Rachelle’s Rules (Okay guidelines…)
1. Don’t eat right after waking up: I waiting sometimes up to 3 hours before I start eating. There are a couple of reasons for this. a) If you get moving or even workout before you eat, your body is forced to dip into fat stores for energy. b) It shortens the eating day, if you start eating later and finish eating between 7 and 8 PM then there is less time between meals and you do not feel as hungry between meals or have to wait so long to eat again.
2. Never go below 1200 calories: It is fine to create a deficit between what you burn and what calories you consume, but NEVER eat less than 1200 calories per day. Eating less can move you body to starvation mode and actually cause you to store all the calories you eat.
3. If your not ready to eat your vegetables, you’re not hungry enough! You must eat vegetables at every meal. Yes even for breakfast! If you don’t want a green shake, then how about a spinach omelet.
4. Don’t eat starchy, sugar carbs for breakfast. Step away from the doughnut! Keep consumption of carbs to midday hours. I eat rice, quinoa, pasta and potatoes for lunch, this gives me maximum energy for the day, keeps me full and give me a chance to work the calories off. Eating carbs for breakfast makes you crave more of them throughout the day, then you consume more of them and they are calorie dense!
5. Don’t drink anything else before you finish your 64oz (2 liters) of water for the day. The only exception would be green tea, because it burns fat and kombucha because it has probiotics and is great for you. Otherwise, drink all your water before you reach for diet sodas or anything else.
6. Eat 5 – 6 meals everyday. Eating small low calories meals keeps hungry pangs at bay. Also, think of your metabolism as a fire. Small meals are like kindling, they keep the fire burning at optimum. Large meals like a large log slow down the burn and take longer to burn having more chance to be stored.
I am sure there are more guidelines, but this is a good start…