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.)

Improve Your Life

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Why is everyone searching for the secrets to health, wealth and happiness? If you understand yourself, then you would have the knowledge to be happy, healthy and successful. Whatever you are looking for, it is all a result of achieving personal growth.

Personal growth starts with doing your best at every moment in your job, home, or day-to-day activities. Setting goals, no matter how small, enables us to soar to new heights and give us the confidence to achieve more. 

WHAT IS IMPORTANT?

Many times, people get hung up on other peoples’ expectations on what it is to be successful.  Each of us has a different idea of what makes us content.  It is important to acknowledge that if we spend most of our time and effort trying to reach someone else’s goals, then we find ourselves constantly searching for meaning and continue to be unhappy.  Realizing what is important is the first step to improving personal life. 

BALANCE.

Balance is the key to success.  Some people do not see the concept of success beyond their own needs. Often we are caught up in serving a function that overshadows our natural strengths. This results in stress and imbalance in our life.

Learning to do things for yourself is vital to improving your personal life. If you are always doing for others, and seldom take time out for you, you are building stress rather than improving life.

Your happiness should come first. This is a very difficult concept for some. Finding it hard to say no to others is common and we find ourselves inundated by the needs of others. Learn to have an even balance in your life and focus on what YOU want as another way to improve your personal life.   

SELF ESTEEM.

Putting yourself down constantly, finding it hard to accept compliments and wishing you were someone else are examples that you are sabotaging your own life. Encourage positive self-talk with yourself and to others. Never speak negatively about yourself or others. This is vital to great self-esteem.

Understand that no matter what, you are okay. Improving your self-confidence is extremely important when improving your personal life. This will take putting your positive beliefs in the front of your mind, and day by day taking away the negative thoughts. Believing in you is another crucial key to your success.

If you feel like you are on the road to stress and anxiety and want more out of life, slow down and take a step back to evaluate what is important. Remember that other peoples’ goals are not always your own. Learn to balance your everyday and lifestyle decisions, and most importantly, always think positively. 

Surround yourself with encouraging and supportive people. Even if you take small steps to do these things, you will be improving your personal life without realizing it. The key to success is moving forward.

You must learn to move ahead and stop looking back. History is important, but you want to avoid dwelling on past mistakes. Your mistakes are learning tools. Use them, learn from them, and move ahead.

When you surround yourself with positive influences, you gain the power of processing your life. You have control over your community. Take back your control and you will improve your life.

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