Big Thankyous to Losingit for passing this on and to Marion for her permission to post it here.
Marion’s eating and exercise regime
Marion says:
The following are suggestions, which will help you lose fat and gain fitness and muscle. At the beginning it may not be possible for you to include all of them, so start by adding those that you find easiest. I don’t guarantee that this will work for you but it worked for me and has also done for several other people who have been following it.
For this to work you need to be totally committed to wanting to improve your health and fitness levels. You cannot do this half-heartedly because you will get no positive results if you do. The purpose of changing your diet to 6 mini meals a day, regular exercise, excluding refined carbs and increasing protein intake is to raise your metabolism and keep it raised. It is only by raising your metabolism that you will burn excess fat. With a higher burning metabolism you will be amazed at the results you will be able to achieve.
Go for a walk as soon as you get up, do not eat anything and drink only water before you leave. By doing this you will be burning fat that is stored in your body, not just burning something you have eaten. A nice handy tip is to have a cup of coffee before you leave (no sugar) as the caffeine will actually allow you to burn more fat. If you are not used to walking set yourself a goal that is not too difficult to achieve, head for somewhere that is about 15-20 minutes or 1-2 kilometres from your starting point. Aim to walk as briskly as you can, wear light, comfortable clothing that you will not be too hot in. Make sure that you wear good, supportive and comfortable walking shoes.
Hold your head up and take in your surroundings, you should always aim to make exercise of any kind as enjoyable as possible. Try, if possible to walk somewhere pleasant with nice views, like a park or beachfront. Hold yourself upright with your shoulders back but not stiff, swing your arms gently at your sides. It may sound strange but say Hi! or Good Morning to everyone you pass, believe me this makes you feel good and you will be amazed at how well most people respond to a friendly greeting.
After you return home you may be hot, sweaty and red in the face. PLEASE! Resist the impulse to throw off your clothes and jump into the shower immediately. Your body is still burning fat at a high rate, allow your body to slowly cool down naturally. Take a gentle stroll around the garden or go and check your emails. Give yourself at least 10-15 minutes to cool down before taking that shower, in that time your body will have carried on burning fat and EVERY LITTLE HELPS!! When you have had your shower, then eat your breakfast.
Try to have a walk every day, preferably as soon as you get up as this will kick start your metabolism for the day. If you can’t manage every day then go as often as you can, but try to walk at least 3-5 times a week.
After you have been walking the same distance for about 2 weeks try extending your distance by about ½ - 1 kilometre. This should have you walking between 3-5 kilometres a day depending how far you decided to walk initially. Try to keep your pace brisk and even but do not push yourself too hard too quickly. About every 2-3 weeks reassess how you are coping with your walk and extended it’s length and difficulty slightly whenever you feel it is becoming too easy for you. To increase your walks difficulty you can try walking on different types of surfaces. Walking on sand and uneven ground is much more difficult than walking on a flat path. Also walking on sand or bush walking burn far more calories and strengthen more muscles than walking on flat surfaces. You can also try walking in a more hilly area, again this takes much more energy and burns more fat.
Mini Meals
You should have 6 meals a day. Breakfast and your evening meal will be slightly larger than the 4 other mini meals you have during the day. Each mini meal should be about 150-170 calories, breakfast and dinner can be around 250 calories.
To maintain your metabolism at a high rate you should have a MAXIMUM of 3 hours between your meals. It is fine to have them closer together or to spread out eating them so that you are constantly grazing. You will probably feel that you are eating more food when you are on this regime and you probably are, but it's the right food at the right time. You should try to make sure that each meal you eat contains all the food groups protein, carbs and fat. Having said this, avoid refined carbs like the plague, these include white rice, white bread, pasta, white potatoes. If you are eating out try not to choose meals that contain refined carbs or keep them to an absolute minimum. The type of carbs you should include in your diet are those that break down slowly in your body and keep you satisfied for longer, these include wholegrain bread, brown rice and sweet potato. Try if possible not to have any bread, rice, pasta or potato with your evening meal. Sweet potato can be had with your evening meal but don't put any fat on it! Try to eat your carbs early in the day so that your body has time to burn them off and they are not stored as fat. Do not add any fat to your carbs like butter, marg or oily dressings. Don't eat after 8pm.
There is some confusion about fat, not all fat is bad. Try to stay away from saturated fats such as deep fried food, chips, cakes etc. Good fat is extremely good for you and essential to your body’s normal healthy function. Choose fats that are high in poly-unsaturated fats and mono-unsaturated fats, such as avocados, nuts, olive oil, fish etc.
Examples of Mini Meals
2 thin rice cakes 60
1 cream cheese triangle or Ultra light Philly 50
Sliced tomato 10
Lettuce, cucumber 10
Small piece of watermelon 30
160 calories
12 cashews or almonds 60
6 prunes or 3 dried apricots 60
half an apple or orange 30
150 calories
1 egg omelette made with spray of oil to cook
and sliced tomatoes and mushrooms 170 calories
1 boiled egg 80
1 small slice of whole grain bread 80
Vegemite 160
Half a small bread roll 70
2 slices of lean ham 70
Tomato, lettuce, cucumber 20
160 calories
Fruit plate –slice all fruit onto a plate
1 small banana, 1 kiwi fruit, 6 strawberries
chunk of melon, 1 apple 165 calories
Small banana 75
Cup of skimmed milk 50
½ a cup of No Fat yoghurt 45
Whizz up together as a smoothie 170 calories
Small slices of whole grain toast 80
2 tablespoons of baked beans 80
Tomato slices 10
170 calories
2 thin rice crackers 60
2 low fat cheese slices 70
Salad 30
160 calories
12 cashews or almonds 60
1 apple or pear 50
carrot sticks 25
1 low fat cheese slice 35
170 calories
Small handful of nuts and raisins 100
1 apple or orange 50
150 calories
1 slice whole grain bread toasted 80
2 slices of low fat cheese 70
tomato slices 20
170 calories
25gms of Sohos rice snacks
1 tablespoon of Ultra Light Philly
1 tablespoon tomato sauce or sweet chilli
Mix Philly and sauce and eat dip with Sohos 170 calories
½ avocado
1 slice lean ham
Salad 170 calories
6 prunes or 3 dried apricots 60
2 dried figs 50
1 apple, orange or pear 60
170 calories
Small piece of cooked chicken, chopped 90
1 tablespoon 97% fat free mayo 25
Shredded lettuce 5
Shredded cabbage 10
Small carrot grated 20
2 baby beets 20
170 calories
Breakfast meal suggestions
Real porridge oats and a tablespoon of sultanas cooked in water and a little low fat milk added.
2 Weetbix, low fat milk and a piece of fruit
1 small slice toasted wholegrain bread with one poached egg, Piece of fruit
1 boiled egg with one small slice of wholegrain bread no butter or marg, use Vegemite or use avocadoes thinly spread on bread. Piece of fruit
1 small slice of wholegrain toast with 2 low fat cheese slices
1 small slice of wholegrain toast with 2 tablespoons baked beans
1 egg omelette with tomatoes and 1 small slice wholegrain toast no butter etc
Mixed high fibre cereal with low fat milk and piece of fruit
Evening meal suggestions
If possible stick to low carb, low fat evening meals. To aid digestion it is better to eat fairly plainly but very healthily in the evening. Don't be tempted to snack after 8pm. If you really want something have a small amount of chopped raw vegies or fruit, but NOT banana, avocado, mango as they are high in carbs.
Leafy salad vegetables, cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, onions can all be consumed in addition to the following meals as they are very low in calories as long as you don’t add any fat when cooking them.
Piece grilled chicken breast cooked in tomato juice with sweet potato, carrots, onions & mushrooms.
Lean piece of steak with heaps of vegies and 1 tablespoon of steak sauce
2 or 3 grilled lamb cutlets (where all the fat is removed) with a large salad and 1 tablespoon of 97% fat free mayo.
1 sweet potato cooked in its jacket in the oven until tender. Split in half and sprinkle with a small handful of low fat grated cheese and pop under the grill. Serve with other vegies or salad
Yummy Frittata - Spray non-stick fry pan with olive oil cooking spray, sauté onions & mushrooms until almost done. Put a large bunch of washed and cleaned spinach and a couple of handfuls of bean sprouts on top of onions and mushrooms. Put a lid on and steam for 2 minutes. Beat 4 eggs and season them well. Pour them over the vegies and cook until the bottom is set. Sprinkle on a small handful of low fat grated cheese. Place under the grill and cook until the top is set. This makes enough for two people. Serve with salad. Can be eaten cold the next day too.
Slack tea...........one slice of wholegrain toast, topped with 3 tablespoons of baked beans and one poached egg.
Chicken Treat Chicken dinner..........remove all skin from chicken. Throw away the 2 largest roast potatoes. Eat 1 small roast potato, the chicken and the peas.
My salad. In a big bowl mix shredded lettuce, half a bag of coleslaw mix, half a bag of bean sprouts, 8 chopped mushrooms, 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped red capsicum, 1 chopped Lebanese cucumber. In a small bowl mix together half a pot of No fat natural yoghurt, 4 tablespoons of 97% fat free mayo, sour cream and chives sprinkle and garlic salt. Pour dressing over salad and mix with your hands until it's all coated.
Serve this with a couple of slices of lean cooked meat or one boiled egg or 2 low fat cheese slices. You can also add tomato slices, baby beats etc to your plate. This will make probably enough for 4 but you could use it for grazing on the next day.
If you have a sweet tooth, and for you the meal isn’t complete without a desert, try to stick to fresh fruit salad, Yoplait No Fat yoghurt, Nestle Diet mousse or low joule jelly. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t add anything like cream or custard to these!
I have never been a saint were food is concerned, I have found it by far easier to banish foods that are not good for my health or diet from the house. Now I just don’t buy foods that are high in saturated fat, sugar and refined carbs such as biscuits, cakes, chips, butter, potatoes etc. Why put yourself through the torture of trying not to polish off that packet of Tim Tams sitting in the pantry? Just make the decision not to buy them.
I have found that the longer I have been on this eating regime the more inventive I have become in cooking with ingredients that have allowed me to become leaner and more healthy. I also read packaging of anything I buy to find out the fat and sugar content. Often when something says it’s 98% fat free what it doesn’t tell you is that it’s teaming with sugar!
Blake says:
If you have any problems finding time to eat you must not skip meals. This will dramatically lower you metabolic rate and actually make you store body fat. To lose fat you MUST eat!!!! It is as simple as that, if you can’t or don’t have time to eat then supplementation is your answer. Protein powders are available in shakes that you make, shakes that are already made in Up and go, Sustagen, etc, and in protein bars. Please be careful when choosing a protein supplement as not all are low in fat and most are high in sugar. Make a point of having a look on the back of packs to see what the calorie content is before you make your decision and purchase.
Both Marion and I wish you all the best and we know that you can do this. One of my favourite sayings is “with will power and determination you can achieve anything”, you will and you can do it. Marion started her weight-loss and fitness journey at 98kgs in August 2004, as of November 2005 she weighs a much healthier 56.5kgs, a total loss of 41.5kgs. Before losing weight she suffered from high blood pressure, high cholesterol and the on-set of type 2 diabetes and was on medication for all these illnesses. Marion now has totally normal blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels and is completely medication free.
Yours in Health and Happiness,
Blake Farmer and Marion Williams
