Just Eat This: A Diet for Weight Loss
Steve Edwards
The initial stages of a weight loss program are the most difficult. Since I eat fairly healthy most of the time, my first step is to enact a few rules that still allow me to eat but that point my eating in the direction I want it to be going. As long as you're exercising, you don't need to vastly reduce your calories unless you're on some type of time-induced crash program. Slow and steady is generally more doable, more fun, and healthier.
For all of my diet programs I follow the same general guidelines, so make sure to read Just Eat This to learn about them.
Steve's diet for weight loss in the initial stages
In my world, it's always easier to add exercise than to take food away, so when I need to shed some weight I begin each day with a 30-minute to three-hour cardio workout. It's usually biking or running but can be something like yoga. The point is to enhance fat mobilization—your body's ability to burn stored fat. I always do this workout on an empty stomach, but for anything over an hour and a half, I'll begin consuming a sports drink that is mainly carbs along with some protein (4:1 ratio) after 30 minutes of exercise. I make sure to drink water all day long. I drink a glass when I wake up and keep going. Most people are chronically dehydrated.
My supplement regimen varies depending on the type of training I'm doing. The harder I train, the more supplements I take. The only constants are vitamins, like ActiVit®, and an omega supplement, usually fish oil. Beyond that, it varies from nothing when I'm in a maintenance cycle to packs of stuff every few hours when I'm doing ultra stuff.
I also don't eat the same things every day. This is just an example of the types of foods and the timing.
Morning: Post-workout snack—this is approximately 4 parts carbs to 1 part protein with a little fat. I tend to try making this more natural, like a protein shake, but P90X® Peak Recovery Formula would also work well. However, if I'm not working out too hard and don't need maximum glycogen replenishment, I'll opt for a more traditional breakfast that follows an approximate 4:1 ratio. This is generally a bowl of whole grain cereal with a piece of fruit. It will absorb slower than the recovery drink, but if my glycogen stores aren't completely drained, that's okay.
A little while later: Coffee, black.
Morning snack: Nothing, but I usually advise eating a snack in this slot, like a piece of fruit or a protein shake. More on this later.
Lunch: Whole-bean and rice burrito with loads of salsa made from all-natural ingredients. I use a lot of salsa, probably 4 ounces for a 12 to 16-ounce burrito.
Note: Lunch might be late. I go for long periods in the morning without eating. As a writer, I work on momentum and don't like to be interrupted when I'm in the zone. My body works well for long periods without food, a tactic that certainly doesn't work for many people.
Afternoon snack: I do my hard training in the afternoon when I can. If it's long training, then I'll eat during it (a bar of some kind). If it's short, I'll just eat afterward. That meal is another post-exercise drink. I tend to use Recovery Formula after the harder workout because it has sugar and works faster.
An hour or two later, dinner: Some type of lean meat, fish, or high-protein veggie thing (like a burrito), with some veggies and a salad. When I'm trying to lose weight and training, I give myself what I call "all-you-can-eat veggies." No dressing, just veggies. But I can use balsamic vinaigrette on my salad and dip the veggies in whole-grain mustard.
Dessert: A beer or glass of red wine. I'm not much of a dessert person but I will eat it on occasion. While trying to lose weight, I'd rather have a drink, which helps me relax, which isn't always easy when you are undereating and training hard.
Late night snack: Herbal tea.
Questions you might be asking yourself
Is this enough calories? I didn't give amounts of food, but that varies based on feeling. Especially when training, my body tells me when it's hungry. I'll feed it, but when losing weight I try never feeling full. I try following a "leave the table when you're 80 percent full" rule.
Is it too many calories? The only time I get very tight with regards to calories is when I have a fair amount of weight to lose. Usually, I'm within 10 pounds of my goal. If it's more, I'll start on feeling and then restrict calories for up to three or four weeks. I don't like to restrict calories longer than this because it can hinder my metabolism. And I always zigzag my calories so that I don't go into "starvation mode."
Is it too many carbs? It's actually low on carbs for the amount of exercise I'm doing. When I'm really cranking along, I'll eat triple the carbs and triple the calories. This is my version of a low-carb diet.
Do you drink with your meals? I try not to. Maybe a few sips of water or wine. But drinking with food interferes with the digestive process and should be minimized. I'll often drink a glass of water a bit before a meal. This helps fill my stomach so that I'm less hungry and I rarely feel the need to "wash down" my meal.
How long do you do it? Like I said, I'm usually within that last hurrah or my target weight. This means that I usually don't have to stay strict for more than a few weeks at a time. More than a month on a diet like this and my body fat percentage begins to get dangerously low.
This is my life as a single mom who is in a serious relationship, working full-time, and working full time as a Beachbody coach. My life is a roller coaster and I know there has to be others that feel the same. Each day is an adventure in itself!!!! What keeps me trucking along and what makes me want to SCREAM!!! LOL....
Showing posts with label team beachbody. Show all posts
Showing posts with label team beachbody. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The 2 Most Important Hours for Weight Loss
You may be surprised to learn that the two most important hours of a successful weight loss plan can be the two hours before you go to bed. In order to get on the fast track to a healthier life, a leaner body, and more satisfying eating experiences, a great new habit to develop is to stop eating at least two hours before bedtime. Here's why you should develop this beneficial habit.
Isn't a calorie a calorie?
If all calories are created equal, why does it make a difference what time of day you eat them? Bob Greene, exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer specializing in fitness, metabolism, and weight loss, observes that it's true that whether you eat a cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt at 11 AM or 11 PM, it's still going to have about 200 calories. But he adds, "When you eat that yogurt in the morning, your metabolism speeds up a bit, maximizing the rate at which your body burns calories. At night though, your body has already shifted into low gear in preparation for sleep, so you're not going to get much of a metabolic boost from late-night eating!" Read this for "8 Foods to Boost Your Metabolism."
Change a little, lose a lot
Making a lot of small changes over a period of time can add up to big weight loss. Nobody gains a lot of weight overnight. It happens over time. Think of all the minor things that, over time, become significant factors in weight gain—for example, that extra piece of bread and butter, parking close to the store rather than a little farther away so you have to walk more, two spoons of sugar in your coffee, skipping a workout, snacking while you watch TV. The good news is that you can do something about each and every one of them. And if you find yourself eating right before you go to bed, you can start turning back the clock fifteen minutes at a time until you are eating no later than two hours before bedtime.
Reach your weight loss goals faster
Weight loss studies have shown that something as simple as just having an eating cut-off time has helped people reach their weight loss goals. In some cases, it has been this change alone that has made the difference between success and failure.
Three more reasons not to go to bed on a full stomach
Digestion takes a rest. When you are sleeping, your digestion shuts down. It's best for your body to speed food through your system.
Energy boost. When we eat earlier in the day, we get energy to walk, run, and live. And we get energy to get through those Beachbody videos like Power 90® and Hip Hop Abs™ Dance Party Series. But when you eat at the end of the day, your body is winding down and doesn't need as much food or fuel, which means the energy doesn't get used and is stored in the body as fat.
Thinking thin. When you eat earlier in the day, in addition to the calories you burn while working, moving, and living, you may have the opportunity to work out. But after 9 PM, it's hard to have the energy to do a lot of moving or exercising. The calories don't change in the evening—our behavior changes. So eating later puts you in danger of piling on more pounds and making it harder to lose them.
Why a little hunger is a good thing
When your body tells you it wants food, it's saying, "Feed me or I'll go into your fat stores and feed myself." Actually, that's great. That's what you want to hear! If you go to bed wanting a snack, you are on your way to a healthier eating pattern that will have you meeting your weight loss goals. (Click here for more advice on getting better sleep.) You will wake up in the morning hungry for breakfast and this will help you stick to a three-meal-a-day healthy eating plan.
Isn't a calorie a calorie?
If all calories are created equal, why does it make a difference what time of day you eat them? Bob Greene, exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer specializing in fitness, metabolism, and weight loss, observes that it's true that whether you eat a cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt at 11 AM or 11 PM, it's still going to have about 200 calories. But he adds, "When you eat that yogurt in the morning, your metabolism speeds up a bit, maximizing the rate at which your body burns calories. At night though, your body has already shifted into low gear in preparation for sleep, so you're not going to get much of a metabolic boost from late-night eating!" Read this for "8 Foods to Boost Your Metabolism."
Change a little, lose a lot
Making a lot of small changes over a period of time can add up to big weight loss. Nobody gains a lot of weight overnight. It happens over time. Think of all the minor things that, over time, become significant factors in weight gain—for example, that extra piece of bread and butter, parking close to the store rather than a little farther away so you have to walk more, two spoons of sugar in your coffee, skipping a workout, snacking while you watch TV. The good news is that you can do something about each and every one of them. And if you find yourself eating right before you go to bed, you can start turning back the clock fifteen minutes at a time until you are eating no later than two hours before bedtime.
Reach your weight loss goals faster
Weight loss studies have shown that something as simple as just having an eating cut-off time has helped people reach their weight loss goals. In some cases, it has been this change alone that has made the difference between success and failure.
Three more reasons not to go to bed on a full stomach
Digestion takes a rest. When you are sleeping, your digestion shuts down. It's best for your body to speed food through your system.
Energy boost. When we eat earlier in the day, we get energy to walk, run, and live. And we get energy to get through those Beachbody videos like Power 90® and Hip Hop Abs™ Dance Party Series. But when you eat at the end of the day, your body is winding down and doesn't need as much food or fuel, which means the energy doesn't get used and is stored in the body as fat.
Thinking thin. When you eat earlier in the day, in addition to the calories you burn while working, moving, and living, you may have the opportunity to work out. But after 9 PM, it's hard to have the energy to do a lot of moving or exercising. The calories don't change in the evening—our behavior changes. So eating later puts you in danger of piling on more pounds and making it harder to lose them.
Why a little hunger is a good thing
When your body tells you it wants food, it's saying, "Feed me or I'll go into your fat stores and feed myself." Actually, that's great. That's what you want to hear! If you go to bed wanting a snack, you are on your way to a healthier eating pattern that will have you meeting your weight loss goals. (Click here for more advice on getting better sleep.) You will wake up in the morning hungry for breakfast and this will help you stick to a three-meal-a-day healthy eating plan.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Pick your free gift from ME!!!!!!
Ok.. Here we go..
I am giving a free Shakeology glasses, womens t-shirt or a mens t-shirt to everyone that orders Shakeology. Not just anyone can get these glasses and shirts so jump on this...
Shakeology can help you:
Lose Weight
Feel Energized
Improve Digestion and Regularity
Lower Cholesterol1
Tastes delicious, too!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Beat the Winter "Blahs"
Beat the Winter "Blahs" with Exercise
By Amy Ludwig
Feeling a post-holiday letdown? Tired of shorter days and early nights? Wondering how you can get through the dark months as you pine for summer sunshine? Fear not. You can walk—or jog, run, or lift—your way to a brighter mood with exercise.
When you're feeling low, moving may be the last thing you feel like doing. As Sir Isaac Newton pointed out, an object at rest tends to stay at rest. But increasingly, science is proving that if you can peel yourself off the couch and put one foot in front of the other, you'll feel better, both about yourself and the world.
So how do you make this happen?
Working out "cheers up" your body chemistry.
When you're physically active, your body releases natural chemicals that actually make you feel good. Neurotransmitters like endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine help you feel relaxed and happy.
Exercise also reduces your body's production of hormones like cortisol, which are released at high levels during chronic stress and depress the immune system.
Working out has a calming effect on the body. When all else is equal, the harder to exercise the calmer you'll be.
You can help support these positive results with the right supplements, like ActiVit® Multivitamins or Shakeology®.
Move your body, change your mind.
Exercise has been proven to:
Boost confidence: Achieving a fitness goal, no matter how small, will give you a sense of accomplishment.
Burn calories: How else does the weight melt away? Plus getting thinner and feeling more fit is likely to cheer you up.
Redirect your focus: You'll be too busy trying to do one more rep of that crunch, curl, or kick to think about anything negative.
Show you can do something positive: By choosing to get up and move, you're taking care of yourself, and coping in a healthy way. And when you observe that, you'll believe you can take other steps forward.
How much exercise makes a difference?
As little as 10 to 15 minutes of activity can improve your mood, especially if you're doing something dynamic, like running or cycling. Harvard psychiatrist John J. Ratey, M.D., writes that a single workout can jump-start the feel-good chemical changes. So the most important thing is getting started. To get the greatest benefits, work your way up to at least 30 minutes a day, 3 to 5 days a week.
What kind of workout is best?
One you enjoy. Seriously. If it's not something you like, you're less likely to make the effort. For instance, I don't happen to be a fan of plyometrics, despite its many benefits. When I work out, I opt for cycling, yoga, or low-impact programs instead. They still get me sweating my way into a great mood. Identify the activities you enjoy, and get going.
How do you get started?
Choose something accessible. The power of exercise doesn't come from fancy equipment, but from the effort you put in. If you pick something you can get to and that fits your timetable, you've lowered the barriers to beginning. For example, you can:
Turn everyday errands into workouts when you do them on foot or by bike. (Extra points for adding a hill, or taking the long way home.)
Check out the activities offered at your local park, like swimming, basketball games, or fitness classes.
Commit to an in-home Beachbody® workout program that's sure to fit your schedule.
So start today. Boost your activity level and help put a smile on your face. Because you don't have to wait for the sunshine to feel good.
By Amy Ludwig
Feeling a post-holiday letdown? Tired of shorter days and early nights? Wondering how you can get through the dark months as you pine for summer sunshine? Fear not. You can walk—or jog, run, or lift—your way to a brighter mood with exercise.
When you're feeling low, moving may be the last thing you feel like doing. As Sir Isaac Newton pointed out, an object at rest tends to stay at rest. But increasingly, science is proving that if you can peel yourself off the couch and put one foot in front of the other, you'll feel better, both about yourself and the world.
So how do you make this happen?
Working out "cheers up" your body chemistry.
When you're physically active, your body releases natural chemicals that actually make you feel good. Neurotransmitters like endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine help you feel relaxed and happy.
Exercise also reduces your body's production of hormones like cortisol, which are released at high levels during chronic stress and depress the immune system.
Working out has a calming effect on the body. When all else is equal, the harder to exercise the calmer you'll be.
You can help support these positive results with the right supplements, like ActiVit® Multivitamins or Shakeology®.
Move your body, change your mind.
Exercise has been proven to:
Boost confidence: Achieving a fitness goal, no matter how small, will give you a sense of accomplishment.
Burn calories: How else does the weight melt away? Plus getting thinner and feeling more fit is likely to cheer you up.
Redirect your focus: You'll be too busy trying to do one more rep of that crunch, curl, or kick to think about anything negative.
Show you can do something positive: By choosing to get up and move, you're taking care of yourself, and coping in a healthy way. And when you observe that, you'll believe you can take other steps forward.
How much exercise makes a difference?
As little as 10 to 15 minutes of activity can improve your mood, especially if you're doing something dynamic, like running or cycling. Harvard psychiatrist John J. Ratey, M.D., writes that a single workout can jump-start the feel-good chemical changes. So the most important thing is getting started. To get the greatest benefits, work your way up to at least 30 minutes a day, 3 to 5 days a week.
What kind of workout is best?
One you enjoy. Seriously. If it's not something you like, you're less likely to make the effort. For instance, I don't happen to be a fan of plyometrics, despite its many benefits. When I work out, I opt for cycling, yoga, or low-impact programs instead. They still get me sweating my way into a great mood. Identify the activities you enjoy, and get going.
How do you get started?
Choose something accessible. The power of exercise doesn't come from fancy equipment, but from the effort you put in. If you pick something you can get to and that fits your timetable, you've lowered the barriers to beginning. For example, you can:
Turn everyday errands into workouts when you do them on foot or by bike. (Extra points for adding a hill, or taking the long way home.)
Check out the activities offered at your local park, like swimming, basketball games, or fitness classes.
Commit to an in-home Beachbody® workout program that's sure to fit your schedule.
So start today. Boost your activity level and help put a smile on your face. Because you don't have to wait for the sunshine to feel good.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sugar Addiction Detox 101
Sugar Addiction Detox 101
By Debra Pivko
Sugar, sweet sugar—a delightful minute on the tongue in exchange for what feels like a lifetime on the hips. But weight gain isn't the only consequence of eating too much sugar. Ready for the not-so-sweet truth?
Overconsumption of processed sugar can contribute to a number of conditions, including tooth decay, type 2 diabetes, hormonal imbalances, overgrowth of candida yeast, chronic fatigue, more severe PMS symptoms, anxiety—and yep, even wrinkles. On the other hand, if you start to cut sugar out of your diet, you can shed excess weight, increase your energy, improve your concentration, improve your moods, and possibly steer clear of diabetes. Ready to kick-start your sugar detox? To help you out, I'll let you in on some reasons why we get addicted, and how to read food labels for hidden sugars. I'll also give you some tips on how to start your sugar detox so you'll have a much better chance at living a long, vibrant, and disease-free life.
You've probably noticed that although sugar gives you an initial high (a rapid spike in your blood sugar), you crash several hours later, leaving you wanting more. It's because sugar takes away more energy than it gives. Eventually, you find yourself exhausted, anxious, and moody. I know I've definitely experienced this crash too many times.
Is the sweet taste worth the unpleasant effects? Think gaining weight is the only negative effect of consuming too much sugar? Nancy Appleton, PhD, author of Lick the Sugar Habit, describes some surprising ways sugar intake can negatively affect your health:
Suppresses the immune system's defenses against bacterial infections
Increases the risk of blood clots and strokes
Contributes to hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, and difficulty concentrating
Can lead to hypoglycemia, kidney damage, an elevation in harmful cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, and tooth decay
Helps speed the aging process, including wrinkles and gray hair
The list goes on . . .
Make the decision to detox from sugar. The first step in breaking a sugar addiction is making the decision to stop eating it completely for at least a few days to start to get it out of your system. While it's usually best to make dietary changes gradually, sugar has the unique ability to inspire cravings that are refueled every time you give in to them. The only way to break the cycle is to stop feeding the fire. Then your cravings should subside substantially. Continue to resist large amounts of sugar and actively avoid situations that cue you to eat sweets. And whether you're at work, at home, or at a party, just because a cookie is sitting out on a table in plain sight, that doesn't mean you have to eat it.
Ask yourself why you're eating sugar before you put it in your mouth. Are you eating out of habit? Because of circumstance? For a special occasion? Because everyone else is? Watch yourself like a lab rat. Begin to face your truth by keeping a food journal. I like to jot down what drives me to eat sugar, when I crave it, where I eat it, why I want it, and how I get it. For example, do you pop up out of your desk chair in search of cupcakes the second you hear people at the office singing "Happy Birthday"? Journaling can be helpful preparation for stomping out your sugar habit by making you aware of why you're eating it.
Begin to eliminate sugar from your diet. For thousands of years, people ate whatever sugar occurred naturally in their diets, and it didn't seem to be a problem, it was a treat. Registered dietician Becky Hand reports that the typical American now eats the equivalent of about 31 teaspoons (124 grams) of added sugar every day (about 25 percent of the average person's daily caloric intake), and that sugar alone adds up to almost 500 extra calories each day! Our bodies simply weren't designed to handle this massive load. The American Heart Association recommends that added sugar should be limited to no more than 6 to 7 percent of your total calories (not including naturally occurring sugars found in fruit and dairy products). To put this in perspective, if you eat 1,200 calories a day, you should limit your intake to 21 grams of sugar per day. That's the equivalent of about 6 ounces of low-fat fruit-flavored yogurt or one 8-ounce glass of orange juice.
To begin eliminating sugar from your regular diet, simply cut out foods with sugar, white flour, and high fructose corn syrup—including cakes, cookies, pastries, and most desserts. It's okay to have a dessert or sugary snack on occasion, but make sure it's not your main dish. Although sugar is generally found in desserts, added sugar can also be found in your main and side dishes, and even sauces. Look closely at the labels of processed foods, cereals, and sauces—like ketchup, barbecue sauce, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, and dressings. You can usually find nutritious alternatives with less sugar that taste just as good.
If you're a Team Beachbody® Club member, you can get a personalized, balanced online meal plan to ensure that you're getting the proper nutrition you need to meet your health goals. You can even use the food analyzer to search for the nutritional makeup of various foods, so you'll know which ones are high in sugar and should be avoided.
Eliminate hidden sugar. As you begin to decode ingredient labels, it's really important to know all the other words for sugar and sugar alcohols. Here's a hint: Look for words that end in "-ose."
Agave nectar/syrup
Cane juice crystals
Cane sugar
Caramel
Carob syrup
Corn syrup
Corn syrup solids
Dextrin
Dextrose
Fructose
Fruit juice concentrate (apple, grape, or pear)
Galactose
Glucose
High fructose corn syrup
Honey
Lactose
Maltose
Malt syrup
Molasses
Sorbitol
Sucrose
Trick your taste buds. Using spices and herbs can trick your taste buds into thinking you're eating something sinfully sweet. Try adding cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, or other sugar-free flavors and spices to your coffee, cereals, or other dishes and drinks that could use an extra kick.
Eat a healthy breakfast. What you eat for breakfast will actually influence your food choices for the next 12 to 15 hours, and influence your energy levels, moods, and overall sense of well-being. Dr. Joe Klemczewski, PhD, explains that eating a healthy breakfast balanced between lean protein (like egg whites) and slower-digesting complex carbohydrates (like oatmeal) will help you have good energy throughout the day, stabilize your blood sugar, reduce cravings, and make wiser food choices. Typically, your blood sugar is at fasting levels when you wake up in the morning. If you start the day off with a muffin and a latte, you're choosing to ride the roller coaster for the rest of the day. If, on the other hand, you begin your day with a veggie omelet and fruit or some oatmeal, you're opting for a balance of foods that will be absorbed at a slower rate. Then you'll have a steadier flow of blood sugar that's far easier to keep balanced than if it were fueled by a muffin, a bagel, or a cup of coffee dosed with sugar and cream.
Eat throughout the day. The best way to avoid impulse eating when you're overly hungry is to eat several small meals, spaced throughout the day. This will keep your blood sugar more stable than eating the traditional two or three large meals spaced farther apart from one another. Schedule your meals around your body's needs rather than around your to-do list if you can. You'll find it much easier to stop eating once you're full; to make smart food choices from a rational, calm place; and to maintain even moods and energy levels. Eating balanced meals is essential for getting real satisfaction from what you eat and leaving cravings behind. For most people, this means approximately 50 percent of your meal should be vegetables or fruit, and the rest should be split between protein (beans, meat, dairy, etc.), grains, and a bit of oil or other fat. However, everyone's a little different, and you should experiment to find what works best for you.
High-fiber foods fill you up—yet they bring less fat to the table, says Barbara J. Rolls, PhD, the Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Pennsylvania State and author of The Volumetrics Weight Control Plan. Plus eating high-fiber foods allows you to eat a higher volume of food while ingesting fewer calories. It's a concept called "energy density"—the number of calories in a specified amount of food, Rolls explains. Some examples of energy-dense foods are apples (skin on) and bananas, avocados, flax meal, and kidney beans.
Find alternatives for when you have a craving. Make sure you find alternative foods and activities that you actually enjoy. If they aren't satisfying, you'll eventually abandon them for your old habits. When I'm craving something sweet yet healthy, I usually go for either low-fat Chocolatey Cats Cookies (for People) from Trader Joe's® (only 9.9 grams of sugar per serving) or chocolate Shakeology® (only 9 grams of sugar)—that's not bad for a sweet treat. Yep, I'm a sucker for chocolate, but I can still enjoy the taste without overdosing on sugar!
By Debra Pivko
Sugar, sweet sugar—a delightful minute on the tongue in exchange for what feels like a lifetime on the hips. But weight gain isn't the only consequence of eating too much sugar. Ready for the not-so-sweet truth?
Overconsumption of processed sugar can contribute to a number of conditions, including tooth decay, type 2 diabetes, hormonal imbalances, overgrowth of candida yeast, chronic fatigue, more severe PMS symptoms, anxiety—and yep, even wrinkles. On the other hand, if you start to cut sugar out of your diet, you can shed excess weight, increase your energy, improve your concentration, improve your moods, and possibly steer clear of diabetes. Ready to kick-start your sugar detox? To help you out, I'll let you in on some reasons why we get addicted, and how to read food labels for hidden sugars. I'll also give you some tips on how to start your sugar detox so you'll have a much better chance at living a long, vibrant, and disease-free life.Why we crave sugar. According to AskDrSears.com, "Sweets trigger an increase in the hormone serotonin—a mood-elevating hormone. The body and brain get used to this higher level of serotonin and even depend on it for a sense of well-being. So when our serotonin level dips, (we dip) into the (sweets) to 'correct' the situation." According to the Web site, sweets also "trigger the release of endorphins . . . the brain's natural narcotics, helping you to relax when stressed."
You've probably noticed that although sugar gives you an initial high (a rapid spike in your blood sugar), you crash several hours later, leaving you wanting more. It's because sugar takes away more energy than it gives. Eventually, you find yourself exhausted, anxious, and moody. I know I've definitely experienced this crash too many times.
Is the sweet taste worth the unpleasant effects? Think gaining weight is the only negative effect of consuming too much sugar? Nancy Appleton, PhD, author of Lick the Sugar Habit, describes some surprising ways sugar intake can negatively affect your health:
Suppresses the immune system's defenses against bacterial infections
Increases the risk of blood clots and strokes
Contributes to hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, and difficulty concentrating
Can lead to hypoglycemia, kidney damage, an elevation in harmful cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, and tooth decay
Helps speed the aging process, including wrinkles and gray hair
The list goes on . . .
Make the decision to detox from sugar. The first step in breaking a sugar addiction is making the decision to stop eating it completely for at least a few days to start to get it out of your system. While it's usually best to make dietary changes gradually, sugar has the unique ability to inspire cravings that are refueled every time you give in to them. The only way to break the cycle is to stop feeding the fire. Then your cravings should subside substantially. Continue to resist large amounts of sugar and actively avoid situations that cue you to eat sweets. And whether you're at work, at home, or at a party, just because a cookie is sitting out on a table in plain sight, that doesn't mean you have to eat it.
Ask yourself why you're eating sugar before you put it in your mouth. Are you eating out of habit? Because of circumstance? For a special occasion? Because everyone else is? Watch yourself like a lab rat. Begin to face your truth by keeping a food journal. I like to jot down what drives me to eat sugar, when I crave it, where I eat it, why I want it, and how I get it. For example, do you pop up out of your desk chair in search of cupcakes the second you hear people at the office singing "Happy Birthday"? Journaling can be helpful preparation for stomping out your sugar habit by making you aware of why you're eating it.
Begin to eliminate sugar from your diet. For thousands of years, people ate whatever sugar occurred naturally in their diets, and it didn't seem to be a problem, it was a treat. Registered dietician Becky Hand reports that the typical American now eats the equivalent of about 31 teaspoons (124 grams) of added sugar every day (about 25 percent of the average person's daily caloric intake), and that sugar alone adds up to almost 500 extra calories each day! Our bodies simply weren't designed to handle this massive load. The American Heart Association recommends that added sugar should be limited to no more than 6 to 7 percent of your total calories (not including naturally occurring sugars found in fruit and dairy products). To put this in perspective, if you eat 1,200 calories a day, you should limit your intake to 21 grams of sugar per day. That's the equivalent of about 6 ounces of low-fat fruit-flavored yogurt or one 8-ounce glass of orange juice.
To begin eliminating sugar from your regular diet, simply cut out foods with sugar, white flour, and high fructose corn syrup—including cakes, cookies, pastries, and most desserts. It's okay to have a dessert or sugary snack on occasion, but make sure it's not your main dish. Although sugar is generally found in desserts, added sugar can also be found in your main and side dishes, and even sauces. Look closely at the labels of processed foods, cereals, and sauces—like ketchup, barbecue sauce, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, and dressings. You can usually find nutritious alternatives with less sugar that taste just as good.
If you're a Team Beachbody® Club member, you can get a personalized, balanced online meal plan to ensure that you're getting the proper nutrition you need to meet your health goals. You can even use the food analyzer to search for the nutritional makeup of various foods, so you'll know which ones are high in sugar and should be avoided.
Eliminate hidden sugar. As you begin to decode ingredient labels, it's really important to know all the other words for sugar and sugar alcohols. Here's a hint: Look for words that end in "-ose."
Agave nectar/syrup
Cane juice crystals
Cane sugar
Caramel
Carob syrup
Corn syrup
Corn syrup solids
Dextrin
Dextrose
Fructose
Fruit juice concentrate (apple, grape, or pear)
Galactose
Glucose
High fructose corn syrup
Honey
Lactose
Maltose
Malt syrup
Molasses
Sorbitol
Sucrose
Trick your taste buds. Using spices and herbs can trick your taste buds into thinking you're eating something sinfully sweet. Try adding cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, or other sugar-free flavors and spices to your coffee, cereals, or other dishes and drinks that could use an extra kick.
Eat a healthy breakfast. What you eat for breakfast will actually influence your food choices for the next 12 to 15 hours, and influence your energy levels, moods, and overall sense of well-being. Dr. Joe Klemczewski, PhD, explains that eating a healthy breakfast balanced between lean protein (like egg whites) and slower-digesting complex carbohydrates (like oatmeal) will help you have good energy throughout the day, stabilize your blood sugar, reduce cravings, and make wiser food choices. Typically, your blood sugar is at fasting levels when you wake up in the morning. If you start the day off with a muffin and a latte, you're choosing to ride the roller coaster for the rest of the day. If, on the other hand, you begin your day with a veggie omelet and fruit or some oatmeal, you're opting for a balance of foods that will be absorbed at a slower rate. Then you'll have a steadier flow of blood sugar that's far easier to keep balanced than if it were fueled by a muffin, a bagel, or a cup of coffee dosed with sugar and cream.
Eat throughout the day. The best way to avoid impulse eating when you're overly hungry is to eat several small meals, spaced throughout the day. This will keep your blood sugar more stable than eating the traditional two or three large meals spaced farther apart from one another. Schedule your meals around your body's needs rather than around your to-do list if you can. You'll find it much easier to stop eating once you're full; to make smart food choices from a rational, calm place; and to maintain even moods and energy levels. Eating balanced meals is essential for getting real satisfaction from what you eat and leaving cravings behind. For most people, this means approximately 50 percent of your meal should be vegetables or fruit, and the rest should be split between protein (beans, meat, dairy, etc.), grains, and a bit of oil or other fat. However, everyone's a little different, and you should experiment to find what works best for you.
High-fiber foods fill you up—yet they bring less fat to the table, says Barbara J. Rolls, PhD, the Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Pennsylvania State and author of The Volumetrics Weight Control Plan. Plus eating high-fiber foods allows you to eat a higher volume of food while ingesting fewer calories. It's a concept called "energy density"—the number of calories in a specified amount of food, Rolls explains. Some examples of energy-dense foods are apples (skin on) and bananas, avocados, flax meal, and kidney beans.
Find alternatives for when you have a craving. Make sure you find alternative foods and activities that you actually enjoy. If they aren't satisfying, you'll eventually abandon them for your old habits. When I'm craving something sweet yet healthy, I usually go for either low-fat Chocolatey Cats Cookies (for People) from Trader Joe's® (only 9.9 grams of sugar per serving) or chocolate Shakeology® (only 9 grams of sugar)—that's not bad for a sweet treat. Yep, I'm a sucker for chocolate, but I can still enjoy the taste without overdosing on sugar!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
8 "Diet" Foods That Can Make You Fat
8 "Diet" Foods That Can Make You Fat
By Justine Holberg
A veggie wrap for lunch. A night out for sushi. And you're working out . . . but you're still not losing weight. What gives?
Some "diet" foods may be your worst enemy. That's because they're tricking you into eating too many calories. So what are some of the worst offenders?
1.Sushi: Fish wrapped in rice and seaweed. Not a diet food? Yep, that's right. It's not always as "light" as it seems. Some sushi has calorie levels so high it might just shock you.
Diet Shocker: One eight-piece serving of Philadelphia sushi roll is the caloric equivalent of 1 medium bagel with plain cream cheese—close to 500 calories. It's the cream cheese that gets you. And what about spicy tuna and other mayo-based rolls? They can contain as many as 450 calories and 11 grams of artery-clogging fat per serving. Eat too many of the "wrong" rolls and you're in Big Mac® calorie territory.
2.Wraps: You order the whole wheat veggie wrap thinking it'll put you on the skinny track. But is it actually the fat track? For some reason, wraps have been viewed as a healthy upgrade from a sandwich, but this isn't always the case.
Diet Shocker: The tortilla holding your wrap together can easily contain the same number of calories as four slices of bread, not to mention more carbs and twice as much fat. Many kinds of wraps you get at a deli have at least 300 calories. And that's just the tortilla, not the contents. You also have to factor in the fillings—and keep in mind that a wrap has more surface space to spread these calorie-boosting culprits:
Dressing
Cheese
Mayo
All told, one healthy-seeming wrap can easily trick you into eating hundreds more calories than you planned.
3.Granola: When you're having granola, you might think, "It's healthy. The fiber and all those little pieces of dried fruit are so good for me." Truth is, although it's got good stuff in it, it also packs in the calories.
Diet Shocker: A half-cup serving is what's often listed on the nutrition label of prepared granola. But who eats just half a cup? For most brands, there are more than 400 calories in a one-cup serving of granola. And when's the last time you actually measured? If you keep filling your cereal bowl with this stuff, it's no wonder you're not losing!
4.Bran Muffins: The kinds sold at many bakeries today aren't the little 3-inch muffins Grandma used to bake. They're much, much bigger. And just because they're made with "healthy" bran doesn't mean they're a diet food, either.
Diet Shocker: The average bakery muffin can contain as many as 630 calories. You might be slightly better off with a bran muffin than, say, a banana or blueberry one because of bran's extra fiber, but most of them are still packed with sugar and butter. Eat one bran muffin from Dunkin' Donuts® and you'll be consuming 480 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 46 grams of sugar. OMG.
5.Dried Fruit: The more fruit you eat the better, right? Not when it comes to the dried stuff.
Diet Shocker: You could boost your calorie count as much as four times (!) by choosing to eat the dried version of a fruit rather than its fresh counterpart. Check out these calorie comparisons based on a 100-gram (about 1 cup) serving:
Fruit (about 1 cup) Fresh Dried
Grapes 70 calories (Raisins) 300 calories
Apricots 50 calories 240 calories
Bananas 90 calories (Banana chips) 350 calories
Plums 45 calories (Prunes) 230 calories
6.Pumpkin-Flavored Baked Goods: Pumpkin is nutritious, but these baked goods can be a dieting disaster. Like bran, pumpkin has lots of stuff that's good for you. So if you see pumpkin on a baked-goods label, it's easy to think you're eating something that's lower in calories. Not the case, though: Pumpkin doesn't mean diet food.
Diet Shocker: Dunkin' Donuts strikes again. Their pumpkin muffin has 630 calories and 28 grams of fat. OMG again! Want to switch bakeries? It won't help much. A pumpkin muffin from Panera Bread® has 530 calories and 20 grams of fat, and the pumpkin scone at Starbucks® has 470 calories and lots of fat too—22 grams' worth. You might as well be eating pie with whipped cream!
7.Olive Oil: It's a good fat and helps you burn fat. However, you don't need a lot of it to get the benefits. Two tablespoons a day can do the trick. And overdoing it can backfire.
Diet Shocker: Olive oil served with bread at a restaurant is heart-healthy, but high in calories. You can easily sop up a quarter of a cup. That's 478 calories, not including the bread. Or the rest of the meal you've ordered.
8."Healthy" Salads: That's what some restaurants want you to believe in their "lite" section of the menu. It must be diet-friendly, right? Not always.
Diet Shocker: Listed under "Healthy Options" on the T.G.I. Friday's® menu, their pecan-crusted chicken salad, which contains mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, and celery, has 1,360 calories. Meanwhile, their cheeseburger and fries combo weighs in at 1,290 calories. Say it ain't so.
So what's a dieter to do in a world filled with "diet" traps?
Ask about nutrition and read food labels. After a while, you'll be a pro at it and enjoy the weight loss that comes with it. You won't even have to give up the foods you like. That's because you'll know how to work them into your food plan the right way.
By Justine Holberg
A veggie wrap for lunch. A night out for sushi. And you're working out . . . but you're still not losing weight. What gives?
Some "diet" foods may be your worst enemy. That's because they're tricking you into eating too many calories. So what are some of the worst offenders?
1.Sushi: Fish wrapped in rice and seaweed. Not a diet food? Yep, that's right. It's not always as "light" as it seems. Some sushi has calorie levels so high it might just shock you.
Diet Shocker: One eight-piece serving of Philadelphia sushi roll is the caloric equivalent of 1 medium bagel with plain cream cheese—close to 500 calories. It's the cream cheese that gets you. And what about spicy tuna and other mayo-based rolls? They can contain as many as 450 calories and 11 grams of artery-clogging fat per serving. Eat too many of the "wrong" rolls and you're in Big Mac® calorie territory.
2.Wraps: You order the whole wheat veggie wrap thinking it'll put you on the skinny track. But is it actually the fat track? For some reason, wraps have been viewed as a healthy upgrade from a sandwich, but this isn't always the case.
Diet Shocker: The tortilla holding your wrap together can easily contain the same number of calories as four slices of bread, not to mention more carbs and twice as much fat. Many kinds of wraps you get at a deli have at least 300 calories. And that's just the tortilla, not the contents. You also have to factor in the fillings—and keep in mind that a wrap has more surface space to spread these calorie-boosting culprits:
Dressing
Cheese
Mayo
All told, one healthy-seeming wrap can easily trick you into eating hundreds more calories than you planned.
3.Granola: When you're having granola, you might think, "It's healthy. The fiber and all those little pieces of dried fruit are so good for me." Truth is, although it's got good stuff in it, it also packs in the calories.
Diet Shocker: A half-cup serving is what's often listed on the nutrition label of prepared granola. But who eats just half a cup? For most brands, there are more than 400 calories in a one-cup serving of granola. And when's the last time you actually measured? If you keep filling your cereal bowl with this stuff, it's no wonder you're not losing!
4.Bran Muffins: The kinds sold at many bakeries today aren't the little 3-inch muffins Grandma used to bake. They're much, much bigger. And just because they're made with "healthy" bran doesn't mean they're a diet food, either.
Diet Shocker: The average bakery muffin can contain as many as 630 calories. You might be slightly better off with a bran muffin than, say, a banana or blueberry one because of bran's extra fiber, but most of them are still packed with sugar and butter. Eat one bran muffin from Dunkin' Donuts® and you'll be consuming 480 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 46 grams of sugar. OMG.
5.Dried Fruit: The more fruit you eat the better, right? Not when it comes to the dried stuff.
Diet Shocker: You could boost your calorie count as much as four times (!) by choosing to eat the dried version of a fruit rather than its fresh counterpart. Check out these calorie comparisons based on a 100-gram (about 1 cup) serving:
Fruit (about 1 cup) Fresh Dried
Grapes 70 calories (Raisins) 300 calories
Apricots 50 calories 240 calories
Bananas 90 calories (Banana chips) 350 calories
Plums 45 calories (Prunes) 230 calories
6.Pumpkin-Flavored Baked Goods: Pumpkin is nutritious, but these baked goods can be a dieting disaster. Like bran, pumpkin has lots of stuff that's good for you. So if you see pumpkin on a baked-goods label, it's easy to think you're eating something that's lower in calories. Not the case, though: Pumpkin doesn't mean diet food.
Diet Shocker: Dunkin' Donuts strikes again. Their pumpkin muffin has 630 calories and 28 grams of fat. OMG again! Want to switch bakeries? It won't help much. A pumpkin muffin from Panera Bread® has 530 calories and 20 grams of fat, and the pumpkin scone at Starbucks® has 470 calories and lots of fat too—22 grams' worth. You might as well be eating pie with whipped cream!
7.Olive Oil: It's a good fat and helps you burn fat. However, you don't need a lot of it to get the benefits. Two tablespoons a day can do the trick. And overdoing it can backfire.
Diet Shocker: Olive oil served with bread at a restaurant is heart-healthy, but high in calories. You can easily sop up a quarter of a cup. That's 478 calories, not including the bread. Or the rest of the meal you've ordered.
8."Healthy" Salads: That's what some restaurants want you to believe in their "lite" section of the menu. It must be diet-friendly, right? Not always.
Diet Shocker: Listed under "Healthy Options" on the T.G.I. Friday's® menu, their pecan-crusted chicken salad, which contains mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, and celery, has 1,360 calories. Meanwhile, their cheeseburger and fries combo weighs in at 1,290 calories. Say it ain't so.
So what's a dieter to do in a world filled with "diet" traps?
Ask about nutrition and read food labels. After a while, you'll be a pro at it and enjoy the weight loss that comes with it. You won't even have to give up the foods you like. That's because you'll know how to work them into your food plan the right way.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Cheerfully giving!!
So as I was watching the 700 Club this morning. Not my usual thing to watch while eating breakfast but it was on and I decided to see what it was about. It was a couple that was down on their luck and bout to loose their house and on food stamps. They turned to god and asked what to do. They decided that to donate a dollar to 10 churches in the area and when they did they found out that they had a death in the family and was given an inheritance of $10,000. They then gave $100 dollars to the churches and then jobs came to them and they were making $700,000 that year. All for just believing that when you pay it forward you will receive more.
This is a great belief. Paying forward isn't just about sending money to a church. What about helping a friend on your day off from work, volunteering your time to a homeless shelter or habitat for humanity, giving your advice and sharing what works for you in your business. I do this daily with Beachbody. Paying it forward is what Beachbody is all about.
The feeling of having someone I know either from facebook or the grocery store or at a child's game tell me how happy they are that I shared my success with them. They are so happy to have lost the weight and to make some money. Walmart wouldn't help Target with their customers would they. I mean think about it. If i went to walmart and said can you tell me if Target has what I need they would say sure they do. Just go to Target and get it their. We all know that really isn't how it works.
But in Beachbody that exactly how it works. I have talked to a new friend (Roxanne) daily. No she isn't a customer of mine and no she isn't one of my coaches. Actually she was a coach before and decided to quit. Her upline kept trying to get her to become a coach again. We became friends on facebook and after sharing my story and my BELIEF in her she signed up as a coach again for the other team and is loving it. This didn't help me with my business but more importantly it helped her. Having a friend, even thou we have never met, has helped her with her belief in herself and her finances. She I know will pay it forward. I am so proud of her. This is exactly what PAYING IT FORWARD IS ABOUT!!!
So I challenge you to pay it forward today. In what ever way you find happiness and fulfillment.
This is a great belief. Paying forward isn't just about sending money to a church. What about helping a friend on your day off from work, volunteering your time to a homeless shelter or habitat for humanity, giving your advice and sharing what works for you in your business. I do this daily with Beachbody. Paying it forward is what Beachbody is all about.
The feeling of having someone I know either from facebook or the grocery store or at a child's game tell me how happy they are that I shared my success with them. They are so happy to have lost the weight and to make some money. Walmart wouldn't help Target with their customers would they. I mean think about it. If i went to walmart and said can you tell me if Target has what I need they would say sure they do. Just go to Target and get it their. We all know that really isn't how it works.
But in Beachbody that exactly how it works. I have talked to a new friend (Roxanne) daily. No she isn't a customer of mine and no she isn't one of my coaches. Actually she was a coach before and decided to quit. Her upline kept trying to get her to become a coach again. We became friends on facebook and after sharing my story and my BELIEF in her she signed up as a coach again for the other team and is loving it. This didn't help me with my business but more importantly it helped her. Having a friend, even thou we have never met, has helped her with her belief in herself and her finances. She I know will pay it forward. I am so proud of her. This is exactly what PAYING IT FORWARD IS ABOUT!!!
So I challenge you to pay it forward today. In what ever way you find happiness and fulfillment.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Tammi French... world famous recipe!!!
Tami's WORLD FAMOUS healthy Chicken Scampi Recipe!
Now this is based on our family and the six of us, so you may need to scale it back to fit your family or have some good leftovers! ;)
6-5oz boneless/skinless chicken breast, par-cook it then drain, chuck it up and place aside.
combine and cook on medium-low:
1 cup extra virgin olive oil3/4 cup cooking wine3 tablespoons of fresh garlic(we love it so you may want to start with less and add to taste)1 tablespoon italian seasonings2 tsp. fresh ground pepper1 tablespoon ground sea salt (or to taste)
Add in the chicken and stir well. Continue to cook the chicken until spaghetti noodles are cooked in a separate pan.
1 box of Barilla spaghetti noodles, cook and drain.
Before you add the chicken/liquid mixture to the pasta you need to add 1/2 cup of bread crumbs to the liquid and mix well. This is soak up some of the oil and make it thicker. Once you have done that, add it to the pasta and mix well. Serve with side salad and homemade garlic bread! Yummy!
I make my own bread crumbs with whole wheat bread that I toast and then put in a food processor. That way I know they are whole and not refined crap! ;)
Make sure that you portion out your meal so that you don't over
Now this is based on our family and the six of us, so you may need to scale it back to fit your family or have some good leftovers! ;)
6-5oz boneless/skinless chicken breast, par-cook it then drain, chuck it up and place aside.
combine and cook on medium-low:
1 cup extra virgin olive oil3/4 cup cooking wine3 tablespoons of fresh garlic(we love it so you may want to start with less and add to taste)1 tablespoon italian seasonings2 tsp. fresh ground pepper1 tablespoon ground sea salt (or to taste)
Add in the chicken and stir well. Continue to cook the chicken until spaghetti noodles are cooked in a separate pan.
1 box of Barilla spaghetti noodles, cook and drain.
Before you add the chicken/liquid mixture to the pasta you need to add 1/2 cup of bread crumbs to the liquid and mix well. This is soak up some of the oil and make it thicker. Once you have done that, add it to the pasta and mix well. Serve with side salad and homemade garlic bread! Yummy!
I make my own bread crumbs with whole wheat bread that I toast and then put in a food processor. That way I know they are whole and not refined crap! ;)
Make sure that you portion out your meal so that you don't over
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)