuck Norris to his knees. I had to take 1000mg of Tylenol and eat 1/2 piece of Ezekiel bread. Still no bueno.
2. Do NOT do a cleanse when you just stopped nursing 4 days ago. Your hormones are going berzerk (which could explain the colossal headache). I nursed Ayden for 2 years and my body has no idea what is going on now; I just know it's pissed.
3. Eat more. Which is really hard for me considering I am sick and have NO appetite whatsoever. Refer back to point #1.

I will be doing the cleanse tomorrow again, but if I can't kick this headache I am postponing mine. Make sure you are eating enough to make yourself full. This isn't intended to be a strict, low-calorie cleanse. This is reintroducing fruits, veggies, and water back into your system and giving your digestive tract a break.

Bed time for me is 7 tonight :) See you all in the a.m.

Tomorrow is not doomsday

Eeek, T-14 hours until Day 1 of the 5 day cleanse!

I have to say, I despise diets. I don't like NOT eating something, even if it IS for the better. Even when I am counting calories on a daily basis, I do NOT limit or deprive myself. On the good side, I am really looking forward to the benefits of the cleanse. I haven't been to a gym in over 3 months!! And I am jonesin' for some weights. Going to hit it hard to get ready for some mud runs over the next couple of months... :)

The really good part about the cleanse is that exercise is going to be kept to a minimum. And I mean minimum! You can do pilates, Zumba, yoga, etc...but I would really cut back on all forms of cardio. Long story short: You are going to feel like CRAP. The worse you eat on a regular basis and the more toxic you are, the worse you are going to feel. I like to think of cleanses as very "telling" and "revealing" as to what you are putting in your body.

Everything that we aren't supposed to eat for the 5 days are not bad things...and can be reintroduced into your lifestyle at the end of 5 days. I can tell you now, I will be going right back to coffee and diet Coke! BUT, I will also go back to eating really clean and exercising.

Like I said before, I will be posting what I will be eating throughout the day...and I can give you a few pointers tonight so you can prepare ahead of time:

It says you can have 2 cups of brown rice throughout the day; I normally like to eat 1 cup at a time and usually at my lunch and dinner meals. So for breakfast I will probably have a half of an apple and some pineapple. For a snack I will have the rest of the apple. For lunch I will have 1 cup of brown rice, 1/2 cup of plain-jane pinto beans with pepper. For mid-day snack, I will have watermelon. For dinner I might have the other 1 cup of rice (depending on how hungry I am) with pepper OR a green salad with 3 tBsp fat-free italian dressing and an orange. For late-night snack, probably more pineapple and some plain green tea. I have to say that pineapple is my go-to food. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner no problem. It is like crack to me :) BUT the idea is to get nutrients from different types of fruits and veggies. You also need to be drinking lots of water to flush everything out and hydrate.

I am NOT looking forward to doing this, but it is a necessary evil :) I am going to take it one day at a time. I am also going to be extremely honest about this whole thing. If I slip, then I will admit it...I promise. Like today I was going to do the water cleanse until 8 and only lasted until 4 :/ I am human and personal trainers are NOT unemotional, lacking in appetite, always motivated to get in the gym machines. I LOVE food, I LOVE working out (when I am there) and I LOVE being healthy and helping others to love it as much as I do. Results speak for themselves.

Anywhoo, any questions you have feel free to ask. Any gripes, feel free to share :) I KNOW I will be griping.

Let's do it!

Bubble Bath for your insides :)

Okay, so first off let me say that I am NOT a doctor OR nutritionist. I am a certified Advanced Personal Trainer through the National Personal Training Institute and I am doing this cleanse for myself and figured if anyone needed a jump start, they can do it as well...this is just a friend to a friend kind of deal.

Now that the disclaimer is out there, here is the cleanse info:

• It is 5 days :( Daunting, I know, but extremely effective if stuck with.
• It is all RAW fruits and veggies with some egg whites and brown rice allowed.
• Eat until you are satisfied, not until you are gorged...feeling sick is a normal part of the process. Soon you won't be "starving"...you are going through food, sugar, caffiene withdrawals.
• You need to do some light exercise while doing this to keep your metabolism in check.
• You need someone to hold you accountable :) I will do it, if you will. I will post a daily blog because I HATE diets. Hate 'em. But this one is a necessary evil. I will be very candid.
• You need to eat every 3-4 hours, even if you're not hungry.
• Foods are ONLY to be eaten raw, grilled or steamed. 3 tBsp of low-fat dressing on salads (yay) are allowed. If grilling, use minimal amount of olive oil (1 - 2 tsp).

Here are the foods allowed: (Don't eat everything!! Just pick and choose. Mix it up.)

• All fruits in any quantity
• All veggies in any quantity, except: no white potatoes or avocadoes
• Good proteins: beans, tofu, lentils, chickpeas
• Brown rice - 2 cups cooked (PER DAY)
• As much H2O as your little heart desires (this is good for cleansing)
• Oatmeal - 1 cup per day (No sugar oatmeal. Plain Jane)
• Black Pepper
• 6 oz low-fat yogurt (2 times per day)
• 4 egg whites per day
• 2 cups herbal tea per day

Everything else is OFF LIMITS. No cokes, diet cokes, whole eggs, white rice, meats, breads, etc. No candy, alcohol, chips. No coffee?! !#$^!^$. I love coffee :/

Words of encouragement: You will NOT die from this cleanse. Lol. You will NOT starve on this cleanse. You will feel a bit deprived at first, but you can add in good stuff after day 5. (It really is supposed to be 9 days, but even I can't do 9. I like 5. 5 is a good number.)

You can post any questions you have for me on facebook. Feel free to be candid as well :)

In addition, when this cleanse is finished it would be a good idea to start counting calories...become one with the calculator :) I have some great tips for doing so. I classify myself as an expert calorie counter...and it drives people nuts when I point out how many calories they are about to eat. :) Once you have "cleansed" your body of all the junk (which basically means sugar, sodium and cravings) you need to focus on calories in vs. calories out.

You can still eat things you ate before. Heck, if you REALLY want a cookie everyday to not feel deprived then eat the dang cookie...just make sure you add it into your calories. I do believe one oreo is 75 calories (it's been a while) then have one. You could seriously eat 1200 calories worth of ice cream a day ONLY and still lose weight. You would feel like POO and make yourself ill, but you would lose weight. It's not rocket science, just mathematics.

I have to say, that if I don't have chocolate around the house, within arms reach I will destroy a pantry looking for it. I know what my weakness is and it is anything chocolate. So I keep vegan, gluten-free cookies (which are the most delicious cookies ever made. Ever) as my indulgence...and I have up to 2 a day. The only thing is: I add it into my calories for the day. 2 cookies are 180 calories. Not the most nutritious thing I could eat, but it's better than eating everything in the cabinet looking to satisfy that chocolate craving.

Once Monday hits, I will post what I eat for the day and what my workout was for that day. The great part about "eating clean" is if you miss your workout for that day, no big deal. Do it tomorrow. You are preparing your body in advance for future workouts. Whatever you eat today fuels your workout for tomorrow. Nice huh? If THAT doesn't make you feel guilty, I don't know what will :)

**********Also, beware of marketing ploys to get you to "buy (insert dumb meal replacement here) and you will lose a bajillion pounds". You don't need to do anything but eat REAL food, count calories and exercise. I don't care if it promises incredibly fast weight loss or completely eliminate your appetite...it's not worth your money. Did you know that the weightloss marketing industry spends more money on marketing 4 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR than what we spend on presciption medication? Nice right? And they're all the same: loaded with caffeine and tons of stuff we can't pronounce. And anyone that markets this stuff for their own benefit (ahem) Jillian Michaels and the Kardashians should be smacked repeatedly. They are only doing it for their monetary benefit. Really, you are going to trust that Khloe Kardashian swears by QT because she's so lean and healthy right?! You gotta look past the name and get to the real stuff: all for $$. Shame on them. **************

BlackSheep Boot Camp

So this is it! I am really excited about doing what I love again. Here is some info that everyone needs to know in order to make the Camp run as smoothly as possible (and so I'm not overloaded).

1. I would really like everyone's measurements before we start. This is the only way that you will be able to "see" your progress. I am a visual person and need to see this kind of stuff too. Plus, there might be a competition following, so if you want in then we need to get your numbers :)

2. I absolutely positively need to know how many are going to be needing a sitter during this time. I need to know this because I need to prepare my sitter ahead of time and if it's needed at all. My two daughters, 4 and 2 will be there. Each mom will need to pitch in around $2 for the one hour to accomodate the sitter. I will be pitching in as well.

3. Instead of collecting $75 on the first day (since that day is going to be hectic anyways) I will be collecting it before hand. I will have receipts made out for the 6-week period for yours and my personal records. I would like to collect it when I do your measurements :) Anytime you are ready to get your measurements (which will be by measuring tape, skin-fold calipers for body fat and a pic (if you want)). I will need all peeps to be paid-in-full by the 16th.

4. I mentioned a FREE 6-weeker if you bring three friends; this applies after the first 6-week Camp. So during your 2nd 6-weeker, if you had three friends book a Camp, you get your 3rd 6-week Camp FREE! I love free, you love free, we all love free.

5. Please please please call me and let your friends know that I need to have this information ASAP: if you're coming, when you want to come do your measurements, and if you're in need of a sitter. This can be as soon as today please :) Please please :) Lol.

6. I also am going to need to you to sign a medical release waiver saying you have been okay'd by a doc to do this Camp. It's going to be rough and strenuous, but I won't make you do anything that I myself won't be doing :) I will have you do this when you do measurements as well.

My number is: 904-525-5342. I am pretty super friendly, so don't be shy when you call if I don't know you. We will eventually be friends anyways :)

Have a super fantastic day and I hope to hear from you soon!

Mandi

P.S. If we have already talked about the Camp, please call me anyways or message me to set up your measurement time :)