Tag Archives: weight

Breakfast Is The Most Important Meal of the Day For Concentration and Skinniness

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Eating a balanced breakfast sets you up to succeed in your healthy eating and your focus for the entire day. Studies support that you need to start your day off with a healthy breakfast because there are many benefits to eating it.

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The benefits of breakfast include:

IMPROVED MOOD:

Eating breakfast can lift your mood. People who don’t eat breakfast are more tired and irritable.

MORE ENERGY FOR THE DAY:

Before you eat in the morning, your body (like a car with little gas) is running on empty. You get energy from high-quality protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

BETTER CONCENTRATION:

Eating breakfast also improves your ability to problem solve. You will be more productive and better able to handle tasks that require memory. Going to work or sending your kids to school sets everyone up for a mismanaged workload and poorer performance than those who eat a healthy breakfast (pop tarts is not healthy!)

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT:

Studies show that if you eat breakfast, you’re more likely to be at a healthy weight than people who don’t eat breakfast.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS:

Having an egg or two, with some low fat cheese or turkey (I put vegetables and/or spinach in mine) and a piece of fruit will give you great protein, minerals and vitamins. If you are able to put in some flax, chi or other seeds into your eggs, then you are adding good carbs and fiber. For those who are able to fit in the carbs for the day count of 50 to 100, you can have a slice of whole grain bread or just a small measured portion of oatmeal (depending on the brand is oatmeal, a cup of oatmeal is about 30g of carbs), whole-grain cereal (not the high sugar Honey Nut Cheerios). Try a little almond butter instead of butter. 2 tablespoons of peanut or almond butter equals 6g of carbs. Another great breakfast option is Greek yogurt. Strawberries and blueberries are great in yogurt, cereal and oatmeal.

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Please pull out a measuring cup and become acquainted with how small a cup is vs. what you might thing a cup looks like in your mind.

Basics of a Quick and Balanced Breakfast

One of the most common excuses for not eating breakfast is being short on time to get to work or school. But breakfast doesn’t have to be fancy or time consuming. You can wake up just a little earlier to fit in a nutritious breakfast. The small investment in time in breakfast (and in you) pays off through the whole day.

If you really love cereal, then compromise and put a few for flavor and texture in your oatmeal or your yogurt.

Next time you’re racing against the clock, try these effortless and healthy breakfast ideas:

*You can make a quick smoothie with yogurt and fruit, with some ice cubes. Throw in some chi or flax seeds.
*Western Bagel and some low carb places sell low carb bagels. The Western Bagel Perfect 10 bagel is really good. Lots of fiber and protein and 10g net carbs. Get them at Westernbagel.com and refrigerate them.
*Have hard-boiled eggs available and ready to grab on the run. Places like some selected Costco and Trader Joes has them already hard-boiled and peeled, in bags, for those who really are super busy.
*Low carb shakes in a can (like Pure Protein) or low carb protein bars (like Power Crunch or Nature Valley Protein Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate).
*Low carb Greek yogurt in a small ready-to-go containers (like Dannon Greek Light and Fit)
**Come on, scrambled eggs don’t take that long.

“I don’t have time to exercise!”

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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.

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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.

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(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.

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Sugar Cravings

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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!

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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.

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Follow Up On The Low-Carb FlatOut Bread

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The Flatout bread was excellent. If you want to make it or learn more about the ingredients, look at my blog yesterday.

Here are the pictures I took. I make a mighty good pizza.

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Non-Starchy Vegetables vs. Starchy Vegetables

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When wanting to lose weight and maintain your weight,  you need to be conscious of how many carbs you get into your diet daily.  YES, you want vegetables, but many people mistakenly think of potatoes of any kind as an innocent vegetable.  You need to get 4 small servings of vegetables a day (about half a cup of each serving), but if it is a STARCHY vegetable, not so much.  You need to cut down the serving by half if it is carrots and you have to be aware that I gave up starchy vegetables altogether.  Now, you can have them if you like, especially in maintenance, but be aware of what they do to your body.

First, the good they do.  Potatoes are a very good source of vitamin C and potassium and a good source of folate, vitamin B6, and manganese. They also contain a fairly high concentration of antioxidant phytonutrients.

The problem with potatoes is that they are high on the glycemic index.

Estimated Glycemic Load of Potatoes

  • ½ cup diced raw potato: 6
  • 1 medium potato (2½ to 3½ inches in diameter; about 7.5 oz):17
  • 1 large potato (3 to 4½ inches in diameter; about 13 oz): 29
  • ½ cup mashed potato made with milk (no butter): 8
  • ½ cup mashed potato made from dehydrated (instant) potatoes with milk: 7
  • The glycemic index gives us an idea of which foods raise our blood glucose fastest and highest.
  • BY COMPARISON:  one serving of broccoli is 8, one serving of cauliflower is 1 , and spinach is 0.

  • Why is this important?

    Many people have problems processing large increases in blood glucose.  Having blood glucose that is too high, is on the road to diabetes and the way to correct this is to cut carbs and eat foods lower in glycemic index numbers.

  • Eating pure glucose is given a ranking of 100 — all other foods are in relation to this. So a food with a glycemic index of 95 raises blood sugar almost as much as pure glucose, but a food with a glycemic index of 20 doesn’t raise blood sugar much at all. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that the glycemic index does not take portion size into account. The actual amount any food raises blood sugar has to do both with how glycemic it is, and how much of it you eat. The glycemic load attempts to combine these concepts, and some diets are using the glycemic load for this reason.


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Vegetables LOW in carbs:

  • Sprouts, alfalfa and other small seeds (sprouted legumes have more carb)
  • Greens – lettuce, spinach, chard, etc.
  • Hearty Greens – collards, mustard greens, kale, etc.
  • Radicchio and endive count as greens
  • Herbs – parsley, cilantro, basil, rosemary, thyme, etc.
  • Bok Choy
  • Bamboo Shoots
  • Celery
  • Radishes
  • Sea Vegetables (Nori, etc)
  • Mushrooms
  • Cabbage(or sauerkraut)
  • Jicama
  • Avocado
  • Asparagus
  • Okra
  • Cucumbers (or pickles without added sugars)
  • Green Beans
  • Fennel
  • Cauliflower
  • Brocolli
  • Peppers
  • Zuchinni
  • Summer Squash

So, eat your VEGGIES and choose wisely.

P.S.  The carb content of the above mentioned items per serving:

cauliflower, brocoli  1-3g of carbs, spinach is 0-1 g of carbs and a potato is 35g for a medium potato.  See the difference?  If you want to stay skinny, you can’t have more than 50-100g of carbs a day.  35g is a lot for ONE item for the day.

Weight Plateau War

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I had to go on steroids over a month ago for allergy-related itching and it set me back.  I gained a few pounds and they started to go off, but they came back.  I am stuck.  So, now I have to set myself into a new schedule to fight back this plateau.  My body seems to like where I am at right now.  This  happened every now and then when I was first losing the weight.  It happens all of the time and you have to then change your food and exercise routine to fight the body’s weight plateau.

THIS IS WAR.

I just went shopping and bought some grapefruit.  So, here is the schedule, starting tomorrow.

1.  Breakfast.  An egg.   Half of a grapefruit.

2.  3 hours later, a protein snack.  preferably, a liquid protein snack or a LOW carb protein bar.  I will probably have a Protein Crunch.

3.  Lunch.  Salad with either turkey, chicken or fish.  No starchy veggies like carrots. Some steamed or cooked spinach and a half of a grapefruit.

4.  3 hours later, same as number 2.

5.  Dinner.  Same as lunch.

6.  Same as number 2 again, but most likely a Carbolite.

No nuts, no other snacks, no matter how low-carb.  I have to do this to lose those pounds.  I probably will be drinking a lot of liquids to combat hunger issues and I will always remember to eat every 3-4 hours.  Coffee will be my friend.

Goal:  5 pounds from today.  I will keep you informed.

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