I am not an expert on obesity, however I do know, that when it comes to losing weight, we are as unique as our thumbprints.
We are consistently bombarded with the "eat this, not that" mentality to losing weight, which does have merit, however there is a huge component missing. That component is the ability to change habits. If we want lasting results, we have to change our habits. Once we are given the "right" information for how we should eat to lose weight, how do we make the changes to actually make it a regular occurring habit? I have come up with two thought provoking ideas to help you initiate some healthy changes into your daily routine so the path to losing weight becomes a little easier. My ideas have to do with longing and discontent. It can be extremely helpful to get a really clear picture of what you long for and what you are discontented with, as it pertains to your health. So my recommendation to you is to make a list and to use that list as a road map to help you to stay focused on your desired destination. Your first list should consist of all that you long for (as it pertains to your health). My desires for my health are….. You're going to want to get real specific here. You may want to answer things like, how do you want to feel each morning when you first wake up, or how many pounds do you want to lose by next month, or do you want to lose those relentless cravings, etc.? Your second list can consist of all the things that bring you a feeling of discontent (as it pertains to your health). My frustrations with my health are… Get specific here as well. Are you feeling really tired throughout the day? Has your weight gone up and down for the last year and a half? Do you find that you don't have anytime to cook healthy meals? These lists can act as a compass charting your path of actions throughout your day. You can ask yourself, what can I do to further my desired state of health and what can I do to avoid "feeding" the discontent that I have regarding my health? Pick one or two things to work on for at least two weeks. Keep an eye on the prize...what you long for. Plan action steps to make it happen, all the while focusing on the end result. Keeping this list handy can remind you of the necessary habit changes that you must instill in order for you to get to where you long to be.
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Do you want something sweet and savory? Then this yummy salad might do the trick.
This recipe comes from "The World's Healthiest Foods" cookbook by George Mateljan. It's super easy and more than likely you'll have the ingredients on hand. Combine 3 stalks of sliced celery, 1 medium cubed pear (or apple), 2 TBS chopped walnuts, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 TBS Parmesan cheese, 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt and pepper to taste. This is a great side dish for any kind of meal or all by itself. Interesting note: Celery helps to lower blood pressure through a pytochemical called phthalides. (clevelandclinic.org) Let's talk about forming new habits. We all have times in our lives where we intentionally want to change our behavior for the better and create new habits for ourselves. This could be getting in the habit of eating healthier and drinking more water. Or it could be moving more and taking the dog for a daily walk. Or it could be work related, or spiritual, or… There are so many areas in our lives that could be improved and made easier if we created new habits. Getting into the habit of doing something is often easier said than done. We seem to acquire bad habits without any effort, but getting into a "good" habit can be a little more challenging. Let's break it down into a three step process that makes it easy to follow until we've internalized the new behavior and made it a true habit – something we do automatically without having to think about, like brushing our teeth. Decide What You Want To DoThe first step is to decide what you want that new habit to be. Be as specific as possible. Don't just tell yourself you want to exercise more. Instead say something like "I will go for a 30 minute walk every single day". Deciding what your new habit will be and committing to when and how you're going to do it, is half the battle. Remind Yourself To Get It DoneThe next few days should be smooth sailing. You're motivated and excited to get this done. Sticking to your new habit isn't an issue. But a few days in you'll notice that it's easy to slip back into old habits. Maybe it's raining and you don't really want to go out and walk. Or maybe your day just gets away from you. This is when it's important to have a daily reminder. Set an alert on your phone or add the new habit to your daily to-do list for a while. Make It Part Of Your Routine Until It Becomes A HabitWhich brings us to the last step. It takes some time before a new behavior becomes a true habit. Until then, a routine will work to your best advantage. Even before the new behavior becomes automatic, a routine will help you get it done without having to spend a lot of willpower or relying on daily reminders. Make that daily walk part of your after dinner routine, or change from grabbing a snack at the vending machine at work at 10:00 in the morning to packing a healthy snack. Congratulations! Decide to create the new habit, practice the routine until it's second nature and you'll be well on your way to forming a new good habit. Get support to make healthy living a way of life! It's hard to keep up willpower for any length of time. Yes, we can stick to a no sugar diet for a week or two, but eventually our willpower fades. And yes, we can do exercise we hate for a while... until we run out of willpower. But what about getting up to take the kids to school every morning, brushing our teeth or going to work every day. Those may not be our favorite things to do either, but we do them daily without the risk of running out of willpower. That's because they have become habits. They are so ingrained in what we do and who we are that we do them without even considering skipping a day or a week. We don't have to make a conscious decision each day to shower or drive to work. It's just what we do – a habit. When you start to think about it, there is an inverse relationship between habits and will power. When you first want to build a new habit, it takes a lot of will power to get it done day in and day out. As you start to establish that habit, it becomes easier and easier to do until you don't even have to think about it anymore. Just being aware of this process helps us stick it out. We know we don't always have to make such a big effort to go work out or skip the donut for breakfast. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. We know eventually it will become habit to go out for a run first thing in the morning and grab some fruit or fix some eggs for breakfast. While we're in that transition from willpower to habit, we can use tools to make it easier. Use a to-do list or set a reminder to help stay on track. Find an accountability partner so the two of you can motivate each other and help bolster that willpower when it starts to fade after the first enthusiasm wears off. Even something as simple as laying out your running clothes the night before and keeping your sneakers by the door will make it a little easier to go out for that run. Do what you can to help your willpower along until you have made the new behavior a true habit. After that it'll be easy and automatic and you've created a new lifelong habit. Do you need support? Contact Ann today for your free 1 hour coaching session. How Long Does It Really Take To Create A New Habit? They say it takes 21 days to create a new habit. That's kind of a weird idea though, isn't it? It doesn't take that long to form a bad habit. And sometimes no matter how hard we try it takes us a lot longer to form a new habit. So how long does it really take to create a new habit? The answer is that it depends. It depends on your mindset and it depends on how big of a change it is from what you are doing now. If it is your habit to eat a bowl of ice cream at night and you switch from regular ice cream to a low sugar frozen yogurt version, it's probably not going to take you very long to make that new habit. Giving up ice cream altogether though or cutting out all sugar on the other hand might take a lot longer. When we ask that question, what we really want to know is how long do we have to tough it out before it gets easier. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel where we don't have to try so hard anymore? In other words, when will this new behavior become automatic? While it will be different from one person to the next and even from one habit to the next, there are a few things to keep in mind. It's easier to make a new habit than get rid of an old one. Be prepared to work a lot harder to give up checking your email every 2 minutes or snacking late at night. Whenever possible, try to replace an old habit with a new one. For example if you're wanting to give up coffee, brew a cup of herbal tea in the morning and throughout the day when you would usually reach for your cup of Joe. Habits will form faster if you stick to the same time and environment each day. Instead of going for a walk whenever, keep your sneakers next to the door and schedule your walk every day at 6pm, right after dinner for example. A constant reminder of why you're trying to change your behavior is also helpful. Remind yourself every day that you're exercising so your body stays strong and you can go play with the kids or grandkids in the yard. Or put up a picture to remind you that you're making frugal habits so you can one day purchase your dream home. Keep your reason why you're changing front and center and then be prepared to stick it out. Yes it will take some time to make new habits and replace old ones. But it will be well worth it in the end. Let's work together to make your 2017 your healthiest year ever! Living each waking second in the present moment cannot be overstated.
In a society that seems over stimulated and on "ADD" mode, remembering to live in the present, moment by moment, is more important than ever. When you live more in the present moment there seems to be…
Ways that I remember to live in the moment…
Please share in the comment section below what you do to help remind yourself to be centered and in the present moment throughout the day. That would be much appreciated! It's so much more comfortable in the present moment that's for sure. The present moment is where I'll be. If you are looking for me, that's where you'll find me. What is Metabolism? This word “metabolism” is thrown around a lot these days. What exactly is “metabolism” and how does it relate to your health? Metabolism is the biochemical reactions in your body. It's how you take in nutrients and oxygen and use them to fuel everything you do. Your body has an incredible ability to grow, heal, and function, and without this amazing biochemistry of metabolizing, you would not be possible. Metabolism includes how the cells in your body: ● Work in junction with the activities you control (e.g. physical activity etc.). ● Work in junction with the activities you can't control (e.g. heartbeat, wound healing, processing of nutrients & toxins, etc.). ● Allow storage of excess energy for later. It’s all a matter of getting these processes of your metabolism working just right, rather than too quickly or too slowly. Which brings us to your “metabolic rate." Metabolic rate This is how fast your metabolism works and this is measured in calories . The calories you eat can be utilized in three ways: ● Work (i.e. exercise and other activity). ● Heat (i.e. from all those biochemical reactions). ● Storage (i.e. extra leftover “un-burned” calories stored as fat). As you can imagine the more calories you burn through exercise or creating heat, the easier it is to lose weight and keep it off because there will be fewer “leftover” calories to store as fat. There are a couple of different ways to measure metabolic rate. One is the “resting metabolic rate” (RMR) which is how much energy your body uses when you're not being physically active. The other is the “total daily energy expenditure” (TDEE) which measures both the resting metabolic rate as well as the energy used for “work” (e.g. exercise) throughout a 24-hour period. What affects your metabolic rate? Your Thyroid! This gland at the front of your throat releases hormones to tell your body to “speed up” your metabolism. Of course, the more thyroid hormone there is the faster things will work and the more calories you'll burn. Of course too much of a good thing can be bad. Keeping my thyroid levels balanced has made the world of difference with my metabolism. Your thyroid is not the only thing that affects your metabolic rate. How big you are counts too! Larger people have higher metabolic rates; but your body composition is crucial! As you can imagine muscles that actively move and do work need more energy than fat does. So the more lean muscle mass you have the more energy your body will burn and the higher your metabolic rate will be. Even when you're not working out. This is a beautiful thing! This is why weight training is often recommended as a part of a weight loss program. You want muscles to be burning those calories for you. The thing is, when people lose weight their metabolic rate often slows down which you don't want to happen. So you definitely want to offset that with more muscle mass. Aerobic exercise also temporarily increases your metabolic rate. Your muscles are burning fuel to move so they're doing “work”. So always remember to include an exercise routine while “dieting.” The type of food you eat also affects your metabolic rate! Your body actually burns calories to absorb, digest, and metabolize your food. This is called the “thermic effect of food” (TEF). You can use it to your advantage when you understand how your body metabolizes foods differently. Fats, for example increase your TEF by 0-3%; carbs increase it by 5-10%, and protein increases it by 15-30%. By trading some of your fat or carbs for lean protein you can slightly increase your metabolic rate. Protein seems to be the better choice, however the nutrients from your vegetables make a difference too. Another bonus of protein is that your muscles need it to grow. By working them out and feeding them what they need they will help you to lose weight and keep it off. Don't forget the mind-body connection... There is plenty of research that shows the influence from stress and poor sleep have on your metabolic rate. -Stay Well! www.BestDietandLifestyle.com Here’s a great dinner recipe that will help to keep your metabolism working at its best. Enjoy! Recipe (Lean Protein): Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken Breasts Serves 4 2 lemons, sliced 1 tablespoon rosemary 1 tablespoon thyme 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) dash salt & pepper 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive old Preheat oven to 425F. Layer ½ of the lemon slices on the bottom of a baking dish. Sprinkle with ½ of the herbs and ½ of the sliced garlic. Place the chicken breasts on top and sprinkle salt & pepper. Place remaining lemon, herbs and garlic on top of the chicken. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover with a lid or foil. Bake for 45 minutes until chicken is cooked through. If you want the chicken to be a bit more “roasty” then remove the lid/foil and broil for another few minutes (watching carefully not to burn it). Serve & enjoy! Tip: You can add a leftover sliced chicken breast to your salad for lunch the next day! References: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-energy-balance https://authoritynutrition.com/10-ways-to-boost-metabolism/ Pumpkin Bars are a nice sweet treat to have around your home or to bring to a gathering so you won't over-indulge in other overly sweet, heavily processed desserts. Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 30-40 minutes Servings: 8 to 10 people Ingredients: • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, (no sugar added) • 1/2 cup almond butter • 1/4 cup maple syrup • 2 eggs • 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice • 1 tsp. vanilla extract • 1/4 tsp. salt • 1/2 tsp. baking soda Glaze: • 3/4 cup pecans • 2 Tbsp. coconut oil • 1/4 cup water • 1 tsp. vanilla extract • Pinch of salt Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ and grease an 8x8" pan. 2. Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well until a smooth batter forms. 3. Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the center is firm. 4. For the glaze, combine all the ingredients together in a blender and process until smooth and creamy. 5. Allow to cool completely in the pan before glazing. (inspired by Katie Bramlett) If you are anything like I was, and you're struggling with a sugar addiction, please let's talk. As you probably already know, sugar is so detrimental to your body and your mind. Lessening sugar consumption is the first place I start when working one-on-one or in small groups. It's the great place to begin when you want to see results! So would you like more ways to:
Trust me I know firsthand! I have seen so many benefits with my own health since cutting back on sugar. Work with me for just one month and start to experience all the benefits for yourself. Let's get started today! How often do you consider how your food is being digested? Chances are when you think about food, you think about what's on your grocery list and what you plan to cook for dinner, but you probably rarely think about how efficient your digestion is. Digestion is unbelievably important, so it's imperative to lend some attention to it. You can eat healthy foods but still have poor digestion, which will not reap you the greatest benefits of the healthy foods that you're eating. Luckily, there are some simple ways to optimize the digestion of your foods that will make your eating experience an advantageous one health-wise and far more gratifying overall. A few of my favorite ways to optimize digestion are... Eat without distraction. Eating in front of the television or computer yields mindless eating which can cause you to overeat. Distracted eating can lead to bloating, discomfort, and ultimately, weight gain. As much as possible, try to eat without distraction. Eat sitting down with a plate and a fork to enjoy the experience – try to avoid eating in the car, on the subway, or on the go. Tune into your eating experience -- think about the flavors you are tasting, the textures, and use these pockets of time each day to focus on your health and to unplug. Chew your food well. Have you ever considered that chewing your food well is related to your digestion? Breaking down your food in your mouth before swallowing helps take that burden off of your body. Giving your body a good jump start on digestion by chewing well helps your body digest it more efficiently and more quickly, which leaves you less bloated and tired. Practicing chewing your food thoroughly takes practice – until you get the hang of it, consciously chew each bite 15-20 times before swallowing. It will take time to become second nature, but the benefits are vast. Digestion helpers. Use herbs and spices in your food that help you with digestion. The first two steps are actions you can take that you'll have to make a habit of doing, and this one is a simple tip to allow these tasty additions to your food to do the work for you. There are many herbs and spices that you probably already enjoy often that assist you with digestion. Some of these include black pepper, garlic, ginger, and cumin, to name a few. Adding these to your meals often will give you an extra boost of support for your digestion. Using just these three easy to implement steps, you can consciously work on making your digestion more effective and efficient without changing too much of your routine. Start with one or two steps this week and start implementing them over time to make lasting changes! Thank goodness the holiday feasting is not an everyday occurrence!
It is way too easy (and common) to indulge during the holidays. But it doesn't always stop there. Sometimes we overeat on regular days. Or at regular meals. Or all the time. Here are three tips to avoid overeating at meals. (Psst, turn these into habits and ditch the willpower!) Tip #1: Start with some water When your stomach is growling and you smell amazingly delicious food it's too easy to fill a plate (or grab some samples with your bare hands) and dive into the food. But did you know that it's possible to sometimes confuse the feeling of thirst with that of hunger? Your stomach may actually be craving a big glass of water rather than a feast. Some studies have shown that drinking a glass or two of water before a meal can help reduce the amount of food eaten. And this super-simple tip may even help with weight loss (...just sayin'). Not only will the water start to fill up your stomach before you get to the buffet, leaving less room for the feast but drinking enough water has been shown to slightly increase your metabolism. Win-win! Tip #2: Try eating “mindfully” You've heard of mindfulness, but have you applied that to your eating habits? This can totally help you avoid overeating as well as having the added bonus of helping your digestion. Just as being mindful when you meditate helps to focus your attention on your breathing and the present moment , being mindful when you eat helps to focus your attention on your meal. Do this by taking smaller bites, eating more slowly, chewing more thoroughly, and savoring every mouthful. Notice and appreciate the smell, taste and texture. Breathe. This can help prevent overeating because eating slower often means eating less . When you eat quickly you can easily overeat because it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to know that your stomach is full. So take your time, pay attention to your food and enjoy every bite. Bonus points: Eat at a table (not in front of the screen), off of a small plate, and put your fork down between bites. Tip #3: Start with the salad You may be yearning for that rich, creamy main dish. But don't start there. (Don't worry, you can have some...just after you've eaten your salad). Veggies are a great way to start any meal because they're full of not only vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and health-promoting phytochemicals but they also have some secret satiety weapons: fiber and water. Fiber and water are known to help fill you up and make you feel fuller. They're “satiating”. And these secret weapons are great to have on your side when you're about to indulge in a large meal. Summary: Have your glass of water, eat mindfully, and start with your salad to help avoid overeating at meals. You are going to try these sugesstions, right? Action produces results! Let me know how it goes. Recipe (Water): Tasty (and beautiful) Pre-Meal Water IdeasIf you're not much of a plain water drinker or need your water to be more appealing to your senses here are five delicious (and beautiful looking) fruit combos to add to your large glass of water: ● Slices of lemon & ginger ● Slices of strawberries & orange ● Slices of apple & a cinnamon stick ● Chopped pineapple & mango ● Blueberries & raspberries Tip: You can buy a bag (or several bags) of frozen chopped fruit and throw those into your cup, thermos, or uber-cool mason jar in the morning. They're already washed and cut and will help keep your water colder longer. References: https://authoritynutrition.com/7-health-benefits-of-water/ http://summertomato.com/the-science-behind-mindful-eating-what-happens-to-your-body-during-a-mindful-meal |
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