My son rode a full-size, adult bike for the first time this week. At first he couldn’t get on because the seat was higher than him. He had to straddle the bike then stand on the pedals and push off to get up. He wobbled around, but eventually got moving and steadied. Anytime he slowed down, though, he fell off because he lost momentum and balance.
I see the same thing happening with my clients. They come to me because they want to lose weight and start exercising. They haven’t been eating right and exercising so it’s really tough to get started – kind of like getting on a bike that’s too big for you!
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It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to live every day of your life without getting any sugar of any kind. Going out to dinner, having a work luncheon, or going to a friend’s house probably means food with sugar.
Even if you try to make the best choices, sugar is found in almost every product – including bread, crackers, sauces, dressings, etc.
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This week I’m fasting all sugar, sugar derivatives, and products with sugar. Several of my clients have joined me on this venture too!
What’s been frustrating is finding sugar in everything – light salad dressing, low sugar ketchup, Bisquick, low fat mayo, pretzels, cereal, crackers, bread, etc.
I’m beginning to wonder if there’s anything in a box, bottle, or package that doesn’t contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
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So, you want to get sugar out of your daily diet. Well, it’s not too easy, but it certainly can be done with a little effort. And getting sugar out of your diet is totally worth the effort!
Meal times aren’t too difficult when you’re eating lean proteins and fresh veggies. Snacks and treats can be a challenge, however, so here are ideas on how to enjoy tasty, sugar-free eating.
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Weekends are usually a bust when it comes to dieting and exercise. Everyone wants to kick back, have some R&R, go out to dinner, get together with friends, etc. Usually by the end of the weekend there’s been too much food and too little exercise.
Weekends are when people have time to do something for themselves. Instead of overeating and sitting around, why not grab that time and work on your weight loss? It’d be a great way to kick start your diet.
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Did you know your taste buds are trainable? Over time they adapt and “get used to” the kinds of foods you eat.
For example, think about salt. People who don’t eat salty foods, like someone with heart disease, may eat at a restaurant and say, “This food is so salty.” The next person who consistently adds salt to his/her food may eat at a restaurant and say, “Pass the salt. This food’s too bland.”
Your taste buds will become accustomed to and enjoy what you give them.
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Getting enough protein is essential for a good diet. Our bodies use it to build muscle, bone, blood cells, and even hair.
Protein is also great for weight loss. It helps to stabilize blood sugar and stave off hunger.
Eating good protein sources, such as chicken and turkey breast, and extra lean beef is essential. Most of these meats, however, come in large packs. Who wants to thaw a whole pound of ground turkey breast when you only need enough for one burger?
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When you can’t do what you want – the ideal diet and the perfect exercise – do what you can!
One of my clients injured her knee this week. She had been experiencing great results in weight loss and fitness. With her injury she was unable to exercise for several days.
This injury seemed like a huge setback for her. She thought she had to skip training because of it.
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Where most people have difficulty losing weight is with their diets. Food is too tempting. Every day they struggle to eat right – only to blow it on something.
To lose weight, however, you need a clean diet with healthy portions. Not too much, not too little, and good foods.
Here are 5 easy ways you can clean up your eating and be on your way to weight loss: [More]
Did you have a calorie-laden weekend like I did? Too many special dinners and celebrations knocked me off course – but I’m ready to hit it hard this week!
If you had too many extras this weekend, don’t despair. Move on. Put it behind you and do what it takes to burn those extra calories off this week. You may not have a weight loss for the week, but if you work hard you can have a zero gain!
First, make sure your home is purged of all leftover junk food, sweets, snacks, cakes, ice cream, etc. You don’t want any temptation food hanging around.
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So I’m sitting in church and suddenly have the craving for fresh roasted peanuts. I can imagine smelling them and tasting them. I leaned over and whispered to my hubby, “I’m craving peanuts.” He looked at me funny.
A few minutes later, I smelled a delicious popcorn aroma coming from the kitchen where they were preparing the snack for the kids. “Mmm, popcorn,” I whispered.
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Clients often ask me what I eat and how I cook for my family. They ask for recipes and meal suggestions.
So over the years I’ve been jotting down my re-done recipes. I take things I like and give them a healthy makeover. Less fat, fewer calories, lower sodium, plus whole grains and lean proteins make these recipes diet friendly.
But they’re also easy to make and family friendly. (I get tired of fancy cookbooks with ingredients I can’t even find in the grocery store.)
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Making changes is uncomfortable. It requires you to make conscious choices – and this takes effort. You have to think about what you want to do and then do it. You can’t just keep operating out of habit.
For example, if you’re always too rushed in the morning to eat breakfast, but realize you need to eat breakfast, how are you going to make this change? You’ll have to think about it the night before. Maybe you’ll set your alarm 10 minutes earlier so you have time to eat toast with peanut butter. Maybe you’ll place a banana and a packet of almonds on the counter with your keys. Whatever you decide, it’ll take extra effort to make this change happen.
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Did you ever want Oreos so badly you hopped in your car at 9:00 at night and drove to Walmart to buy a pack?
Cravings can hit you anytime, day or night. They’re pretty powerful and if you’re not ready, they can knock you flat off your diet plan.
The good news is that cravings usually pass in 20 minutes. So if you can hang on to your sanity and distract yourself for awhile, there’s a pretty good chance the craving will pass.
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Your belief system is how you think and feel about life. It’s how you interpret situations and relationships. It’s how you perceive yourself and others. And it completely shapes what you think you can and can’t do.
If you’ve been overweight a long time, if you’ve attempted diets over and over only to fail, if you’ve lost weight and gained it all back…there’s a good chance you believe you’re doomed to be fat.
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Everyone deviates from healthy behavior at times. It is normal and expected. It can be anything from eating three ice cream cones in one day to eating badly for a whole weekend.
Lapses leave you feeling pretty disgusted – disgusted with yourself for falling off the wagon, and disgusting physically from all the junk in your system.
The key to bouncing back from a lapse is to turn it into a learning experience. Look back and examine: 1) the circumstances, 2) your feelings, 3) your state of mind, 4) the people around you, and 5) your environment.
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My mom brought over frozen dinners for the kids as a treat – with chicken nuggets, French fries, and brownies. That list of food is bad enough as it is, but then I turned the box over and read the ingredient list.
I couldn’t pronounce half of the ingredients. The meal was loaded with flavorings, preservatives, MSG and sodium, etc. Yuck! My mom was disgusted. She assumed a frozen dinner would be fairly okay to eat. Wrong!
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Soup is a great dish to have on hand. It’s a quick meal anytime. And you can chock it full of healthy vegetables and lots of flavor for very little calories.
Here’s a recipe for Chicken Vegetable Soup that’s great for your diet. It makes a lot so you can freeze half of it for another week if you want, or freeze it in serving containers for quick lunches.
Chicken Vegetable Soup
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
1 Tbs. minced garlic
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces, cubed
Assorted chopped veggies:
Cabbage
Celery
Carrot
Cauliflower
Green beans
Chicken broth, fat free reduced sodium
Assorted spices to your taste:
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Coriander
Paprika
Parsley
Worcestershire sauce
Add last:
Broccoli
Mushrooms
In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add onion, pepper, garlic, and cubed chicken breast. Saute until veggies soften and meat is white on the outside. Add assorted veggies and enough chicken broth to fully cover the vegetables. Add spices to your taste. Simmer until veggies are tender then add broccoli and mushrooms for the last 5 minutes of cooking.
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Weight loss is a pretty simple principle. You have to burn more calories than you take in. In response, your body taps into its fat stores for fuel.
Two ways we accomplish this: 1) Eat a healthy diet within our calorie range, and 2) Add daily exercise.
Now, weight loss can happen with diet alone, but it is much more efficient to add exercise. Not only are you using up more calories by adding exercise to your day, but you are adding cardio and muscular fitness.
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One thing I often battle with my clients over is keeping a food journal. They don’t want to bother with it. It seems like too much work.
The work isn’t just in writing down what you eat. The work really happens in planning your food and calorie intake. This definitely takes planning and forethought.
When you journal, you can’t eat mindlessly. You’re conscious of every choice, every serving, and every calorie. To stay in your calorie goal and stick to healthy eating, you have to think about your food.
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At some point in your weight loss journey, you will probably hit a weight loss plateau. This can be very frustrating when you’ve seen the numbers on the scale consistently drop and now it seems stuck.
Your body is adjusting and balancing itself. It does not like to lose weight and is working to restore the balance of calories in – calories out.
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You think you’re eating right, but you’re really not.
If the scale isn’t moving down, you’re lying to yourself. You may have convinced yourself that your diet is good and you “just don’t understand why you aren’t losing weight.”
I’ve been there. I used to say all the time, “I eat the same things that my friends do and they’re all skinny. I just don’t understand it!” I would cry over my weight. I would complain how unfair it was.
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Many times clients express their wishes to lose weight, but they don’t really want to change their diets. They may say they want to “ease” into it. Maybe they are willing to make a small change like giving up their daily candy bar. But they want to stay pretty comfortable with their food and not feel “deprived.”
Sure, small changes can be good. For some people, this is all they can handle. And at least it’s better than nothing.
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One of my friends told me she has started working on eating better. She wants to lose weight now that her husband has, and he talks all the time about how great he feels.
She made some comments about trying to cut back her portions, but was unsatisfied with her weight loss results. I offered to give her a food plan that would show her what foods to eat and when.
She said, “I would want a little more freedom with my diet.”
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If you’re like me, there are certain foods that need to be cut from your diet – or greatly restricted. They may not even be “bad” foods. However, they are foods that sabotage your diet.
For example, nuts and peanut butter are foods that are on my watch list. I love, love, love nuts and peanut butter. I cannot have a whole container of almonds or peanuts in the cupboard. I will pick away all day long – a few here, a few there. Before I know it, I’ve eaten 300 calories worth.
Because nuts, especially almonds and walnuts, are healthy, i do not want to eliminate them from my diet. What I do as soon as I get home from the grocery store is to measure them out into snack baggies. Then I put all the snack baggies into one big bag in the cupboard. Having them proportioned keeps me in control.
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