Eating Plan Decided

So yesterday I just listed the basics of my lifestyle modification program I planned to follow. Today I am going to be a little more specific -- partly to procrastinate, but also because it is important to have a specific plan to follow.

Everyone knows that you shouldn't go to buy groceries without a grocery list, otherwise you end up buying all kinds of things you don't need or that aren't healthy for you. Eating plans are the same way -- if you don't have at least a backbone of what you plan to eat, then you'll eat whatever is quick and convenient (at least I do). So when things are crazy (i.e. you're a pharmacy student and you're doing whatever you can to survive a crazy week), when you can't make the meal you planned then at least you'll know what you were going to eat and you'll choose something similar.

I said I was going to follow the Dash eating plan, and I am going to modify that a bit. The Dash eating plan can be found here: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf. Dash = Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It has been proven to lower blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels. Also, because you're limiting the amount of refined sugar you're eating, you're positively impacting your blood sugar levels. So really, it's a good eating plan that lends itself to a variety of disease states. The Dash eating plan allows you to eat meat, which is great if you want to eat meat, but because I want to take this one step further and become vegetarian, I am going to eliminate the meat and supplement my protein through grains and nuts. Otherwise I think my eating plan will follow pretty closely to the Dash eating plan. In case you're interested, I am adapting this "28-day vegetarian boot camp" meal plan: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/vegbootcamp/week1/.

Finally, here is the plan for my exercise component: I am teaching yoga/pilates for 60 minutes at least once a week and attending a 60-minute class once a week (so two planned strength-training workouts) and running 3 days a week. I have school and then work on Wednesdays, so I won't be exercise that day, and Friday might be a rest day or catch-up day depending on if I work the following Sunday.

I'll see how the first week goes and adapt as I go! It's important to be flexible, and I'm horrible at being flexible, so that will be a challenge in itself!