Although Eating Often is important to a balanced metabolism, it's just as important to eat the RIGHT FOODS.
One of the things pointed out on the 8 Simple Changes program was that the old food pyramid recommendation of 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day is outdated. With all the new research of the positive affects these items have against various forms of cancers, Alzheimer’s and similar diseases, it is now suggested we should be enjoying more like 8-10 servings a day! Who can do that much?
Anyone!
Add a fruit or vegetable (or both) to every time you eat and you're waging war against all those nasty diseases threatening to take your life.
Try some of the following:
# Pureed fruit on your pancake instead of syrup or jelly
# Veggies in your omelet or just some sliced tomato with your scrambled eggs
# Fruit in your cereal - real fruit
# Fruit for mid-morning snack or a fruit smoothie
# Salad at lunch with some protein. Add craisins or raisins as an ingredient
# Fresh, crunchy veggies as an afternoon snack
# Steamed veggies with dinner and a fruit compote for dessert
# Fruit as a movie snack such as frozen grapes or strawberries and Greek Yogurt
Let’s look at what could be a typical 3-meal/2-snack day.
Breakfast:
2 fluffy scrambled eggs, 2 strips center-cut lean bacon,
1 piece whole grain toast, 1 small tomato sliced, 4 oz. glass of Orange juice (2 serv. Fruit)
Mid-morning Snack:
An apple (1 serv. Fruit)
Lunch:
Medium salad with 1 C. lettuce, ½ tomato diced, ½ c. spinach leaves, 1 oz. grilled chicken breast, 2 T. Fat Free ranch dressing ¼ C. raisins (1.5 serv Veg. 1.5 serv Fruit)
Mid–afternoon Snack:
1 C. Baby Carrots & 1 C. Broccoli (1 ser. Veg.)
Dinner:
4 oz. Lean grilled steak (remember the center palm of your hand)
½ baked potato with fat free sour cream
2 C. steamed vegetables of choice (1 ser. Veg.)
Made fresh Fruit cup consisting 2 C. cubed Peaches, Pineapple
(1 ser. Fruit)
Movie snack:
1 C. green grapes (1 ser. Fruit)
Total for the Day: 10 Servings!
The key to all of this? Meal Planning. This is a subject all it’s own, so for now let me just say, “it’s easier than you think.”
Enjoy the Journey
Kelly
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Eat Often! Part 1
My previous post leads into this one regarding the acronym for 8 Simple Changes. Today we are talking about the E in DIET. As you can tell by my husband’s schedule, eating often – as in 3 meals and 2 snacks spaced evenly throughout the day – isn’t possible for him. However, the eating at regular intervals is important to forcing the metabolism to work the way it should.
Any ‘popular’ diet program out there – the TV infomercial types – are all based around 2 things: Eating 3 meals/ 2 snacks AND Portion control. The overall concept WORKS. However, the reason most people can’t stay at their achieved healthy weight after getting off the program is because it’s all done for them. The food (with the exception of WW) comes to them prepackaged. They don’t have to think about the amount. Just open the box, pop it in the microwave and eat. Doesn’t that sound YUMMY? WW teaches you about ‘points’. And while you’re dedicated to the program when you’re paying for it every week, some of that dedication goes by the wayside when it’s no longer costing anything. It’s just easier to eat what you want.
What if you could eat almost all the foods you enjoy and still be healthy? Doesn’t that sound like a plan you could LIVE with? It is as easy as eating EVERY THREE HOURS and in CORRECT PORTIONS.
I’ll give you Part 2 tomorrow. In the mean time, I want you to focus on eating every three hours. Note what time you wake up on a regular basis. If you tend to wake up whenever, rethink the whole alarm thing. Getting up at 6 or 7 is a good place to start your day. Then plan to eat within a HALF AN HOUR of getting up. Get that metabolism going! Then map out your day to eat every three hours. Breakfast, mid morning snack, Lunch, mid afternoon snack, Dinner. If you’ve been really good, treat yourself to a 50-cal. snack at the end of the day. Set a timer if you have to. But remember to eat SOMETHING HEALTHY throughout the day.
And the Journey continues…
Any ‘popular’ diet program out there – the TV infomercial types – are all based around 2 things: Eating 3 meals/ 2 snacks AND Portion control. The overall concept WORKS. However, the reason most people can’t stay at their achieved healthy weight after getting off the program is because it’s all done for them. The food (with the exception of WW) comes to them prepackaged. They don’t have to think about the amount. Just open the box, pop it in the microwave and eat. Doesn’t that sound YUMMY? WW teaches you about ‘points’. And while you’re dedicated to the program when you’re paying for it every week, some of that dedication goes by the wayside when it’s no longer costing anything. It’s just easier to eat what you want.
What if you could eat almost all the foods you enjoy and still be healthy? Doesn’t that sound like a plan you could LIVE with? It is as easy as eating EVERY THREE HOURS and in CORRECT PORTIONS.
I’ll give you Part 2 tomorrow. In the mean time, I want you to focus on eating every three hours. Note what time you wake up on a regular basis. If you tend to wake up whenever, rethink the whole alarm thing. Getting up at 6 or 7 is a good place to start your day. Then plan to eat within a HALF AN HOUR of getting up. Get that metabolism going! Then map out your day to eat every three hours. Breakfast, mid morning snack, Lunch, mid afternoon snack, Dinner. If you’ve been really good, treat yourself to a 50-cal. snack at the end of the day. Set a timer if you have to. But remember to eat SOMETHING HEALTHY throughout the day.
And the Journey continues…
Week 8
Good morning!
Welcome to Week 8 (yes, I know I skipped Weeks 6 & 7). I’ve been here, just not HERE. When my husband is home off the boat I spend as much time with him as possible and as little time on line. He’s gone three weeks and home three weeks, so the time with him is precious.
When he’s home, my job of planning healthy meals becomes a task. Where I will eat most anything, including an array of vegetables, he won’t. He was raised a meat and potatoes boy. And at 6’4” and 287 pounds, he shows it. Trying to get him to change his habits is hard. Here at home, I can help by at least fixing healthy meals I know he’ll eat, educating him on proper portion sizes and eating regularly. But three weeks out of six isn’t a ‘lifetime’ change. The three weeks he’s on the boat he works a six-hour shift and is off six. Part of his six hour off time is spent getting something to eat and winding down he so he can sleep for maybe four hours before he has to get back up, shower, fix something to eat and report to the wheel house for crew change. In that hour on either end of his off time he barely has time to fix a meal, let alone a healthy one. If he’s lucky when he gets up, he has time to eat something AND put something in the oven or the crock-pot to slow-cook before taking his duty. He’s on a small line-boat, which means there isn’t a cook. The crew fends for themselves. As Captain and the main shopper for his rotation, Bob tries to make sure there is a good assortment of foods that can be slow cooked or fixed on the fly. Unfortunately that means lunchmeats high in sodium, drinks loaded with sugar and caffeine and snacks they shouldn’t eat. Think of guys’ boat tour as a 3-week long bachelor pad.
With this kind of lifestyle, it’s easy to understand why a guy develops “Pilot Paunch”. Once a crew member works himself off the deck where he is hauling hundreds of pounds of heavy rigging for his 6 hour shift, up to the wheel house as Pilot or Captain he gets zip for exercise. Bob always promised he wasn’t going to develop Pilot Paunch but there just isn’t any way to avoid it. I just pray by the time he’s able to retire, it isn’t too late to save him.
And the Journey continues…
Welcome to Week 8 (yes, I know I skipped Weeks 6 & 7). I’ve been here, just not HERE. When my husband is home off the boat I spend as much time with him as possible and as little time on line. He’s gone three weeks and home three weeks, so the time with him is precious.
When he’s home, my job of planning healthy meals becomes a task. Where I will eat most anything, including an array of vegetables, he won’t. He was raised a meat and potatoes boy. And at 6’4” and 287 pounds, he shows it. Trying to get him to change his habits is hard. Here at home, I can help by at least fixing healthy meals I know he’ll eat, educating him on proper portion sizes and eating regularly. But three weeks out of six isn’t a ‘lifetime’ change. The three weeks he’s on the boat he works a six-hour shift and is off six. Part of his six hour off time is spent getting something to eat and winding down he so he can sleep for maybe four hours before he has to get back up, shower, fix something to eat and report to the wheel house for crew change. In that hour on either end of his off time he barely has time to fix a meal, let alone a healthy one. If he’s lucky when he gets up, he has time to eat something AND put something in the oven or the crock-pot to slow-cook before taking his duty. He’s on a small line-boat, which means there isn’t a cook. The crew fends for themselves. As Captain and the main shopper for his rotation, Bob tries to make sure there is a good assortment of foods that can be slow cooked or fixed on the fly. Unfortunately that means lunchmeats high in sodium, drinks loaded with sugar and caffeine and snacks they shouldn’t eat. Think of guys’ boat tour as a 3-week long bachelor pad.
With this kind of lifestyle, it’s easy to understand why a guy develops “Pilot Paunch”. Once a crew member works himself off the deck where he is hauling hundreds of pounds of heavy rigging for his 6 hour shift, up to the wheel house as Pilot or Captain he gets zip for exercise. Bob always promised he wasn’t going to develop Pilot Paunch but there just isn’t any way to avoid it. I just pray by the time he’s able to retire, it isn’t too late to save him.
And the Journey continues…
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Breakfast...
really is the most important meal of the day.
In the Diet Free phrasing, 'I' stands for INCLUDE BREAKFAST.
By eating something first thing in the morning, preferrably within an hour of getting out of bed, you jump start your metabolism. In essence, you're starting your internal engine and warming it up so your body can function properly throughout the rest of the day.
One of the points brought up in the presentation I watched was what if you aren't hungry in the morning. Well... how much did you eat the night before? The primary reason people arent' hungry in the morning is because they over ate before going to bed.
The other problem many people have is they are so busy in the morning they rush out the door without eating. By 10 a.m. their body is screaming for food and they grab whatever is handy... usually not healthy. Or they get something at a drive-through on the way. Also not healthy.
She discussed donuts.. everyone's favorite quick breakfast, right? (well, not mine)
She had a gal come up on stage and read the ingredients on the back of the box. The first 2 ingredients in a box of donuts were Shortening and Sugar (in that order). 2 donuts amounted to almost a cup of shortening and 1/2 a cup of sugar. Now doesn't that sound appetizing?
The key is to plan ahead. If you have to go out the door, have nutritional items on hand. Just read the labels carefully for Sodium. Just because it says it's healthy, doesn't mean it is. Look to a couple pieces of Whole Grain toast and a tsp. of peanut butter and a banana. If you can eat at home, think portions. 2 scrambled eggs topped with diced tomato or a 2 egg omelet loaded with vegies, a slice of whole grain toast with olive oil and fruit. I've been eating lots of strawberries, my husband prefers blueberries. We've also discovered the new aerosol Organic pancake batter. Very nutritious, and just a hint of sweetness. You don't need syrup, just some crushed fresh fruit or sprinkle fruit in the batter while it's on the griddle. Yum!
So Include Breakfast... your body will thank you!
Enjoy the Journey
Kelly
In the Diet Free phrasing, 'I' stands for INCLUDE BREAKFAST.
By eating something first thing in the morning, preferrably within an hour of getting out of bed, you jump start your metabolism. In essence, you're starting your internal engine and warming it up so your body can function properly throughout the rest of the day.
One of the points brought up in the presentation I watched was what if you aren't hungry in the morning. Well... how much did you eat the night before? The primary reason people arent' hungry in the morning is because they over ate before going to bed.
The other problem many people have is they are so busy in the morning they rush out the door without eating. By 10 a.m. their body is screaming for food and they grab whatever is handy... usually not healthy. Or they get something at a drive-through on the way. Also not healthy.
She discussed donuts.. everyone's favorite quick breakfast, right? (well, not mine)
She had a gal come up on stage and read the ingredients on the back of the box. The first 2 ingredients in a box of donuts were Shortening and Sugar (in that order). 2 donuts amounted to almost a cup of shortening and 1/2 a cup of sugar. Now doesn't that sound appetizing?
The key is to plan ahead. If you have to go out the door, have nutritional items on hand. Just read the labels carefully for Sodium. Just because it says it's healthy, doesn't mean it is. Look to a couple pieces of Whole Grain toast and a tsp. of peanut butter and a banana. If you can eat at home, think portions. 2 scrambled eggs topped with diced tomato or a 2 egg omelet loaded with vegies, a slice of whole grain toast with olive oil and fruit. I've been eating lots of strawberries, my husband prefers blueberries. We've also discovered the new aerosol Organic pancake batter. Very nutritious, and just a hint of sweetness. You don't need syrup, just some crushed fresh fruit or sprinkle fruit in the batter while it's on the griddle. Yum!
So Include Breakfast... your body will thank you!
Enjoy the Journey
Kelly
Monday, April 5, 2010
Water and Weightloss
Since our first letter of the 8 Simple Changes is D - Drink Water, I thought you might enjoy this link. It's the results of a study in Prevention magazine about how 12 oz of water before a meal can make a major difference in your weightloss.
http://www.realage.com/tips/lose-weight-faster-with-this-premeal-habit
Now we all know that water is going to fill you up, but it will also help your body process the foods more completely and flush the stuff your body doesn't need, through your system instead of storing it.
So Drink to your Health and Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly
http://www.realage.com/tips/lose-weight-faster-with-this-premeal-habit
Now we all know that water is going to fill you up, but it will also help your body process the foods more completely and flush the stuff your body doesn't need, through your system instead of storing it.
So Drink to your Health and Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly
8 Simple Changes
8 Simple Changes to a healthier lifestyle sounds easy. I mean, who can’t do 8 things? One of the things Zonya Foco recommends is only trying them ONE AT A TIME. Try changing one habit this week. Next week, add a second. By the end of 2 months, you will have made 8 Simple Changes to a Healthier, Happier YOU. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll take one at a time and give you some tips to making the changes a part of your daily life.
So here are the 8 SIMPLE CHANGES
D – Drink Water.
Make sure you are drinking at least 8 8-oz. glasses a day.
I – Include Breakfast.
E – Eat Often!
Eat approximately every 3 hours (sound familiar?) and include a fruit or vegetable EVERY TIME.
T – Tame Your Sweet Tooth!
There are healthier ways to satisfy your sugar craving… or eliminate the CRAVING (not the sugar) all together.
F – Find the Fat.
Read labels. Know where the hidden fats are.
R – Replace Processed Foods
Quick rule of thumb… If you can’t pronounce it Don’t Eat It!
E – Eat Only When Hungry
Ever watch a baby eat?
E – Exercise
Not necessarily a routine… but incorporate it into your daily living in small ways.
You’ll see just how SIMPLE these 8 CHANGES really are when we get into breaking them down.
For now…
Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly
So here are the 8 SIMPLE CHANGES
D – Drink Water.
Make sure you are drinking at least 8 8-oz. glasses a day.
I – Include Breakfast.
E – Eat Often!
Eat approximately every 3 hours (sound familiar?) and include a fruit or vegetable EVERY TIME.
T – Tame Your Sweet Tooth!
There are healthier ways to satisfy your sugar craving… or eliminate the CRAVING (not the sugar) all together.
F – Find the Fat.
Read labels. Know where the hidden fats are.
R – Replace Processed Foods
Quick rule of thumb… If you can’t pronounce it Don’t Eat It!
E – Eat Only When Hungry
Ever watch a baby eat?
E – Exercise
Not necessarily a routine… but incorporate it into your daily living in small ways.
You’ll see just how SIMPLE these 8 CHANGES really are when we get into breaking them down.
For now…
Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Back on Track
After a very long nine days of coughing, sneezing, seasonal yuck I am back on track and ready to reaffirm my dedication to getting the weight off.
I'm a strong beliver in self-eduction. I don't think we ever stop learning if we only open up to the information available. I'm not saying everything we hear, see or read is all fact. But if we pay attention, there is a little something to be taken away from everything.
Last week I watch a show on PBS called DIET FREE (www.dietfree.com). DIET FREE is a program designed by Zonya Foco, RD - a nutritionist. The concept is simple. Make 8 simple changes to your food habits and you'll be healthier. No calorie counting, no depriviation. Just choose to Make Good Choices about what we put in our bodies and the rest will take care of itself.
Richard Simmons always pointed out the first three letters in Diet spelled DIE. This is about LIVING! With that in mind, I'll introduce you to Zonya's 8 Simple Steps on Monday.
Have a Blessed Easter Weekend
Kelly
I'm a strong beliver in self-eduction. I don't think we ever stop learning if we only open up to the information available. I'm not saying everything we hear, see or read is all fact. But if we pay attention, there is a little something to be taken away from everything.
Last week I watch a show on PBS called DIET FREE (www.dietfree.com). DIET FREE is a program designed by Zonya Foco, RD - a nutritionist. The concept is simple. Make 8 simple changes to your food habits and you'll be healthier. No calorie counting, no depriviation. Just choose to Make Good Choices about what we put in our bodies and the rest will take care of itself.
Richard Simmons always pointed out the first three letters in Diet spelled DIE. This is about LIVING! With that in mind, I'll introduce you to Zonya's 8 Simple Steps on Monday.
Have a Blessed Easter Weekend
Kelly
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