Step 5: Fortify your Diet with a Multivitamin

I've had computer issues the last two weeks so am late in getting this posted. Week 5 here on Slim in 6 and Burn It Up is half killing me! Just kidding! It's just taking some time to get back into pre-pregnancy shape.

Time for Step 5 of the Beachbody Nutrition Guide's 6 Steps to Transform Your Body:

"When you exercise hard and/or reduce your diet, your body can easily suffer from vitamin deficiencies. Most nutritionists believe that multivitamins are absolutely essential, espeically for active individuals, because it's difficult to get enough nutrients from your diet alone. The combination of daily stress, processed foods, and nutrient-depleted soils may leave your daily diet with deficiencies, which can threaten healthy muscle growth, energy production, protein metabolism, and fat burning. Taking a good multivitamin will ensure that your body as the nutrients it needs sto function properly. We reommend ActiVit multivitamins, but there are other good brands as well. The key is quality and freshness - when it comes to vitamins, you get what you pay for!"

If you aren't currently taking a multivitamin and really want to improve your health, I recommend signing on for Home Direct (shipped monthly to your address) for the Core Nutrition Pack, which includes the Activit multivitamin as well as Core Omega-3 and Core Cal-Mag.

If you really want to boost your health, then I strongly recommend Shakeology. This is one of the best nutritional products I have ever used! Check out my Shakeology website for more info.

Step 4: Hydrate and Cleanse

Wow! Three weeks of this round of Slim in Six DONE already! Time is flying and I'm looking forward to the results I get by the end of these six weeks. I took my halfway weight and measurements today and was both pleased and disappointed. Pleased because I did lose a whole inch in my waist and a half an inch in each arm and leg. Disappointed because only down 1 pound on the scale. I DO know I need to be more strict with the eating though. These next three weeks WILL be better!

Ok, as we're into Week 4 now, on with Step 4 of Beachbody's Nutrition Guide's "6 Steps To Transform Your Body".

Step 4: Hydrate and Cleanse your body by drinking water.

DRINK AT LEAST 2 LITERS OR 8 GLASSES OF WATER A DAY.

"This is the step people seem to take for granted. But in conjunction with supplements, improved food intake, and exercise, the catalyst to flushing out the bad stuff and keeping your body healthy is water. It also helps you feel full during the day. A balanced eating schedule with lots of water is a very manageable routine."

So, get in that water this week! (I just finished a glass now!) Have a great week!

Step Three: Consistent 5X-a-day Eating Schedule

Ok, I never got my Week 2 summary in last week as the power kept going off and I was extra busy with a fussy baby. Week 2 was not my best, I'm afraid. I missed 3 workouts due to not feeling well and taking care of my fussy little girl, who was having some stomach issues. I'm determined to do better this week! So here's Step Three from the Beachbody Nutrition Guide: A Consistent 5 Times-a-day Eating Schedule

"To succeed, it is very important to follow a consistent eating schedule. Consistency will actually give you a profound sense of control over your world, and it will also assure two things:

1. You won't get over-hungry, and thus overeat at the next meal, and
2. You will encourage an increase in your metabolism (that's the Holy Grail!)

A sample schedule could be:

Breakfast (within an hour of waking up) 7:00 AM
Snack (2-3 hours after breakfast) 9:00 - 10:00 AM
Lunch (2-3 hours after snack) 12:00 - 1:00 PM
Snack (2-3 hours after lunch) 3:00 - 4:00 PM
Dinner (finished at least 3 hours before bed) 7:00 - 8:00 PM

The most important aspects of this eating schedule are that you DO eat breakfast, and that you DO stop eating 3 hours BEFORE bedtime. (You might start to get hungry before bedtime, but you will enjoy 8 hours of solid fat burning if you can control yourself.) By allowing your body to sleep in "fasting mode" - meaning you are not in the midst of digesting a meal - your body will access stored fat for energy. What better time to be slightly hungry anyway than while you sleep? You wake up hungry, and you eat breakfast on schedule!"