It’s been 33 days since I started the 30 Days to Optimal Health Program with 14 other people. The results have been great for so many people! I’ve shared some of their stories in testimonials. My reasons for participating in the program as well as coaching were simple: I had reached a plateau with my weight loss since my daughter was born.  I was frustrated that no matter what I seemed to do, nothing was changing. I needed to get back on track with the healthy lifestyle triad that had served me well for so many years. And I was motivated to be an example of good health, not only for my family but for other busy moms as well.

My goals were also very simple:

• Fit into my bridesmaid dress (check!)
• Stop drinking diet coke (check!)
• Lose 10 lb (7 lb and more than 2 inches already)

This photo is the most dramatic, you can see the changes in my face, tummy and thighs.

What I found was that this program is not just about weight loss. For so many people there have been other amazing results, beyond losing weight. Here are just a few examples:

• More energy
• No 3 pm dip in energy
• Fitting back into your clothes
• No late night snacking (or making healthy choices instead)
• Increased muscle tone
• Learning new healthy habits that allow for a lifestyle change
• Finding out that being healthy for life can be simple to do every single day
• Meeting new people and sharing support
• Improving on race times (one participant took 11 min off her half marathon time from 5 weeks earlier)
• More self confidence and feeling great about your body

Most participants achieved 2 of 3 goals within the 30 days. And not only that, many participants who hadn’t lost any weight in the years before, have been losing weight and inches with our program.  Since we are teaching lifestyle habits, the goal is to continue to lose weight at a steady pace until your body reaches it’s optimum weight.  Then it’s maintenance for life.

One of the questions I often get if do I have to continue to take the vitamins and use other USANA products? My answer is YES! You’ve had success for a month using these products along side your healthy low glycemic eating and regular cardio exercise – why would you stop? Part of the program includes learning about why each part of the triad is so important for lifelong health. And when you meet others who have been maintaining this program for years, you can tell the difference it makes not only in how they look, but their energy levels and overall health.

Where do we go from here? Stay tuned, I’m currently redesigning both Motivation For Your Life and 30 Days to Optimal Health.  The new website will launch within a month and we’ll have several program options available. If you’d like to get started immediately, just send me an email at info@julieboyer.com and we’ll get you started.

My goal: To help at least 1,000 mommies to feel great about their bodies again, using the 30 Days to Optimal Health program. Dads and non-moms welcome too! In fact, some of the most dramatic results have been from our men.

I never thought I’d feel comfortable enough to post these photos on the internet, but I feel so amazing about the changes over the past 5 days that I have to share.  My goal is to help thousands of other mommies to do the same – and to feel amazing about their bodies again!!

After the first 5 days of the 30 Days to Optimal Health, I’ve lost 5.5 lb and 2″ and I feel great about my body for the first time since my daughter was born 8 months ago.  I am also sleeping better, I have more energy during the day and I’m feeling full til lunch with just a Nutrimeal Shake for breakfast and a yummy Peanut Butter Nutrition Bar for snack. I’ve bought some new summer clothes and am almost back into the size I was before I got pregnant!! And to top it all off, several of the participants in the program have lost pounds, inches and are feeling amazing.  I am so blessed to do what I do!!

I participated in a Mom2Mom sale recently and I realized that other moms are desperately looking for a solution that is simple, cost-effective and fits with their lifestyle.  Yes, this program works really well for others too – Dads, Grand-mothers, Triathletes, Runners – you name it.  I would love to help 1000 people in the next year to take the first steps toward changing their lifestyle for good and as a by product, lose weight if that is their goal.  So far, including me, I’m at 10 13.  Only 990 987 to go! Would you like to be one of them?

This week has been amazing! I’ve been doing the 5 day RESET plan, as the kick off to the 30 Days to Optimal Health program this month and I’m feeling great.  I’ve already lost a few pounds but more noticeably, my waistline is thinner!! I have to say that even though I have been coaching people on this program for years and seen great results with so many clients but it’s different when you’re the client and the instructor.  This is the first time in my life I have ever struggled with my weight, when I lost over 25 lb in 2006, it wasn’t because I had weight struggles – it was simply a fantastic side effect of my new healthy lifestyle (yeah!).

A good friend of mine who has 3 kids warned me how difficult it would be to eliminate the carb cravings after I had my daughter. I also never thought I would put on 45 lb during my pregnancy – it was a bit of a relief in the weight department that she came early. I developed some bad habits and a few chocolate addictions during and after the pregnancy. And having a fall baby means most of your exercise in the winter has to be done inside, and mall walking wasn’t doing it for me. I naively thought that it wouldn’t be too difficult to lose the weight after.  And for some women, it’s not a struggle at all.  I believe that for the majority though, it is.

I was inspired to put together the 30 Days to Optimal Health program by my good friend Leanne, founder of Healthy Girl. And being a participant in this first session will not only help me to lose the last 15 lb but it also allows me to be inspired by the other program participants.  I’ve been inspired by a husband and wife team who are doing the program together, committed to changing their lifestyle for the rest of their lives and giving themselves and their son a better chance at optimal health. I’m inspired by my husband, whose daddy tummy has gone down already and is looking fitter every day.  I’m inspired by my sister-in-law who has dropped 7 lb already. I’m inspired by those who are making changes and feeling great!

One of the things many of us have noticed while doing the plan is that we eat way more than we need to, in order to feel full. After the hunger pangs of the first day, by the second day, I was amazing at how the shakes, bars and fruits and veggies were filling me up.  And drinking lots and lots of water plus lots of fibre – well you do the math. I love becoming more in tune with my body again and feeling great about it!

I’ll be posting a photo this weekend, so stay tuned for the results.  And by popular demand, I will be starting another session on June 9th, with the program starting Monday June 13th.  There are 9 spots left, here are the details.

Many of you probably understand the challenge of losing the weight gained during pregnancy (some of you guys fall into this category too!).  I’ve been sharing my journey to achieving my pre-baby body weight (and then we’ll work on pre-baby body!) with you and so far, I’ve lost 30 lb – the last 15 lb using the Slow Carb Plan. And I do really enjoy the Slow Carb approach, especially the Binge Day on Saturday. Yet I feel as though I have hit a plateau with the plan, and there are many possible reasons for that. The exercise prescribed in the plan is minimal,  but unfortunately not appropriate for me especially with my recurring toe injury. So, my exercise has been limited to walking at a good pace (still not very fast due to the toe). Also, I’ve never followed the plan 100% to the letter, which could also be part of it.  I am very happy to have come this far though, and I’m grateful that Tim Ferris designed the plan. And I still highly recommend the book, The 4-Hour Body, because it’s not just about the diet plan.

So where do I go from here? Well, back to what I know best – The Healthy Lifestyle Triad:

• Low Glycemic eating
• Optimum Supplementation
• Moderate, regular exercise

This is how I went from  a size 10, Medium to a size 6, small several years ago. You can read my story here. Check out the before and after photos:

Now, this time I don’t plan on training for an Ironman just yet. In fact, when I did lose most of the weight I was only doing moderate exercise, the Ironman training came later and that’s what helped to tone my body.

Here’s the plan:

Starting Monday May 30th, I will do the 5-Day RESET program, which will allow me to lose approx. 5 lb, kick the carb cravings (by by chocolate cravings!) and reset my system. From Saturday June 4th on, I will be focusing on the Maintenance phase of the RESET program, which will include a low glycemic Nutrimeal shake for breakfast, healthy low glycemic lunch and dinner and 2 healthy snacks. Until I achieve my goal weight, I will still be limiting the amount of whole grains (i.e. brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain breads).

For those who would like to join me, I will be doing a 30 Days to Optimal Health program, starting with a coaching call on Wednesday May 25th. All of the coaching during the program will be included with any product purchase. This program is how I lost 30 lb in the fall and winter of 2006.  And kept it off until I became pregnant in Jan 2010.  Email me if you’d like to find out more: info@julieboyer.com.

Also, for those in the Toronto Area, Dr. Ray Strand, who is an expert in Nutritional Medicine and has written several books including Healthy For Life (a guide to Low Glycemic eating) will be speaking on Thursday May 26th, along with Denis Waitley, who was featured in the movie The Secret and has worked with Olympic athletes and Apollo astronauts on mental training and visualization.  This event will be both informative and inspiring. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased by clicking here.

So – who’s in? It’s always more fun to do this with a team.

Saturday! Binge Day!

There are a few rules for binge day that are well outlined in The 4-Hour Body.  Here are a few: start the day with a slow carb breakfast. Before your first junk meal, drink a glass of grapefruit juice. Take some kind of greens product to help keep things moving in your digestive track. Also, Saturday morning is weigh in and inches day.  We measure inches lost around the waist, hips, left & right biceps and left & right thigh.  Today’s weigh in (April 2nd, 2011): Total lb lost for me, 10 but total inches lost 15!! Dan has lost 13 lb and 6 inches.

Here’s what I ate on Saturday:

Breakfast  - 2 eggs over easy, 2 strips of turkey bacon, leftover veg and beans from the night before, English muffin with margarine, grapefruit juice.

Morning vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Omega-3, 2 Joint Formula, 2 Vitamin D (1000 mg each) and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C)

Snack – Eggies, mini diet coke, water

Lunch – Cheese tortellini with tomato pesto, water

Snack – BBQ Kettle chips, popcorn, water, more chocolate

Dinner – Thai eggplan and rice (ordered in), avocado and crab roll, fortune cookie, cranberry and rum drink, with raspberries (x3)

Snack – even more chocolate!

Evening vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Joint Formula, and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C), 2 Active Calcium Plus

The grocery list will be sent out today, my apologies for not sending it out yesterday.  So there you have it, a whole week’s worth of meals on my version of Slow Carb eating.  If you missed it, the week started last Sunday. The biggest difference I’ve notice for me is the amount of inches lost, especially around my belly. Which is pretty awesome since mommy tummy is one of the hardest things to lose after having a baby.  Also, I’ve noticed that my energy level is higher during the week, even more so since I started back on the USANA vitamins.  I tend to feel crummy by the end of the day on Saturday from all of the junk.  I think that’s the point, then I am less likely to eat that stuff during the week.  A few challenges with the plan, going to eat at friend’s places can be tough (unless it’s a Saturday) although eating out is usually ok.  Being a vegetarian is also a challenge, I find that Dan has a bit of an easier time since he eats meat.

Back to our regularly scheduled blog post – 2-3 times a week.  In 4 and 8 weeks from now, I will send out a reminder about the plan and see how those of you who have been following the plan are doing. 

Link to the book: The 4-Hour Body

Link to the supplements: My USANA site

Link to the prep day: Sunday

Friday

Made it to Friday! Always the toughest day I find, as I’m really starting to look forward to binge day!

Here’s what I ate on Friday (see Sunday’s post for all the prep):

Breakfast (8 am) – scrambled eggs (1 whole egg, 2-3 egg whites) with spices, black bean mix (see Sunday prep) and organic salsa.

Morning vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Omega-3, 2 Joint Formula, 2 Vitamin D (1000 mg each) and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C)

After swim snack (11 am) – Chocolate Nutrimeal shake with water, ice and 1tbsp natural peanut butter, blended.

Lunch (2 pm) – Arugula & spinach, quinoa salad (see Sunday prep), grape tomatoes, goat cheese (not feta), ½ avocado, Renee’s Balsamic Vinaigrette. Mini Diet Coke.

Dinner (7 pm) – Amy’s Organic Chili or chicken breast (several cooked on Monday, so reheated) for protein.  Stir fry veggies (Green Giant frozen) and white kidney beans.

Evening vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Joint Formula, and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C), 2 Active Calcium Plus

Tomorrow’s post is the day we’ve all been looking forward to! Binge day! Stay tuned.

Thursday

In yesterday’s post I talked about some fun (but not part of the plan necessarily) snack ideas. The longer you do the plan, the easier is it to go for four hours without eating. One thing I noticed this past weekend when my sister was in town is that she snacks often – which is exactly what I used to do.  I didn’t even realize it! That is probably why it was tougher for me to lose the baby weight at first.  Now let it be said that my sister weighs almost 40 lb less than I do, so she can snack (healthily of course!).  And being that she is a bride-to-be, it’s all the more stressful I’m sure.

Here’s what I ate on Thursday (see Sunday’s post for all the prep):

Breakfast (8 am) – scrambled eggs (1 whole egg, 2-3 egg whites) with spices, black bean mix (see Sunday prep) and organic salsa.

Morning vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Omega-3, 2 Joint Formula, 2 Vitamin D (1000 mg each) and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C).

Lunch (noon) – Arugula & spinach, quinoa salad (see Sunday prep), grape tomatoes, goat cheese (not feta), ½ avocado, Renee’s Balsamic Vinaigrette. Mini Diet Coke and 1 tsp natural peanut butter.

Afternoon (4:00 pm) – 1 hard-boiled egg, Fontaine Santé Bean Salad (contains all natural ingredients and no preservatives), almonds and leftover veggies & beans from dinner.

Dinner (8 pm) – Grilled salmon or chicken breast (several cooked on Monday, so reheated) for protein.  Stir fry veggies (Green Giant frozen) and lentils, with thai peanut sauce.

Evening vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Joint Formula, and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C), 2 Active Calcium Plus.

We’re almost at Cheat Day!! My favorite day of the week. If you signed up to receive the blog via email, I will be emailing you the grocery list tomorrow.

Wednesday

In yesterday’s post I shared more about the type of exercise I’ve been doing during this slow carb regime.  One of the challenges of the plan can be when a craving occurs or when you need a snack.  Since there is no portion control and you eat every 4 hours, generally you shouldn’t feel hungry between the meals.  If you do, I suggest increasing the portion size. A couple of “cheat” tricks I have are: my first choice would be half of a Peanut Butter Bar – a certified low glycemic product that is super yummy.  Really great when I wake up in the middle of the night for a feeding and am hungry as well. Another suggestion would be a handful of almonds (roasted, no salt) or a tsp of natural peanut butter, straight from the bottle.  Finally, if I’m hungry after a swim and it’s still a few hours til lunch, I’ll make a Chocolate Nutrimeal shake, with 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter, and if I have some, a few pieces of frozen banana (combine with water and ice in a blender – yummy!!).

Here’s what I ate on Wednesday (see Sunday’s post for all the prep):

Breakfast (8 am) – scrambled eggs (1 whole egg, 2-3 egg whites) with spices, black bean mix (see Sunday prep) and organic salsa.

Morning vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Omega-3, 2 Joint Formula, 2 Vitamin D (1000 mg each) and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C) – see below in Nutritionals for more info.

Snack after swim (10:30 am) – Chocolate Nutrimeal shake, prepared as above.

Lunch (1 pm) – Arugula & spinach, quinoa salad (see Sunday prep), grape tomatoes, goat cheese (not feta), ½ avocado, Renee’s Balsamic Vinaigrette. Mini Diet Coke.

Afternoon (4:30 pm) – 1 hard-boiled egg, Fontaine Santé Bean Salad (contains all natural ingredients and no preservatives), mini carrots, 2 slices of old cheddar.

Dinner (8 pm) – President’s Choice Curry Tuna or chicken breast (several cooked on Monday, so reheated) for protein.  Stir fry veggies – fresh mushrooms, peppers and red onion, with red kidney beans. 1 glass of red wine.

Evening vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Joint Formula, and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C), 2 Active Calcium Plus – see below in Nutritionals for more info.

Are you ready to start on Slow Carb next week? Let me know in the comments!

NUTRITIONALS – All vitamins are not created equal.  I choose to use USANA Nutritional Supplements for my supplementation needs. I have been using these products for over 5 years and I’m hooked!  Here’s what I take daily:

• The Essentials^tm – Mega Antioxidant™ and MultiMineral Plus
• BiOmega^tm – High quality, ultra-pure fish oil supplement
• Proflavanol® C¹⁰⁰ - Grape-seed bioflavonoids and vitamin C
• Procosa ®II – Optimal joint health
• Active Calcium Chewable – Bone health
• Vitamin D

USANA products can be purchased through my website at retail price or contact me directly for more information on wholesale purchases (info@julieboyer.com).

Tuesday

Yesterday’s post gave all of the details for what I ate on Monday.  Today I wanted to touch on exercise during the slow carb plan.  There is a great deal written on exercise in The 4-Hour Body and Ferris does an excellent job of showing you how to get really fit with the least possible amount of exercise. For me, right now, it’s not practical to do what he is suggesting. So, I keep it simple.  On average, I walk 3-4 days per week, usually no shorter than 45 min at a time, sometimes as long as two hours. My pace is not too fast, I can still keep up a conversation.  I love the fresh air and often it allows my baby to fall asleep.  And when she doesn’t sleep and is fussy, I carry her in a front baby carrier, so I’m getting an even better work out! I also love to swim and get in to swim lengths for 30 min once or twice a week.

Here’s what I ate on Tuesday (see Sunday’s post for all the prep):

Breakfast (8 am) – scrambled eggs (1 whole egg, 2-3 egg whites) with spices, black bean mix (see Sunday prep) and organic salsa.

Morning vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Omega-3, 2 Joint Formula, 2 Vitamin D (1000 mg each) and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C).

Lunch (noon) – Arugula & spinach, quinoa salad (see Sunday prep), grape tomatoes, goat cheese (not feta), ½ avocado, Renee’s Balsamic Vinaigrette. Mini Diet Coke.

Afternoon (4 pm) – 1 hard-boiled egg, Fontaine Santé Bean Salad (contains all natural ingredients and no preservatives), mini carrots.

Dinner (8 pm) – Grilled salmon (salmon prepared that evening) or chicken breast (several cooked on Monday, so reheated) for protein.  Stir fry veggies (Green Giant frozen) with red kidney beans. 1 glass of red wine.

Evening vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Joint Formula, and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C), 2 Active Calcium Plus.

Let me know if you’re finding this detailed information helpful in planning your week.  Don’t forget, as a special bonus to those who do sign up for the blog, I will email you a grocery list by FRIDAY that you can print and take with you to do your shopping for the week. It doesn’t get any easier than that!

Check in below if you’ve been following along and are planning to give it a try next week. It would be great to have a group of people joining the Slow Carb movement with us!

Monday

Did you have a chance to check out yesterday’s post? All of the details on starting your Slow Carb week are included.

One of the biggest challenges to doing the slow carb plan is dealing with carb cravings at the beginning. If you currently crave things like breads, baked goods, chocolate, alcohol and sweets, then I suggest taking a look at doing the 5-day Reset program before you start on the plan.  It will help you to curb the cravings and allow you to kick off your healthy eating and weight loss program more easily! Please note: the Reset program is not suitable for pregnant or nursing moms.

Here’s what I ate on Monday (see Sunday’s post for all the prep):

Breakfast (8 am) – scrambled eggs (1 whole egg, 2-3 egg whites) with spices, black bean mix (see Sunday prep) and organic salsa.

Morning vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Omega-3, 2 Joint Formula, 2 Vitamin D (1000 mg each) and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C)

Lunch (noon) – Arugula & spinach, quinoa salad (see Sunday prep), grape tomatoes, goat cheese (not feta), ½ avocado, Renee’s Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Afternoon (4 pm) – 1 hard-boiled egg, Fontaine Santé Bean Salad (contains all natural ingredients and no preservatives), 3 slices of old cheddar, mini Diet Coke.

Dinner (8 pm) – Canned tuna or chicken breast for protein.  Suggestion, cook 5 chicken breasts and store in the fridge for easy prep for the rest of the week.  Stir fry veggies (Green Giant frozen) with red kidney beans. 1 glass of red wine.

Evening vitamins: 2 Multi-mineral, 2 Mega Anti-oxidant, 2 Joint Formula, and 1 Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed oil and vitamin C), 2 Active Calcium Plus

Stay tuned for more information about the details of the plan tomorrow!