I’ve noticed how my thin friends take small, just-enough portions of food. They don’t overeat and rarely indulge in sweets or desserts.
Then I’ve noticed how my overweight friends and relatives take generous portions. They eat till they’re stuffed. Then they enjoy dessert and treats.
When you realize that weight loss/gain comes down to calories in and calories out, it’s easy to see how portions affect what you weigh.
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I had an interesting conversation recently. The man I was talking with is overweight and wanted to know how I lost weight and kept it off. My story seemed amazing to him because he has been unable to make any healthy changes.
We talked a lot of psycho-babble about how our unconscious system of beliefs drives us toward behavior even when we know we shouldn’t be doing it. How we minimize the effect of that behavior. And how we use food for emotional and pleasure reasons.
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I recently had the opportunity to host some young adults in my house for a few days. It was kind of crazy trying to cook, keep the dishes clean, schedule everyone for showers, etc.
In the midst of it all, however, the eating habits of two young men came to my attention. One young man was wiry, thin, and energetic. He bounded around with great enthusiasm. The other young man was quite overweight. He appeared to be constantly broke out in a sweat, and he nabbed the recliner whenever he could to kick back and put his feet up.
The skinny young man took small portions of food, not much more than my nine-year-old son would eat. He didn’t eat snacks between meals that I knew of.
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Do you remember the childish chant: “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!”? Well, I felt like that today.
I think it’s the summer weather. There’s something about it that makes me crave ice cream. Perhaps it’s the hot temperatures. Or maybe it’s all the childhood memories of summer ice cream eating.
There was a little store across the street from the house where I grew up. The store owner, Flossy, had a small floor freezer with a sliding glass door – the kind you look down into. You could buy all kinds of popsicles – orange cream, chocolate with vanilla centers and covered in nuts, sundae bars, vanilla with a chocolate shell, etc. (Are you craving yet?) I was a frequent patron of her store.
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Today at the grocery store I saw an elderly woman pulling a gallon of milk from the shelf. She slid it across the shelf and as soon as it came off the edge, her arm plunged down from its weight. I started to jump toward her. It looked like she was going to drop the jug and be thrown forward. The jug “landed” in the bottom part of the refrigerator case and she was okay.
Immediately the thought came to me: “That’s why we have to strength train.”
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Beautiful sunny days make outdoor exercising ideal. One way you can get your exercise in and enjoy the outdoors is by taking a fitness walk. All you need is a nice place to walk. Check your local parks for trails, or enjoy your neighborhood if the streets are safe to walk on.
You can add many different exercises into your walk. These exercises will help build muscular strength and increase your endurance. You can add as many/few exercises as you like, adjusting the workout to your fitness level.
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I’ve already learned that having dessert in my house spells disaster. Unless I make something I don’t like, which is kind of difficult considering we’re talking about dessert!
So when my friend asked what she could bring over for our cookout last night, I told her dessert. There are several pluses to this. 1.) She made it at her house. No being tempted to lick the bowl, the spoon, the container…or test it to make sure it was “okay.” 2.) I could look at it as an outside substance being brought into my house and owned by someone else. I viewed it as hers not mine. 3.) All the dessert leftovers went home with her. No delicious morsels left in my fridge or cupboard to call my name all night.
My second line of defense was to enjoy diet mocha while everyone else slurped and smacked down their ice cream pie and cookies. Thank God for diet hot cocoa mix.
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Weight loss comes down to one day. Today. If you can be successful today that’s all that matters. Because when you wake up tomorrow, it will be today.
Don’t think about anything else except today. Do you think you can make it through today? Can you make the right choices today?
Today is all you have to worry about. And here’s how you win the weight loss battle today.
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I’m taking a course on behavior change and read something today that really impacted me. Ronda Gates, the author, wrote: “To set the stage for change you must first nurture and forgive yourself: give yourself credit for attempting to care for yourself in the past.”
I’ve recently begun working with several past clients who were off for awhile and came back for personal training. They fell back into old patterns, gained weight, and felt miserable. Now they are making a fresh start.
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First of all, let’s get one thing straight – never, ever, EVER skip breakfast! (I hope you heard that ‘cause I was shouting.)
If you skip breakfast, your metabolism and your blood sugar drop. Bad news. Not only will you feel groggy and tired, but you’re body pulls back on how many calories it burns. Then by the time you do eat, you’re ravenous and grabbing anything in sight. Like the birthday brownies someone brought into work.
When you eat breakfast, your body is nourished, your metabolism wakes up, and your blood sugar stabilizes. This is good. Getting off to a good start in the morning means you will have better control over your eating all day long. Plus, studies show breakfast eaters tend to eat less overall calories and stay slimmer!
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I’ve always said you have to make your environment supportive if you want to be successful at weight loss. After spending a week away from home, away from my supportive environment, I’m more convinced of this than ever! (On a side a note, a reader sent this article link for healthy travel – check it out.)
If you are surrounded everyday by pancakes, sausage, French fries and burgers, ice cream, candy, pizza, etc., you’re going to cave. There’s no one with enough will power to stand against tempting foods day after day after day. It’s one thing to bolster your resolve for a few hours when you go to a party or out to dinner. But to keep this kind of mental focus all the time is exhausting. It’s impossible.
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I recently read an article in “Fitness Matters” magazine about strategies that appear to keep people thin. People who’ve successfully lost weight and kept it off, and people who’ve always been thin do a lot of the same behaviors.
All of these behaviors fit under living a healthy lifestyle. Hmmm.
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We’re driving north on the interstate, the last leg of the trip. Almost home! I am so ready to get back into my routine and back to my safe environment.
I felt pretty good about my week in Alabama, but these last two days on the road haven’t been good. I’m tired, road weary, and low on resolve. I’ve had carbs and sugar and who know how many calories.
Driving for me is tiring and boring. I want to munch to stay alert, but even if it’s good stuff like grapes and almonds, it’s too much. And spending a night in a hotel and two days in the car makes packing healthy foods a challenge. I did take healthy snacks (yogurt, fruit, protein bars), but we stopped a couple of times for meals – some good, some not so good.
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It’s hard to believe how quickly this week has flown by. Yesterday I went for another 8-mile run on Chief Ladiga Trail. What a great run. Then I took my boys to the pool for the afternoon. In the evening I dragged my whole family back to the trail for a walk. It was a gorgeous evening to be outside.
Today I took cycling again – Jamie’s a great instructor. Had to laugh at her accent. “Now we’re going to go up a big hee-ill.” I hit the legs too, braving the free weights and leg press where it seems only the men venture. Good workout though.
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My sister-in-law has an iphone with tons of apps. With one of them you can look up the nutrition information for restaurants. Because her daughter is going out Friday night to Olive Garden, we looked up the entrees to give her options for a healthy meal.
Boy, were we shocked. Now, I knew most Italian food is ridiculously high in calories, but we were all blown away not just by the calories, but the saturated fat and sodium levels.
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This morning I woke up groggy and tired. I’m sure it was from the junk I ate last night. I did not feel like working out, and had to drag myself off the couch from where I was sipping my green tea. Since I felt so blah, I knew I would not be motivated to do a hard treadmill workout so I took the cycling class again. There was a different instructor this time and she was fantastic. After a great class, I hit the weights for an upper body workout.
Today we’ve been hanging around home. I took a nap and did laundry. (Yeah, pure excitement.) Tonight I’m going to hang out with my nieces, probably hit the mall. Should be fun.
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This morning started great with a cycling class and a leg workout. I had to get used to the bike, but the music was familiar and I was able to follow along well. But the strange thing I’ve noticed every time I go to a gym in the South is that I don’t see women using free weights. There may be a few using strength training machines, but no ladies sweating, huffing, and straining to throw heavy weights around. I definitely felt like an outsider (and they all knew it when I said anything with my Yankee accent!).
The day was gorgeous and I took my boys to the pool for a couple of hours. Then we went out for dinner with my husband’s parents to a Greek Pizzeria called “Romas.” This was the cheat I had planned on for the week, and let me tell you, it’s good I have the rest of the week to work off all those calories. I had the best chicken gyro ever. “Mama Tina” makes the flatbread fresh daily. It was amazing.
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This morning I dragged my husband out of bed to ride bike alongside me as I ran eight miles on Chief Ladiga Trail. It is part of the longest paved rails-to-trails system and runs for 95 miles through Alabama and into Georgia.
The trail section I ran on passes through mostly wooded land and rural areas. We even saw a small bamboo forest and wetlands. Of course there were lots of rabbits and squirrels scampering about. It was a beautiful run and I hope to run it one more time this week.
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My husband had to work late so we got started an hour later than we planned. Then I took the wheel first so he could take a break. We headed west on PA turnpike to get to I-81 south. There was a lot of construction, rain, heavy truck traffic – and I hate to admit it but I missed our exit. By the time I realized it, we were headed way west toward the tunnels.
Once we finally got off the turnpike we found a mountain road to get us down to Chambersburg where we could pick up I-81. After our “scenic route” and about an hour unplanned detour, I was pretty upset. (Especially knowing how many hours were ahead of us and that I had added an extra hour on.) I caved and ate ice cream when we stopped for a bathroom break. Emotional eating for sure.
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We’re packing up for a week with my in-laws in Alabama. I’m trying to pack light, but with two kids, swim and exercise stuff, toys, food, etc., it looks like we’ll have a full car.
We’re planning to leave at five in the afternoon and drive through the night. It’s just easier if the boys sleep for half of the trip! My hubby and I will trade off on the driving and possibly stop for a few hours to rest.
In preparation, I’ve thought a lot about how I can stay on track. Here are the steps I’m taking to keep my vacation from being a diet disaster: [More]
At least that’s what I’m counting on.
I’m leaving tomorrow for the Deep South – Alabama. We are going to visit my husband’s family. They are not exercisers and they enjoy typical southern fare, such as cornbread made in a black iron skillet, potatoes and red hots (sausages), ‘mater sandwiches, pecan pie, and haystack candy.
Though it’ll be a good time visiting with family, I’ll need to stay focused and structured with my eating and exercising. It won’t be like home where I have my environment cleaned out of all junk food. There’ll be stuff EVERYWHERE!
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My favorite meal to get at a Mexican restaurant is chicken fajitas. It’s a lot of food so I only eat one tortilla and bring half of the chicken and veggies home. That’s how I got the idea to make a chicken fajita salad.
We had been out to eat at a Mexican restaurant and I brought half of the meal home. When I reheated the chicken and veggies, I decided to drop it on a bed of lettuce leaves. It was really good.
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A lady I know of has struggled with her weight for years. She yo-yos up and down, sometimes with drastic weight gains and losses. I saw her friend and asked how she was doing. Her friend said, “She has an eating plan, but I don’t think she’s following it.”
I had to laugh at the oxymoron. “Eating plan” and “not following” are contradicting phrases. Unless you’re following a plan, you have no plan.
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If you’re like me, your calendar is full of graduation parties, outdoor picnics, and barbeques. This can be a challenge diet-wise because the food choices aren’t usually the best.
Just this weekend I had to navigate around three cakes, untold amounts of ice cream, and bowls of chips galore. One party was for my husband’s birthday so I did indulge there. For the rest, I had to think ahead to stay out of food trouble.
Here are some tips for enjoying these great summer celebrations without sinking on the calorie ship. [More]
