by EM2WL | Jul 18, 2012 | Giveaways
Soooo….you guys have all been harrassing asking SO nicely about how to score some cool new EM2WL gear, that you’ve seen us sporting in the newest vids. We did a test run on some tanks, and based on the feedback from y’all so far, things are looking good. So now, as usual, we are coming to to the fam for assistance.
We wanna know:
- What types of shirts would you like to see offered? Tanks? Tees? Fitted? Loose?
- What colors? Obviously we are girly girls who love pink, but what about y’all?
- Any guys out there that would want tees, too? What are your style preferences?
- Is there any gear other than tees that you’d like made available?
- What about “slogans (i.e. “take your life back…one meal at a time”)?
Our First Giveway!
We would love to hear your ideas! We are particularly anticipating some good slogan suggestions, which leads us to our VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY!! We are so excited (yes, we said first, as in there will be more!) So, here are the details:
From now, until Wednesday of next week, we will be taking ideas for new slogans for EM2WL gear.
The Prize:
A free shirt, of course! Be the first to get gear with YOUR slogan. You pick the color, style, and fit (we’ll have detailed info for the winner). You can also choose to have the just the logo, as we have on ours (if, for some odd reason you don’t want your own slogan on your shirt, lol)
To Enter:
Leave your slogan ideas via the comment section here, Facebook, Twitter, or on the Forums, but final voting will be tallied via the Poll on the forums. We will keep track of all ideas given, in the Contest section of the forum where everyone can vote on them. The slogan with the highest rating, WINS! (Poll will open after at least two ideas have been given, and will close at the designated end time)
;
The Rules:
- Tell us a slogan that you think embodies the EM2WL fam who will be wearing the shirts
- The slogan cannot be trademarked by another company.
- Enter as many times as you like, as long as it’s a different slogan every time.
- Only vote for yourself once per idea.
- Be creative, but not profane, we wanna be able to rock these tees in front of our kids, grandma, pastor, etc.
Make sure you tell others to VOTE. It doesn’t matter how good your idea is, if no one votes for it!
Contest ends 11:59PM EST, July 25, 2012
Slogan entries have ended, but please head over to the forum and vote for your fave up until the deadline!
by EM2WL | Jul 16, 2012 | Nursing
I remember when I was pregnant with each of my beautiful children I would always go through the pregnancy telling myself that when I deliver I am going to drop the weight and drop it quick. I would be itching to get back to working out after the six week mark and boy I started restricting calories almost immediately after getting home with my little ray of sunshine. Oh how I wish I knew then, what I know now. It was so bad…my first pregnancy I opted to stop nursing after only six weeks because the weight wouldn’t come off. Thankfully, for the rest I nursed much longer, but just resigned myself to waiting until after nursing to see any losses.
Even when nursing we will dramatically cut calories in efforts to make the scale move. It is even more detrimental when nursing because not only will the body go into starvation mode, you risk lowering your milk supply as well. The funny thing is, women that tend not to “diet” while nursing, following a non-restrictive diet tend to lose weight during their nursing phase. A full-time nursing mom burns approximately 500 calories per day, so if she is consuming healthy foods, eating regularly and feeding on demand weight loss is usually inevitable. Just adding a minimal amount of exercise will increase weight loss, for example going on a walk for a mile or two while pushing your precious cargo a few times per week.
It is so important not to restrict calories the first two months after delivery. Your body needs time to heal and you also need to establish an adequate milk supply for your little bundle of joy. Now, once you are past that point, yes you can start to restrict calories a little, but it shouldn’t be substantial. Here are steps/guidelines for successfully losing weight while nursing:
- Calculate your TDEE, BMR, using the appropriate activity level
- Subtract no more than 15% from TDEE for your cut value
- You have your cut value which includes your activity level, but it doesn’t take into account the numerous calories burned to produce the milk. If you nurse full time, then you need to add back in 500 calories and for part-time nursing mommies calculate the number of ounces you believe are being consumed and multiply it by 22. For example, if your cut value is 1800, then as a full time nursing mom you would consume a total of 2300 calories per day.
- Try to shoot for 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat
This is truly the time when you are “eating for two” and not the time for VLCD (very low calorie dieting). Relax in knowing that the benefits of breastfeeding extend well beyond just basic nutrition, but you are providing wonderful health benefits as well to your wee one. Oh, and let’s not forget about the priceless bonding that takes place. This is the most precious time, enjoy it, the weight will come off. Take it slow. Listen to your body, if you’re hungry then your body is telling you it needs fuel, so fuel it.
by EM2WL | Jul 15, 2012 | Recipes
Reader Recipe: Vegan Burgers!
Cookout season is in full swing! If you’re tired as we are of the same old beef and turkey burgers, try out this meatless burger recipe, submitted by Odette T.
Vegan Butter Bean Burgers
Cookout season is in full swing! If you’re tired as we are of the same old beef and turkey burgers, try out this meatless burger recipe, submitted by Odette T.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked butter beans (large lima beans)
- 1 Medium red or yellow bell pepper (diced)
- 1 yellow onion (diced)
- 15 vegan saltine crackers (crushed (or 1½ cup bread crumbs))
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- cooking spray
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
Optional
- 6 thin slices jarred red jalapeno (minced – if you want a little kick)
Directions
|
|
| heat 2 tsp of olive oil in the medium pan on medium-high. toss in the diced onion & bell pepper |
|
|
| sauté for 5 minutes. next add in the minced garlic & minced jalapeno pepper |
|
|
sauté for another minute or two, remove from heat, and transfer into the large mixing bowl.
|
|
|
place the butter beans into the large mixing bowl with the sauteed veggies and smash them all together using a potato masher (you may be able to use a fork to mash ‘em, too) crush up the saltines (or use your food processor to do it for ya) and put them in the mixing bowl (or add in the bread crumbs), add the nutritional yeast, and combine everything together & season with sea salt 'n pepper if you like (onion powder is yummy, too). mix well!
|
|
|
| form burger patties with your hands (we make 6 patties – but you can make them as big or as wee as you like). spread the cornmeal out on a small plate and roll each patty into the cornmeal, coating each one thoroughly with cornmeal (don’t forget the sides!) |
|
|
heat a little olive oil cooking spray in the large skillet/pan (we used our cast iron skillet) on medium heat. once the oil is heated place the cornmeal coated patties into the skillet and cook for 5 – 7 minutes (until lightly browned). flip the patties over to cook for another 3-5 minutes until lightly browned.
|
|
|
| remove from heat, place on a bun (i add a little vegenaise to mine), and dig in – oh so yummy! yay! |
Note
what you'll need:
large mixing bowl
medium pan for sauteing veggies
large skillet/pan for cooking burgers
small plate
food processor (optional – for making bread crumbs or crumbling saltines)
If you think you have a winner, be sure to submit your recipe to share with others! Don’t forget to include a pic! Everyone loves pictures.
by EM2WL | Jul 14, 2012 | Increasing calories, Metabolism Reset
Expecting? Nope, Kiki’s just bloated again
Making the decision to do a metabolism rest is no small matter. The mental transition just to decide to “eat more” is already hard enough when coming from a lifestyle of severe calorie restriction. Most are already scared out of their mind at the thought of blowing up from the extra cals, and typically can’t imagine eating that much food without wanting to puke.
Others may not have those thoughts upfront. They are ecstatic at the thought of more food, and begin salivating right away what items will be added back that they’ve been denying themselves up until this point. They immediately have visions of bread and ice cream, and living happily ever after.
Regardless of how one arrives at the point of beginning their reset, once they dive in and get a few days or weeks in, the question inevitably pops up:
Why am I so bloated?
Sometimes it’s more like, “OMG!! I hate you! I knew this would happen! I can’t believe I fell for this crap! EM2WL is a crock! I can’t button my pants! This sucks! I’m up 17lbs from last week! You better hope we don’t meet in a dark alley, I’m gonna $%&*%$#@@$%^&*(*&%$#@##$^&&%!”…
You get the point. The dreaded bloat/”gain” arrives, and we freak.
When we drastically increase cals, we have to realize that we are asking our bodies to work overtime processing more food that it has in who knows how long. We are also possibly re-introducing foods that we had given up and could have become allergic/sensitive to because of eliminating them from our diet (whether born out of necessity or fad). Increasing our intake of known bloat offenders, only exacerbates this problem, making us think that “it’s not working!” or one of the other lines quoted above.
Lucia enjoying some creamy goodness
The biggest plus of the EM2WL lifestyle is the time factor. You have it, and lots of it. We encourage members to take this time to become in tuned with your body. Learning how your body reacts to different foods, exercises, etc., is one of the most valuable tools that you will have on your journey. Use this time to log your food, as well as the different things that are happening in your body each day. Begin to connect the dots with days/times that the bloating seems overwhelming and what you ate the day/meal prior. This does not always mean that you will have to omit the item from your diet, rather that you will want to take your time increasing that particular item until your body has fully stabilized. Of course, if you notice a reaction so severe (i.e. allergic) that you feel is not worth the risk, then you can feel free to remove the offender from your diet. But you will likely find that given enough time, and with a few simple tweaks, your body can and will adapt to most food items again.
If you are dealing with the “Reset Bloat” or want to prevent it, here are a few tips that can help:
- Add carbs slowly. Regardless of if you’ve just come off Atkins or were already pretty carb heavy, carbs, in general are prone to bloating when eaten in excess, and when calories are almost doubling (in most cases), your body sees it as excess (at first). So take it slow.
- Add dairy products slowly, for the same reasons as the carbs, this includes protein powders.
- Begin with a bit higher protein ratio, protein makes the body to secrete water, thus controlling bloating. Each time you take the carbs up a notch, you can lower the protein a bit more. Continue in this manner until stabilized.
- Drink enough water. Bloat is one of those times you have to fight fire with fire. The more water you retain, the more you need to drink. Eating foods with diuretic properties can also help (i.e. asparagus, green beans, green tea, etc)
- Reduce your cardio. Where does this one fit in the middle of all of this food talk? Believe it or not, excessive cardio is actually a main contributing factor to poor digestion, as it reduces the acid in the stomach that breaks down food, as well as naturally forming digestive enzymes. When the stomach cannot digest properly, larger food particles are left in lower in the digestive tract = BLOATING. It’s time to cut back, peeps.
- Replace heavy cardio sessions with exercise that will stimulate and retrain your nervous system (thus restoring what digestive functions that the intense/excessive cardio has torn down). Do light stretching, or try a restorative yoga class or DVD. This is not the time for power yoga, but a light relaxing session or even a tranquil walk outdoors. Continue (or begin) weight training, but keep the durations shorter, with longer rests (not circuits). The routines provided in New Rules of Lifting for Women
are fine.
- If you’ve been on a very low fat diet, you will want to introduce some essential fats into your diet as well (i.e. salmon, flaxseed, olive oil, etc).
- You’ll want to get some good supplements in your arsenal as you assist your body on this road to recovery, such digestive enzymes, probiotics, etc., as well as specific vitamins to help repair the digestive functions. These will greatly decrease the bloat factor. If you are at a loss for what supplements to use, feel free to check out our Amazon Store, for the supps that we recommend.
As usual, this is not an all inclusive list, but some very general guidelines that should help you make it through your reset without wanting to shoot yourself…or us.
by EM2WL | Jul 12, 2012 | Consistency, Metabolism Reset
If you’ve been a chronic low cal dieter, and a follower of EM2WL for any length of time, then you know that we highly recommend doing a metabolism reset. Maybe you’re even doing one now, or planning to soon join the growing number of members who have decided to take back control of their lives from extreme caloric bondage. We all come to the point of metabolism resetting for different reasons. Some of us have actual diagnosis of an ED, and others have just been dieting longer than they care to remember. Our common ground: we have been starving ourselves by eating less food than our body requires to survive. Choosing the path of reset is one of the best things that we can do to recover from the mental and physical damage that occurs with long term, severe caloric restriction, but it is not an overnight process. A question that is popping up almost daily in our inbox is: How do I know when my metabolism reset is over?
We’ve avoided answering that question for quite sometime, much to the aggravation of most. We hated even giving the “6-8 week” guidelines, because, quite honestly, 6 weeks may not be enough for some, too long for others. At EM2WL, we are always stressing that everyone is different. We are individuals. Some people bounce back quicker than others. Yet, there are still those of you wanting specific deadlines, and exact “stopping” times.
Whether you’re at the beginning of your journey, still on the fence, or well on the road to recovery, there are things to keep in mind along the way:
Mental recovery
I mention this one first because it is the area that controls all remaining points:
If you are not recovered mentally, then whether it’s been 6 weeks or 16, you are NOT finished resetting. We give “guidelines” for how long to reset, but your body does not magically know that it’s been 5 weeks and 6 days, thus resetting on the 7th day. Take this time to understand why you are resetting in the first place.
- If you are rushing to finish your reset, because you just want to “get it over with” or “hurry up and start cutting” because you “just need to get this weight off”…you have not mentally recovered, and should honestly consider continuing your metabolism reset. When your reset is over, you just know. You completely comprehend that this is your new way of life, and that you will NEVER go back to low cal madness, no matter how long it takes.
- If 1200-1400 cals is still an option in the back of your mind somewhere, you have not recovered.
Expectations
Most of these are discussed in the post on patience, yet it still seems like we dive into the reset with unrealistic expectations of what will happen to us. Or, we say that we understand, but we don’t, really. We want to ride out the reset without a hitch and then hop on the cutting path and live happily ever after. Once again, this is when the mental aspect comes into play. That is our old “quick fix” diet mentality creeping in and telling us that if we eat too much, we’ll gain, going backwards and then we’ll NEVER get this weight off. So we go through our reset never fully allowing ourselves to relax and recover, because we’re so busy stressing about the .03265 gain on the scale that is about to happen in 5 minutes. Recall how many times that you have yo-yo’d in the past, or regained the weight after reaching “goal” because you used unhealthy methods to achieve the goal. Remember that if you don’t gain now and fully recover, you will likely gain it later, going back to square one, still with a shoddy metabolism.
- Expect to gain weight. You are recovering from an ED (or similar mindset), it’s part of the rehab process. If the weight came off in an unhealthy manner, you will likely HAVE to gain it back (whether in water, or replacing atrophied muscle/essential fat) as part of the recovery. Couple that with the zillion other reasons for scale fluctuations (especially in women), and you have a recipe for seeing the scale move up. Expect the gain.
- Expect the mental struggle that comes with that gain.
- Expect that you will have to find ways to deal with it.
- Expect to deal with bloat when you lift weights, or eat a lot of sodium, carbs, dairy, wheat, etc., as your body adjusts and tries to understand what’s going on.
- Expect that people around you will not understand what you are doing.
- Expect to lean on others who do understand for support.
- Expect to eventually gain full confidence in what you are doing.
- Expect to come out of this victorious.
- Expect that any weight gained will come off.
- Expect to never starve yourself again.
Stay Strong
We’ve never said the the metabolism reset would be easy, but we guarantee that it will be worth it. Quick fixes don’t.work.period. Take this time to set healthy habits and goals for yourself, that will support and affirm your new lifestyle.
- Don’t focus on how “much longer” your journey will take, but on the fact that you are finally on the right path. Yes, you have a long journey ahead, so try to keep a realistic perspective.
- Get involved with the EM2WL community for support, and make a determination to do what’s best for your body.
- Hire a personal trainer and learn your way around the weight room. Set a new lifting goal, if you’re a vet. Try out a new workout class or DVD.
- Stop reading magazines or watching television shows (or listen to friends!) that promote unhealthy body images or rapid methods of weight loss.
- Read books (including cookbooks) and articles that teach you how to be strong, healthy and fit, without being extreme. Our Resources page is a great place to start.
- Focus on changing types of food you eat. You have time to make healthier habits, so use it. Add real foods back to your menu. Cut out diet drinks/food/artificial sweeteners that you’ve always known were bad for your health, but you were willing to sacrifice for lower calories.
- Buy clothes that fit and flatter you now. This does not mean resign yourself to a life of being fat, but simply not waiting to get to a “perfect size” before allowing life to begin. It wasn’t until I finally stopped dwelling on where I wanted to be and focused on looking my best in the present, that things came together for me. There’s a difference between being “focused” and being “obsessed“ (more on that in this post).
- Enjoy where you are on the way to where you are going. Rushing the process and running through every stop sign and red light may get you there faster, but it may also land you in the ER.
Parting words:
Fuel your body properly. Enjoy your life now. Don’t stress. The results WILL come.
Plugin by Social Author Bio
We would love to hear your ideas! We are particularly anticipating some good slogan suggestions, which leads us to our VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY!! We are so excited (yes, we said first, as in there will be more!) So, here are the details:
To Enter:
Print recipe
Recent Comments