Read more about the article Week 11 – DAOFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan
A good choice at Italian restaurants for a main course is Branzino.

Week 11 – DAOFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan

Here is my weekly update of my meal and exercise plan. First, here is a roadmap of all the documents I update. Ideally you will want to use a personal gmail account to access the google sheets. Otherwise, you can also download the documents in PDF or excel format if…

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Read more about the article The DAO of pre and post workout nutrition
Pancakes prepared the right way can be a good post workout fuel of protein and carbs. Also, sharing them with your dog encourages portion control.

The DAO of pre and post workout nutrition

Pre and post workout nutrition is so confusing. A simple google search yields over 30 million results. You don't have time to read all this and figure it all out, so I did it for you. For this article, I interviewed Neda K, an elite trainer with Equinox for 10…

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Read more about the article Week 10- DAOFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan
Taking progress pictures can help you stay on track. To the left: me at Equinox pre-pandemic; and then post-pandemic in May 2021. Notice how the exact same locker room changed, too!

Week 10- DAOFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan

Here is my weekly update on my meals, exercise, and recipes. RECIPES AVAILABLE HERE (UPDATED FOR WEEK OF MAY 6) Customizable DAOFitlife Meal Plan and Grocery List Links- Week 10 Customizable DAOFitlife Meal Plan and Grocery List Template Google Sheet (updated for week 10)Downloadable DAOFitlife Meal Plan and Grocery List Template Excel…

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Week 9 – DAOFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan

Week 9 of DAOFitlife meal and exercise plan has a few new twists. This week I have tweaked my diet in two ways:

I am starting to eat a little early breakfast before my workout. I do this by either eating a few bites of my oatmeal mix half an hour before my workout, or eating a date and a few nuts beforehand. A Medjool date is fairly big and good for a burst of instant energy. In my article on pre and post-workout nutrition, I outline the pros and cons of eating before the workout. I am going to as an experiment see how much my workouts actually benefit from eating a little beforehand.

The other major tweak to my diet has been NO SUGAR SUBSTITUTES. That means not just no artificial sweeteners, but also no “natural” zero sugar products like Stevia or Monk Fruit. This is purely a theory that I am testing, but I believe that these substances are robbing my body of energy I need from actual carbs and making me crave the sugar that I am not getting. In my post on protein bars, I rave about the “fake sugar” and its effect on our insulin sensitivity. Even though at first glance stevia and monk fruit may not have the same effect on insulin resistance, I believe that they are having a “sugar fake-out” effect on me.

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sliced bread with egg and vegetable on white ceramic plate
Do not throw out that egg yolk! You need fats for a fit body and MIND. Photo by Nick Samoylov

If you want to be fit, get FAT

…into your diet.

In my PFFCW formula, the second F is for fat. And I resisted it for years. Now that the stigma has been shattered, I realize that fat is essential to feeling good on the inside and out. Let’s find out why.

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assorted-color pebble lot
We all know Easter eggs aren't just for kids! I plan to sugar detox during week 8. Photo by Tim Gouw

Week 8 – DAOFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan

Note: Please consult a physician before pursuit of any exercise or meal plan. This is solely intended as a meal and exercise diary, and is not prescriptive. T-1 month until I am a bridesmaid in a wedding. This is mainly post-Easter remorse, but I am doing a sugar detox -…

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brass-colored mug with sliced lime
Photo by Bon Vivant

Saboteur Series V: Drinking your calories

Drinking right is just as important as eating right. I have encouraged tracking calories and food intake throughout the day. One reason this is a good practice is because people conveniently forget how many calories they can be drinking. From juices to your grab and go Starbucks and glass of…

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clear glass mug with brown liquid
Green tea will wake you up, make you lean, and detox your body. Try subbing a cup of greean tea for the second cup of coffee. Photo by engin akyurt

5 natural morning energy drinks

In my previous post on drinkigng calories, I warned against the downsides of sugary sports and energy drinks. Of course, I have an alternative. This is the list of my top 5 natural morning energy drinks to get your mojo going and start your day. All of them not only wake you up and energize you but have great health and weight loss benefits.

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Read more about the article Week 7 – DAOFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan
My favorite dish from True Food Kitchen- can't wait to go back to LA and have it again! Hot sauce is great to speed up your metabolism.

Week 7 – DAOFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan

On a weekly basis I update my meal and exercise plan google sheets so you can see real time what I eat, drink, and how I move. You can download the templates and customize them for your own meals and workouts. And I have a rolling update of my fast…

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two dogs lying on black textile
An hour long run doesn't mean you can lounge on the couch and eat chips the rest of the day!! Photo by Greg Lippert

Saboteur Series part IV: The Sedentary Athlete

Have you experienced starting an intense workout program, diligently sweating and working your butt off every day, and then gotten on the scale and seeing the number stay the same, or even go up? The Sedentary Athlete and Compensatory Eating saboteurs may be to blame. They go together like a couch and potato chips !

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Week 6 – DAOFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan

On a weekly basis I update my meal and exercise plan google sheets so you can see real time what I eat, drink, and how I move. You can download the templates and customize them for your own meals and workouts. And I have a rolling update of my fast…

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Trader Joe’s Shopping List

In order to survive a professional career and be domestic, I have become a “Trader Joe’s chef”. Which means, I buy stuff at Trader Joe’s that I can throw together in rando combinations and somehow make it delish. It’s a skill I developed after years of shopping at the Trader Joe’s in my neighborhood (the West End, in Washington, DC) on Friday nights when I was single. I’d leave work around 7 or 8pm (#consulting life) and take advantage of the fact that the Trader Joe’s would be empty so that I could do my shopping and explore the aisles with no lines. Week after week spent poring over ingredients and chatting with the staff who knew me on a first name basis resulted in building up a repertoie of Trader Joe’s meals to put on my menu.

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strawberries and blue berries on palte
A core principle of the food combining diet is eating fruit before noon. Photo by Cecilia Par

I tried the food combining diet for a week, here is what happened

You may have noticed in my meal plan for last week I had a lot of fruit on the menu for breakfast. Well the reason why is that I decided to try the “food combining diet.” In this post I will cover what that is and what my experience was.

In my post overviewing different diets, ,I didn’t cover every diet under the sun. There is always something new to discover, and I did that just last week when I ran into the “food combining” diet. I tried it for a week, and I am writing about what happened.

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UNKs original hot sauce
Hot sauce is one of the best condiments to speed up your metabolism and add zero=calorie taste. Photo by DiChatz

The Fitprofessional Top 10: Calorie-friendly Condiments

Earlier we explored what kinds of foods you can eat a lot of without gaining weight. Now let’s turn to the stuff that makes the food GOOD – the condiments. Sauces, dressings, and syrups can make or break a meal. Especially if the food you are eating is low on fat, oil, or sugar, something extra to enhance the flavor will help you derive better satisfaction and get less hungry later.

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four assorted flavor of ice cream on white wooden table
Photo by Dan Gold

Top 5 fake health foods

First, let me qualify that the purpose of this post is NOT to rain on your parade and tell you that any of these foods are off limits. As you can see from my 80/20 post, I am all for balance and enjoying favorite foods in small doses.  The purpose…

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Read more about the article Week 5 – DaoFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan
@Pure Barre LA. Side planks are the move of the week.

Week 5 – DaoFitlife Meal and Exercise Plan

On a weekly basis I update my meal and exercise plan google sheets so you can see real time what I eat, drink, and how I move. You can download the templates and customize them for your own meals and workouts. And I have a rolling update of my fast…

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salad on brown wooden bowl with dip
Photo by Alexandra Andersson

Best Salad Dressings for 30 calories or less

We are getting warmer weather, and you know what that means - BIG SALADS! We can't talk about salads without talking about salad dressing. If you want a healthy salad that achieves your goal of keeping your meal low-cal, you have to make modifications to what you find in the…

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fried egg and vegetable salad on white ceramic plate
Persian food is on the menu this week. Saffron is a huge patt of Persian cuisine, which is a natural domaine reuptake inhibtor.

Week 4 – The DAOfitlife meal and exercise plan

On a weekly basis I update my meal and exercise plan google sheets so you can see real time what I eat, drink, and how I move. You can download the templates and customize them for your own meals and workouts. And I have a rolling update of my fast…

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