Combine a Protein with a Dairy to Rev-Up Weight Loss

Studies have shown women burned more fat and calories after a meal when their diets included three to four servings of lowfat dairy daily. The amount of quality protein in your diet is the single most important calorie that influences your metabolic rate, favorably influencing weight loss. Quality protein also helps you sustain muscle during weight loss, improve muscle fitness, improve immunity, improve antioxidant function, build HDL cholesterol, and enhance insulin and leptin function – all of which contribute toward optimal weight management efforts over time.

Do Ahead: Shop, Chop, Cook

Healthy options need to be readily available when the hunger pangs strike.

21 Days Makes a Habit

Research shows that it takes 21 days to make a habit. Make each day count as you diet and exercise. In just a few short weeks, you will have developed a very good habit.

Just Do It

Nike was on to something with that famous campaign slogan. Just do it. Do it for the day. Do it for the next day. Do it for 10 minutes. Do it for an hour. Be disciplined. That is what sets you apart from others. Your disciplines during your day. Exercise. Just do it.

Don't Give Up

Don't give up. There is no quick fix to lose weight. Eat healthily. Exercise. Forgive your missteps. Keep going.

Honey and Cinnamon for Weight Loss: The Claim

The formula for honey and cinnamon for weight loss is ubiquitous.

1. Use honey and cinnamon in a 1:2 ratio (one part cinnamon, two parts honey)
2. Put the cinnamon in a cup or bowl.
3. Boil one cup of water.
4. Pour water over the cinnamon and let it steep for 30 minutes.
5. Once the liquid has cooled, add honey. Always add honey to the cooled liquid – hot liquid will destroy the enzymes in the raw honey.
6. Drink half of the resulting “tea” before going to bed. Cover and refrigerate the rest.
7. Drink the other half first thing in the morning.
8. Do not add anything to the recipe. Only drink on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning and right before bed.

Typical claims of benefits that you will find for drinking this concoction include:

1. Inches will be lost before you will notice the scale creeping downward.
2. The cinnamon and honey cleanses parasites, fungus and bacteria out of the digestive tract.
3. You may experience side effects due to the release of toxicity.
4. You may experience increased energy, better sex drive and a better mood.
5. The formula will block your body from gaining fat.

To the frustrated dieter looking for a panacea, the honey and cinnamon for weight loss cure might seem like a dream come true, but does it work? Take a look at each of the ingredients and their potential benefits on health.

20 Pounds = 5 Months

5 months = swimsuit shopping season
Lose one pound a week for the next five months and you'll be down a size or two for 2010 swimsuit season, which is right around the corner.

Make the Best of It

Make the best of it. When you make the best of whatever you're focused upon, your future will be better than your now. If each moment you're making the best of what-is, no matter what it is, you make the best of it; make the best of it; make the best of it—your future just gets better and better and better, and better.

--- Abraham- Hicks

CSI Sleepy Town

Action this morning in sleepy town. The blogfriend, Jeff, called this morning to tell me that her mass was canceled because beloved Father Ed was found dead in the rectory kitchen. According to one of the doctors at the scene, the priest had what appeared to be scratches and blood on his body. It was speculated that his dog may have tried to revive the fallen man. A sweet love story. However, the police didn't buy the endearing theory and turned the neighborhood into a crime scene. Father Ed's death is being investigated as a potential homicide. That explains the helicopters swarming sleepy town all morning long. RIP Father Ed.

Goals are Key to Success

You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.

~ Charles C. Noble

While the pounds aren't really falling off my body, I know I'm not gaining weight any more. Good diet and fitness really does need to become part of your lifestyle. Slow and gradual behavior modification will result in good health and a slim physique.

Trick to Weight Loss: Stay Away from White Foods

From Toothpix blog:

It may sound strange but it works. Don’t eat food that are white.

Sugar is a major trouble maker for dieters. Eating sugary foods causes the blood sugar to spike which signals the pancreas to make insulin on the double. The insulin gets the sugar out of the blood and into the organs or, more likely, into fat storage. Then the blood sugar drops which causes a craving for more sugary food. Sugar is hidden in processed foods and is used as a flavor enhancer. Brown sugar is simply white sugar with molasses added. Check the label on processed foods for sugar, sucrose, or corn syrup. You’ll be surprised to see where sugar is hiding.

Flour is just as bad as sugar, since it is easy for the stomach to quickly digest starch, turn it into glucose, a form of sugar and get it in the blood stream. Avoid white bread, cakes, doughnuts, and pastries. Whole grain bread is better for you, the whole grains means more fiber, which slows down digestion.

White rice has had the hull removed and most of the nutrients. It’s easily and quickly digested. Brown rice has much more fiber and consequently takes longer to digest so it’s okay in limited amounts.

Potatoes are primarily carbohydrates and, you guessed it, get turned into glucose fairly quickly. Sweet potatoes are a little better for you, even though they have a higher sugar content than white potatoes they contain more fiber.

Fat on beef and pork should be cut off before cooking, or only lean cuts should be consumed. And of course drain off any fat left in the pan before serving.

Mayonnaise has a high fat content since one of the primary ingredients is oil. Sour cream is a no, no as is whipped cream, and half and half.

An exception to the ‘no white foods’ rule would be low fat and nonfat milk. Calcium is important in any diet. Dieters who drink a glass of milk with every meal lose weight faster than those who don’t. Calcium blocks fat absorption. Unfortunately calcium derived from supplements doesn’t work the same way as calcium from diary products.

Stick with bright colors in your diet and you’ll lose weight faster.

Friends in Food and Fitness

The longtime blogfriend, Maggie, met me in Miami Beach for an extended weekend. While we always have a great time, this trip was particularly motivational. Maggie and I have known each other for over forty years. All through the years, we have often been mistaken for sisters because of our similar body type and, like spouses, friends begin to share a similar look after years together. We have gone from about eighty pounds to both sides of 150 pounds. Although, there are many miles between us, this weekend we decided to become partners in health, nutrition and weight loss motivation. We established a private blog, whereby we can attempt to motivate ourselves and each other by posting words of encouragement, diet and exercise success stories, recipes and results. Here we are pictured at Joe's Stone Crab on South Beach. Maggie loved her venture into the world of stone crabs... and what better a place. OMG. We splurged on the delicious basket of bread and the fabulous hash browns. So we have some work to do!

Energy Zappers and the Fix

Here's a good read by Denise Schipani:

See nine things that zap your vitality and how to get it back
It's 3 p.m.--do you know where your energy's gone? You probably expect to feel that late-afternoon drag, but you don't always have to. Turns out, some of your regular habits may be sneakily zapping your zip. Fix some or all of these energy stealers, and you just may be feeling brighter this afternoon.

Energy Zapper #1: Being Addicted to E-mail
Isn't being wired to the hilt--e-mail, voice mail, IM, BlackBerry--supposed to boost productivity, freeing up your energy? More often, the opposite is true. If you continually halt what you're doing to answer e-mail, check voice mail, and attend to a thousand other beeps and blips, your attention becomes diluted, which leaves you feeling depleted.
There are two things going on here, says John Salerno, MD, a New York City family physician and director of the Salerno Center for Complementary Medicine. "The brain needs a lot of physical and mental energy to multitask, which gets drained," he says. And continually redirecting your attention from the BlackBerry to other stimuli siphons more energy and distracts your brain further.

Energy Fix
Switch off electronic gadgets during your most productive work hours, which for most people tend to be in the morning, says Laura Stack, author of The Exhaustion Cure. As for e-mail, try to limit yourself to checking it once every hour, instead of hopping to whenever it beeps. (Hint: Turn off the beep sound.) If something pops into your mind that you need to remember--call back your mom, e-mail the soccer coach about the snack schedule--write it down and take care of it later.

Energy Zapper #2: Visual Clutter
We may be used to living in enclosed spaces with lots of stuff--a refrigerator door packed with artwork, a countertop laden with mail, a desk that's little more than a shifting pile of folders and paper--but it's not how we're meant to live, says Dr. Salerno. "Clutter signals disorder, which makes us anxious. Our brains sense that anxiety."

Energy Fix
Do your best to clear visual clutter, so when you look around, your eyes can "rest" rather than dart from mess to mess, says Janice Ash, organization expert and owner of I Declutter!. Instead of layering papers on a bulletin board, leave a small border of space around them. Clear the front of the fridge of all but the most current kids' artwork, and make a habit of leaving the kitchen counter stuff-free before bed each night.

Energy Zapper #3: Being Bored
Ever sat around for an hour or more not tackling a chore or work because it's just so darned monotonous? Mental foot-dragging, boredom and lack of motivation are draining, says Dr. Salerno. "Put simply, we like to see results, and getting things done gives us a mental energy boost." So avoiding tasks deprives you of that high.

Energy Fix
Find a partner for encouragement--a friend, a coworker--and call or e-mail to enlist her in a time challenge. "Say, ‘I'll check back in with you in an hour, and we'll see if we've gotten these reports/ organizing chores done.'" Or promise yourself motivational rewards for completing the task at hand, suggests Dr. Salerno.

Energy Zapper #4: Poor Posture
You already know that not sitting or standing straight is bad for your body. But all that hunching over a computer screen or cradling a phone on your shoulder wreaks havoc on your energy level, too, says Pia Martin, a San Diego health and wellness chiropractor. "When you sit for long periods, you tend to slump forward, leading to rounded shoulders and a tilted lower spine. Your muscles contract, and blood flow is impaired," which limits the amount of oxygen to your brain.

Energy Fix
Sit up straight! Your legs should be at right angles to the floor, your arms at right angles to your keyboard. Be conscious of keeping your shoulders down, not up near your ears. Adjust your computer screen so your eyes gaze at the middle of it. And don't just sit there--if you have to, set a timer to go off hourly to remind you to get up, stretch and get a drink of water. When you get back to your desk, do a quick posture check: Shoulders down! (Reboot your posture with these tips.)

Energy Zapper #5: Toxic Indoor Air
Humming copy machines. Cleaning products. Dry-cleaning chemicals. Synthetic carpeting. Even the desks in your office may be contributing to the load of toxins you breathe each day, because all of them release chemicals into the air. "No one knows for sure how much harm these cause to our bodies, but they do build up over time, and can drain your energy by potentially interfering with thyroid function and overloading the body's detox system," says Frank Lipman, MD, a New York City physician and author of Spent: End Exhaustion and Feel Great Again. (Reduce your exposure to chemical toxins.)

Energy Fix
Get outside. If you're feeling tired, go out for 10 minutes to breathe fresh air. Indoors, cultivate houseplants, which are remarkably good at absorbing toxins. And don't wear shoes inside the house--you're dragging not just dirt indoors on your soles, but pesticides and other harmful chemicals too.

Energy Zapper #6: Eating Too Much at Once
Consuming a big meal is always something that will cause a dip in energy later, but that effect is most noticeable in the afternoon because the slump happens at that reach-for-coffee-or-sugar hour: 3 p.m. Here's what happens: You fill up on a carb- and calorie-rich lunch and, as nutrients are absorbed by your body, excess glucose is dumped into your bloodstream, and your body releases insulin to process all that sugar. "A better idea is to spread out what and how you eat throughout the day to keep energy levels steady," says Gloria Tsang, RD, founder of the nutrition website HealthCastle.com.

Energy Fix
Eat every four hours, instead of the usual six. To reform lunch, "try to brownbag more often than eating out," says Tsang. It's a fact that if you buy takeout or dine in a restaurant, you're likely to eat more. Four hours after lunch, have a snack. If you're going to eat dinner a couple of hours later, keep the snack small, such as half a turkey sandwich, or a yogurt and some crackers. Other ideas: Drink liquids (water, tea) all day. "Dehydration makes you tired, too," says Tsang. If you usually have coffee right after lunch, try it a little later in the afternoon and make it a latte. The caffeine's an obvious pick-me-up, but the little bit of fat and protein in the milk gives you a snack-like boost. (Increase your energy with a smarter lunch.)

Energy Zapper #7: Living in Artificial Light
Our natural body rhythms are keyed to the rising and setting of the sun, says Carol Ash, DO, medical director of Sleep for Life, a sleep-disorder clinic in Somerset, New Jersey. When you open your eyes in the morning and get your first glimpse of sunlight, your brain receives a signal that helps it set its sleep-wake clock for the day. Similarly, seeing sunlight during the day gives your brain a boost. So if you are awake before the sun, and/or don't see much sun all day, your body is experiencing something a lot like jet lag.

Energy Fix
Instead of hitting the coffee cart when you're flagging, hit the sidewalk--the combination of physical exercise and a shot of sunlight will energize you. You don't need much: "A 10- to 20-minute walk in the sunshine will give you a boost," says Dr. Ash.

Energy Zapper #8: Listening to Negative Nellies
You may be upbeat, but it can be exhausting to listen to complainers all day long, whether it's the fellow mom who calls to trash-talk the neighbors or the coworker who never has a positive word to say. It's not your imagination: A 2006 study at Chicago's Northwestern University found that people forced to listen to "high-maintenance" colleagues became frustrated and unfocused, and suffered a decline in the quality of their work.

Energy Fix
Insulate yourself as best you can. If a coworker loves to enumerate her complaints, cut her off with a firm but polite "I really have to get this finished," then smile and get to work. She'll get the message. If it's your own negative thoughts that drag you down, train yourself to banish them by listing, daily, the things you're grateful for, so you can pull out that list when the negative stuff intrudes.

Energy Zapper #9: Holding a Grudge
It takes a surprising amount of energy to remember whom you have a grudge against, and to continually update the faults, missteps and things you're mad about. "Resentment is a huge drain physically as well as mentally," says Dr. Lipman. "Anger, resentment, grudges--all of these emotions are toxic, and we hang on to them in our bodies especially in tense, tired muscles."

Energy Fix
It takes practice, but try to forgive old mistakes. An easy way to start is to simply be aware of the times negative thoughts about others creep into your mind, says Dr. Lipman. "Think of others as flawed humans, which we all are," which makes it easier to forgive-and free up energy.

Scale Shock

Life is just filled with reality checks. After what I thought was an excellent week of mindful eating and exercise, the scale this morning disagreed. In fact, it revealed an ALL TIME HIGH number. I'm hoping it is just a reflection of travel and water retention. Anyway, I start my day with greater resolve and realize that it will take a little longer to be this supermodel. I was reluctant to put my weight on this blog, but now, WTF? As they say about age, if you're going to lie, lie up.

home at last

There's no place like home, love, warmth, smiles, dinner with kev, my couch.
Well I broke the first rule, I ate after 7p, but it was fat free popcorn with diet root beer.
However on the positive note, I had 1/2 filet of sea bass with veggies, side salad with vinagarette, NO potatoes, one ketal.
Bought 2 work-out magazines at the airport, I'll let you know if I get anything good out of it.

Pick Your Battles and Make One Decision Now

After such a fun weekend in Miami, I woke this morning with lots of ideas for maintaining a good diet. Each one of us has certain weaknesses, and mine has to be French fries. Rather than negotiate with that whimpy little voice inside my head each time I see or smell a fry, I decided to just make an executive decision, here and now, that I will not be allowed to eat French fries until next year. That's it. Now that I know a decision has already been made, I won't have to comprise on this craving for days. MMS and I said good-bye in Sex City with resolve and optimism. We had such a memorable couple days and best of all, we kick-started a plan for health and nutrition going into the holiday season.

changes

i'm going to try to not eat anything after 7p.
i'm going to be excellant at behaving sun-thurs, then make good decisions on the wkd.
i find i eat at work when i'm bored, annoyed, busy, i'm going to replace that thinking with a glass of water.
working on tearing down my own barriers to progress.
get healthy.

Pineapple Water

Drink lots of water. Lots. It can stave off the hunger pangs and keep the appetite in check. The hotels in Miami Beach have large vats of water around the pool filled with sliced fruit for the guests to keep hydrated. The fruit adds a mild, refreshing edge to the water. Try this at home, kids. Keep a jug of water in the fridge with sliced pineapple, oranges, or strawberries. It's a good way to use over-ripened fruit, too, instead of tossing it out. Every time you go to the fridge for a snack, you'll forget you're hungry and go for a refreshing glass of water! In fact, I think many people confuse hunger for thirst.

Pineapple Water

Drink lots of water. Lots. It can stave off the hunger pangs and keep the appetite in check. The hotels in Miami Beach have large vats of water around the pool filled with sliced fruit for the guests to keep hydrated. The fruit adds a mild, refreshing edge to the water. Try this at home, kids. Keep a jug of water in the fridge with sliced pineapple, oranges, or strawberries. It's a good way to use over-ripened fruit, too, instead of tossing it out. Every time you go to the fridge for a snack, you'll forget you're hungry and go for a refreshing glass of water! In fact, I think many people confuse hunger for thirst.

Miami List

this is the start of a great mid life change for us.
this is the motivation we both need, we have great potential.

Miami Motivation

Mag and Kath started this blog while on a weekend getaway to Miami Beach. The long-time friends, while separated by many miles, believe that this blog will provide health and fitness motivation to each other, as they each attempt to lose weight and build muscle.

Miami Motivation

Mag and Kath started this blog while on a weekend getaway to Miami Beach. The long-time friends, while separated by many miles, believe that this blog will provide health and fitness motivation to each other, as they each attempt to lose weight and build muscle.

Video: A Miracle

Sarah, the blogfriend, has always been pretty terrified of her Mac. Lately, she has been taking classes at the Mac Store to help overcome her fear of computing. Sarah proudly sent me her first video yesterday. It's going viral!

Zebra Mentality

The blogson was telling us about an assembly at the high school yesterday. A fellow by the name of Michael Fowlin gave a powerful presentation about discrimination, and not just racial discrimination. He spoke of all types of discrimination, such as that among cliques at school, left-handed kids, family members, and even friends. The presentation was about how people, in this case, mostly teens, ostracize, alienate, and double-cross each other in order to be accepted. The pain of the injustice is sometimes just too much for people to take, and teens particularly, have difficulty managing these emotions. The speaker went on to graphically illustrate the grave and sad consequences for some people who carry the burdens of discrimination. Mr. Fowlin spoke about the sorry-ass people who just stand-by and watch bad behaviors and alienation in action. He called this the zebra mentality. “Bullies are not the problem,” he says, “Zebras are the problem. They’re beautiful creatures, but when one zebra is attacked by a lion, the others watch. They see these things happening and might feel bad about it, but they don’t do anything." The blogson enjoyed the hour presentation, but casually summed it up in one sentence, "People just need to do the right thing."

Gripping: Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood Crayon Factory

Manly Men Wearing Pink

It's so cool to see the NFL supporting breast cancer awareness month by adding pink touches to game apparel and fields. It almost makes watching football entertaining tolerable.

Keep 'Em Busy, Keep 'Em Broke

Good mantra for any parent of teens.

Heat's On

In honor of apartment dwellers everywhere, the good landlord bloghusband turned the heat on today. It must be October 1st!