just a few thoughts and ideas.....

The main thing is to make peace with your boy now, before you try to change it. Accept where you are at the moment. Okay, you're overweight. But how great that you've decided to do something about it!

Start small, because small can only get bigger. Starting big means burning out, blowing out, getting injured — another reason you might quit altogether.

Exercising is not only about brawn, It's about using your brain. Try standing on a stability ball, one foot only, while a friend tosses you a ball and quizzes you about your job or current events. You train reaction time and hand/eye coordination. All these aspects combine to create a better you.

Working hard is a daily commitment. Each day you have to get up and commit yourself to the day's healthy eating and working out. There's no easy way, but there's the right way. And most everyone knows what that is....

Treat workouts as a business trip. You're not going to the gym to socialize and pitty pat around. This is your time to focus and get serious about your health. You are supposed to get between six and ten hours of sleep per day, depending on what your body needs, on the opposite side of the spectrum, being inactive while awake is proving to be more harmful than it is helpful to a lot of areas from your skin and blood circulation to your weight and your overall heart health. Long periods of inactivity will inevitably lead to an influx of pounds because your body will not be burning off the calories you consume during the day.

Don't eat a big evening meal. A lot of people harbor the false notion that skipping a meal during the day will help them shed the pounds. However, this inevitably leads to massive binging at night. Instead, eat your bigger meals earlier in the day and progressively downsize the later it gets.

Regaining some of the weight...

We all need some “weight-regain protection”- here are some key things to think about if the weight starts to creep back:



1. Fear: What am I afraid of, if anything, about losing weight? Could fear be the source of my self-sabotage?


2. Negative Self Image/Body Image: Am I battling myself? Do I not give myself credit despite my efforts to lose weight?


3. Deprivation: Was I feeling physically or emotionally deprived while I was on track?


4. Support: Did I lose my support system that I was using for accountability?


Trainer Tip
When you're working out it's important to incorporate weight training into your routine. You'll burn 8 to 10 calories a minute lifting weights. Also, lifting weights gives you a metabolic spike for an hour after your workout because your body is trying hard to help your muscles recover.

We're back....

Hey Kids.... I took a little time off from posting but I'm back! Hope all is well with everyone....now onto to business!!

In the last couple of decades, scientists have discovered more reasons (beyond vitamins and fiber) to pack your diet with fruits and vegetables: phytochemicals. All plants contain these compounds, which protect them from a variety of dangers—from harmful UV rays to predatory pests. We take in phytochemicals when we eat fruits and vegetables and, as it turns out, they protect us too. Some act as antioxidants, mopping up unstable "free radical" molecules that can damage cells and lead to the development of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other health issues. Others work by boosting the immune system.

What’s fascinating is that nature seems to have a way of highlighting these beneficial nutrients by giving them bright colors that allow you to spot them at a glance. The USDA suggests paying particular attention to orange (2 cups per week) and dark green (3 cups per week) produce, both good sources of vitamin A and other important nutrients. Use our vibrant color wheel to inspire you....

For more of this article visit the MSN/Eat Well website: health.msn.com/nutrition

Junk Food is Addicting??

(HealthDay News) -- Obese people often say they'd like to eat less but feel almost powerless to stop indulging, and now new research suggests that explanation might be all too true.

The theory stems from a study in rats. When researchers gave the rats unlimited access to a calorie-laden diet of bacon, pound cake, candy bars and other junk food, the rats quickly gained lots of weight. As they plumped up, eating became such a compulsion that they kept chowing down even when they knew they would receive an unpleasant electric shock to their foot if they did so.

Meanwhile, rats fed the human equivalent of a well-balanced, healthy diet -- and given only limited access to the junk food -- didn't gain much weight and knew enough to stop eating when they received the cue that a foot shock was imminent.

Even more startling, the researchers report, is that when they took away the junk food from the obese rats and replaced it with healthier chow, the obese rats went on something of a hunger strike. For two weeks, they refused to eat hardly anything at all. When researchers looked at the obese animals' brains, they noted there were declines in the dopamine D2 receptor that previous research has implicated in addiction to cocaine and heroine....

To read the rest of the article click here.

Little changes - Big help!

Make a few small changes and it might make a BIG difference:

Start cooking your pasta Al Dente (with a little bite to it). When you boil pasta for 5 minutes, its glycemic index is 38; after 20 minutes, it shoots up to 61. The higher the glycemic index, the SOONER you'll be hungry again!

Chew gum while cooking dinner. It burns 11 calories an hour and can prevent those B.L.T. (Bites, Licks and Tastes).

Eat s-l-o-w-l-y. In one study, women who took half an hour to eat a pasta lunch consumed almost 70 fewer calories than those who scarfed it down in 9 minutes.

Spring Clean your Diet...

Toss a few heavily processed staples - Instead of overhauling your pantry all at once, start by eliminating corn oil and soda—both highly processed. Another easy step is replacing refined breads and pastas made from white flour with ones made from whole grains.

Focus on favorite foods - To keep it simple, assess what part of your diet supplies the most calories, suggests Mary Ellen Camire, PhD, a professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Maine. If you’re an omnivore, buy meat that comes from grass-fed cattle and eggs from pasture-raised chickens, but stick to conventional produce instead of organic.

Shop the perimeter- Most whole, natural foods are on the outside aisles of grocery stores—that’s where the produce, dairy, and meat sections usually are. As you go deeper into the center of the store, you encounter more processed and packaged food.

Check the labels -It’s the easiest way to distinguish a "clean" food from a highly processed one. Think about it: A head of lettuce has no label (totally natural), while a bag of ranch-flavored corn chips has a dozen or more ingredients (highly processed). Instead of eliminating all processed foods, study the labels on the packaging and choose those with fewer and simpler ingredients (avoid hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors and colors, stabilizers, preservatives, excessive amounts of fat and sodium, and added refined sugar).

Think nutrients per serving -Consider the amount of nutrients in a product rather than focusing solely on price. Ask yourself if the price of the food is worth the nutrients (or lack thereof). You can make this assessment on every item by comparing the protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins against fat, sodium, sugars, and chemical additives. Some clean eaters also focus on the environmental impact of the food. Some stores are promising to make the assessment easier. Walmart is phasing in a sustainable product index designed to help consumers judge at a glance the environmental impact of a product (including food).

Cook more meals at home - This is an easy way to shift more of your resources toward whole food and potentially save money. Plus, many restaurants rely on highly processed food to create their meals. To make home cooking easier, master a few one-pot or one-pan dishes with simple ingredients that you can whip up quickly and that will feed the family for days.

Adjust your tastebuds - If you’re accustomed to eating food with lots of salt, sugar, fat, and other additives, you’ll need to retrain your tastebuds to appreciate the more subtle flavors of whole foods. For instance, if you don’t immediately like the taste of brown rice, mix it with white (in decreasing amounts) until you adapt. (You can do the same thing with whole grain pasta.) It works for salty and fatty foods, too. Instead of switching immediately to, say, low-sodium soups, mix a regular can with a low-sodium version and adjust the ratio toward less sodium as you get used to the flavor. It can take up to 12 weeks to adjust.

Is your kitchen making you fat?

Your Plates Are Platter Size - Most of us make a habit of filling our plates and finishing what's on them. The 1970s, dinner plates have grown 25%, to 12 inches or more in diameter. Eat off a plate about 2 inches smaller and you'll serve yourself 22% fewer calories per meal, which can mean a 2-pound weight loss in 1 month. Use your salad plate to hold higher-calorie meals like pasta, and load your dinner plate with veggies. If you plan to buy new plates, the best size is 10 inches in diameter, any smaller and you'll be more likely to go back for seconds.

Your Counters Are Cluttered - Kitchens often become dumping grounds. A messy space makes healthy eating harder because it's a lot easier to grab a few cookies or order pizza than it is to unearth a countertop and cook. Plus, clutter leads to stress, which raises cortisol levels in the blood, increasing hunger. Pick one spot for mail and newspapers, and keep large areas of counter space clear for meal prep. Also, store a few cooking tools, such as a plastic steamer or food chopper, on an easily accessible shelf. And reserve an area in the kitchen for eating only, designated by place mats.

Your Produce Is Hidden - Eating five servings of fruits and veggies a day can help you lose weight and keep it off—yet produce makes up about a quarter of the food we throw away every day. One reason you forget may be that you're stashing it in the produce drawers, where it's usually out of sight—and out of mind. While the crisper is supposed to keep these foods fresh longer, if you forget to open it often enough, food goes bad before you can eat it. Buy only a week's worth at a time, and keep it at eye level in the fridge or in a pretty bowl on your kitchen table.

Keeping the weight off

Studies show that 80% of people who lose weight will gain it back... the hardest part of losing weight is KEEPING IT OFF! Here are a few "back to basic" tips:

We've all heard this first tip time and time again....
1. KEEP A FOOD JOURNAL! Try to make it more of a true journal... write down what you eat and what/where you were when you ate it. How were you feeling at that time... were you angry, sad, bored, happy or maybe celebrating with friends! This will help you figure out if you are an emotional eater. It will keep you accountable for eveything you eat. And might motivate you to exercise a little more.

2. Throwout temptations - Throw out the things that will set you up for failure. If you crave sugar - get rid of the sweets / If you crave salt - get rid of the chips!! Clean out the cupboards and frig... stock up on veggies and fruits. As soon as you get home cut everything up into bite size pieces so when you are feeling snacky or you've waited too long between meals and you're REALLY hungry...you'll have easy to grab veggies to eat.

3. Take some snap shots....start taking photos of yourself. Put them on the frig... tape them to your bathroom mirror or the inside of your "snack" cabinet...wherever you will see them as often as possible. This will keep you motivated to eating right and staying healthy.

4. Spring is coming... check out some of the store sales for workout apparel. Find an outfit you feel comfortable so you more likely to go to the gym or for a walk.

...burn more fat...

The Easiest Way to Burn More Fat - Give your body the fuel it needs, and you'll slim down faster

The world's best trainers and nutritionists, and when asked to name women's biggest diet mistake, inevitably they say, "Skipping breakfast." A morning meal boosts metabolism and causes you to eat less the rest of the day—which means the pounds seem to magically drop.
Just follow these easy a.m. rules:

1. Aim for about 350 calories on a 1,500-a-day diet. In one study, women who ate 22 to 55 percent of their day's calories at breakfast gained 50 percent fewer pounds in 4 years than those who ate 0 to 11 percent of their calories in the morning.

2. Prep the night before. Set out a bowl of dry oats or chop up veggies and put them in the fridge to add to an omelet—that way "I don't have time" is no excuse.

3. Think outside the (cereal) box. "Anything that's good at lunch or dinner makes a perfectly good breakfast—even leftovers," says Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., a nutritionist in Los Angeles. Can't imagine eating a salad at breakfast? Turn boring oatmeal into a sweet, fat-burning treat or whip up a 5-minute burrito.

Start making time for a better breakfast, and you'll see results on the scale and in the mirror. Trust us—and the experts.

Energy Boosters!

Try Something New

When people do something novel, the brain's reward chemical, dopamine, is released. Dopamine is also a motivating chemical that gears us up to do more. In other words, take a trip or learn Spanish and you may also feel inspired to start a new project at home or work.

Move Around

The more active you are, the better your circulation will be. And good circulation is essential for energy because blood transports oxygen and nutrients—fuel for the cells—to the muscles, brain, and so on. If you have a desk job, get up throughout the day—once an hour is ideal—to give your body breaks from activities such as typing and staring at the computer. When you're stuck seated, like on a long car ride, do neck rolls and shoulder shrugs and circle your feet to keep blood circulating.

Do Things That Lift Your Spirits

Anything that makes you feel good may raise your level of endorphins—the same chemicals that are released when you exercise. Listening to music invigorates the body by activating several areas of the brain at once, building new nerve connections. It also increases oxygen flow to the heart, which perks you up as well.


Drink Fluids

Your body needs water to transport oxygen to your cells. Deprive yourself of sufficient liquids and you may feel tired or get headaches. Experts say you should try to drink at least four tall glasses of water or low-calorie beverages, such as Propel or Crystal Light. Caffeine gets a bad rap, but used judiciously, it can give you a lift. Try to limit yourself to one cup of coffee in the morning and, if you must, a half cup after lunch. Consider switching to green tea, which contains caffeine but also theanine, a calming substance that counteracts the jitters from caffeine.

Obsess Less

When your mind is in overdrive, your body secretes stress hormones, such as cortisol, which over time can wreak havoc on the body. It can also make falling asleep difficult by suppressing the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for lowering body temperature so that you can shift into sleep mode. To rewire an overwrought mind, try meditating, practicing yoga, or engaging in regular prayer.

A Grateful Heart

- Gratitude and a healthy self-image go hand-in-hand

When it comes to body image, it's very common focus on the weight even though you have made great strides. It's unfortunate that we battle acceptance and resist giving ourselves the self-acceptance, but it's something you can work with and improve over time.

Start a gratitude journal to help you focus on aspects of your life that are positive. You can use the journal idea and work on finding aspects of your physical self that you like, as small as these aspects may be. But start somewhere and do the exercise consistently each day.

Take a moment at the end of each day to write down up to 5 things you feel grateful for that day. An additional step is writing a positive physical attribute that you see in the mirror. This can be productive since others see big changes, yet you resist giving yourself the credit you deserve: I have all these people telling me how good I look, but all I think about when they say that (in my head), is you don't know how much fat is still on this body!!

It takes time, but we encourage you to notice the negative thoughts you have and work on distinguishing them -- oh, there's that critical voice again. The more awareness you can bring to these thoughts, the more you will be able to challenge them, re-frame them, and re-write your own thoughts, and you might as well make these positive since they really aren't "true" one way or the other (it's just what you decide to think about yourself).

More tips that make sense...

1. Set a fun fitness goal. Your fitness goal might not even entail losing weight, but doing something active that would get you into shape. For example, if you set a goal of skiing every weekend this winter, or practicing to run a marathon in the spring, it would provide you with something fun to do that will get you into shape, rather than an onerous weight-loss goal.
   
   
2. Fix your eating habits. Toss the holiday cookies. They’re stale anyway. Quit eating a 12-ounce steak with big scoops of mashed potatoes and mac and cheese for dinner. Eat whole-grain breads and cereals. Stop eating canned and processed foods. Eat small meals (a few hundred calories) every few hours, rather than enormous meals three times per day and a bunch of junky snacks in between. You can track your calories with our calorie counter.
   
   
3. Do cardiovascular exercise. A rough estimate of your maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. A more accurate maximum heart rate can be determined by a doctor with a stress test (and that is the suggested way of doing it – you should talk to a doctor before starting any exercise program). So do a challenging activity (running, hiking, climbing, boxing, fast swimming, ice skating, jumping rope) for a sustained time (15 to 45 minutes at least every other day) that raises your heart rate to 80% or so of maximum. Do cardio for three months and see how much better you look.
   
   
4. Stop drinking empty calories. This includes soda, beer, cocktails, diet soda, sugary fruit drinks, Snapple, all of it. It all contains sugar, empty carbs, or things that will keep you craving sugar. Drink coffee or tea without sugar, water, or seltzer. Also beware of sports drinks, which also have sugar. Unless you’re in the middle of playing a strenuous sport, odds are you don’t need to be drinking a Gatorade.
   
   
5. Find activity partners. Get your friends or significant others to work out with you. It can be easier to stay focused if you’re active with people of a similar skill level. If you run 11-minute miles, find a running partner who runs 11-minute miles. Or: Find an instructor you like to teach you a sport that you enjoy, or have always wanted to try. And, if you need some moral support, stop by our fitness forums.

Source: www.everydayhealth.com/blogs/workoutandloseweight

Junk Food and Depression...

A study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry shows that processed or junk food contributes to depression. Food and mood data was collected from 3,486 men and women in London over 5 years. The processed food pattern of eating more sweets, fried food, high fat diary and refined grains was associated with a higher chance of being depressed. Compared to a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, fish and whole grains.


The researchers list some tips for optimal physical and mental health:

1. Have breakfast, breakfast eaters consume more fiber, calcium and micronutrients
2. Eat sweets on occasion
3. Snack on apple, cheese, carrot sticks and nuts
4. Read food labels
5. Limit salt intake
6. Make eating together as a family a priority

Have a Plan - Assignment #1

You have to have a plan to be able to stay on track!!

Assignment #1: Get a piece of paper, make two columns in the first column write down as many situations that you can think of that might derail your weight loss goals/healthy habits. In the other column write down options/solutions on how to avoid either overeating, portion control, "grazing', or blowing your day all together. Carry this paper with you and as you think of other situations or come into tempting situations write them down...then write down how you over came the temptation to give in.

Situation: Holiday dinner with friends
Solution: See if you can get an on-line menu to the place you are going, find the low calorie options and keep those in mind when ordering.

Situation: Pot Luck lunch at work
Solution: Get with a few co-workers and make a pack to bring something healthy and YUMMY as your dish...that way you know you'll have at least a few things you can eat and still enjoy participating.

Situation: SNOW/RAIN
Solution: Go to the library and check out a few fitness magazines, make copies of the work outs that you want to try and keep them in pocket sleeves in your Healthy Habits binder. When it's yucky outside turn to your binder to keep up on your exercise routine!

Holiday Survival Tips...

BYO fresh vegetables...Mom love to have our favorites waiting for us when we arrive home. Usually that means piles of cookies, cakes, her mom's special vanilla fudge, and no vegetables--unless you count sweet potatoes with marshmallows. Why not bring your own healthy foods. It isn't easy, but by having a plan and following through with it, you can stay securely in the present and avoid sliding into old patterns and old ways of eating.

Learn to recognize hunger cues--an empty feeling or rumbling in your stomach. As you become more aware of what your body is telling you, you'll be better able to eat only when you're hungry and stop when you've had enough. Eating then becomes a physical activity, not an emotional one.

Sample only the special stuff - There's a big difference between eating homemade rugalach made by your office mate's Great-Grandmother Sadie and a box of store-bought Santa cookies with sprinkles. Eat what will give you the most satisfaction.