Wedding Season :)

April to September 2012=(future) time of my life!

Not only am I getting married in August, but my two best friends are also getting married this year. Kara in May, and Lauren in September. All THREE of us in five months! I’ve spent my entire life growing up with these two girls, and cannot believe we are all getting hitched in 2012.  All of my little girl dreams are coming true. 🙂

The crazy schedule of bridal showers, bachelorette parties, nail/hair appointments, rehearsal dinners, and (most importantly) the weddings, kicks off April 20th with Kara’s bridal shower. The following day, we are traveling to Cincinnati for her bachelorette party. yippie!

So…What exactly does all this wedding talk have to do with nutrition? Well, I would like to look my best for the festivities, which means clean eating and sticking to my workout regimen. (seriously, no really… seriously)

I’m going to try a fun, new experiment. Yes…this is what dietitians do for fun, haha.

When thinking about a well-rounded, healthy diet, most nutrition experts recommend: 40-60% of your calories should come from carbohydrates, 15-35% from protein, and 15-35% from fat.

iub.edu

My normal, day-to-day diet is (approximately) composed of 50%calories from carbohydrates, 20-25% from protein, and 25-30% from fat (of course, this varies depending on the day).

I am going to try something new! A 1500 calorie diet composed of 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. 🙂 A diet with (a little bit) more protein has been shown to increase satiety and maintain muscle mass while losing weight. Who wants to restrict calories, only to lose muscle mass (rather than fat loss)—>>> not this girl.

So what do all of these percentages mean? Prepare yourself for some math:

1500 calorie diet for me:

• 40% of calories from carbohydrates: 1500 calories x .40(40% calories from carbs)=600 calories from carbs/4 (calories per gram of carbohydrate)=150 grams of carbohydrates per day
• 30% of calories from protein: 1500 calories x .30 (30% of calories from protein)=450 calories from protein/4 (calories per gram of protein)=112 grams of protein per day
• 30% of calories from fat: 1500 calories x .30 (30% of calories from fat)=450 calories from fat/9 (calories per gram of fat)=50 grams of fat per day

I’ll keep you updated on my progress 🙂