Archive for: food

Tips for a Guiltless Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us, and with it comes some of the anxiety that is associated with holiday eating and weight gain.  There are some very simple changes you can make to be healthier and prevent weight gain.  A typical Thanksgiving meal contains about 3,500 calories.  Coincidentally, there are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat!

Here are some tips to keep in mind next week during your Thanksgiving holiday…

Attitude Adjustment

I was watching Oprah. I tuned in because she had a show about women’s health.  Most of it featured women who have trouble sleeping, have a low sex drive, are depressed, and pop too many prescription pills. They all admit they don’t eat well and don’t exercise enough. “Hello?!,” I yelled from the couch. Why don’t they realize that eating right and exercising are the most important things you do all day?

Many of us need an Attitude Adjustment. Here are 5 ways to do it.

1) Change your priorities. There is a comic strip that I love … it is a doctor asking a patient why he doesn’t exercise. The patient says he doesn’t have a free hour in the day. The doctor asks, “Do you have 24 hours a day to be dead?” If we change our attitude about what we eat and do during the day, the doctor would not have to ask that question.

Stress Less for Better Health

We all have stress.  Some of it is good stress – like planning a wedding, taking care of the kids, or transitioning into a new job; and some of it is negative stress – like caring for a sick family member, dealing with financial issues, and working a demanding job.  Either way, the stress of life’s circumstances can have a significant impact on your health.

Here are some of the ways stress can impact your body and your health:

Is Diet Soda Making Us Fat?

In our culture, diet sodas have been used for years as a guilt-​​free replacement for calorie and sugar-​​laden sodas and other sweet beverages that are known to have deleterious health effects.  The school of thought has been that consuming beverages without sugar would prevent the increasing weight, waistline, blood sugar, and heart disease risk that is associated with drinking sweet beverages like soda, juice, lemonade, sweet tea, and even some of those “sports” and “vitamin” drinks.  While it is my belief that choosing diet beverages and using sugar substitutes in moderation can be a part of a healthy lifestyle, there is nothing better and more pure than the original thing – H2O.

A Chocolate a Day Keeps the Doctor Away?

Is chocolate the new “superfood”? Although chocolate as we know it is processed and often high in fat and sugar, it is now being touted as a heart healthy food rich in powerful antioxidants called flavonoids. Flavanols (a specific type of flavonoid) are found in cocoa and chocolate and are showing positive benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, improving blood flow, and possibly even lowering cholesterol levels. As with other antioxidants, flavonoids found in chocolate can prevent oxidation of LDL and reduce your risk for heart disease. New research is even being conducted now to study the potential weight management benefit of consuming chocolate and it’s healthy plant compounds.

Fish: Friend or Foe?

Are you a seafood fan, but have been reluctant to eat as much of it as you would like because of everything you’ve heard about pollutants and mercury levels? Rest assured, seafood is one of the healthiest foods you can eat – and people of all ages can enjoy fish on a regular basis! Don’t miss out on this “swimmingly” healthy food because of what you may have heard about the dangers of mercury. There is a place for most types of fish and shellfish on your plate!

Low-​​Guilt Tasty Snacks

Have you ever just wanted to munch on something, even though you’re not hungry?  If so, welcome to the human race!  There’s not a single one of us who doesn’t get the urge to crunch and consume outside of our regularly scheduled meals at some point.  The good news is, snacking is actually a metabolism-​​booster!  People who eat small, frequent meals are often more successful in their weight goals because they are fueling their bodies regularly and feeling satisfied, not deprived!  So if you’re of the mindset that skipping meals will aid your weight loss efforts, think again. 

Produce’s “Dirty Dozen”

Are you a stickler for organic foods and products? If so, you are doing your part to reduce your intake of pesticides, which can be harmful to your health. However, the majority of us do not buy organic produce on a regular basis — sometimes because these products are not readily available to us, and often because they are more expensive and don’t fit into the budget. So if you’ve been wondering, “Why go organic?” and “What is a pesticide?” — read on to find your answers.

Lose Weight Without Dieting

My next blog was going to be about detailing weight loss for clients. Then, after weighing myself the other morning and realized, this month marks a year since I was pregnant with my first child. I have lost not only all of the 35 pounds of pregnancy weight, but an additional 6 pounds to boot. While I have a long road to hoe back to a chiseled body, 41 pounds later, I am my own living testimonial.

How, you might ask, did I do it? For the first six months, I poured over every post and article about losing weight while breastfeeding. I just wasn’t losing the rest of the weight. Why did the extra fat seem ready to continue hanging out like a bad houseguest? I thought, I’m a fitness professional, shouldn’t this be easy? Wrongly or rightly no, it wasn’t easy. After reading myself silly, I emerged from the computer with a new illuminated light bulb overhead. Breastfeeding was keeping a few of the unwanted pounds on in order to nourish my little growing boy. So, I kept eating the right portions but stopped with the obsessive worry.

Eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup and Get Leaner

I’m a big believer in starting off people with simple, achievable steps to improve their body composition. So here’s a simple, painless two step process to improve your diet and cut bodyfat.

Step 1: Go to your refrigerator and pantry, look at each of the food products labels and take out everything that has High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) listed in the ingredients and throw it all away.

Step 2: Stop buying any food products that use HFCS!

The US Government subsidizes corn to the point that it is actually cheaper to sweeten products using HFCS rather than cane or beet sugar. This has prompted food processors to use this cheap sweetener in our food products over the last 30 years. Interestingly enough, the obscene increase in obesity in the US population closely corresponds to the introduction of HFCS into the American diet.

Many studies have been done on HFCS the latest I can share with you is this study

Stress Eater’s Diet

Is the economy putting your health on the back burner? Cutting costs by buying boxed mac and cheese? Working out but gaining weight because stress at work causes you to head to the cookies and donuts at 3pm?

Today’s job, house and stock market pressure, and the pressure of not having a job, is stressful. Not only is stress a bad thing for your health, but it also causes bad eating and exercise habits and a downward spiral toward medical bills.

Invest in yourself and your health. Just think how much more stress you’d have if your health went south!

Help! Help! I Just Ate a Carbohydrate!

Regardless of whether you’re looking to gain muscle mass or lose body fat, diet will make up the foundation of your program.

Unfortunately, trendy diets and nutrition myths have made it more and more confusing to plan a proper program that supports your goals.

Probably no other nutrient has come under as much scrutiny in recent years as the carbohydrate and understanding the truth behind carb consumption will make or break your chances for success.

Fitness Tips That Will Surprise You!

Eat more and cut workout time in half. Never be totally full and never be totally hungry. When your “tank” is about a quarter full all the time, you will make healthier food choices because you are not starving and craving.

In addition, being more efficient in your workout will take less time and you’ll tone up while at the gym and at rest.

Keep Your Energy up Through Workouts

Question: I often run out of steam toward the end of my workout. Any tips on how to keep my energy up?

Answer: First you must determine if you’ve given your body enough “support” to make it through the entire workout.

Here’s what I mean…

The energy you use doesn’t just come from the meal you ate right before you worked out.

Diet Hints That Change Your Life

Here are some of my “diet” hints that I tell my clients at the gym, most of these hints I get from my certification, reading and personal experience. It is a lifesltyle change. Stick to this plan for life, and you’ll be healthier, thinner, fitter.

Of course, you need to add exercise, so get my Military Wife Workout DVD at www​.nikkifitness​.com.

Fight Winter Weight Gain — Top Ten Eating Tips

As fitness professionals, one of the number one dietary questions we receive is ‘What should I eat?” The question generally stems from the fact that the person asking has started a workout routine and is looking to make the complete lifestyle change to maximize results.

Many people turn to various trends, including diet fad books and magazine articles featuring celebrities’ weight loss success stories using the latest fads. However, most of the people who ask us this question are tired and wary of fads and just want healthful advice. The question is really, “Where should I begin?” If you are making a dramatic change or series of changes to your diet, we highly recommend paying a visit to your doctor. Once you are ready to fight winter weight gain, follow our Top Ten Eating Tips.

Operation Diet Dissection

SGT Brown,
Hello. Thanks for writing! The fact is that we all love sandwiches. Sandwiches are a great nutritionally balanced meal. They can include good combinations of carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals, and they are easy to make!? To make it a little healthier, try experimenting with your bread choices. Instead of white bread, try whole wheat, whole grain, rye, or even skip traditional bread and make a wrap or use a pita.

It’s not a Diet — It’s a Way of Life

This is not a “diet,” because you will not be hungry and you can do it anywhere.

This is a positive, lifelong change. It’s compiled from my own years of fitness instructing and personal experience.

With exercise, you will look as good as any vegetarian or marathon runner, without going to extremes.

1. Control portion sizes. Eat half of what you normally would, and check to see if you can put off eating the rest for another hour or so.

2. Spread out meals. Eat up to 6 meals a day–small, healthy ones. Eat enough to get something in your stomach, but never stuff yourself. Once you adjust to this strategy, you won’t crave bad foods, because you never let yourself get really hungry. At the very first hint of hunger, grab something healthy from the fridge or from my grocery list below.