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.)

Cooking Healthy

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Cooking healthy is just as important as what you eat when it comes to following a healthy eating plan.  There are many ways to prepare the healthy foods you buy, some healthy and some not so healthy.

STOVE TOP

Vegetables can be cooked on the stove-top but it is important to use as little water as possible when boiling vegetables.  Vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts are particularly susceptible to losing important nutrients.

MICROWAVE

The best way to cook most vegetables is in the microwave, preferably in a special microwave vegetable steamer.  Vegetables can also be lightly cooked in a microwave safe bowl, using as little water as possible.

Microwave ovens are also great for making other vegetables, especially baked potatoes. Baked potatoes cook well in the microwave, the skins get nice and crispy and the flesh becomes very tender.  Of course this means that less high fat toppings may be needed, so the microwave is a great way to make nutritious and delicious baked potatoes.

GRILLING

Grilling is another great way to make healthy, delicious meals.  Grilling is a great, low fat way to prepare meats, and it is a great way to make vegetables and fruits as well.  Vegetable kebobs are delicious on the grill, whether combined with lean cuts of meat or made into a meal of their own.


 BROILING

Your oven’s broiler is another great way to create low fat meals.  Broiling is a great way to prepare all kinds of meats and seafood, and broiling is a low fat cooking method as well.  Broiling fish is a fast and easy way to prepare this staple of a healthy low fat diet, while broiling steaks and chops keeps fat at a minimum while keeping taste at its highest.

IN THE BLENDER

The handy kitchen blender is another great way to create delicious snacks using fruits and vegetables.  Blenders are great for making fruit smoothies, and most recipes call for little more than crushed ice, fruit juice and fresh fruit.

NO-COOK HEALTHY MEALS

Some great, high nutrition, low fat, low calorie meals require no preparation at all.  Make a wonderful fruit salad with just a can of mandarin oranges, an apple, some strawberries and a banana.  Empty a can of mandarin oranges into a bowl, along with the juice it is packed in.  Add banana slices, apples slices and strawberries.  You can also add blueberries, raspberries or raisins.  Total prep time is five minutes!

Fruit skewers are another creative, healthy and easy meal or snack.  Take shish kebob skewers and stack them full of melon slices, strawberries, red grapes, white grapes and chunks of pineapple.  Plain nonfat yogurt makes an excellent and low fat dip.

In addition to the above ideas, making your own homemade salsa is a great way to create a low fat alternative to sour cream and other high fat dips.  Salsa can be made using healthy ingredients like tomatoes, mangoes, avocados, onions, cilantro and lime juice.

SALAD IDEAS

A great way to add even more fruits and vegetables to an already healthy diet is to perk up a plain salad.  Add broccoli florets, carrot slices, slices of cucumber, green peppers, red peppers, and bean sprouts to add color, zest and flavor to any salad.

Cucumbers, green peppers, broccoli and carrots are also great additions to pasta salads and potato salads.  Adding extra crunch and color is a great way to add zest to any meal or snack.

Even a plain green salad of lettuce and tomatoes can be enhanced through the use of colorful fruits and vegetables.  Adding vegetables like carrots, bean sprouts, and spinach leaves, and fruits like mandarin oranges, apple slices, nectarine slices, grapes, apple slices, pineapples and raisins, adds both beauty and taste to any salad.

Of course salad dressing is always an important subject for those trying to follow a healthy lifestyle.  High fat dressing can sabotage even the healthiest salad, but there are many excellent, low fat and healthy choices when it comes to topping a salad.  Using flavored vinegars, herbs and fruit juices are novel approaches to salad dressing, in addition to the many nonfat and low fat versions of commercial salad dressing.

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