I thought this was an especially eye-opener:
November 12, 2009
by Mary_RD
In a past Blog, I covered the differences between chronic dieters (also called ‘Restrained Eaters’) and Natural Eaters who have not experienced deprivation diets. The disparity rests with the restrained eaters’ narrow boundaries, rigid control and inevitable feelings of guilt; the natural eater shares none of these. Continue reading….
Public Domain/wikimedia commons
Public Domain/wikimedia commons
Ways to Cut the Calories and Fat This Holiday Season
Oh, those dinner feasts eaten every holiday season! Everyone anticipates it for weeks, the cook spends hours preparing it, and it fills bellies beyond their normal capacity. In planning the feast this year, the family cook should consider all options for lowering fat and making healthier choices. Keeping portion control in mind as eaters heap the goodies on their plates is important, and It wouldn’t hurt to work a little exercise into the day to help burn some of those holiday calories off either!
Its that time of year when temptation is around every corner! I made it through Halloween maintaining my weight loss and intend to do the same for Thanksgiving and Christmas. One way to do that is by stepping up exercise. Here is an article with some good ideas to incorporate exercise into the holiday fun!
Calorie Burning Games for the Holidays
During the Holidays, play calorie burning games!
by Jan Peterson
During the holidays, in addition to enjoying each other’s company families spend an enormous amount of time eating meals, throwing parties and exchanging goodie baskets. According to ABC News Health in its November, 2004 article “Making Thanksgiving Dinner Healthier” by Ali Mohamadi, Americans gain, on an average, seven pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day! They also provide statistics from a report by Health Management Resources, that a typical Thanksgiving meal contains 7,100 calories!
Finding activity games that the whole family can enjoy during family gatherings will burn some of those staggering calories, and fight packing on those pounds. Every family should become more aware of the importance of exercise and physical activities all year round, and be sure to incorporate fun ways to exercise during their holiday events.
Continue to eat healthy and track what you eat!
Well, it’s been five months since i first walked through the Medi-weightloss doors and started my weight loss journey. I’m proud to report that as of today I have lost a total of 47 pounds! I began maintenance approximately 4 weeks ago at 40 pounds lost and have lost another seven pounds since then!
It’s important to realize that once the Medi visits and weigh ins are done, your work is not over. Keeping fit and eating right is the key. A diet should not be about a temporary list of foods, but about how to eat for life.
I have incorported back in some of the foods that were taboo during the restriction phase, but in reduced amounts and with smarter choices. I am making a daily effort to eat healthy and stay in control.
I am continuing my weight loss success by:
- Determining the nutritional breakdown and glycemic index ranking of foods I plan to eat.
- Keeping my foot choices low fat
- Keeping my carb intake to a minimum
- Eating protein with every meal
- Eating pasta that is multi-grain or whole wheat in conservative amounts.
- Eating in the correct portions (here’s the guide)
Eat lots of low glycemic vegetables!
- Eating more veggies, fruit, fish and fiber
- Eating only reduced fat cheese
- Following my own guide to eating out (read it here)
- Walking regularly and doing 10-20 minutes of exercise bursts 1-2 times daily
- Entering my daily food intake into Caloriecount.com
- Removing my “too big” clothes from my
And Fruits!
closet and replacing them with fun “skinnier” clothes. (Tips for Organizing Your Closet Here.)
I’m now enjoying:
- Kashi Go Lean Cereal (140 calories for 1 cup/1 g fat/30 g carbs/ 10 g fiber and 13 g protein)
- My Southwestern Tortilla soup (without the Tortillas!) Low Glycemic!
- Tilapia with Pecans
- Salads with Wishbone Spritz instead of a bottled dressing
- Sandwiches on Fry’s bakery whole grain bread (55 cal per slice/.5 g fat g/10 g carbs/3 g protein).
- Artichoke Fritatta often (a yummy egg dish) (recipe here)
- Multi-grain spaghetti and shells and brown rice
Eat multi-grain or wheat pasta and brown rice!
- Low carb tortillas (Misson Carb Balance) for breakfast burritos or chicken fajitas.
- Diet root beer floats using Breyer’s Carb Smart Ice Cream.
- My Spicy Chicken Wings (recipe here)
- Lots of steamed veggies and my Cucumber Salad (recipe here)
- Cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast or a snack.
- Sunflower seeds for a snack in front of the TV or computer.
After your weight loss diet, you need to establish your lifestyle diet and rules for living healthy right away. If you are in the success zone right now, stay there! Life is too short to go back to living in that fat body!
When do women outgrow high heels?
Be sure to read:
My article “How to Stay Slim After Weight Loss” to determine why you gained weight in the first place!
My article “Getting Older Isn’t Easy for Women” if you are over fifty and can relate!
Here’s an article with a great exercise idea!
-Jan
Serious Calorie Burning with No Equipment Investment
by Dave Schrader
What are Hindu squats?
Squats are a staple of weight lifting strength building routines for the lower body. Hindu squats are a similar exercise movement done without barbells and using your body weight along with synchronized breathing at a fast tempo. This enhances endurance and strengthens the lungs, chest and lower back as well as toning and working the lower body. Doing a set of 25 (or what is comfortable) to start will give you an idea about their superb calorie burning effectiveness.
Keep reading HERE.
What should a tummy look like? and who said so?
Once you’ve stuck with a weight loss program, whether it be Medi-weightloss or Nutri-system or whatever, you’ll find yourself looking better in your clothes, but not always in your skin. If you’ve had the weight on for a while, you might find yourself with some loose skin. If you have youth on your side, you might have avoided this, but not always.
It’s important to still give yourself the praise you deserve and be proud of the new woman (or man!) you’ve become. Work on your issues and if need be speak to specialists about skin rejuvenation or even cosmetic surgery. Regardless, be proud of what you’ve done and realize you are not the only person in this situation!
Glamour recently ran an article that showed an average woman, complete with her stomach pooch. This article has gotten so much positive attention that the magazine editors are determined to use models for all future editions that reflect more “real bodies”.
While that’s great, that doesn’t mean you should stop your pursuit of a healthy, toned body. It just emphasizes that you need to accept who you are today. Tomorrow may never come!
Here are two articles that talk about the picture of this “Average” Glamour Girl and the feedback its has earned.
From Glamour’s Health and Fitness Website:
On the C.L.: The Picture You Can’t Stop Talking About: Meet “the Woman on p. 194″
by Cindi Leive
It’s a photo that measures all of three by three inches in our September issue, but the letters about it started to flood my inbox literally the day Glamour hit newsstands. (As editor-in-chief, I pay attention to this stuff!) “I am gasping with delight…I love the woman on p 194!” said one…then another, and another, (Read the entire article HERE)
and
“On the C.L.: Are You Ready to Start a Body Image Revolution? Oh, Wait—You Already Did!”
By Cindi Leive, Editor-in-Chief of Glamour
As the editor of this magazine, I’ve been proud of plenty of portraits we’ve published — from fashion designers to First Ladies and beyond. But I’m especially proud of a shoot you’ll see in our November issue — not because of the work that went into it, but because of the important work it kicks off. Oh, and did I mention the whole fun, fabulous thing was your idea?
Celebrate Your Weightloss by Shopping with a Friend!
After losing a significant amount of weight after nine weeks on Medi-Weightloss, it is human nature to start getting sloppy and ease up on the routine of what made it successful. Don’t Let This Happen! Renew your weightloss commitment at this point. Be sure to:
- Keep shopping with a list
- Record everything you eat
- Stay within your calorie goals
- Don’t start weighing yourself everyday, but stick with the once a week schedule.
- Analyze every meal and new recipe before you eat it
- Keep your family and friends abreast of your progress
- Celebrate success by seeing a good movie (without the popcorn!) or shopping for new clothes with someone who supports your efforts.
Remember that each week you stay the course, the healthier you become and the more likely you will continue the commitment to healthy eating after you’ve lost all your extra weight.
Keep track, and stay the course! Don’t stop in the middle of becoming the person you want to be!
Ask the hard questions when you reach the "Power Point"
At Your “Power Point” - Ask the Hard Questions!
After weeks of sacrifice and commitment, reaching your weight goal is a heady experience and you’ll feel powerful, unstoppable and in charge of your life. That is a well-deserved feeling at this “power point” in your diet, but also a time to take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself why you hid yourself under that layer of fat in the first place!
It was after I had reached week nine on my Medi-weight loss Program that I reached my power point. It was when I felt the safety cocoon, which I had been living in during my overeating, cracked open, and I was ready to emerge as that butterfly I had become.
After You’ve Lost Weight, Ask the Hard Questions:
(Continue reading HERE)
When time permits eggs are a good choice for breakfast.
I have never really been a breakfast person. I can easily skip breakfast and wait until lunch to eat. I learned, however, through Medi-Weightloss, that this is not good for losing weight. Our bodies need breakfast to “break” the “fast” we have gone through overnight. Our blood sugar is low and our brains and bodies need energy to get moving and thinking. Eating a breakfast that is low glycemic will start the body’s engine and the energy it provides will last until lunchtime.
If your mornings are crazy like mine used to be when I was working, breakfast is probably the hardest meal for you, and you are tempted to eat something quick that isn’t good for you or just skip it altogether.
When time is on your side:
Salsa Eggs
Mix 1 whole egg and 1 egg white with 1 tablespoon salsa and 1/8 cup low fat cheese. Scramble in pan sprayed with I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter Spray or Olive Oil Spray. Add a side of 1/2 orange or peach.
Western Omlet
Saute 2 Tbls onion and green pepper in a pan sprayed with Olive Oil Spray. Add 1 whole egg and 1 egg white, 1/8 cup low fat cheese, and 1 tbls Imitation Bacon Bits and scramble. Serve with a slice of canadian bacon and 1/2 cup blueberries.
Mock Potato Pancakes
Use Spaghetti Squash to replace shredded potatoes to make “Potato Pancakes”. You can find the recipe here at the end of my article about the Medi-Weightloss Program.
Mini Quiches
Mix 3 whole eggs and 1 egg white with 1/4 cup low fat cheese. Saute 1/2 cup of your choice of veggies in olive oil spray. Place sauted veggies into the bottom of muffin cup and pour egg mixture on top, filling cup 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees until eggs are set.This should make 4 quiches. You can make several batches ahead and grab one when you are on the go.
My Favorite Fast and Easy Breakfasts During Medi-Weightloss Acute Phase:
Medi-Weightloss Protein Bars
I love these! They are great anytime, for any meal or snack, but especially great to eat on the way to work or school. Each bar only has 100 calories, 2.5 g fat and 10g of protein. My favorites are the Blueberry Pomegranate Bliss, and Chocolate Celebration Delite.
Cottage Cheese and Fruit
Cottage Cheese is a great high protein breakfast. Pair it with your favorite low glycemic fruit!
Most mornings I eat 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese and 1 cup fruit, usually blueberries, sliced peaches or watermelon. I love watermelon and found out that even though it is not on the Medi-Weightloss ”allowed” food list since it has a high glycemic number, its glycemic load is actually low due to the volume of water in melon. Read about the glycemic index and load HERE.
Low Fat, Low Carb Yogurt
Kroeger has a yogurt “Carb Master” that is both low carb and low fat and I can’t find any other brand like it! It has 80 calories, 1.5 g fat, 3 effective carb grams, and 12 g protein. I ate 1 container for breakfast all by itself. It takes so good you won’t believe it!
Protein Shake
I’m not much of a protein shake person but if you are, this is a good option. When I did have a shake for breakfast, I used vanilla and added frozen fresh strawberries and a package of Splenda. I usually freeze strawberries if I am not eating them fast enough. Adding them to your protein mix makes the shake frothy and delicious.
Once you reach maintenance, add some frozen strawberries and frozen banana pieces to the shake for an especially yummy shake!
Hard Boiled Eggs
This is really my least favorite breakfast, but it does work in a pinch! Have a few ready to go.
These are my solutions for breakfast during the acute phase on the Medi-Weightloss program. As I find other recipes that I like, I’ll add them to this blog. I found, however, that having just a few standards worked best for me and simplified shopping and planning.
Just remember to find a few things that you like and eat them in the right portions every morning, rain or shine, and you’ll do just fine. Get more creative for lunch or dinner when you have more time!
Time to get rid of those clothes that are too big!
About week 8 I had lost 32 pounds and I realized that most of my usual clothes were fitting sloppy. I went into my closet and started trying on clothes and found pants(with waistbands!) that used to fit snug before my weightloss were beyond comfortable now. I tried on every single thing in my closet and removed many items that were now too big. I even opened a box labeled “too small” and found blouses and pants that now fit. There were even some great stuff that I missed wearing when they would have fit, because I didn’t try them on in the right week!
After culling out my closet, I got busy organizing it and ended up
writing this article. Read it then do it…..cull…..organize…..get your new, slimmer life in order!
Here’s the article:
A Guide to Expanding Wardrobe Space
A clothes closet can be a wardrobe treasure chest or a tangled mess of stuff. If not organized in some logical, retrievable manner, pulling oneself together takes longer!
That little room off of the master suite contains the layer that the world sees during one’s professional career or a night out on the town. So why not give it a little love and respect?
(Continue reading HERE.)
