Balancing Act: A Guide to Creating the Perfect Meal Combination. And An Apology For Not Telling You About This Earlier.

Have you ever been annoyed by someone who mentions something in passing during conversation and never makes reference to it again, even though that very passing statement was the thing that interested you most? For instance:

You: "I love shopping at Ross! I found the best dress there!"

Annoying Person: "Yeah, and I found this really great navy suit there for my upcoming trial for holding my baby over a balcony like Michael Jackson. It was only $30! Say, we should go back sometime for pumps! I still need those for my suit. Unless you have any I could borrow...can we look in your shoe closet?"

You (sputtering): Um, sure...is black OK?"

Annoying Person: "Well, I don't know...what do you think? I was going to try for navy to match the suit, but do you think black would work? My silver heels are too flashy. Too bad, though...I got those for $7."

In the meantime, you could care less about the shoes. You are just wondering why your friend hung her baby over the balcony. And why in the world she would want to imitate Michael Jackson. And if now would be a good time to inform her that one of the Neverland Ranch pet tigers just died.

Anyway, I think I may have been that annoying person in my last blog. I kind of did this whole "balance proteins with carbs" spiel, and then never really followed through so you knew why that was part of my 30-day bridesmaid makeover. So, to avoid being likened to a psychotic King of Pop imitator, today's blog is following up on that, er, dangling thought.

One of the most critical elements that I stress in my health class is including both protein and carbohydrates in every meal and snack. And I am a little bit of a Journal Nazi about it when I review a person's diary that reveals that they only included one or the other in their snack time. I know that my students are trying to be really healthy, and that for them to list their snack as being an apple or watermelon instead of King-sized bag of M&M's is a huge step in the right direction. But, I also know that fruit alone just won't cut it. And when they swap out their Cheetos for a cheese stick, I'm really proud of them, but I remind them that something is missing.

The truth is, our bodies desperately need both components to survive. It really is a balancing act. While I may be a huge advocate for the elimination of processed carbohydrates like rice and white bread, I won't tell them to eat as much bacon as they want in lieu of their favorite bag of potato chips. This isn't Atkins 1.0.  My students aren't supposed to be afraid of the GL of watermelon or apples or carrots. In fact, according to the developers of my class curriculum, doing so is downright dangerous. Consider this sobering information:

Fun Fact: In a review of diet participants on an eating plan similar to the high-protein/low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, all participants who lost weight still had the same percentage of body fat at the end of their weight loss that they did going into it. Instead, participants lost water weight, glycogen stores, and muscle mass, but no real fat was burned off.

Translation: When deprived of the glycogen fuel stores that your body obtains from carbohydrates, your system turns on itself like some creepy alien child in a sci-fi movie. Once it works its way through water weight and the three-day supply of glycogen reserves, it starts literally eating itself, feeding off your muscle as fuel, which is pretty darn gross. And it doesn't even eat the fat off to take care of the real problem. So it's pretty much pointless.

I'm not a huge proponent of my students literally wasting away. Or of creepy alien sci-fi movies. So, I make sure they are replenishing their glycogen stores all the time by the inclusion of clean carbs with every lean protein source. And since many protein sources have little to no GL, they can still stay easily within their target GL range of 10 or less, while giving their bodies extra fiber that protein just can't provide.

But I don't want to see them eat only to fuel their glycogen stores, either. If glycogen is the fuel source of the body, the muscles are the metabolic engine. Just having an apple as a snack or a salad as a meal isn't really accomplishing anything, either. And that's where protein comes in.

Protein helps build the muscles that my students develop through a more active lifestyle, and when that happens, their bodies can literally burn fat while they sleep. As if that weren't awesome enough, protein is also the critical element in making their new healthy lifestyle sustainable. When a student seems to be struggling with dropping energy levels or constant hunger, I can almost bet you that they are eating only rabbit food and neglecting their protein intake. I hate seeing a journal that lists a salad for lunch. Unless that bad boy has some grilled chicken or chopped eggs on it, there is no way two cups of lettuce and a cucumber is going to get you through the demands of a work day. And since I don't want my girls ever going hungry, I hate to see them think that 3 celery sticks is all they need to survive. That is absolutely the quickest way to shut down your metabolism, my friends. It's amazing how a little Greek yogurt ranch dip or a couple of eggs added to that celery will carry you! Protein promotes satiety and gives you the stamina to power through until the next meal, and it is the best insurance policy against a metabolic crash.

So, in a perfect world, what does a good combination look like?*

• Crustless quiche with a side of fruit
• An apple dipped in Greek yogurt
• Cottage cheese with fresh pineapple
• Diced hard-boiled eggs on salad loaded with veggies of your choice
• Air-popped popcorn sprinkled with Parmesan cheese
• Black Bean soup
• Grilled chicken with bell peppers and pineapple
• Grilled fish with a side of quinoa
• Deli turkey wrapped around a few pickle spears (don't knock it 'til you try it)
• Caramel Turtle Nut Brownie with milk (no, seriously, it's good for you!)

*Thanks to my friends Bob and Vicki Mihaylov at Trinity Health Weight Loss for these fabulous ideas...it's highly unlikely I would have come up with ideas nearly that good. I mean, I don't see Cinnabon with Cream Cheese Frosting on here (cream cheese is protein, right?), so I'm pretty sure my ideas would have been a little sketchy....

OK, well I hope that this little post has cleared things up a bit and not left you lying awake at night with unanswered questions. Except for the enticing part about the brownie. I guess I'm more annoying than I thought.

Of Weddings and Waistlines: My 30-day Bridesmaid's Dress Makeover Plan

Today marks the one month countdown to the wedding of two dear friends of mine. It also marks the six-day deadline to my second bridesmaids' dress fitting. I am thrilled about the one, and dreading the other. I think you should be able to tell which I am looking forward to and which I am not. I mean, at one I get to eat cake, and at the other, any cake I've eaten can and will be used against me in a court o flaw. (I just made that one up myself.)

We've all been there before. Whether it's a company function or our ten-year high school reunion that you bought a dress for two months ago and thought, "I'll fit into it by then...," our lives are kind of marked by events that we should look forward to, but can't because we're not happy with our bodies. Thankfully, my friend has good taste and picked out dresses that were not only super cute, but very forgiving A-lines, so I should be able to skate by this wedding unscathed. That doesn't stop me, though, from wanting to crash-diet my way through the next month to see if I can't distract the pianist just a little bit during the ceremony. (The Hubs is the pianist, so I promise it's a completely legitimate goal.) But I know better than to do the typical skip-breakfast-and-subsist-on-carrots-and-rice-cakes thing. Instead, it's consistently applying what I already know to work. So here's my grand plan for wedding weight loss success:

Step #1: Eat more. 

OK, by a show of hands, how many of you went and checked my health teacher credentials when you read this? While it seems counter-intuitive to think that eating more can actually help your weight loss efforts, nothing could be more effective. Food is our body's fuel source, like the gasoline in our cars. Who waits until their low-fuel light is on to pump gas? (Confession: I actually drove over 20 miles of interstate with my low-fuel light on one time. God probably didn't mind it too much, because I'm pretty sure I had to pray the whole way home...) But when we *do* run our cars on fumes, they don't perform nearly as well as when they're topped off and ready to ride.

Our bodies are pretty much the same way. If you wait to eat until you're hungry, your body's low-fuel light has already come on. Your metabolism is no longer running at peak efficiency, and that means it's going to cling to those fat reserves like spandex to a muffin top. Neither scenario is pretty, my friends.

Once you're running on fumes, it's better to fill 'er up than to just put five bucks in, or you'll find yourself in the same pinch before you know it.  When you're running on empty, your poor little brain sends out an SOS to your body, because the little guy thinks he's drowning. He'll make you crave anything to get his sugar level back up to where he can function, and that's when something sugary that you know you shouldn't have suddenly look very appealing. The only problem with that is, once the brain has its quick fix, it'll be high as a kite for a while until it suddenly crashes again, and you'll be locked in some vicious cycle of grabbing a survival Snickers every time you start slowing down, and that, my friends, while tasty, is *not* the way to rock a bridesmaid's dress.

But I thought you said to eat more!!!  She is such a frustrating blogger, you may be thinking to yourself. But, relax. I got this. You know how they say it's easier to fill up a gas tank that's already almost full? The same principle applies here. The key is not eating more bad food that promotes an endless cycle of five-buck stops that leave you limping along on low-fuel until the next gas station, but rather topping off every time you eat with quality foods that never run you down to the low-fuel light in the first place.. Those fill-ups, by the way, should happen about once every three hours. And they should *not* be Snickers bars. Or even the highly-acclaimed Oreos of blog posts pasts. No, your body deserves premium grade gasoline, which, in food terms, is a combination of protein and carbohydrates every time you eat.

So, what does my rock-a-dress-while-eating-all-the-time menu look like? For me, it starts with a good meal-replacement shake that is totally balanced with protein for long-term energy and fullness and carbs for that little jolt to get me going. It also has a lot of fiber, which gets other things going, but I digress. They've done actual clinical studies with these bad boys, and the results are amazing. Besides, I adore these shakes, especially when I mix them up with a little fat-free cream cheese and vanilla extract on ice. I found the recipe on this website, but I'm pretty sure God made it up Himself, because it is heavenly. (Yes, I write all my own material.)

It also looks like summer fruit and Greek yogurt, a killer quiche recipe with a side salad, or hard-boiled eggs with raw veggies. For dinner, it may be a black bean soup or grilled chicken with peppers and pineapple. Oh, and the most flipping awesome healthy brownie for dessert. (I'm keeping *that* recipe under wraps...but I got your attention, didn't I?) Are you seeing the pattern here? There is protein and fresh, unprocessed carbohydrates in every choice, and you wouldn't believe how many Snickers bars I can resist when I eat like this (not that the brownies don't help..)! And I get to eat all the time! How awesome is that?

So, what does my plan NOT look like? Deprivation, hunger, and "give-me-the-Snickers-and-no-one-gets-hurt" moments. I never have to run on low fuel, and I never have to make crappy choices, because I know I'm just a couple of hours away from filling food. And brownies.

So, wish me luck, my friends. And, if you care to, join me in my makeover! Just write a comment or post to my Facebook page, and let me know you're up for eating a lot and losing weight, too! I'll teach you everything I know. And I may even share that brownie recipe with you.

PLAN B: If all else fails, shock them with an ugly dress. Nobody will be thinking about your weight then.