Healthy Weight Loss Tips

It’s not uncommon for new clients of mine to feel nauseous or light headed during their first workout. (I hate when it happens.) Sometimes it’s because they were trying to push themselves too hard, but often it’s because they didn’t prepare properly.

There are three essential things that help get anyone successfully through a workout, especially a newbie: [More]

Tonight I had a little scare. One of my clients started feeling badly toward the end of her workout. She felt weak and light headed. She sat down and dropped her head. She began to sweat and turned pale.

I started asking her questions to rule out a cardiac event. She told me she hadn’t eaten anything since lunchtime, which was six hours past. And then she’d only eaten a salad with chicken.

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Did you know the color in fruit isn’t just there to look nice? The colors represent the many different nutrients in fruits that help fight cancer, ward off heart disease, and slow the aging process. Plus fruit is full of fiber, is naturally sweet, and aids in weight loss.

Fruit is delicious AND nutritious so aim for 2-4 servings of fresh fruit per day. Here are 5 ways to help you get more fruit into your diet: [More]

Sometimes I just want something that tastes really good. Something sweet and delicious. Something cool and creamy. Something rich and chocolaty. Something that tastes bad for me…but isn’t.

Fortunately, I’ve found some healthy alternatives to peanut butter cups and ice cream. When my sweet tooth kicks in, I tame it with these treats (or at least try to!):

Yogurt – mix 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt with Splenda, vanilla, and berries.

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One of my favorite breakfasts is hot, creamy oatmeal with fresh fruit. It is a delicious comfort food and it’s also full of healthy nutrition.

Oatmeal contains insoluble and soluble fiber, which is helpful for lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of cancer. The fiber also causes oatmeal to digest slowly so there is no quick spike in your blood sugar. This is great for keeping you full and aiding in weight loss.

Oatmeal is highly nutritious and it has been shown to help fight heart disease and cancer, so eat up!

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I’ve noticed that over the summer I let sugar slip back into my diet. I have to admit it was mostly in the form of ice cream. There’s not much I enjoy more than cold, creamy ice cream to cool summer’s heat. But it was getting to be a little too much and a little too frequent.

Then over the weekend we had a birthday party for my son. My mother made homemade chocolate cake for the occasion. It was incredibly moist and rich. I ate too much and felt yucky afterwards.

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Grabbing something fast doesn’t mean settling for something unhealthy. You can stay on track with your eating even when you’re short on time.

It may be tempting to pick up a candy bar – and you may rationalize that you don’t have time for anything else – but that’s just an excuse. There are many healthy choices that are just as fast as a candy bar.

Here are 10 fast and healthy snacks to fuel your body in a hurry. [More]

Are you celebrating the July 4th holiday with friends… and burgers on the grill? Well, you can have a great party and keep it healthy!

There are many options to make your menu tasty while keeping the fat and calories down. Here are some things to keep in mind.

• Meats: look for lean cuts of beef, extra lean hamburgers, skinless chicken or turkey breast, lean turkey burgers, turkey hotdogs, and soy burgers.
• Rolls: whole grain rolls offer more fiber and nutrition. If you have picky guests, you may have to offer whole grain and traditional white buns.
• Sides: instead of calorie-laden pasta salads serve fresh veggies with dip, a fruit tray, baked potatoes or baked fries, corn on the cob, and low sugar baked beans.
• Condiments: switch to low calorie, low sugar mayo, ketchup, and barbeque sauce. Try using dry spice rubs on your meats or marinating them in fat free Italian dressing. Mustard is always a good choice because it has no fat and very few calories. Use low fat cheese and nonfat sour cream.
• Dessert: let your guests choose any mix of fruits they like, put them in the blender with a scoop of nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt, and a little nonfat milk for a delicious milkshake. Or make a sundae assembly line with frozen yogurt, lite chocolate syrup, fat free Reddi Wip, and cherries.
• Drinks: you can add a ton of calories with drinks so try flavored water with lemon and lime wedges, or low cal drinks like Fuze Slenderize and Propel.

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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 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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Warm weather invites you outdoors to play at the park, go for bike rides, hike on mountain trails, or take a day trip to the zoo.  But while you’re packing your sunscreen, don’t forget to pack up some healthy snacks and drinks for you and the kids.

Taking food along is convenient because you can grab it whenever everybody’s hungry and you don’t have to find a store or a restaurant. It saves money because you’re using your regular groceries instead of buying overpriced items. And it’s certainly healthier than most snacks you’ll find on the road!

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