And we're off......Tonight Phyllis, Deena and Heather arrived at The Gym of Buckhead at 5:30 pm.  Our first order of business......food.  We started with a few simple guidelines, the top 3 in order of importance (in my opinion) is as follows:  Eat 6 meals a day,  plan meals ahead of time  and  get containers to store your food.  Deena is a perfect example of what most busy women eat in a day.  Deena ran out of the house this morning with cottage cheese, yogurt and a piece of fruit.  Several hours went by before Deena realized she needed to eat again;  at  2:00 pm she ate a bagel with cream cheese.  Deena left the gym after 7:00 pm still having not ate since 2:00 pm.  Sound familiar?  Among other things, eating this way will slow down your metabolism.  If Deena were to eat every 3 hours her body would be in a constant fat burning mode throughout the day.  Instead, she put her body in starvation mode.  Deena came up with a plan to change this behavior.  She just happen to have a bag full of boneless, skinless, chicken breast in her freezer that she is going to throw on the grill tonight.  She also will bake several small potatoes along with a bunch of broccoli.   The food will be packed in several containers and taken to work with her tomorrow.  Now that Deena has planned her meals ahead of time and packed them in containers she is sure to get her 6 meals a day in!  If Deena continues to follow these guidelines, she will  soon start dropping body fat and her skin will become firm and tighter.  She will also avoid any blood sugar drops which, in return,  will keep her from experiencing hunger and unhealthy cravings.  

Here is a sample diet plan similar to what the Beauty Bootcamp contestants are following: 

Breakfast:  Six egg-white omelet (may include veggies and turkey bacon) and 1/2 cup of oatmeal
Snack:  1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese, 1 tsp light cream cheese, 4 packets splenda, dash cinnamon and vanilla mixed together.  Mix with electric blender.  Will keep in frig.
Lunch:  Chicken fajita wraps (grilled chicken breast,  grilled veggies and whole wheat wrap)
Snack:  Can of chicken or tuna with slice of avocado .
Dinner:  Eye of round steak (6 ounces) 1 small sweet potato, asparagus.
Snack:  Cottage cheese with blueberries

Our food choices consist of lean meats and fish, all fibrous vegetables, Carbohydrates such as starchy vegetables, beans, steamed rice, whole wheat bread, oatmeal and low sugar fruit such as berries and apples.  We will also use no fat dairy products such as cottage cheese and Greek yogurt.   Low fat condiments such as no fat mayonnaise oil and vinegar salad dressing.  There are many low fat low sugar condiments on the market that will keep your food tasty and exciting.  Don't be afraid to experiment!

-Amy