Having an affair.

My Favorite Peanut Butter!

(11/6/13) Yes, it's true I have to admit it, I am absolutely in love with Peanut Butter! And, while I'm at it I should just say I'm a Nut Butter lover! (No, Nutella does not make the list). Heck, I even love milk butter (from grass fed cows that is) and coconut butter.  Try as I might to limit my consumption, I'm caving in. But, I don't feel guilty!! My latest contest diet plan includes a tablespoon at every meal (or was it a Heaping?) :) And, it's true, I ate more PB than I had put on my last diet... a spoonful here, a spoonful there. Mmmmm good!

Here is something interesting about peanut butter, especially if you are concerned about the Glycemic Index of food, and you are preparing for a contest, trying to shed body fat, lowering your blood glucose levels, etc. (you get the picture). The Glycemic Index I shoot for with my food selection is less than 50. Can you guess what the Glycemic Index of Pure Peanut Butter is (that means it does not have any added sugar/oils... like Jiffy or those "wanna be" butter brands. I'm talking 100% pure butter here)? The answer is.... zero. That's right, peanut butter has exactly 0 effect on insulin/blood glucose levels. 

Yep, so I eat it by the spoonful!!

Spoonfuls are delish!!

CAN FASTING BE A NEW WAY TO BUILD MUSCLE & GET LEAN?

My new strategy for these last two weeks until the Rocky has been to introduce Intermittent Fasting (IF) into the plan. Over the past three weeks, articles and people I know have been popping up all over the place with details on Intermittent Fasting. So, I started reading up. I've taken to the trend set by the LeanGains philosophy in which you eat within an 8 hour period and then "fast" the remaining 16 hours.

I found an article to share by Dr. Mercola on his take on why IF is a beneficial strategy to incorporate into your everyday eating plan. 

CHECK IT OUT:

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/06/28/intermittent-fasting-health-benefits.aspx.

Today, I'm on day three of IF and so far so good. Day one, I had a slight headache by 9pm but by the next morning I had a lot of energy. My food intake hours have been from 7:30am to 3:30pm. The rest of the time I just drink a lot of water, which is at a minimum of 128 ounces and up to 192 ounces per day. Yes, I pee a LOT. I workout late on Wednesday's so I moved my "feeding" to 9am to 5pm.  Apparently, with the LeanGains strategy, you don't have to eat as strict, but being that I have 1 week and 3 days til the Rocky I am maintaining a fairly strict, clean diet. Though, I am not as traditional "strict" as most contest diets. And, yes, I do get cranky on the strictness once in awhile (i'm sure there are others who might say it's more than once in awhile. Ha!) I do find that if I get a good 8 hours of sleep I feel great, too bad I only got 7 hours last night, watch out. Hee! Hee!

Until tomorrow...
Love, 
Meche