Is food mastering you?
For a lot of people with weight issues, food is the main problem. It’s often easier to start walking during your lunch break than it is to control the food that goes into your mouth all day.
Food is supposed to be used for sustenance and strength. It’s meant to give nutrition to the body. Unfortunately, especially in the U.S. and developed countries, food is used for entertainment, stress relief, pleasure, and instant gratification.
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Have you worked really, really hard all week expecting a great number on the scale – only to find out you lost one measly pound?
This is frustrating and disappointing. All that hard work should’ve earned you more than a pound!
When this happens, I’d like you to consider a few things. First of all, when you go to the grocery store pick up a pound of butter. Hold it on your hand and look at it. Imagine the equivalent of that pound of butter coming off your body in fat. Pretty impressive, right!
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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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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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Eggs can be a good source for protein. They’re quick and easy to make, plus they don’t take a lot of preparation and cooking time like meats do.
Now, most of the calories and all of the fat is in the egg yolk. So if you can handle eating only egg whites that’s the way to go. You can also use one whole egg and add several whites to it for more of the “eggy” flavor. There are products on the market too, such as Egg Beaters, that give you egg flavor and color with less fat and calories.
Compare the nutrition information below:
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If your schedule requires you to eat out often, it can be devastating to your weight loss efforts. Even when you think you’re ordering healthy, you’re getting more calories, fat, and sodium than you would cooking at home.
Do the best you can to stay on track with your diet with these 10 eating-out tips: [More]
None of us likes to look in the mirror and see our fat rolls. We don’t like to feel them either when we zip up our jeans.
Fat, however, is much deeper than skin deep. It is not only about outward discomfort. Too much fat puts us at greater risk for pre-diabetes, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, gall bladder and liver disease, sleep apnea, stroke, heart attack, and joint problems.
So how do you know if your weight is too much? How do you know if your weight is putting you in the disease danger zone?
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Genetics play a powerful role in body weight. How you’re made up can make it really easy to stay slim, or make it very difficult to stay at a healthy weight.
One reason is metabolism. This is basically the rate at which you burn calories. Someone with a high metabolism can eat a lot of calories and burn them off quickly. Someone with a slow metabolism will burn calories very slowly and will not need as many each day. Unfortunately, you inherit your metabolism.
Another reason is your fat cells. If you are over overweight (by about 25 pounds or more) your body manufactures fat cells to hold the extra fat. When you lose weight, the fat cells empty out, but they never go away. They are constantly “wanting” to fill back up.
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Get rid of all junk.
Now we come to a touchy subject. Many people feel resistant, or even resentful, about giving up all their junk food. They want to hold onto a few “little” things.
It’s not that one pretzel or three chips will sabotage your weight loss. It’s that one pretzels turns into five, and three chips turn into half a bag.
Junk food is engineered to make you want more. Flavor enhancers, sodium, and sugar are used to cause cravings and make the food addictive. It’s almost impossible to stop once you get started.
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Eat frequently.
Our bodies are like machines. They work all day, around the clock. We don’t always realize it while we’re sitting at our desks or driving in our cars.
There are thousands of processes going on. Our bodies are repairing and rebuilding muscle, building bone, pumping blood, digesting food, etc.
To do all this well and efficiently, our bodies need fuel. Just like we wouldn’t expect our car to work without gas, we shouldn’t expect our body to run without fuel.
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Well, if you’re a dog, death by chocolate is certainly a possibility. However, if you’re a human being (and I assume you are if you’re reading this), you can actually benefit from chocolate.
That’s just what you want to hear in anticipate of devouring chocolate for Valentine’s Day!
Delicious, rich, and creamy, chocolate has been called the food of the Gods. When it was first “discovered” it was reserved for the wealthy, the nobles. Mere peasants like us never had the fortune of enjoying chocolate’s pleasures.
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It’s not uncommon when checking a client’s food log to find that she is eating tons of grains/starches and not enough other foods. For example, she may have cereal and toast for breakfast, baked potato with lunch, pretzels for an afternoon snack, pizza for dinner, and crackers in the evening.
Even if her calories aren’t overly high, all this starchy food isn’t going to help with weight loss.
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Did you hear about the new “bottomless” lunch menu at a popular chain restaurant? Certain selections on the lunch menu are all you can eat. You can get refills as many times as you want.
Try a bowl of their chili – for 460 calories, 30 grams of fat, and 1870 milligrams of sodium. Let’s get a refill!
Then there’s another restaurant chain where you can get unlimited soup and salad. What’s wrong with soup and salad? It’s low cal, right? WRONG! One serving of salad with dressing has 350 calories, 26 grams of fat, and 1930 milligrams of sodium. One bowl of Minestrone soup has 100 calories and 1 gram of fat (not bad), but 1020 milligrams of sodium.
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We all have times when we crave a little “bad” food. Sometimes we can shrug it off; other times it’s like trying to hold down a monster.
It may be better to give in a little and curb your craving. This can ward off an all-out binge. Here are some little food “sins” you can indulge in from time to time to help you feel satisfied and not deprived.
Ice Cream
Skinny Cow ice cream treats
Weight Watchers desserts
Frozen yogurt (fat free)
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Do you know the nutrition information for a kid’s Happy Meal?
Well, McDonald’s website doesn’t list it, but we can look at each piece of the meal: small fries – 230 calories, 11 grams fat, 160 milligrams of sodium; 4 piece chicken McNuggets – 190 calories, 12 grams fat, 400 milligrams of sodium; chocolate milk – 170 calories, 3 grams fat, 150 milligrams of sodium. That’s a grand total of 590 calories, 26 grams fat, and 710 milligrams of sodium.
As moms and dads we have the most influence with our kids when it comes to eating habits. What foods we eat in front of them, share with them, feed them (and give to them when they beg) is establishing their eating behavior.
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So we’re halfway through the month of January – fifteen days into the New Year. Where are you at with your weight loss resolutions? Are you going strong or have your good intentions fallen by the wayside?
If you’re going strong, good for you! You made a good plan and are sticking with it.
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Everyone has a particular trouble spot they hate – wide hips, a shelf butt, a flabby belly. And they ask me, “What exercises can I do to get rid of this?”
Well, let me tell you the bad news first.
There is no such thing as spot training. You can do 500 abdominal crunches everyday and still have a flabby belly. Why? Because there’s still fat on top of those muscles.
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As I sit here typing, my back, shoulders, and arms are hurting! If I move my legs around, they’ll groan in protest. I haven’t had a workout that killed me like this in a long time. (I just want to go to bed!!)
I totally switched up my workout and did a bunch of new moves that use a lot of ballistic and full body movements. I rested as little as possible to keep the heart pounding. Yowzer. I’m feeling it.
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People mistakenly think that since I’ve lost weight it’s not hard for me anymore. They’re surprised that I still journal my food, weigh in daily, and exercise daily. Why? Because it’s a daily fight to keep the weight off.
Recently I came across an article that confirmed this. (It was also somewhat discouraging.) The article said: [More]
Are you as nuts about nuts as I am? I love almonds, peanuts, peanut butter, pecans, and walnuts. The crunch is so very satisfying. They make a fabulous snack or topping for a salad.
However, a one-ounce serving of nuts contains about 200 calories and 13 to 20 grams of fat.
Many dieters assume nuts to be off limits, but that is a wrong assumption. Eating nuts in moderation can actually help with weight loss. The fat, protein and fiber in nuts give feelings of fullness and satiety. Eating nuts may help ward off overeating and feelings of deprivation.
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Today was not a good eating day for me. I was BAAAAAAAD. Two cookies (my son made them for math to learn how to measure), a handful of M&Ms (I took some when I gave one to the little girl I was babysitting went potty), and half a homemade waffle my mom made (fresh, hot, right out of her waffle iron – the evil contraption).
When I got up today, I knew the waters were going to be rough. I felt very tired physically, plus I felt a boatload of stress on my shoulders. So, emotionally, I was not in a good place. And I felt really hungry first thing when I usually don’t even think about breakfast for two hours.
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A lot of people don’t realize all the emotional up and downs they’ll have on their weight loss journey. Just like losing weight is a process on the outside, adjusting to a new image is a process on the inside.
I remember when I first lost my weight. I often had “fat days” when I felt big and ugly and unattractive. It didn’t matter the size jeans I put on; I felt fat.
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If your kids are like mine, they love pizza. But restaurant pizza is full of sodium, fat, and cholesterol with refined white dough, full fat cheese, greasy meat, and oil in the pan. One slice of a popular pizza chain’s pepperoni pizza has 260 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 590 mg of sodium. (Not something I want my family eating!)
But you can enjoy pizza at home – and make it fun and healthy too!
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I stopped in the middle of the store to read the sign over several times. The usually “Plus” tag on the clothing rack was replaced with a sign that said, “Extended Sizes.”
“What?” I thought. “Extended?” I guess plus was too harsh of a word so they made it softer, less offensive. Extended…like seatbelt extenders when you’re too big to use the seatbelt?
I used to be called chubby when I was a kid. Being 185 pounds at age 11 was a little more than chubby. I was a fat kid – round belly, round cheeks, roly poly. Chubby was the way nice people referred to me.
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Doritos, Oreos, Snickers, potato chips, French fries, M&Ms, pizza, nachos, chicken wings, oatmeal cream pies, chocolate, cheese curls… can you think of a few more?
All of these foods make you want to keep eating and eating, after you’re full, when you’ve already consumed more than a serving, and your taste buds clamor for more. To win the battle with them, you’ve got to cut them off cold turkey.
You cannot flirt with these foods or wean yourself off of them. They’re dangerous. Just one bite and you’ll be slammed-bammed-whammed with huge cravings to eat more. Why?
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