As we end the month of September and October eerily creeps up on us from around the corner, we're reminded that the holiday's really are just around the corner! It may not seem like it, but Thanksgiving and Christmas will sneak up on us sooner than we realize...and what comes with the holidays? FOOD.
LOTS and LOTS of FOOD.
Even Halloween! Just think about all the candy that is surrounding us and bombarding us, especially in the week before and after Halloween.
This is where self-discipline comes into play. There's going to be a ton of temptations coming up in the next couple months, and it's going to be difficult to say no to some of them, especially when you have a plate of Christmas cookies under your nose. But one of the best ways to work on your self-control to prepare yourself for the holiday's is to start NOW. Yes, NOW. I'm not kidding! You may be able to think that if you cut out sweets and junk food, and all that "bad stuff" the day before you go to a party that you'll be fine, well, not to burst your bubble, but it's going to be extremely difficult. So one of the best ways to prepare for these parties with the lavish sweets, breads, and alcohol is to start cutting back NOW!
No, it's not easy, but it's worth it! Seriously! Here's a couple of ways to start working on that self-control!
1. No Junk/Processed Foods! AT ALL!
How often to we actually look at the ingredients on a package of food in the grocery store? Have you actually HEARD of all of the ingredients in that food? Can you even pronounce all the ingredients? A number of ingredients are inserted by food companies to hide an odor/flavor, add color, sweeten, texturize, or preserve the food. These ingredients are also tied into a number of autoimmune diseases and are LOADED with sodium, refined sugars, and trans fats which rain on your parade as far as weight loss is concerned. Foods that should be avoided completely are: sodas, fast food, baked goods like cakes, cookies, pies, etc, candies, processed meats and dairy, anything white (white rice, bread, pasta), and high-sodium canned foods. If anything starts with the word: hydrogenated DO NOT EAT IT. And finally, avoid ANYTHING that says "enriched"!
2. Drink your water! Hydrate!
We need to regulate water and sodium consumption in our bodies. Too much sodium in our body can increase blood pressure and decrease our metabolism, and sodium...IS EVERYWHERE. Basically how it works, when you consume sodium is excess is distributed under the skin (where it attracts water) and it's retained in your cells this is why we feel bloated, or puffy for lack of a better term. This isn't something for you to lose sleep over, but we need to be aware of what we're putting in our body. One way to do this is to eat fresh foods, stay away from processed and pre-packaged foods, and go easy on the table salt, soy sauce! Be conscious about what's going into your body! Something I use to replace a lot of condiments that contain a ton of sodium is the Mrs. Dash seasoning! There's a ton of flavors and they're all salt-free! Now, as far as water is concerned, DRINK UP! Men should generally drink about 120 oz a day, and women should have around 80 oz a day. Sometimes even, I tell people to drink half their body weight in ounces a day! Yes, you may find yourself running to the bathroom a bit more than usual, but it's a small price to pay for a healthy body!
3. Cut out the Booze
No one particularly likes this rule, and I'm not suggesting that you cut out alcohol for life. But alcohol is a tall glass of empty calories. When you consume alcohol, you're causing your body dehydration, mineral loss, and water loss. When you lose minerals like potassium, magnesium, zinc, and calcium, you're losing the minerals that are very important to fluid balance in the body, fat metabolism, muscle contractions and relaxation. When you have alcohol in your system, it releases estrogen into your blood stream, which it turn, promotes fat storage, and restricts muscle growth. Not to mention that fact we all know, it vastly decreases your inhibitions, will power, and increases your appetite causing you to go through fast food at 1am reaching for a burger and large fries. Seriously? Try cutting out alcohol for 30 days and tell me you don't feel better at the end of the month. I'm not even joking.
4. Keep a food journal.
It's almost like a contract with yourself to eat clean. This helps keep you accountable to yourself because you're forcing yourself to see what you're putting in your body every single day. This also helps to keep your mind on your weight loss goals. Keep track of what you eat throughout the day! It's not that hard! Jot it down quickly as you eat throughout the day. Seeing what you actually put in your body will give you small reality checks, you may find out that you don't eat as healthy as you think you do! Plus, being honest with yourself about what you're eating, may help you make some healthy changes in your diet. But the key to this is, being honest with yourself! Don't cheat yourself out of this, because in reality, the only person you're hurting is yourself.
Start following some of these rules and I promise, if you actually stick to it and be honest with yourself, you'll start seeing changes, not only in how you feel, but in how you look as well :)
Here, I'll even help you out! Here's a couple of recipes that are healthy, and actually taste good!
Broccoli, Turkey, & Cheese Lunch Wrap
*Serves 4
Ingredients:
3/4 cup broccoli florets
1/4 cup (2 oz) light cream cheese
2 Tbsp fat-free Italian dressing
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
6 slices low-sodium turkey breast
1/3 cup bottle roasted red peppers chopped
4 round whole wheat/whole grain wraps
1. Steam broccoli, for about 5 minutes or until it's crisp/tender.
2. Combine cream cheese, dressing, and Italian seasoning in a bowl
3. Combine broccoli, cream cheese mix, turkey and bell pepper in a medium skillet, cook turkey mix over med-high heat until it's thoroughly heated.
4. Spread mix over wraps, roll, and enjoy!
Spinach & Ricotta Chicken
*Serves 6
Filling:
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/3 cup reduced fat parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 (10-oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 large egg
Chicken:
6 (6oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Combine all filling ingredients
3. For chicken: place each chicken breast between 2 sheets heavy-duty plastic wrap, pound to 1/4" thickness. Divide and spread filling over chicken breasts and roll-up, tuck in the sides, and place the chicken seam side down, in a 13x9 baking dish, pour wine over chicken, and cover dish with foil.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, basting chicken with wine every 10 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes until/until chicken is done. Remove chicken from the pan and strain the wine mix through a sieve over a bowl and throw away the solids, and serve the wine mixture over the chicken.
*Michaels, Jilliam, Making the Cut, Three Rivers Press; New York, 2007
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
The most feared four-letter word in the English Language: DIET
Weight loss.
Ask anyone how to lost weight and they'll tell you the same thing.
Go to the gym. Workout for an hour. Go home. Eat well.
Eat well. Okay, simple enough right? Have a salad now and then, cut back on the burger and fries, maybe cut it down to one soda a day...that should do it right?
Um.
No.
Not even close!
When it comes to weight loss, a lot of people have this fantasized idea that it's 80% exercising, and 20% diet. Well....sorry to burst your bubble, but when it comes to weight loss, it's more like 40% diet, 60% exercise. Now, that may not be the exact statistic, but it's pretty darn close if I say so myself.
Now, diet. This four letter word has a crazy effect of people. It's probably the most terrifying word in the feminine language! Let's face it, no one likes to use it, I don't either. When it comes to "dieting" as far as weight loss is concerned, it shouldn't be a "diet", it should be a lifestyle change! When you're on a weight loss journey, you really are changing your way of life whether you realize it or not. You're making a commitment to yourself to change the way you were living your life before! You were unhappy with yourself, lacked confidence in the way you looked (and maybe even in other aspects of your life), and you ate like a 7 year old. Yes. YOU ATE LIKE A CHILD. We've all done it, even I've done it. I'm not kidding! Up until I was about 19 years old, I ate like a 5 year old. Sure I ate my veggies and whatnot, but I was in college, my fridge was packed with SNACKS. That was my downfall, snacks! But I changed my ways and started eating like an adult. When it comes to this lifestyle change, we need to start eating like adults, and when we do, we quickly realize that eating this way is mostly for function. Now, I'm not saying that we only eat things that taste like cardboard. No, I get enough of that being gluten free, but you can eat for taste as well, just make sure it's not an entire pack of twizzlers or a giant burger from your favorite fast food place.
We need to come to the realization that if we're going to jump on this lifestyle change, and REALLY, I mean REALLY change our life, we need to start eating PROPERLY. So, about this whole eating properly thing...how is it done? Well, that's a whole other ball game!
I'm not a big fan of counting calories. Yes, smartphone apps like MyFitnessPal are great apps for keeping track of your caloric intake, and it's a great idea to keep track of what you're eating! I encourage all of my clients to keep some kind of food journal to track what they put into their body every day, and I keep one myself. This is a great way of keeping yourself honest about what you're putting in your body! When you actually SEE what you put into yourself, it becomes more real, and a lot of people have their "Aha!" moment when they finally see what they eat like, that is the moment where they choose to make a change, and stick to it!
I've tracked down a couple of places that go into some awesome detail about portion size (this is also VERY important for weight loss!). When you start to control your portions you'll quickly realize how much our nation has INCREASED the amount of food that we take in just in one meal!! So I encourage every single one of you to really look into these sites and figure out your portion sizes!
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/portion-control/NU00267&slide=2
Now, your homework.
Look at those two pages above and read about portion sizes, and get a food journal, and BE HONEST ABOUT IT!! The only person that you're hurting and cheating out of a healthy lifestyle is yourself. So let's do it. Get that journal, be honest with yourself, and eat like an adult!!
Ask anyone how to lost weight and they'll tell you the same thing.
Go to the gym. Workout for an hour. Go home. Eat well.
Eat well. Okay, simple enough right? Have a salad now and then, cut back on the burger and fries, maybe cut it down to one soda a day...that should do it right?
Um.
No.
Not even close!
When it comes to weight loss, a lot of people have this fantasized idea that it's 80% exercising, and 20% diet. Well....sorry to burst your bubble, but when it comes to weight loss, it's more like 40% diet, 60% exercise. Now, that may not be the exact statistic, but it's pretty darn close if I say so myself.
Now, diet. This four letter word has a crazy effect of people. It's probably the most terrifying word in the feminine language! Let's face it, no one likes to use it, I don't either. When it comes to "dieting" as far as weight loss is concerned, it shouldn't be a "diet", it should be a lifestyle change! When you're on a weight loss journey, you really are changing your way of life whether you realize it or not. You're making a commitment to yourself to change the way you were living your life before! You were unhappy with yourself, lacked confidence in the way you looked (and maybe even in other aspects of your life), and you ate like a 7 year old. Yes. YOU ATE LIKE A CHILD. We've all done it, even I've done it. I'm not kidding! Up until I was about 19 years old, I ate like a 5 year old. Sure I ate my veggies and whatnot, but I was in college, my fridge was packed with SNACKS. That was my downfall, snacks! But I changed my ways and started eating like an adult. When it comes to this lifestyle change, we need to start eating like adults, and when we do, we quickly realize that eating this way is mostly for function. Now, I'm not saying that we only eat things that taste like cardboard. No, I get enough of that being gluten free, but you can eat for taste as well, just make sure it's not an entire pack of twizzlers or a giant burger from your favorite fast food place.
We need to come to the realization that if we're going to jump on this lifestyle change, and REALLY, I mean REALLY change our life, we need to start eating PROPERLY. So, about this whole eating properly thing...how is it done? Well, that's a whole other ball game!
I'm not a big fan of counting calories. Yes, smartphone apps like MyFitnessPal are great apps for keeping track of your caloric intake, and it's a great idea to keep track of what you're eating! I encourage all of my clients to keep some kind of food journal to track what they put into their body every day, and I keep one myself. This is a great way of keeping yourself honest about what you're putting in your body! When you actually SEE what you put into yourself, it becomes more real, and a lot of people have their "Aha!" moment when they finally see what they eat like, that is the moment where they choose to make a change, and stick to it!
I've tracked down a couple of places that go into some awesome detail about portion size (this is also VERY important for weight loss!). When you start to control your portions you'll quickly realize how much our nation has INCREASED the amount of food that we take in just in one meal!! So I encourage every single one of you to really look into these sites and figure out your portion sizes!
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/portion-control/NU00267&slide=2
Now, your homework.
Look at those two pages above and read about portion sizes, and get a food journal, and BE HONEST ABOUT IT!! The only person that you're hurting and cheating out of a healthy lifestyle is yourself. So let's do it. Get that journal, be honest with yourself, and eat like an adult!!
Monday, September 16, 2013
That big scary thing in the gym: the weight room.
Recently, it's come to my attention that a lot of women are intimidated by the weight room. Now, don't get me wrong, I used to be in that club as well. I wouldn't touch the weight room if I didn't have to. Cardio and body weight training fix everything right?
Wrong.
Although I incorporate a ton of body weight training into the programs I use with my clients, it's important to incorporate weight training into your program as well! This is where a lot of women go wrong in their weight loss journey, no offense ladies, but it's time to cowboy up and get in there!
I get it, there's a lot of big guys grunting, with veins popping out of their neck, who are chiseled to perfection, it's intimidating. But there is a plus to weight training.
First, weight/strength training increases your metabolism for an entire hour while your body works to help your muscles recover after training. Having this spike in your metabolism helps burn calories, almost as much as 25% more than you would by just doing cardiovascular training (in cardiovascular training your heart returns back to it's normal resting rate after your exercise is complete and ceases to raise your metabolism). Many people believe that cardio training is the best way to lose weight, and yes, while it's true that if you go from being a complete couch potato to running for 10-30 minutes every single day, you'll lose a few pounds, but eventually within at least 4-6 weeks, your body will plateau and you won't lose any more weight.
Another reason why we women won't go for weight training is because we don't want to be huge. I mean, what woman wants to walk around looking like the Hulk? No, we want to be slim and slender, we want long lean muscles. Honestly, weight and strength training is the best way to do this! You won't get "big" unless you intentionally train to get big! But women have a harder time any way getting big mainly because of the testosterone in our bodies. Don't worry ladies, genetics is on our side in this one: you won't get bulky if you don't want to! If anything, including weight and strength training into your workout will help you develop those sexy lean muscles that we want to have.
Ladies, cowboy up and get your butts into the weight room! It's nothing to be scared of! Go grab that dumbbell and do some curls! I know you have to walk through the land of testosterone to get there, but just hold your breath and do it!
For a little more information on this, check out this stellar article, and then when you're done reading it, give me ten push ups! :)
http://www.livestrong.com/article/421082-weights-vs-cardio-your-guide-to-the-perfect-body/
Wrong.
Although I incorporate a ton of body weight training into the programs I use with my clients, it's important to incorporate weight training into your program as well! This is where a lot of women go wrong in their weight loss journey, no offense ladies, but it's time to cowboy up and get in there!
I get it, there's a lot of big guys grunting, with veins popping out of their neck, who are chiseled to perfection, it's intimidating. But there is a plus to weight training.
First, weight/strength training increases your metabolism for an entire hour while your body works to help your muscles recover after training. Having this spike in your metabolism helps burn calories, almost as much as 25% more than you would by just doing cardiovascular training (in cardiovascular training your heart returns back to it's normal resting rate after your exercise is complete and ceases to raise your metabolism). Many people believe that cardio training is the best way to lose weight, and yes, while it's true that if you go from being a complete couch potato to running for 10-30 minutes every single day, you'll lose a few pounds, but eventually within at least 4-6 weeks, your body will plateau and you won't lose any more weight.
Another reason why we women won't go for weight training is because we don't want to be huge. I mean, what woman wants to walk around looking like the Hulk? No, we want to be slim and slender, we want long lean muscles. Honestly, weight and strength training is the best way to do this! You won't get "big" unless you intentionally train to get big! But women have a harder time any way getting big mainly because of the testosterone in our bodies. Don't worry ladies, genetics is on our side in this one: you won't get bulky if you don't want to! If anything, including weight and strength training into your workout will help you develop those sexy lean muscles that we want to have.
Ladies, cowboy up and get your butts into the weight room! It's nothing to be scared of! Go grab that dumbbell and do some curls! I know you have to walk through the land of testosterone to get there, but just hold your breath and do it!
For a little more information on this, check out this stellar article, and then when you're done reading it, give me ten push ups! :)
http://www.livestrong.com/article/421082-weights-vs-cardio-your-guide-to-the-perfect-body/
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