Upon Waking up
Drink 1 liter of water
Eat a salad (I recommend the one described below)
Recipe for Pre-meal salad:
Eat a salad (I recommend the one described below)
Recipe for Pre-meal salad:
- Fill 1 large cereal bowl with lettuce leaves
- Add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil
- Add 1-2 tsp of Fine Herbs mix (written below)
Fine Herbs
In place of a "fine herbs" or "seasoning" mix use Dr. Oz's suggestion and make a mixture of equal parts Tumeric, Black Pepper & Salt.
Workout 6 Mornings Per Week
Due to my severe allergy to repetition-induced-boredom, I personally do 1-2 different segments from one of the women's DVD's and one 20 minute segment from one of Rodney Yee's DVD's each morning, or one of the running intervals on the 10k app followed by one of the short series in Rodney Yee's AM Yoga series.
A word of caution, if you have not done a Mary Helen workout before, I would highly recommend reading this.
The ones with pictures are links to the cheapest places I've found to buy the products yourself. The ones without links are either not available online, or I did not find an exceptional bargain spot where you may buy them.
A word of caution, if you have not done a Mary Helen workout before, I would highly recommend reading this.
The ones with pictures are links to the cheapest places I've found to buy the products yourself. The ones without links are either not available online, or I did not find an exceptional bargain spot where you may buy them.
Post Workout Snacks
Greek yogurt
Fresh fruit
Banana & peanut butter
Cucumber, carrots & bell peppers with hummus
Dates & almonds
Fresh fruit
Banana & peanut butter
Cucumber, carrots & bell peppers with hummus
Dates & almonds
Random Rules
- Get 8 hours of sleep per night, no excuses. .
- Don't workout for more than an hour, unless it is a full ballet /modern / jazz class or a long run. You burn more calories doing short interval workouts.
- Don't eat less than 5 hours before going to bed.
- Drink all coffee & wine through a straw (to keep teeth super white).
- Walk at least 30 minutes every morning and evening.
- When craving chocolate, drink a bottle of water before you eat the chocolate.
- Start each meal with a salad & end it with a piece of fresh fruit.
- When at a buffet, fill your first plate with every type of vegetable you find appealing. If you still have room after that, go up for a second plate of whatever junk food you want.
Snacks
Before 6 pm you should eat whenever you are hungry. The best way to snack on the go, for me is to...
- Go to the grocery store and buy a variety of at least 3 different nuts (not salted) and 3 different dried fruits (preferable with minimal / no sugar added).
- Place a few pieces of each type of fruit in one bag and a few pieces of each type of nut in the second bag.
- Make a point to always keep two snack bags in your purse / backpack at all times.
Recipes
Almond Milk:
Almond Butter:
Apple Sauce
Use the Apple Sauce & Almond Milk recipes above to make the following:
Sweet Tooth:
Energizing Drink:
- Place 1 cup of smoked almonds & 3-4 cups of water in a bowl, soak for 4 hours
- After 4 hours puree the contents of the bowl in a blender
- Strain
- Refrigerate the milk, keep the "meaty" part for the next recipe...
Almond Butter:
- Place the "meaty" part left over from the almond milk in a sauce pan
- Add the following:
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 6 tbsp butter
- Cook on low heat until the butter has fully melted, stir until everything is thoroughly mixed
- Place mixed contents into a glass jar
- Give to a fat friend, or someone with a high metabolism.
Apple Sauce
- Using a pot & strainer, bring 2-3 cups of water to a boil
- Place 4-8 apples cut into 1/8 slices in the strainer
- Let the apples steam for 10 minutes
- Once soft, turn off heat and dump apples into blender
- Start blender off at a low speed then increase to medium for 30 seconds
Use the Apple Sauce & Almond Milk recipes above to make the following:
Sweet Tooth:
- Defrost and smoosh 3 frozen browned bananas
- Add 1/3 cup of the Apple Sauce (written above), 2 cups of oats, 1/4 cup of the Almond Milk (written above), 1/2 cup golden raisins or dried cranberries, 1/2 cup dark chocolate pieces, 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- Bake at 180 C for 12-15 minutes
Energizing Drink:
- Place 8 cups of water, 1/2 a thinly sliced English Cucumber, 1 tsp ground ginger, two 3 inch sprigs of freshly cut mint & 1 tbsp of lemon juice into a container.
- Refrigerate for 4-6 hours
- Drink.