Finding time to workout

It is necessary that you find a little time a day to get in a "sincere" and challenging workout! If you are pressed for time try to add a session of high intensity interval training (HITT). Interval training involves taking your body through ups and downs in your perceived rate of exertion or heart rate.

In a workout you could combine resistance training WITH cardio or do a straight "cardio" interval workout.
See the link for detailed information and examples of interval training.

Some fitness experts and evidence are finding that HIIT not only burns more fat than a straight cardio session, but it will keep your metabolism and fat burning at high levels much longer (up to 24 hours!).
20-30 minutes is all that you need to see a difference. I think EVERYONE can find that amount of time to get moving...NO EXCUSES!!!

Please remember that if you have any limitations or medical issues to see a doctor before starting a workout regime.

Labels on your fruit

Next time you buy your fruit check out the labels that are on them.  If the label has 4 numbers the fruit was conventionally grown, If the label has 5 numbers and it begins with a 9 the fruit was organically grown and if it is labeled with 5 numbers and begins with an 8 the fruit was genetically engineered.

Ex:
Grapes
4026 - conventionally grown
94026 - organically grown grapes
84026- genetically engineered grapes

Steer clear of genetically engineered anything!
The best fruits and veggies you can buy are from your local farmers and farmer's markets.  If you shop at a conventional grocer make sure you take a second look at the stickers on the fruits you are purchasing.
Not all fruits are created equal!

Make a Plan

We all make plans with our friends, families or kids, but do you make a plan for yourself? Do you make a plan to get away and workout? Do you plan on what you will put in your mouth?  If you are not making a plan there is one thing you CAN plan on: FAILURE!

If you are well planned you have a better chance of sticking to it.
If you own a planner or calendar make sure to give yourself at least an hour to get in some sort of exercise!
Nutrition seems to be the toughest plan to stick to and most of us that deal with weight issues tend to be impulsive eaters, even if we are not hungry. A couple things to do to make a nutrition plan and make it stick!

• First and foremost, sit down and decide what you will be making this week. Write out every meal and healthy snack you will need. Make a grocery list for the week from that list and stick to it.  You will save money and inches.
• Make sure all the nutritious food you brought home from the store or farmer's market gets taken care of IMMEDIATELY!  Cut up the fruits, veggies, nuts etc...and portion them out in containers or snack bags.  The portion sizes are listed on the nutrition panel or you can find it on numerous sites.  www.calorieking.com
• If you are not keeping a journal yet, START TODAY.  Write what you plan to eat everyday for the upcoming week in your journal(see 1st bullet) and then write what you ACTUALLY eat when that day comes. 
• If you plan on leaving the house for a few hours, BE PREPARED.  Grab the portioned food you should have prepared and you should have no reason to impulsively grab something unhealthy when you are out and about.
• If you work all day buy a lunchbox and put it to use.  Make sure you have what you have planned for the day in the box and eat it.  If you have it with you and it is well planned you have no reason to head to the drive-thru.  

If you are serious about dropping the weight you will have to get serious about what you doing on a day to day basis.  You should know the calories you are eating in every "meal" and you should be aware of every little morsel you are putting into your mouth.  It seems like a lot of extra work(and it is), but the work pays off and it will become second nature.  Plan your lifestyle change today!

Next Blog...portion control

The Scale

After our assessments last week and all the talk about the scale, I wanted to talk a little bit about hitting a plateau and not being a slave to the scale! The scale can fluctuate with your hydration level or the food you decided to eat the night before.
Weigh yourself once a week at the same time.
Before you get frustrated ask yourself HOW DO I FEEL?  The scale is just a number and it doesn't completely reflect  HOW your body is changing.  Do your clothes fit better?  Has  your energy and fitness level changed in the last month?  Can you endure more of class for longer periods of time? Can you run a longer distance or do you have more energy to get through your day? Adding lean muscle mass will increase your weight slightly, but it will burn more calories than fat will at rest.
After you think about it, the scale should be one of the last things you should be concerned about.  Yes, it's nice to see a loss, but are you losing and winning in other ways?
If you feel it is a plateau mix up your workouts or add something different and a little more challenging.  Look at the way you are eating too.  Add or decrease (if your calorie allotment allows) your calorie amount for a few days.  Switch to all raw veggie for a few days or giving up meat for a few days may bring a change enough to give you that added boost or shock to your body.

A couple tricks to eating out this week-end

Week-ends are usually when we will end up eating a meal or two out of the house.   Here a couple tricks for success.

Ask for what YOU want.  Ask questions about how your food is prepared.
Double the veggies and ask for them steamed.
Share a meal with another person
Ask for a box the same time you get your meal and IMMEDIATELY box half of it up for left overs.
Pay for your bill in cash.  We tend to eat more when we pay with a credit/debit card.  Set yourself a price point (w/tip) and bring it in cash.  Liquor, dessert, and apps are spendy and loaded with calories don't allot extra cash for the extras.
If you are going to a restaurant they offer bread and/or chips for free starters, ask the server to leave it in the kitchen you will eat a meal's worth of calories before your meal arrives.

Don't trust the word salad at a restaurant (unless you are getting a plain house salad with veggies only and can ask for the dressing to be kept off).  Typical salads at a restaurant can hold 1000 calories or more.

Salads from a few restaurants on (or off) island
Cheesecake Factory
BBQ ranch Chicken (with no bread) 1415 calories with 113g fat

Chili's
Caesar salad with chicken and dressing 1010 calories 76g fat
Southwestern cobb with NO dressing added 970 calories 60g fat
Quesadilla explosion 1000 calories 53 g fat

Ruby Tuesdays
Chicken Salad (no dressing)975 calories 68g fat

basic taco salad about 900 calories and 60g fat

Ladies...that is 2 of my kick your butt classes or about an HOUR and a HALF on a tread mill running!!!!!!!!! for a "healthy" salad : )

Have a GREAT week-end filled with BETTER choices.

Multi Grain Scones

2 egg whites or 1 whole egg 
1/2 cup sugar 
5 tablespoons grapeseed or expeller-pressed canola oil (ground flax, applesauce or yogurt work as well)
flax you need to look at the container and see what the sub ratio is
1/2 cup oatmeal (not instant) 
3/4 c whole wheat flour 
1 cups unbleached white flour 
2 tablespoons ground flax
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/2 cup buttermilk (1/3 cup if you use yogurt)
1/2 c. blueberries (I used frozen)
Oven 375


Spray/grease cookie sheet
Makes 12 scones


Mix egg whites, sugar and oil/yogurt until blended. Mix dry ingredients in seperate bowl and add to liquid mixture.  Add 1/3 c milk and blueberries at the end.  Spoon onto a greased/sprayed cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.


Mix it up and use figs, raisins, fresh berries or slightly cooked apples instead of blueberries to the scones.


Using oil - 171 cal. 7.2g. fat, 24.4g. carbs, 3.2g protein
Using yogurt lowfat  - 119.9 cal., 1.2g. fat, 24.6g. carbs (applesauce will be a trace higher), 3.6g.protein
Using 1/2 oil/ 1/2 yogurt - 149.5 cal, 4.5g fat, 24.7g.carbs, 3.6g. protein


As you can see cutting at least some or all of the oil will cut your fat in the scone. 


COMPARE TO STARBUCKS blueberry: 400 calories 18g. fat , 55 carbs (and their multigrain is WORSE!) 

Clean up your environment and get REAL!

Go through your pantry and fridge and clean it out!!  STOP using your children as an excuse to buy unhealthy food.  There a few of us that can actually stay away from the "treats" we give our kids, but if you are struggling with weight you are probably not one of those people.  In addition, you are doing your children a HUGE favor by adding these healthy, clean foods to their lives.  It may be a struggle to get them to enjoy everything healthy, but start slow and start today.  Your entire family deserves to nourish their body and mind so they can start to live a healthy lifestyle.
Get rid of:

•  anything that is more than 30% fat.  Look at the calories in a serving and the fat grams.  The ratio should be lower than 3 fat g. PER 100 calories.  
• high sugar foods and ANYTHING that contains High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) - look at the sugar amount on your food label.  7g of sugar = 1 TBL of sugar
• Foods that contain any artificial colorings (usually listed at the end of the ingredient list)
• Rid your pantry of breads, pastas and the like that are made with white or ENRICHED flours.  Enriched wheat or whole grain flours are stripped of everything that makes them healthy and then ENRICHED with vitamins.  If you are new to whole wheat and multi-grain pasta, go 1/2 and 1/2 until you can eat it happily.

Just remember to keep it simple and eat as much REAL food as possible.  Lean proteins, whole grains and unsaturated fats (avacodoes, tree nuts). Limit your packaged foods and when eating packaged foods the fewer ingredients listed the better it will probably be for your body.  Remember if it has to advertise that it is healthy choice, it probably isn't a healthy choice  : ) Notice how quiet produce is?

NOW.

Here are a few pics of me in the NOW.  I have to take more recent of a picture, but the bottom 2 are just before leaving Okinawa (so I have kept it off for over 2 years!) and the top pic was taken a few months ago. As soon as I get a current pic I will have it up.  If anyone in HI wants to take some pics at the beach, let me know : ) Look for the next post...clean up your environment for success.

My Journey

These photos were hard to post (harder than I thought it would be)...now they are officially out there....I started my journey about 5 years ago.  I have never been a small individual, but was a swimmer until about 20.  I gradually put on weight iin college and left college over 200lbs. I lost and gained weight off and on the next five years and became pregnant in 2001.  After the first pregnancy I gained about 60 lbs and kept it on.  When Wilson was about 2 and the weight didn't come off I began changing my lifestyle one day at a time.  Working out was the initial step, but after little success I hit the nutrition aspect harder.  I bought a calorie counting book and measured and used a journal to record EVERYTHING!  Make a long story shorter, I lost a total of 72 lbs in about 2 years.  I became a personal trainer and am now in school to become a Dietician.  With my second pregnancy I gained about 40lbs and finally surpassed my pre pregnancy weight and every day is still a journey.  I hope to inspire, support. educate and motivate you to achieve your highest potential in each day. What are you waiting for?