Monday, June 18, 2012
Backdrop for This Mornings Workout
I love taking my workout on vacation versus taking a vacation from my workout! This is where I did my boot camp this morning... Some beautiful running roads here too... As the postcard says "wish you were here", lol!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Focus on This Hour Every Week and you Will Lose the Extra Weight!
It doesn't matter who you are or what you do, finding the time to get healthy is hard. If you are a working parent, balancing career and kids, those two things consume your life and there is little, if any, time for you. If you are a stay- at- home parent, chances are you are over committed with all things related to kids and home (sport practices, dance lessons, PTA, and caring for every aspect of your family). I don't think I ever believed my stay-at-home mom girlfriends about how busy they were until I became one. The point is, staying healthy and getting in shape feels unattainable because it's just one more thing to add to the already impossibly long list!
For busy people like all of us, sometimes the key to being healthy is to incorporate healthy habits into the time we have already allocated to something else. This might mean going for a walk on your lunch break, or doing squats in between pancake flips (yup, I do this). It could also mean just changing the way we do the things we already do.
The good news is the time you can make the biggest impact on your health is time already allocated every week foraging for food. The average American spends about one hour a week grocery shopping, but what you do in that hour can help you reach your goal or keep you in your rut. The grocery store is where you set your dietary tone for the week...good or bad. This is where you can set the course for a healthy week or make the bad decisions that end up on your hips later in the week. The point is...if you can get through this hour making the right decisions, losing weight could feel effortless.
If you are like me, then temptations in our homes are the hardest to resist. I know that if I am aware of the presence of corn chips or ice cream in my home, I will eventually give in and eat them. If they are not in my home I won't go out of my way to go to back to the store to get them if I'm craving salt or sweet. Because I do the grocery shopping, a have a ton of control over what foods are in the house. If you are trying to be healthy then it's a good idea to make sure you are the one in your household doing the shopping. If someone in your home insists on junk food, it's ok to ask them to respect your decision to remove temptations from your home. If you are the week willed one in the house, and are prone to buying junk food, then perhaps sending someone else in the house with more will power is best. Also consider taking a healthy friend grocery shopping, not only to get some shopping tips but also to keep your grocery cart headed in the right direction.
If you can control this one hour, you can lose a lot if not all of your extra weight. Plan out your healthy meals and snacks for the week and limit your shopping to those ingredients. Leave the junk behind to avoid it showing up later on your behind..lol!
If you need a little help figuring out what to buy and prepare as healthy meals and snacks, consider purchasing monthly or yearly healthy meal plans and shopping lists from cleaneatingonline.com.
As always, I wish you the happiest and healthiest life!
For busy people like all of us, sometimes the key to being healthy is to incorporate healthy habits into the time we have already allocated to something else. This might mean going for a walk on your lunch break, or doing squats in between pancake flips (yup, I do this). It could also mean just changing the way we do the things we already do.
The good news is the time you can make the biggest impact on your health is time already allocated every week foraging for food. The average American spends about one hour a week grocery shopping, but what you do in that hour can help you reach your goal or keep you in your rut. The grocery store is where you set your dietary tone for the week...good or bad. This is where you can set the course for a healthy week or make the bad decisions that end up on your hips later in the week. The point is...if you can get through this hour making the right decisions, losing weight could feel effortless.
If you are like me, then temptations in our homes are the hardest to resist. I know that if I am aware of the presence of corn chips or ice cream in my home, I will eventually give in and eat them. If they are not in my home I won't go out of my way to go to back to the store to get them if I'm craving salt or sweet. Because I do the grocery shopping, a have a ton of control over what foods are in the house. If you are trying to be healthy then it's a good idea to make sure you are the one in your household doing the shopping. If someone in your home insists on junk food, it's ok to ask them to respect your decision to remove temptations from your home. If you are the week willed one in the house, and are prone to buying junk food, then perhaps sending someone else in the house with more will power is best. Also consider taking a healthy friend grocery shopping, not only to get some shopping tips but also to keep your grocery cart headed in the right direction.
If you can control this one hour, you can lose a lot if not all of your extra weight. Plan out your healthy meals and snacks for the week and limit your shopping to those ingredients. Leave the junk behind to avoid it showing up later on your behind..lol!
If you need a little help figuring out what to buy and prepare as healthy meals and snacks, consider purchasing monthly or yearly healthy meal plans and shopping lists from cleaneatingonline.com.
As always, I wish you the happiest and healthiest life!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Check in- Becky Leger. June 7, 2012
Well, it's now been almost a month since I returned from my girl's get-away where I started to get off track from my goals. I knew that I was going to cheat a bit on my "eating lifestyle" and I wasn't going to have access to my gym, so I took off a few extra pounds before we went. That seemed to work pretty well, only gaining those few pounds I had lost with the food and drink we treated ourselves with while away. Then when I got back home, the departure that I had made was difficult to come back from. MOTHER's DAY was the following weekend...and then a Memorial Day picnic and next thing I knew, despite working out, I had gained about 6 pounds!
The problem with taking "cheat days", or getting off track a little, it that it can be hard to get back on track and eating the right foods. The reason for this is that the wrong foods contain additives that intentionally have addictive properties. It's funny how we are all over the cigarette companies for adding nicotine to cigarettes to make us addicted to and crave cancer sticks, but we don't think twice about the same companies, who also make food, using the same techniques for enslaving us to their food but in the form of MSG (carefully cloaked as "natural flavoring) and artificial sweeteners, just to name a few. My problem was that once I got the taste of corn Chips and salsa, ice cream, and Margaritas, it was very hard to not eat and drink more, especially since leftovers were in my fridge for a bit. It requires a "detox" of sorts every time we get off track.
So, I still advocate cheat meals or days because it is important to give in to a desire once in a while and because you deserve to treat yourself. They key is making sure it is only one meal or one day and to get the crap out of your house after that! If it is in your home, you will eat it! Get rid of it and get back to your healthy lifestyle the very next day. You might even want to find other ways to treat yourself, like buying that new smaller sized skirt you were eyeing or a new trinket.
A month later, I am finally back down to 134 pounds. It only took ten days of religiously sticking to my healthy lifestyle. That's the cool thing about clean eating...it really is effortless weight loss just by making better decisions about what you eat and the weight comes off pretty steadily.
I have another vacation coming up and am really looking forward to it. This time I am not going to let myself get too far off track. The truth is that I feel better when I am on track. My energy levels, stress levels, and just about everything else is better when I am eating well. When I go off track, I always end up feeling like crap. Junk food feels good on the tongue and then immediately bloats me and makes me feel like a load. I just have to remember that next time!
So, I continue on my path to healthy living. I am still striving for 125 lbs, but am not too worried about making it. I am starting to suspect, my ideal weight is more like 130 lbs because even when I eat right and work out for months at a time, I cannot seem to break that plane. I know I am doing things right, so weight isn't really a good measure of my success... My ability is. If I am feeling good and am able to do what I need to physically, then I am a success!
Thanks for letting me check in and be accountable to you, blogger cyber-land! You really are a big help!
The problem with taking "cheat days", or getting off track a little, it that it can be hard to get back on track and eating the right foods. The reason for this is that the wrong foods contain additives that intentionally have addictive properties. It's funny how we are all over the cigarette companies for adding nicotine to cigarettes to make us addicted to and crave cancer sticks, but we don't think twice about the same companies, who also make food, using the same techniques for enslaving us to their food but in the form of MSG (carefully cloaked as "natural flavoring) and artificial sweeteners, just to name a few. My problem was that once I got the taste of corn Chips and salsa, ice cream, and Margaritas, it was very hard to not eat and drink more, especially since leftovers were in my fridge for a bit. It requires a "detox" of sorts every time we get off track.
So, I still advocate cheat meals or days because it is important to give in to a desire once in a while and because you deserve to treat yourself. They key is making sure it is only one meal or one day and to get the crap out of your house after that! If it is in your home, you will eat it! Get rid of it and get back to your healthy lifestyle the very next day. You might even want to find other ways to treat yourself, like buying that new smaller sized skirt you were eyeing or a new trinket.
A month later, I am finally back down to 134 pounds. It only took ten days of religiously sticking to my healthy lifestyle. That's the cool thing about clean eating...it really is effortless weight loss just by making better decisions about what you eat and the weight comes off pretty steadily.
I have another vacation coming up and am really looking forward to it. This time I am not going to let myself get too far off track. The truth is that I feel better when I am on track. My energy levels, stress levels, and just about everything else is better when I am eating well. When I go off track, I always end up feeling like crap. Junk food feels good on the tongue and then immediately bloats me and makes me feel like a load. I just have to remember that next time!
So, I continue on my path to healthy living. I am still striving for 125 lbs, but am not too worried about making it. I am starting to suspect, my ideal weight is more like 130 lbs because even when I eat right and work out for months at a time, I cannot seem to break that plane. I know I am doing things right, so weight isn't really a good measure of my success... My ability is. If I am feeling good and am able to do what I need to physically, then I am a success!
Thanks for letting me check in and be accountable to you, blogger cyber-land! You really are a big help!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Avocado Breakfast Bowl
Avocado Breakfast Bowl
I saw this recipe on lifehacker.com and modified it a bit. It's a cool and creative way to make a healthy breakfast. My husband and I tried it yesterday and it was yummy... A keeper for sure!
Slice avocado in half, take out pit, and place avocado in microwave safe dish, hole facing up
Wisk one egg in bowl like you would to make scrambled eggs
Pour whisked egg into the cavity left by the pit (don't fill too high or egg will ooze out)
Top egg with a sprinkle of your favorite cheese and a pinch of salt
Microwave for about 1 min or until egg is cooked and avocado is soft
Top with a teaspoon of salsa
enjoy!
You can also do this in the oven if you like your cheese nicely browned but it takes a long time, about 1/2 hour on 425 degrees.
I saw this recipe on lifehacker.com and modified it a bit. It's a cool and creative way to make a healthy breakfast. My husband and I tried it yesterday and it was yummy... A keeper for sure!
Slice avocado in half, take out pit, and place avocado in microwave safe dish, hole facing up
Wisk one egg in bowl like you would to make scrambled eggs
Pour whisked egg into the cavity left by the pit (don't fill too high or egg will ooze out)
Top egg with a sprinkle of your favorite cheese and a pinch of salt
Microwave for about 1 min or until egg is cooked and avocado is soft
Top with a teaspoon of salsa
enjoy!
You can also do this in the oven if you like your cheese nicely browned but it takes a long time, about 1/2 hour on 425 degrees.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
Post from Carla, 06/01/12
" Enzymes and Probiotics (Yogurt)
Probiotics and enzymes, those friendly bacteria found in yogurt, may be the key to losing those last stubborn inches around your waist. They not only help the digestive system work properly, but also have a profound effect on the metabolism, according to a new study in Molecular Systems Biology. The bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus can change how much fat is available for the body to absorb by influencing stomach acids during digestion.
But not all yogurts are probiotic, so make sure the label says "live and active cultures." Other foods containing probiotics include kefir, acidophilus milk, miso soup, soft cheeses, pickles, and sauerkraut."
"Ice Cream and Other Healthy Desserts
Calcium-rich desserts like ice cream bind to fatty acids in the digestive tract, blocking their absorption. In one study, participants who ate 1,735 mg of calcium from low-fat dairy products (about as much as in five 8-ounce glasses of milk) blocked the equivalent of 85 calories a day. Plus, half a cup of vanilla ice cream gives you 19 milligrams of choline, which translates to protection from cancer, heart attack, stroke, and dementia. We’re not suggesting you have a bowlful of ice cream every night. But a scoop (the size of a tennis ball) every few days isn’t the diet-saboteur it’s made out to be.
Caveat: Tricked-out designer ice creams are packed with added sugar and preservatives. Pick a single flavor ice cream—vanilla, chocolate, coffee, whatever."
Information from diabetes.org
Probiotics and enzymes, those friendly bacteria found in yogurt, may be the key to losing those last stubborn inches around your waist. They not only help the digestive system work properly, but also have a profound effect on the metabolism, according to a new study in Molecular Systems Biology. The bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus can change how much fat is available for the body to absorb by influencing stomach acids during digestion.
But not all yogurts are probiotic, so make sure the label says "live and active cultures." Other foods containing probiotics include kefir, acidophilus milk, miso soup, soft cheeses, pickles, and sauerkraut."
"Ice Cream and Other Healthy Desserts
Calcium-rich desserts like ice cream bind to fatty acids in the digestive tract, blocking their absorption. In one study, participants who ate 1,735 mg of calcium from low-fat dairy products (about as much as in five 8-ounce glasses of milk) blocked the equivalent of 85 calories a day. Plus, half a cup of vanilla ice cream gives you 19 milligrams of choline, which translates to protection from cancer, heart attack, stroke, and dementia. We’re not suggesting you have a bowlful of ice cream every night. But a scoop (the size of a tennis ball) every few days isn’t the diet-saboteur it’s made out to be.
Caveat: Tricked-out designer ice creams are packed with added sugar and preservatives. Pick a single flavor ice cream—vanilla, chocolate, coffee, whatever."
Information from diabetes.org
Turkey Gorgonzola Burgers
We have tried this recipe and love, love, love it! Enjoy!
Turkey Gorgonzola Burgers
1 lb lean ground turkey
3 oz Gorgonzola cheese, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp vegetable oil
6 100% whole-grain buns
6 Tbsp barbecue sauce (see recipe posted three days ago)
Shredded cabbage (optional)
1. Preheat grill to medium. Combine first five ingredients and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Lightly mix together and form into 6 patties. Brush them with oil.
2. Grill burgers for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until internal temp is 165°F. Toast buns for 2 minutes. Serve burgers on buns; garnish with barbecue sauce and cabbage, if desired.
Makes 6 servings . Per serving: 293 cal, 11 g fat (4 g sat), 27 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 545 mg sodium, 26 g protein
(from Women's Heath Magazine, 2012)
Turkey Gorgonzola Burgers
1 lb lean ground turkey
3 oz Gorgonzola cheese, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp vegetable oil
6 100% whole-grain buns
6 Tbsp barbecue sauce (see recipe posted three days ago)
Shredded cabbage (optional)
1. Preheat grill to medium. Combine first five ingredients and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Lightly mix together and form into 6 patties. Brush them with oil.
2. Grill burgers for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until internal temp is 165°F. Toast buns for 2 minutes. Serve burgers on buns; garnish with barbecue sauce and cabbage, if desired.
Makes 6 servings . Per serving: 293 cal, 11 g fat (4 g sat), 27 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 545 mg sodium, 26 g protein
(from Women's Heath Magazine, 2012)
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