How I Ate
As for eating, the first thing I did was stop having anything
after 8:00 p.m. That took some weight off me immediately, as I
often had ice cream or other goodies late—which is how I got
in that horrible before shape in the first place. I think most
people’s metabolisms slow down in the evening, and they tend
to sit around anyway, so adding extra calories during that time
does nothing but feed fat cells. If I got a craving, I’d have a big
glass of water with lemon squeezed in. That was refreshing and
usually killed the urge to splurge.
My next step was to add protein to every meal. In the
beg in ni ng I w as ha ving one o r tw o Mu scle Mea ls me al
replacements during the day to supplement my regular food
intake, but as I pro g ressed into month two, I replaced each
MRP with one or two scoops of Pro-Fusion protein powder to
reduce my calories. One Muscle Meals has about 340 calories,
while two scoops of Pro-Fusion has 220. That’s Steve’s favorite
way to make gradual calorie reductions, as you saw in Chapter
- Chocolate Pro-Fusion is my favorite, and sometimes I’d put
a tablespoon of peanut butter in the drink to give it that Reese’s
Peanut Butter Cup flavor (that’s when I’d only use one scoop of
p rotein—I was good about keeping my calories in check). It
was delicious and satisfied my sweet tooth without spiking my
insulin.
Another strategy I used was what Steve and Jonathan call
carb stacking. I tried to get most of my carbohydrates before
noon, with the remainder of my meals being mostly protein and
cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli and asparagus. I trained in
the morning, so my last higher-carb meal was around 11:30,
which was my postworkout RecoverX shake. That supplement
has fast whey protein and fast high-glycemic carbs, just what
you want after an intense workout to replenish and build
muscle.
Yes, I was trying to build muscle because I’ve learned that
the more muscle I add to my frame, the more calories I burn.
Was I afraid of getting too big? Of course not. As a woman I