Hold yourself accountable
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Accountability for your actions is key to any weight loss journey. The tools are inexpensive but when you actually use them to mark your progress they are priceless.
1. Buy scale and use it regularly. I weigh myself everyday. I may not like what it is telling me every day but it is important to
These simple tools can make all the difference in your weight loss journey..
monitor your successes as well as catch your slip ups.
2. A calendar. Write down your daily weight. Once a month take a handful of body measurements and keep track of progress.
3. Portion control bowls or measuring cups. Portion distortion is a large contributing factor to American’s growing waistlines. Use the nutritional guidelines on your food products and then measure out the correction portions.
4. Stock your pantry with healthy foods. Time to clean out of the junk food in the house. Sorry but it all has to go. I know I don’t have kids but frankly if there was less junk food in the American home there would be fewer headlines about childhood obesity. Look at the labels for sodium content, calories and the expiration dates. If it doesn’t cut the healthy eating regime that you are starting then donate it to the local food bank. Out of sight isn’t good enough. Get it out of the house.
5. Cook healthy food in big batches. Saturday morning is my time to cook before I do my workout. Soups and turkey chili are my favorites. I make huge batches and then portion it up for lunches and dinners for the week. I must admit that by day three of eating the same thing my regime gets old. That is when I grab last weeks featured item out of the freezer and mix it up. In the coming weeks I will be sharing my recipes for some of my favorite dishes.
Joy Bauer’s Tips to a healthier you
On October 6th I was inducted into the Today Show’s Joy Fit Club for people that have lost more than 100 pounds. I met Joy Bauer, the show’s nutrition expert, and she challenged me to use her new book, “Joy’s LIFE Diet” as a method to lose my last 24 pounds. It worked! I learned a great deal from my new friend and I asked her to give you advice on how to take steps to start treating your body better for a healthier you.
1. Substitute sodas: If you cut one 12-ounce can of regular soda (150 calories) from your routine every day for a year, you’ll have saved 54,750 calories. That could equate to a 15.5 pounds weight loss! Even though diet sodas don’t contribute calories, they keep your craving for sweet engaged, which prevents you from nipping your sugar addiction in the bud.
2. Forget fried food:
I can't even eat fried food anymore. But fried chicken used to be a favorite of mine.
6-ounce skinless roasted chicken breast: 280 calories, 6 grams fat
6-ounce fried chicken breast with skin: 445 calories, 22 grams fat
The lesson here is clear: if you’re trying to lose weight stay away from fried foods completely.
3. Stop adding sugar: Every tablespoon of added sugar, whether it’s plain old white sugar, maple syrup or honey adds about 60 calories to your daily total. All that straight sugar can really wreak havoc on your blood sugars, not to mention your diet. Two sugar packets in your morning coffee, a tablespoon in your oatmeal, a few squirts of flavored syrup in your favorite afternoon caffeine fix, and you’ve already added 160 empty calories to your day.
4. Forgo the vending machine: A typical snack from the vending machine has about 250 calories. If you hit up the vending machine on every weekday for a year, you’ll have added 65,000 calories to your intake. That could add up to a weight gain of over 18 pounds in a single year!
5. Give portions a reality check: Portion sizes in America have grown exponentially over the past few decades. Everything from pizza to muffins and French fries to soda is being served up in bigger and more calorific sizes. Check out how quickly the calories add up as you move from a fun size Snickers bar to today’s popular king size version:
Fun Size Snickers bar: 80 calories
Regular Snickers bar: 280 calories
King Size Snickers bar: 510 calories
If you’re treating yourself to a snack food, check the package label and have one serving. You can find out what constitutes one serving by referring to the “Serving Size” line on the Nutrition Facts panel.
6. Diet friendly dining: When eating out, stay away from complicated dishes with lots of toppings, breading, and cheese, which can really pack on the pounds. Your best bet is to order broiled, roasted, grilled, poached, or steamed lean protein (chicken breast, lean steak, seafood, etc.) without any sauce. Then, ask your waiter to skip the starch and double up on the steamed veggies instead.
7. Nix late night nibbles: There’s nothing magical about avoiding nighttime munching. People do tend to take in a good portion of their day’s calories in the evening hours after they’ve already finished dinner. It’s best to close down the kitchen after dinner and avoid eating after 9 PM. If you feel like you need a snack, keep it to 150 calories or less, and don’t let your nighttime nibble spin out of control into a late night binge.
8.When it comes to choosing snacks: 150 is the magic number that you’ll want to keep total calories below. Limit refined carbohydrates and sugary snacks, which cause blood sugars to quickly spike and then fall, leaving you moody and hungry all over again. Stick with fruits, veggies, a handful of nuts, low-fat dairy, and whole grain foods like mini whole-wheat pita bread.
This is my dogs favorite part of my weight loss program.
9. Walk off the weight: Walking is a low-impact exercise, meaning it’s easy on the joints. It doesn’t require any special equipment, just a good pair of sneaks, maybe an iPod for some musical motivation or a walking buddy.
10. Treat yourself: There is room in every weight loss plan for your favorite goodies as long as you enjoy them in moderation. Be mindful of your portions and how often you eat them. If you can’t stop yourself from eating your foods keep them out of the house completely.
Useful Websites:
For more on Joy Bauer’s LIFE Diet: Four Steps to Thin Forever, go to www.joybauer.com
To check out your body mass index along with information about portion distortion and menu planning, go to www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
To find out just how your body is aging, go to www.realage.com
Life in moderation
Doesn't this look better than a cheeseburger and fries? Yummy!
I am a Cancer, a homebody by nature, but it is time to go back out into the world with my new life and take it for a test drive.
Eating out has been a downfall for me. For some reason, I thought that the calories consumed at a restaurant didn’t count. Wrong Lisa. They count and what is worse the food preparation is out of my hands. Only the cooks know how much oil they use and not to mention the other goodies that they hide in their treats.
Being antisocial really isn’t in my nature so I have learned a few tricks to eating out that I thought I would share with you. I am far from perfect and I still over eat when I go out but life is short, so when I overeat I hit the gym harder the next day. Try these tricks when you go out to eat:
1. If I am going to an unfamiliar place for dinner I will Google the place and look over the menu and figure out what would be good choices for dinner in advance. My game plan is motion and it helps fight off the temptation to order things I know I shouldn’t.
2. I never order from the main entrée menu. The portions are just too large. I know that some people ask for a take out box to come with their dinner and then they put half of their meal in the box before they start to eat. Nice thought, but it never worked for me. The waiter forgets the box and the next thing you know my plate is empty.
3. I allow myself two items total. I look over the appetizer, soup and salad menu and then pick the two things that I want. The great thing about the appetizer menu is that portions are more inline with what they should be so, if I choose something strays from my healthy eating regime I don’t feel like I fall off the horse too badly because at least the smaller portions keep the calorie count in control.
4. If I know that the desserts at the eating establishment are great I will adjust more my ordering to account for the extra calories at the end of the meal. I ask my friends to share the dish and get extra forks with the treat. It is a great bonding tool and helps again keep the calorie count in line.
5. Moderation is key and enjoying yourself is always on the menu. Life is too short not to enjoy yourself.
Eating healthy on a budget
How isn’t watching their pennies these days? My job is to keep up on the news and to top it off I work as a designer for the business section of the newspaper. I call it the department of doom and gloom. The only good news in the business world is that it is so bad it that it should keep us in business for a while.
Sure it is quick, easy and cheap but not good nutrition. Good calories in and your body will reward the effort.
Eating right on a budget is tough but it can be done with some planning. Here are some of my tricks to keep my pennies in my pocket .
- I make a list and shop the sales.
- Limit how much you eat out. Not great for the restaurant business but I am not alone in this rule. When I do go out I try to go to family places so that they can stay in business. They have more pride in what they are serving and are they grateful for your patronage.
- Pack my lunch and dinner. I work a swing shift and this allows me to stay on my diet with little effort.
- Take advantage of the frozen veggies. There is no waste and are there for more economical.
- Search out the discount stores and compare prices. Target has great prices on staples.
Sure a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese is a cheap meal but it is far from a nutritional meal. Frankly, I think the box has more nutrients and fiber. When I am grocery shopping I look at other peoples carts and I wonder what they are thinking. God gave us one body and it is our duty to take care of it. Eat healthy, be wise with your money and enjoy the temple that you create.
