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 Live Life to the Fullest

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How do you feel about your life today? Are you happy? Do you love what you’re doing? Do you have things to look forward to? Are you living your best life?

If you answered no to any of those questions, you are not living your life to the fullest. Since your life experience is up to you to create, your answers to those questions should always be yes!

How do you create your best life? It is a life of maintaining good health, achieving inner peace, knowing what you want, building good relationships, learning from your failures and giving of yourself.

Use the tips below to help get started on your road to your best life:

John Lennon’s quote, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” is exactly what happens to most of us. By the time we realize we have wasted our todays by worrying about tomorrow, it’s too late. Live in this moment. REMEMBER, you can never go back and change the past. Make a conscious effort to experience each day to its fullest.

BE GRATEFUL. Be grateful for everything you have. Make a list. You will find that there are a great many things to give thanks for. Daily affirmation of all the blessings and riches in your life brings even more abundance into your life.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Believe in your abilities, your gifts, your talents, and your strengths. Always focus on what you give to the world. If you don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect others to believe in you?

BE POSITIVE. Release negative thoughts. They are hazardous to your health. Seeing the positive side of everything in life attracts more positive things into your life. Once you get used to focusing on positive thoughts, it gets easier to dispel the negative ones.

BE PROACTIVE. Don’t complain about your problems. Don’t wait for someone else to fix them. Work on them yourself. By being proactive you will be able to feel like you have some control over your life.

BE YOU. Stop trying to please everyone else. Live your life as YOU want to live it, not as someone else thinks you should. After all, you are the person you have to live with for the rest of your life.

DO WHAT YOU LOVE. Life is precious. Life is short. Don’t spend it doing things that you don’t enjoy or makes you unhappy. Spend your time and energy on things that bring you fulfillment and happiness.

EAT RIGHT. Follow a healthy eating plan. Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, low fat dairy products, healthy fats, and nuts. If you follow a low fat, high fiber eating plan, you will decrease your risk for many illnesses and diseases. The main advantage to eating healthy is that you will feel much better.

END NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIPS. Never have relationships with people who are negative, do not respect you, or make you feel bad about yourself. These relationships are unhealthy and prevent you from growing as a person. Instead, spend time with people who are positive, who are compatible with you and who you enjoy being with. These relationships help promote your personal growth.

ENJOY SMALL PLEASURES. Cuddling with your pets, your spouse, your kids. The smell of coffee in the morning. A walk in the park. The sun in your face. Reading a great book. Watching the sun set. What is pleasure for you? Whatever works for you, soak in all these little precious moments. They are what make up your life.

FORGIVE. To forgive is to release the past and allow yourself to move forward.

GIVE OF YOURSELF. Share your time and your love with someone who is lonely or ill. Listen, hold their hand, and be present. Sometimes being present is all that is needed to make someone’s day. Keep giving. The rewards are endless.

HAVE FUN. Laugh out loud for no reason other than to experience how wonderful laughter can make you feel. Sing in the shower (or anywhere else). Run through the rain. Walk along the beach and feel the sand squish between your toes. Do whatever makes you feel good and do it again!

LEARN TO BE FLEXIBLE. Let ‘s face it. Life rolls on and throws us curveballs when we least expect it, whether we are prepared or not. Never resist change. It represents an opportunity for growth. If you can make the best of unexpected changes, you will be better equipped to deal with the challenges of life.

MOVE ON. Don’t dwell on what happened yesterday. Don’t dwell on what you cannot change. Don’t dwell on sadness, heartbreak, disappointments or grievances. Start each day as a bright, new adventure with limitless possibilities.

NEVER JUDGE. Treat others as you want to be treated. By passing judgment on someone or badmouthing them, you are disrespecting them. You have no idea what someone else has endured or overcome in their life. Show compassion and kindness to everyone around you. It will be returned a hundred-fold.

SPEND MORE TIME and work on building better relationships with the people in your life, your colleagues, friends, and family. Spending quality time with the people you love enriches your life and theirs.

TRY NEW THINGS. To keep your mind and body active and challenged, get out of your comfort zone and try new and different things. Take a cooking class. Learn a new language. Start playing a sport. Travel. Meet new people. 

LOVE LIFE. There is so much to be experienced in life, so much to be discovered, so much to learn.

“Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” (author unknown) May you experience many such moments in your life.

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