educate you on something i know a lot about or i'm good at.

This was a hard one for me because, man, I’m just so good at sooo many things. Not.

But, I do feel like I’m really good at fitness & nutrition & knowing what bodies need. Actually, I wanted to be a nutritionist or a personal trainer in college…And then daddy brought me back to earth, saying I had to pay the bills, so I should choose something more practical. Enter tax accounting. Ugh. {it does pay the bills & then some, so thanks daddy!!} Food & exercise remained my...hobby? Is that the right word?

I was the typical teenage girl, so impressioned by people’s words like: Fat. Ugly. 

My brother jokingly called me a whale in middle school and things like that stuck with me through college. He was totally not being serious {and I love him verrryyyy much!!}, but I couldn’t let it go. I also had the pleasure of growing up around strikingly beautiful women in my family. Two words: Swedish blondes.

Three generations: Mom {center}. Grammenner {right}.

My aunt was a model in Los Angeles, New York, and Paris. My great aunt was queen of the rose bowl parade. Seriously? How would I ever manage to fit in with these women???

As the tween brunette tomboy with a snaggle tooth & a unibrow {yes, unibrow}, more comfortable in my brother's hand-me-downs, I had a hard time feeling comfortable in my own skin. My brother finally broke it to me that I should probably shave my legs before going to middle school. No one told me I could just pluck my unibrow until church camp in 7th grade {thank you older beautiful teenage goddess}. I wasn't really good at that stuff.

Oh, and the braces as a high school junior & senior were super hot. Awkwarrrd.

Food used to scare me when I was a teenager because of my mysterious changing body, and then I learned to understand it. I laugh at all that other stuff now, but I know there are a lot of girls out there that probably went through the same thing. So, what am I good at?

Nutrition & Exercise.

What do they both revolve around?

The Calorie. A unit of energy equal to the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.

Get rid of all those stupid confusing fad diets. 

Paleo, Slimfast, Atkins, Low Fat, Southbeach, Caveman, No Sugar, blah blah blah. 

They are all rubbish and completely useless. Why? Because trust me, you will end up binging on an entire box of cheezits three weeks into it; and at a pound heavier than when you started, you'll wonder what the heck happened.

When I was in college, I invested my little internship paycheck in a personal trainer {check out my super embarassing success story}. Disclaimer: I was never fat, but I wasn't healthy either. Yeah, I jogged a couple of times a week. Sometimes.

At 5’5 and 135 lbs, & like 30% body fat, I was an averagely fatty skinny girl.

 Ok, so if you live or have lived in San Diego like I did, you will be extremely aware that the above representation of "acceptable" is not accurate...the average girl is pretty much at athlete status. 

Bathing suit season is. year. round. 

Sooo, I wanted to tone up and couldn't figure out how to do it myself. He taught me the magical science behind a calorie. Same formulas, whether you have 100 lbs to lose, or 5. Let me tell you, it blew my mind.

These magical formulas are really true: 

calories in {less} calories burned = calorie {deficit} or surplus.

3500 calories of surplus = gain one pound of fat.

3500 calories of deficit = lose one pound of fat.

One pound of muscle = burns 100 calories per day while at rest.

Our bodies are sculpted with = 80% diet, 10% workouts, 10% genetics.

I didn’t believe that these formulas applied to me and my weird body. So, he suggested I get the bodybugg and see for myself. Sure enough, if I sat on my booty all day on the couch watching real housewives of oc, my body required 1500 calories for basic organ function.

I told him, IMPOSSIBLE. If I eat a bagel, I gain five pounds!! He explained that I had destroyed my metabolism over the years. I had deprived it {I thought I should only be eating 1000-1200 calories/day} and put my body into starvation mode. So, everything I put into my body was being held on to for dear life. Sorry cute little body.

Epiphany: I actually do need 1500 calories to maintain my weight using the magic formula {This number is different for everyone}. More if I’m not a sedentary sloth.

To take it a step further, in the peak of my training with him, I used the following ratio in my diet:

40% protein 30% carbs 30% fat

I accompanied that ratio with the following gym routine:

two lift days & three cardio days & two rest days

I saw the fat literally melt off and lean muscle built in its place.At my peak, I think I got to 123 lbs and 20% body fat, with enough muscle to able to eat about 1900 calories a day to maintain my weight. {Another priceless nugget: body fat % is wayyy more important than BMI by the way. BMI is useless unless you are trying to figure out if you are obese or anorexic.} I kept a food journal using the nutrition information on my basic/favorite foods listed at www.calorieking.com. It was a game! Once you track your food for a few weeks, you'll be surprised that you eat pretty much the same things and you acquire a certain awareness and get the hang of just "knowing" what you are putting into your body. As a result, my awesome secret hidden talent is the ability to tell you the calories in pretty much any basic food.

Literally, I could go on for days about this little bundle of realization. I was so excited. Loved experimenting with food. Loved knowing what it felt like when I needed more protein. Or {gasp} fat. Loved incorporating exercise and having the ability to eat an entire California burrito {cheat days are KEY} and not gain an ounce.

OK, so I’m not the shining example of physical prime right now because of my new found wifey priorities with the hubster in school. I’m not running & weight training as much as I used to…and we def have more than our share chocolate chip cookie nights {sometimes the only ounce of happiness we see during midterms/finals week}. I’m a lil softer than I used to be, but that’s okay. I’m really happy. 

So, yes, I believe in a lifestyle diet: Eat Clean. Whole Food. Real food. 

Less sugar {glycemic index}. 

Less chemicals, less artificial ingredients, more good fat. 

...As much as you can. Don't be perfect. Have a cookie. 

Wake up! The lesson is over!