“I don’t have time to exercise!”

Posted on July 12, 2013 by therapysoup

How many times have I heard that excuse? I used to use it myself. But, at some point, i decided that i had to take care of my body. wherever i went, my body had to take me there. not finding the strength to fight fatigue and pain only made my health conditions worse, which led to a decay of my physical body, my spirit, my home and my relationships. putting out the energy helps your body to make more, better energy.

Also, if you wind up with the consequences of being heavy, that will make your life even more difficult, so exercise is a preventative measure. How do you think you would do with diabetes, heart failure, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, gastric heartburn, clogged arteries, a stroke, death? Fix yourself before you can’t? If only James Gandolfini (Sopranos) took his weight and being out of shape more seriously. RIP.

Starting is the hard part, so you need to start slow and easy. Don’t overdo it and then hate it. Just 15 minutes a day is a great start. it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I started with light stretching and yoga once a week, then twice a week, then added in a little walking the dogs daily, then added in Pilates too and after a few years, I was walking on an elliptical and doing Pilates and yoga. Now, I try to walk an hour on the elliptical at least 4 days a week and I am writing my blog on the elliptical right now.

I had to schedule exercise in just like a J-O-B and make it a part of my daily tasks…because if you don’t, the reverberation effect of that is that you will start to feel like is crap (and l started to look like crap too).

I have seen men (visual creatures) not attracted to their wives anymore when they get too big (and vice versa on the genders), despite the fact that the woman usually got bigger taking eating junk shortcuts throughout the day, quick snacks and not exercising….and doing too much around the house and for the kids– FOR the man.

It doesn’t matter, no matter how you cut it, exercise is a natural need for humans and it is better for your psyche, mental health, physical health and your self-esteem to exercise and maintain a healthy weight. Diet is important, as I write about how to do it almost every blog.

But today, we will go over ways to find 10 ways to find time to exercise:

1. Log off of Facebook. Get in and out. Don’t spend all day in there and don’t play those addictive games. You need to move! Just 15 minutes of weight-bearing exercises, walking around the house or in the yard, or doing an exercise DVD–just 15 minutes a day adds up to 7 hours a month. Set a timer because the Internet can suck hours out of your day before you know it.

(I use my IPad on my elliptical and therefore, I get an hour of walking in and that is when I do all of my email and Facebook stuff!–even Words with Friends. I stop at that game though, no time. I choose real Pilates over Candy Crush.)

2. Learn to JUST SAY NO! Seriously, stop doing so much. Someone wants you to drive them somewhere or needs to bend your bear over their relationship that they have discussed with you over and over and over again–STOP wasting precious ME time on that. Schedule your exercise if you have to and tell everyone, don’t bug me between 7 and 7:15 or more because I am tied up at that time. Put yourself first, because no one else will do it! Some of the NICEST people I know are the biggest and most out of shape because they are TOO nice and hardly ever put themselves first!

3. Number 2 leads to –PLAN OUT your day. Make your plans of what you will do for the day and make exercise part of the daily time schedule. Maybe doing it early helps, or maybe late after the kids have gotten home and your spouse is there to help. If you like to socialize. Instead of meeting a friend for lunch, meet them for a walk. Whatever works for you. I have all exercise planned on my Google calendar. Put it down on a calendar and therefore, you will feel more compelled to do it.

4. Record TV shows and watch with the commercials zoomed out and save time. Also, condense…..if you are watching more TV than you have time for and you find you can’t exercise, you are not taking care of yourself. You are being sucked into the tube. Sometimes, I exercise in front of my shows–then I feel like I kill two birds with one stone.

5. Don’t waste time on hobbies and unimportant projects to distract you until your home chores, time with family and your exercise are done. Exercise first and if there is time left over, then organize your wrapping paper or whatever it is you think you have to do. Chances are that if you exercise first, you will have more energy later to organize things. Many people think that they will be too wiped out after a workout. That lasts a short time, but the endorphins actually rev you up. I get more done after I have worked out than without working out.

6. Don’t be a perfectionist. You don’t have to have your house perfect or your workout perfect to out in -15 minutes a day. Even 15 minutes of light vacuuming can burn 50 to 100 calories, so for heaven’s sake…move your body. Challenge yourself and get a pedometer for a few bucks, put it on you and try to get in around 12,000 steps a day. If you only get 8,000–that is fine, just get started.

Exercise is a journey, it is the experience of doing it, not the destination that you should focus on!

The first thing people ever see is you (YOUR PHYSICAL BODY). Most people will not even see the inside of your house, so what is the urgency to make IT look perfect and not have time for doing the same to your body!?

7. You have too much housekeeping to do because you are a working mom? I hear that all of the time, but if you have money to go out to eat or drink, or have new cars or toys, then you need to budget it out to have a cleaning service come to your house at least twice a month and remove that burden of deep cleaning. You will gain 2 weeks worth of 15 minutes of exercise a day for not having to clean your tubs, toilets or sinks!

If you are super broke, then you need to ask for help. Tell your husband or wife that you need to work out and you need their help. Give your kids chores. I see way too many kids not doing anything, which will then lead to their laziness and weight gain too. Tell everyone, let’s all clean 15 minutes a day together. More will get done fast and you can all burn calories and fat. Four people at 15 minutes of clean up after dinner a day, five days a week equals 5 hours of cleaning the house each week.

8. Be more organized and find a place for everything so you don’t waste precious exercise time constantly looking for things that are misplaced. This also feels better mentally too.

9. Get up 15 minutes earlier to exercise.

10. Set out your workout clothes the night before to be ready and give you motivation to workout.

And say what you will, but nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels…but also, if you show love to yourself, it shows on the outside and your partner also sees it in more than a physical level. It shows up mentally and spiritually too. There is nothing sexy about a clean house, dinner on the table and a wife who has let herself go for those things to look good. So do average on the home and take that time for yourself physically. Because no one cares what level you are at on Candy Crush or WWF(are you addicted?) But, you won’t like clothes shopping or bikini season, when the time comes.

Sugar Cravings

Posted on June 16, 2013 by therapysoup

Getting off of grains, most fruits and sugar products is very hard. As you do it, your body and MIND have been trained to look for the “hit” at the pleasure point in your brain. In a way, you conditioned or brainwashed your brain to want and need the sugar, but over time, you can get over it. You allowed the foods that you were conditioned to eat do this to you and you have no idea that this was happening. You were conned into buying and eating those foods, without realizing how they would have control over you like an addict has no control over their need for their drug of choice. So, fight back.

How to get through the cravings.

Drink lots of sugar-free fluids.
Get enough lean protein and fiber. There have been studies. The people who eat more protein report feeling less hungry. When I am hungry, I get a protein bar, protein drink, some meat or a piece of cheese and it satisfies the cravings. The second thing that fills me up is fiber. That is in vegetables, but also in protein bars and protein drinks. A lot of people will eat cereal to fill them up and that has fiber, but it also is mostly carbs and not only will you gain weight or not lose any weight, but you will be hungry again very soon after and go through a sugar rollercoaster.
Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. The more fruit and vegetables that are in the diet, the greater the weight loss and you are less likely to say that you feel hungry on any given day. Have you ever tried to eat a lot of vegetables? You get full fast, right? It is the fiber!

Studies have show that changing your habits to focus on protein, water and fiber-rich foods helps maintain weight loss for many years. I try to stay away from sugar. If it is natural and in my fruit, etc.–that is fine, but if you have a sugar product, your brain will want more. It is a lot of work fighting the pleasure center of your brain. Consider alternative products without a lot of sugar, corn-syrup, etc.

Low-Carb Pizza Bases for Wraps and Pizzas! Whoo Hoo!

Posted on June 10, 2013 by therapysoup

My sister-in-law found another interesting item to try. It is Flatbread that is low carb and can be used for wraps and to make an individual pizza. So, I am now attempting to make a margarita pizza with one. They are called, Flatout, but I bought the LIGHT Flatout, which has less carbs. No sugar.

http://www.flatoutbread.com/products/flatout-wraps/flatout-light/light-italian-herb/

My whole crust has 9g of protein (really decent), high fiber at 9g and the carbs is 16g. But, net carbs is 16g carbs -9g fiber=7g of carbs!! I put a little sauce on, which is probably about 5g of carbs and there are no carbs in my mozarella cheese and hardly any in my tomatoes. Lets just say I am probably going to have a pizza that is tasty and is about 13g of net carbs at the most. What an awesome dinner and treat! I am trying to stay away from wheat, but if I do have it, it has to be once in awhile and I prefer it be either very low carb like this, or gluten-free.

You can get sugar-free pizza sauce at Netrition.com, if you need it.

So easy to make a pizza. DIRECTIONS

Set the oven at 350. Spray a cookie sheet, place the Flatout on the sheet, bake one side for one minute and then flip and bake the other side for one minute.

Put on your pizza sauce, cheese, tomatoes, basil or or whatever toppings you want on it. Bake it for 4-7 minutes or 30 seconds longer for crisp. Bam! Done.

Dinner or lunch is served. Easy and light! Perfect for a diet or your new way of LOW-CARB life like mine.

Here is a picture of someone else’s wrap and pizza. I will include my pictures later on. I think mine looks better! 🙂

Keep skinny!

What Is Causing Your Cravings?

Posted on June 1, 2013 by therapysoup

Today, I was in my Pilates class and I was listening to a woman explain that she follows Weight Watchers, but there are sweets in her house (two teenage boys) and she winds up following her plan for a few days and then succumbs to the sweets because of the cravings.

One issue that is a whole other Oprah, I will discuss in another blog soon — that I think it is a mistake to have sweets around for teens with the excuse that they are teens. There are so many delicious HEALTHY options for teens and kids that it is just a poor excuse because they are growing fast and need calories to burn, that you can give them EMPTY calories in the shape of cookies and cake. But, that will be for another day.

Today’s issue is what is causing MOMMY (or Daddy’s) cravings? Two things!

1. You are addicted to sugar and you have to get off and allow yourself to get through withdrawal (like crack addiction).

2. You might have Leaky Gut Syndrome. You might ask, “What the heck is that?” It is a real medical condition that not all doctors know about or talk about, but good ones do. Your doctor might scoff, but then you will need another doctor. Dr. Andrew Weil knows about it and writes about it.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA361058/what-is-leaky-gut.html

I had this condition and it caused me to be very ill and gain a lot of weight. It also caused my sugar cravings. In a nutshell…

” leaky gut syndrome (also called increased intestinal permeability), is the result of damage to the intestinal lining, making it less able to protect the internal environment as well as to filter needed nutrients and other biological substances. As a consequence, some bacteria and their toxins, incompletely digested proteins and fats, and waste not normally absorbed may “leak” out of the intestines into the blood stream. This triggers an autoimmune reaction, which can lead to gastrointestinal problems such as abdominal bloating, excessive gas and cramps, fatigue, food sensitivities, joint pain, skin rashes, and autoimmunity. The cause of this syndrome may be chronic inflammation, food sensitivity, damage from taking large amounts of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), cytotoxic drugs and radiation or certain antibiotics, excessive alcohol consumption, or compromised immunity.”

(If you have migraines, gut issues, yeast infections, nail issues, bowel issues, skin issues–it could be caused by Leaky Gut Syndrome!)

How do you heal this condition?

1. avoid alcoholm NSAIDS, any foods that you’re allergic to.

2. Make sure you’re eating plenty of fiber.

3. Take Culturelle or another probiotic supplement containing Lactobacillus GG.

4. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet, including essential fatty acids like fish oil and GLA. In addition, you might try supplementing with glutamine, an amino acid that helps maintain intestinal metabolism and function and seems to benefit patients who have had intestinal injury from chemotherapy and radiation.

5. Cut sugar out of your diet as much as possible and follow a MEVY diet (Meat, eggs, vegetables and yogurt) if you can’t follow the anti-inflammatory diet. If you eat fruit, stick with fruit that has low sugar like berries or citrus. A side benefit is that you will lose weight. You will have sugar cravings for about a week, find something to keep your mouth happy like gum, lots of flavored water or coffee. Try to avoid milk for awhile–lots of sugar. Use non dairy creamer if you need light coffee. Sweeteners can be an issue, and if you like the taste of Stevia at all, use that. I couldn’t give up my Splenda–so getting the Leaky Gut Syndrome cleared up for me took many months.

Discipline is Learned, Not Eaten

Posted on March 31, 2013 by therapysoup

At the end of the week of 4 days (usually only 3) of a restricted diet, and one all protein day, I lost 5.5 pounds. I am back to normal carb controlled eating. I will work hard to restrict myself to closer to 50g of carbs a day and try not to go to the upper level of 100g a day because I still want to lose 3 pounds in order to be closer to my all-time weight goal. It is always work. You can’t just give up. If I can lose weight, anyone can. I lose very slowly and my body LOVES holding onto the weight with my sluggish thyroid.

At the end of the day, you have to work on your motivation. It is KEY in weight control.

It is Easter and I am not going to indulge in traditional Easter candy. I have no idea who came up with the idea as candy being attached to high holy holidays. “It is the day Jesus was born–have some chocolate.” “It is the day he has risen, have some chocolate.” And then, “it is your birthday, so have some cake.” We should focus more on spending time on things that we can do physically. “It is a holiday, let’s meet up with family or good friends and go for a walk and talk.” That is so much better for everyone involved.

Do something fun. Change the way you do things. Don’t teach children that when it is a holiday, they have to get a basket of candy or chocolate. They can color eggs and have fun, but come on everyone. Let’s change the way we do things in order to teach ourselves and our children better HABITS.

There is a lady in my Pilates class who discusses holiday foods like they are part of her holiday orgasm, but she also is very heavy and used to be even heavier–plus her husband suffers from diabetes. How has candy and chocolate associations to holidays helped out her life? Everyone who I know who is into all of this candy, has someone larger or ill in their home. So, think about it. What is wrong with special Easter omelets and turkey sausage with some delicious coffee?

If you want to look good and feel good, and teach your family to do the same….take a chance and change the way you do things. Change traditions. Not all are good. Teach motivation and discipline. I often get told that I have amazing discipline. You just have to teach yourself and coming from a disciplined father, I am sure a lot rubbed off on me. Do the same for your family.

Do I Do My Chores or Do I Exercise?

Posted on March 19, 2013 by therapysoup

I was faced with a tough decision yesterday. I had a ton of chores to do and I am under stress to do them. Do I give up my nightly exercise to do it? What is one night?

Well, I decided to exercise because I had spent years neglecting myself, which is how I gained weight in the first place. There will always be something to do, so why neglect myself any more? I want to stay skinny and you can’t if you let yourself fall back on old bad habits.

You have to prioritize yourself. You can have a nice car and a nice house. You can have a nice Chanel bag….but what difference does it make if you look like crap? Your body and the shape it is in says a lot about a person. It says a lot about your sense of self-control, a sense of self-love and self-respect. It is the FIRST thing that people notice about you. They might never see your car or your house, but they will see YOU. And how good does a nice expensive outfit look on a flabby person? Not so good. I can wear nice selections from Target in my skinny-toned body and they look better than some expensive outfit on a bigger, sloppy, untoned body.

There is weight prejudice out there. People look at you and make assumptions based on your body. I used to get asked if I was pregnant all of the time because the wheat products gave me girth and belly fat. (I gave wheat up!)

If you spend a few extra minutes a day working on your body, it will pay off in dividends. You will look better, feel better (mentally and physically), be healthier, your shopping for clothes will be easier and more fun, your partner might be happier with your look, you won’t get teased about your weight, it is easier to get hired (there are studies about this), and you might get more appreciative (and sometimes jealous) looks from others.

And for you selfless types out there….remember this….on the planes, when the oxygen masks are released, what do they tell parents to do? They say to put on the mask and breathe FIRST and THEN let your child breathe because if you pass out first, your kid has no one to help them. If you get sick from being out of shape and large, who will be there for your family, friends or children if you fail? You have to take care of yourself FIRST to be there for the family. We have a friend who just died because he was so busy caring for his family and work and forgot to take care of himself. He died at the age of 56 from a heart attack and left behind a widow and a 13-year-old girl. I don’t want that to happen to me or anyone else.

So, I chose the exercise. I felt better afterwards and my stress level lowered. Exercise is great for stress. It is a vicious cycle, you have stress and don’t feel like exercising, but if you exercised, you would feel less stress. So, just do it and get that ball rolling. And after you exercise, if you have time leftover, then do some chores. You will do them feeling less guilty that you neglected yourself and you will have more energy too, believe it or not.

http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/managing-anxiety/exercise-stress-and-anxiety

Diet Motivation DAY!!

Posted on November 6, 2012 by therapysoup

I have had a couple of people talk to me about not wanting to be nagged about their diet or their spouse has told me that the reason that they don’t stick to healthy eating is because of a lack of “DISCIPLINE.”

What is discipline? Discipline means behaving according to what you have decided is best, regardless of how lazy you might be feeling. You have to have self-knowledge. You need to decide what behavior best reflects your goals and values. This process requires introspection and self-analysis, and is most effective when you have written your goal down. I highly recommend taking the time to write out your goals, dreams and ambitions. Even better, write out a personal mission statement. Dr. Covey has a site where you can do it on his site:

http://www.franklincovey.com/msb/

As you begin to build self-discipline, there will times where you will be undisciplined – such as avoiding the gym, eating a piece of cake or candy, etc. Developing self-discipline takes time, and the key here is to start to be aware of your undisciplined behavior. In time, this awareness will come earlier, and if you catch yourself being undisciplined before you are in the middle of the act, you will have the opportunity to make a decision that is in better alignment with your goals and values.

(Try not to make your food boring to help with your motivation. Look over my older blogs where I make suggestions for food choices that taste great and you will look forward to having. You don’t just have to eat boiled eggs and steamed veggies! I eat great things every day and I am happy. I don’t need a bunch of crap to be happy. I just got my shipment of Miracle Noodle Angel Hair pasta today. I have my low carb pasta. So, I am happy!)

Print a motivational saying and hang it up in plain site so you will remember/

Some good examples are: