Thank You For Visiting Our Blog, FEEL BETTER AND LIVE LONGER!

The purpose of our blog is to share what we have learned about nutrition, weight loss, fitness, and health, in order to help you find ways to feel better and live longer. It is amazing how much our diet and lifestyle affect our health and well-being.

Did you know that you can reduce your risk and even prevent many diseases and health conditions simply by making some changes to your diet? Check back often for valuable tips and information.

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF:

For the first time in my life I have found weight loss success. During my adult life I have tried dozens and dozens of so-called "diets" and none of them worked over the long-haul. Oh, I was able to lose weight with some of them, but once I went off of the "diet" I quickly gained back all of my weight (plus some).

I have finally learned that losing weight has to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Crash diets and all the other crazy diets will not only cause you to fail, they are harmful to your health. To lose weight and keep it off you must NOT go on a "diet." What? Why? Because we all consider a "diet" a temporary thing. For example, how many times have you said, "Oh, I will go on this low-fat diet until I lose 20 pounds." Okay, what happens after you lose the 20 pounds? Or you simply give up? You go back to your old habits and gain that 20 pounds back.

The only way you will ever be successful at losing weight, with the added benefit of improving your health, is to make healthy changes that you can live with for the rest of your life. Period. Not for a week, a month or 3 months, but for life. For me, my initial goal was to lower my cholesterol level. I had to have a blood test for my insurance coverage and my cholesterol level had to be lower than the previous year's levels or I would have to pay a much higher premium. Well, that was a pretty good incentive for me make some positive changes.

I sat down and figured out what I needed to do. I knew I had to change the way I ate and I knew I had to exercise in some form or other every day. So, I made a list and I stuck to it. It was difficult at first. To make matters worse, I am a compulsive eater. However, as the days went by, it became much easier because my body stopped craving sweets and processed foods. For the first time in my life, I was never tempted to binge because I never felt deprived.

Use the list below and make whatever changes you need to make in order for it to work for you. FYI, my cholesterol level dropped 65 points after 7 weeks, and my triglycerides dropped 70 points! Another benefit that I hadn't planned on was that after being an insomniac since my teen-age years, I now sleep like a baby every night!

MY LIST FOR WEIGHT LOSS SUCESS:

1. Avoid "white" Foods & Processed Foods. These foods have no nutritional value and are "empty" calories. Sweets, anything made with white flour,and anything that comes in a package with a long list of ingredients. Always read the food labels. Stay away from those long lists of ingredients. The longer the list, the more chemicals and additives are present. These are extremely toxic to your body.

2. Drink Lots of Water. Water keeps your body's organs hydrated and flushes out unhealthy toxins. It helps to fill you up and reduces your urge to over-eat.

3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. Instead of coffee and donuts, try fruit, yogurt, grains like oatmeal or whole grain toast, and lean protein. NEVER skip breakfast. By eating a large, healthy meal when you get up in the morning, your metabolism will "rev up" and you will not be hungry by mid-morning. If you skip breakfast, your body will go into starvation mode and store calories in your body as FAT, yes FAT! So do yourself a big favor and eat breakfast.

4. Reduce Your Stress Level. So many of us live with too much stress. Stress lowers your immune system, making it easier to get sick. It also makes us lethargic, tired, and depressed. There are a lot of simple things you can do and a lot of ways to feel better about yourself and your life. Take a long, hot bath, read a book, listen to music, get a massage. Do something nice for yourself. Giving yourself something to look forward to is a tremendous mental incentive.

5. Move! Oh my gosh! There are so many ways to incorporate movement into your day, even at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get up every hour and walk around your floor, your hallway or your desk. Park your car in the farthest space from where you need to be. Walk or bike to work. Skate, dance, golf, jump rope, clean house, play tag. The best exercise you can do is to walk. Try to take a walk every day! The more you move, the more your metabolism will be your friend. (I walk 3 miles every day whether it is raining, snowing or freezing.)

How to Break Bad Habits

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Do you need to make some changes and/or improvements to your personal life? Are bad habits preventing you from making any progress? Habits are one of the toughest things to break. Why?

Habits are developed, sometimes over a long period of time, from training, influences, observation, and practice. We develop many habits throughout our life, some good, some not so good.

Good habits we can keep, but if one wants to improve their life the bad habits have to go. Getting rid of bad habits is not easy, especially if an addiction is involved. Some very good tips on how to break bad habits are listed below:

STOP MAKING EXCUSES!

The first key to success is to stop making excuses. Some people wander through life making excuses. Anytime they see something they don’t want to deal with, they will make excuses about why they cannot deal with it.

If you are out to improve your life, you need to learn how to be honest; not just honest with others, but honest with yourself. Honesty will lead you to improve your life and to make the commitment to learn new behaviors and good habits.

CHOOSE A NEW HABIT.

Choose a new, good habit. For instance, plan to eat healthier. Instead of hating the thought of eating healthier foods, make the commitment to do it anyway. Even if you start out slowly, you are still making positive changes.

STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS.

Many people waste their time and energies comparing themselves to others. When you compare yourself to others, you are setting yourself up for bitterness, resentment and unhappiness. Why? Because we usually compare ourselves to those who are, we perceive, much better off than we are.

Instead of making comparisons between yourself and others, stop and count your blessings. Always count what you have, not what you do not have. Think about how lucky you are and the people in your life who love you. 

FOCUS ON YOUR STRENGTHS.

Instead of looking at your weaknesses, ask yourself what your strengths are. Celebrate them! Be proud of them. Don’t brag, but feel good about them and work on using them to your best advantage.

ALWAYS CONSIDER THE GLASS HALF FULL, NOT HALF EMPTY.

Do you go through your life always looking at the negative side of everything? Do you think you cannot change your life? Are you always saying, “Why me?” When you spend your life thinking and acting negatively, you will only attract negativity to you.

Instead of saying, “Why me?” Say, “I can change something and I am going to today.” If there is something you cannot change, accept it and move on. Don’t wallow in it and let it pull you down.

Do you have friends weighing you down? If so, make new friends. You have the power to make changes to your life, but you do not have the power to change other people.

When you start to make changes to improve your life, start small. Instead of jumping the gun, take baby steps to success. Too many times people try to change overnight. This only leads to frustration.

When you are working to change your life and habits make sure you seek support and feedback. You do not have to walk the road alone. Ask someone you trust to support you and give you feedback when needed. 

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