Don't Eat it!
Did you have the world’s worst breakfast this morning? Maybe I’m asking the wrong question. Let me rephrase: Did you eat breakfast this morning? That’s right. Quite simply the World’s Worst Breakfast = No Breakfast at all. This remains a concept that many fail to grasp. But it’s true. Men’s Health Magazine has reported that skipping breakfast can increase your risk of obesity by 450%!
Ideally, you want to consume roughly 30-35% of your daily calories at breakfast. So for someone on a 2,000 calorie diet (if we remember to carry the 1) that’s roughly 600 calories on breakfast alone. Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth conducted a study in 2008 that found that people who ate a protein-rich breakfast of roughly 600 calories lost significantly more weight than those who ate a protein-depleted 300 calories breakfast. Seems counterintuitive, right? But there are a number of reasons as to why a big breakfast can (and will) help you lose weight.
First, breakfast will help to speed up your metabolism. After you eat, your body is forced to digest your food. This process of breaking down food requires energy and thus burns calories. Also, the higher the protein content, the harder your body will work to breakdown (digest) the good.
Also, you are much less likely to be hungry later in the day if you eat more when you wake up. After 6-8 hours of sleep your body is deprived of many nutrients. If you do not provide yourself with these nutrients when you first wake up, you will crave them more and more later in the day and this could lead to significant cravings.
So what is a good breakfast? Ideally you want a nice balance of proteins, whole grains and healthy fat. Try this one; I have it every morning!
- ½ cup dry of instant 1 Minute Quaker Oats. Mix this with water and place in Microwave for 1 Minute. When finished add 1 Teaspoon of Flax Seed Oil (Healthy Fat).
- ½ Cup of Egg Whites. This can be cooked on stove or Microwaved (5 Minutes).
- 1 Glass of Vanilla Light Silk Soymilk (This is sneaky delicious).
JP
Fudgie The Whale wants you to eat a banana instead.
Let’s face it. There’s an ice cream cake in the refrigerator at work right now. It’s calling my name like Destiny’s Child. Every time I go into the kitchen for a cup of coffee, I hear Fudgie The Whale’s voice in my head. I know, how can and ice cream cake that’s shaped like a whale talk? Believe me, it happens, especially when you’re hungry.
I’m going to Miami in a month and have to lose 10lbs. Of course, I’m taking off the weight with the Lose It! Weight Loss System and it’s working. But man! I could really eat my hand right now (or a piece of Fudgie’s tail).
Lucky for me, Shine.com did an article today about a superfood that helps stave off hunger. Bananas! Not only are they loaded with potassium, they also have RSS, Resistant Starch, a healthy carb that boosts your metabolism and fills you up. Here are a few tasty recipes recommended on the website:
Banana “Ice Cream”
Peel, slice, and freeze 1 small banana. Place frozen banana pieces in a blender with 3 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk; blend until thick. Top with 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts.
Banana Salsa
Make a quick salsa with 2 diced peeled bananas, 2 tablespoons minced red onion, 1 tablespoon minced cilantro, 1 teaspoon minced serrano or jalepeno pepper, juice of 1 lime, and brown sugar and salt to taste. Use it to top fish or pork tacos, jerk chicken, or jerk pork.
Broiled Bananas
Slice 1 peeled banana in half lengthwise. Put banana pieces, cut sides up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the banana pieces with 1 teaspoon brown sugar, and broil on high until the sugar bubbles and the bananas brown (about 2–3 minutes). After broiling, sprinkle with cinnamon—or drizzle with 1 teaspoon rum for an extra-special treat
Coffee and Banana Smoothie
Place 1 sliced peeled banana, 1 cup 1% low-fat milk, 1/2 cup cold black coffee, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 1/2 cup ice in a blender. Blend until smooth—and enjoy.
Tropical Fruit Salad
Make a fruit salad with 1 sliced peeled banana, 1 sliced peeled kiwi, and 1/2 diced peeled ripe mango. Squirt juice of 1/4 lime over the salad, and serve.
ENJOY! Just don’t take your banana’s to bed. They don’t like that very much:
Dumbells don't bulk - they burn - fat.
If you’ve been pumping iron at the gym with little to no results, it may because you are omitting some very important moves from your workout. I don’t mean dance moves, although dancing is a great form of cardio exercise, I mean THESE moves:
1. High-intensity Training: Coasting along, singing a song on the elliptical trainer isn’t going to melt the pounds away as quickly as high-intensity training. Also called, HIIT, High intensity training is typically 10 to 20 minutes of short, high-impact workouts. This is one of the best ways to burn fat and improve your overall fitness.
2. Heavier Lifting: It’s better to do 8 reps per set with a 15lb dumbbell, instead of 15 reps with an 8 pound one. Lifting heavier quantities will not only increase your strength, it will create better muscle tone, and who doesn’t want that!
3. Upper Body Focus: You can’t spot-reduce fat by JUST focusing on the areas where fat is store, which for a woman is thighs, hips and waist. By working on your upper body, not only are you converting stored fat into muscle, but you are also building strength, which is very important for women to have mainly for good posture.
4. Train with a barbell: Again, this improves posture and can also lend a hand in toning up the lower parts of your body as well.
Overall it’s important to work out the entire body -and to switch up your routine as much as possible. This way you optimize your workout time and make it burn where it counts. Below are a couple of High-interval training exercises you can do at home or at the gym:
Friends should support your weight loss not sabotage it.
Have you ever worked on changing your life only to look up and notice you have a new one? New people, new experiences, new thoughts, new outlook – all positive things that can make a person reach their fullest potential. Right?
When it comes to weight loss it’s important to keep in mind the changes that occur both inside our bodies and outside in the world around us. You may begin to notice changes to the people you surround yourself with – for as we become more positive and comfortable in our skin – old friends may fall by the wayside. This shouldn’t be taken personally. This is just a process – like a snake shedding its skin. Transformations are a form or rebirth and we must honor our feelings throughout the process. If you find yourself naturally gravitating away from someone – let it happen and let it go. Understand that the person’s presence in your life may not be the best influence and your relationship may have just run its course.
Recently I read an article about a woman who hated her best friend for losing weight. I raise an eyebrow to anyone who calls someone they hate their “best friend” but that’s beside the point. What was very revealing about this particular story was how the woman’s own issue regarding her body were projected onto to her friend’s potential success. She writes: When Val got slim, would I become dispensable? The day she went into the hospital, I joked to her anxious mom, “I love Val, but God help her if she becomes a skinny bitch.” Her mother was not amused, and unfortunately, I was not really joking.
If you find yourself being compared, contrasted or sabotaged by someone close to you, it may be time to rethink that person’s role in your life. Dr. Irene Levine has come up with 20 Ways To Spot A Toxic Friend which identifies certain unhealthy traits in a friendship that’s not really a friendship. Remember when you choose to lose weight you are making the choice to love and honor yourself – so make sure the people around you support that goal.
Forget what you know about old people because Ida Keeling will show you a thing or two. At 95 years old, Ida just won the world record of Oldest Sprinter. A great-grandmother who lives in the Bronx, Ida didn’t start running until she was 67 years old after she lost both her sons in drug-related murders. It was at her daughter urging that Ida began to run and she’s been doing so ever since.
At 4′6″ 83 lbs, she keeps in stride by jogging up and down the hallways of her apartment building, lifting weights and working out on a treadmill and exercise bike. In a recent interview with ABC news, Ida says that “she feels like a puppy every day,” a telling remark and revealing secret for all of us looking to outlive the statistics of our age. It seems that the old saying of “you’re only as old as you feel” is true.
Ida is currently writing a book about her life.
Women polled in a recent survey would rather be skinny than have sex for a year.
Fitness Magazine recently conducted a survey of 2,400 women and found that 51% would rather not have sex for a year if it meant that they would be skinny by the end of it.
The remainder of the group said that would rather be overweight and still have sex.
In addition, it was revealed that 43% of women skip meals regularly; 39% have gone on some sort of crash diet and 20% exercise daily for 2 hours or more.
With such an emphasis placed on style rather than substance these days, it’s no wonder the numbers reflect what they do. So many women measure their self-esteem by the size of their jeans – and with more and more companies adding double zeros to that list, one begins to wonder how far they can go. I can say from personal experience, having been on a dozen diets myself that the best way to lose weight is to simply watch what you eat and exercise. Crash diets always leave you burned – no matter how quick the pounds come off – too much, too soon is never a good thing. Stick to a sensible eating plan and believe you have the power to be the weight you want to be. For being truthful and in love with yourself will ensure greater weight loss success.
These are the sneakers in question for the recent lawsuit brought against Skechers.
Holly Ward has a bone to pick with Skechers shoes. She claims their toning shoes, Shape-ups led to a painful stress fracture in her hip. Holly wore the shoes for work as well as at home for 5 months until she started developing pain – it was discovered that both her femur bones (the largest and heaviest bones in the human body) were fractured.
The Barefoot Professor, Dr. Daniel Howell warns against the dangers of wearing MBT shoes. He says that there is no clear evidence that MBT shoes tone anything. Quoted from a page in his blog, Dr. Howell says:
Scientific studies have shown that MBT shoes work muscles differently, but there’s no evidence that these shoes ‘tone’ your body, especially the buttocks which are undoubtedly the focus of consumers. However, it is obvious (or at least should be obvious) to anyone who knows anything about the biomechanics of human ambulation that these shoes are dangerous. Not only are MBT and Skechers unstable to the point of risking falls, they alter the human gait so dramatically that injuries are bound to happen.
Dr. Howell hopes that this lawsuit will teach people a lesson when it comes to toning shoes, which will be hard to do, especially with this commercial, which aired during the Superbowl.
ACV is a taste to get used to - but your body will happy you did!
Well, not quite, but close – and I won’t call it a Yumski either. Apple Cider Vinegar, specifically ORGANICALLY GROWN AND RAW ACV has many, many healthy benefits. It’s made from nutritious organically grown apples and retains many beneficial components because it’s not pasteurized. During the fermenting process, ACV produces enzymes and other nutrients that allow it to heal everything but the kitchen sink.
I jest. I’ve been using Bragg’s Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar for about 6 months to kick up my metabolism and help me get in shape for spring. ACV promotes weight loss by regulating bowels, glucose levels and breaking down fats so that your body uses them rather than stores them. Usually I take 1 tablespoon of ACV in the morning with water – and then – boom – throw it down the hatch really quick. ACV tastes terrible. I’m not even going to sugar coat for any of you. It’s an acquired taste – but one you should really consider getting accustomed too.
Aside from apples, here’s a list of the nutrients and enzymes inside each bottle of Bragg’s.
Potassium – to prevent brittle teeth, hair and help with runny noses.
Pectin – helps regulate blood pressure and reduce bad cholesterol
Malic Acid – gives the Apple Cider Vinegar the properties of being anti-viral and anti-bacterial.
Calcium – promotes bone strength.
Ash – gives ACV it’s alkaline property to help aid the body in maintaining proper pH levels.
Acetic Acid – Slows the digestion of starch which can help lower the rise in glucose that occurs naturally after meals.
In addition, you can use ACV on your skin as an astringent before you apply moisturizer. It will help clear up any blemishes and give your skin an overall healthy glow.
You can find Bragg’s Raw Apple Cider Vinegar here or at any natural food store in your area.
Self Love can happen and pay off!
I was listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer on Hayhouse Radio the other day when he said something that really struck me. He was talking to a woman who was a drug addict. She was expressing her frustration at an addiction she didn’t think she could overcome. Dr. Dyer told her that the perhaps the approach she was taking towards dealing with herself and her addiction was not entirely effective.
His solution: Love and send love to the addiction. Talk to it like you would a small child. Realize that the addiction is part of who this woman is and anything that is part of who we are deserves to be loved.
WOW. That makes sense. Not only with drugs but with weight loss too. You see, an addiction is like a calorie. No matter where you get the calorie from (ding-dongs or devil eggs) you end up with the same result: either you have too many or too little. Drugs like food like sex like video games can all become over-consuming to someone who overdoes them. It’s important for us to balance our lives by loving ourselves. A seed can grow into a whole tree if it’s cared for properly.
Like trees, we too are seeds growing towards our greatest potential. A tree becomes who it’s meant to be by just being itself. It doesn’t rationalize, talk or beat itself into something else. If we love and take care of who we are, we can overcome any obstacle by accepting our mistakes and making peace with who we are. Many times when it comes to weight loss, we beat ourselves up when we don’t do what we think we should. How many times have you given up on your eating plan because you ate one “forbidden” food on your “bad” list? Beating yourself up will only lead to more beating-yourself-up-behavior. Putting yourself down never feels good however, being kind to yourself, just like being kind to others, can heal rather than harm your progress.
Here is a video/meditation about transforming your life by Wayne Dyer:
I’ve never been a fan of frozen food and try to avoid it if I can. However, sometimes it’s a lot easier to pop something in a microwave than to bake it from scratch.
Garden Lites are the perfect solution! 140 calories, 10 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber, eating one serving of Garden Lites gives you two servings of vegetables. Gluten and Nut-free, these pre-prepared meals come in a variety of flavors including Spinach, Broccoli and Butter Nut Squash Soufflé.
I’ve tasted each one and find them to be a delicious and filling meal. The cost runs about $3.69 for one serving. Not too shabby. I will say that the food does not look like the picture on the box but it still tastes really good.
