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.)

Dieting for Your Health

6:34 AM  , , , , , , ,  No comments

There is no greater reason to diet than for your health and well being. Those of us who are overweight know better than most the risks and possible consequences that may result because of our weight. Much like smokers however, the risks do not always seem so cut and dry until we reach our very own turning point. Whether your eating habits are born of an emotional need or years of learned behavior and conditioning, things will not change until you completely adjust your eating habits and your lifestyle choices.


Dieting for many has become a lifestyle in and of itself with people rapidly flip-flopping from one diet to another with little success and growing despair over the lack of results. The truth is that until you decide to forgive yourself for your failures and get right back on the wagon after falling off, no diet is going to be successful. A simple diet won’t magically make the pounds disappear and constantly depriving yourself of those things you enjoy most may have a more detrimental effect than a positive effect.

Most people need to learn that dieting isn’t always a good thing. What most overweight people need more than anything else is to learn how to incorporate positive lifestyle changes into their daily routines. People scoff at the notion of taking the stairs, parking farther away, or walking to work, and yet those are perfectly plausible methods of working a little more physical activity into your day. Every extra step you take helps your body become more physically fit.

WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR FITNESS LEVEL

LEARN TO DANCE. There are beginner dance classes in most communities that will welcome and invite dancers of all ages, sizes, and fitness levels. It is a great way to get fit, learn something new, and have fun without filling deprived.
JOIN A WALKING CLUB OR THE YMCA,TAKE MARTIAL ARTS OR TAI CHI CLASSES. Get on your feet and away from the temptation of your refrigerator. You cannot lose a significant amount of weight by dieting alone. You must incorporate physical fitness into your daily routine.

WHAT NOT TO DO

DON’T GIVE UP! When it comes to dieting people give up far too quickly. Just as the results are beginning people get tired of the process or frustrated that they aren’t accomplishing enough weight loss as quickly as they had hoped. They give up all together when they could have achieved success had they stuck with their original diet plan a little longer.

DON’T WEIGH YOURSELF EVERY DAY. When it comes to dieting, the scale can be your worst enemy. If you weigh yourself every day in hopes of watching the scale tick off yet another pound you are dooming yourself to failure. You will never achieve the results you are hoping for you if you are going into depressive bouts of Rocky Road every night because you didn’t lose 10 pounds overnight.

When it comes to dieting there are very few diets that work. There are however, many lifestyle changes that when practiced consistently and aggressively, will work. The thing to remember is that you are the one who must do the work.  

0 comments:

Post a Comment