Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts

Friday, May 23, 2008

Kool Aid vs Vitamin Water

Everywhere I look people are drinking vitamin water. Not wanting to be left out I bought a bottle. I was astonished by what I found, it was like expensive, adult Kool-Aid. No wonder the sugar addicted populous seems to be toting this colorful bottle around. Parents are giving it to kids, one more thing to get them off the couch and bouncing off the walls. I couldn't even finish it.

Turns out this "super healthy" water which has tons of vitamin C, just like the K, is um, just like the K.

16 grams of sugar in Kool-Aid
13 grams of sugar in Vitamin Water

I'll stick with water.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Get the most from your veggies

The latest on veggies from Tara Parker-Pope, well writer for the New York Times:

A growing body of research shows that when it comes to vegetables, it’s not only how much we eat, but how we prepare them, that influences the amount of phytochemicals, vitamins and other nutrients that enter our body.

Read all about it here.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Weight loss Wednesdays: Go Go Goji Power

The last few weeks I have been increasing my goji consumption. Goji berries are famed for their many health boosting qualities such as enhancing immune system function, improving eyesight, protecting the liver, boosting sperm production and improving circulation, among other effects.

They are sometimes called the fountain of youth, a weight loss tool, and people have claimed they help focus their autistic children (and I hope it does) and mellow out ADD kids.

I doubt this miracle berry does all of these things, at least not alone or significantly.
The debate rages on and for now I will keep eating them. They taste good and there are enough benefits in eating fruit to justify it, plus what if they are a miracle fruit?

Monday, May 19, 2008

Weight loss inspiration for brides and, well anyone else

The latest motivational story comes from a bride slimming down for her own self esteem and of course, her big day! She realized she'd let herself go, and her mother gently told her she may be unhealthy. It was later confirmed when her future in-laws made a few, ahem, fat jokes at her expense leaving her in tears.



It's sometimes hard to hear, see, and accept that you have become the dreaded obese, which is not as hard to do as you may think. Obesity starts at a BMI of 30 and morbidly obese at 40. You can find out your BMI here.


The key to her success? She made the choice. She lost 130 pounds! That is what it really takes, you can dabble in all kinds of diets and exercise programs but until you truly commit, nothing is coming off.



So here is my commitment. I will lose 20 pounds by August. It will put me in a healthier weight range and increase my self-confidence. It will be easier to carry a child if I am lucky enough to get one, and I will be happier.



Read the profile and details of the bride here.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Weight loss Wednesdays: Crazy Jackie Warner Workout

Kevin and I have been doing the Workout on-demand from Crazy Jackie Warner. If you don't know who this ego driven, but buff as all get out, blondie is, she is the "star" of Bravo's Workout. It's an enthralling reality show mapping the drama of the gym she runs and her quest toward World domination with stops to make-out with her staff on the way. If you have worked in the soap opera that is a restaurant, it's kind of like that.

Anyways, the workout is pretty good, we have been rotating the twenty minute legs with the 20 minute arms, and tonight, back to legs. Mine are still aching from Monday, but I must press on, and so should you. A little sore is not a lot sore and movement is so great! With this particular workout, I wonder if the World (fitness) Dominatrix knows how incredibly intense it is, even her staff take turns performing the routine. This was either because giving them a "solo" was a kind of cookie for being a fav or because she didn't want anyone looking overly tired at the end. Either way, I am addicted to looking as awesome as this woman, in a much shorter body.

For as in-charge as this woman is, it's important to note she is the real deal and understands what it takes to be really fit and what it takes to become healthy. Here are her top five fitness tips, check out the rest of the list here.

1: Be a smart consumer and read labels carefully. Fat free products are loaded with sugar. Fat does not make you fat – SUGAR DOES! When grocery shopping, meals should have no more than 400 calories and snacks 150 calories – buy nothing with over 9 grams of sugar.

2: No overcomplicated routines/no overcomplicated diets. They have the highest failure rate because they don’t teach you how to live in the real world. Get back to the basic, common sense principles.

3: Never skip meals. All of my morbidly obese clients have one thing in common – skipping meals. The moment you allow your blood sugar to drop (when you feel hunger pangs) you become a fat storing machine. You must eat small meals or snacks every few hours.

4:Don’t ever juice-blend: Always eat the whole fruit, not just its sugary juices. Juicing takes out the fiber but leaves you with the sugars. However, blending fills you with the whole fruit (fiber) and a lot more nutrients.

5: Sugar is the devil. Sugar throws our body into an immune suppressed, non-working state of chronic fatigue, depression, and hormonal imbalance. It is the leading cause of disease and depression in this country. To break the sugar addiction, get rid of refined sugar (anything that isn’t fruit or veggies) for 5 days in a row, then allow yourself to have one cheat meal on Saturday and one on Sunday. You will have curbed the chemical addiction for sugar and your brain will desire less.

An update to the diet tool, that seems like more work then I am willing to maintain. I like to make healthy meals more spur of the moment based on what ingredients are on sale. Affordability is also high on my fitness goals list.

Photo from tv guide.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

How much exercise does it take to see the benefit

I feel that most of us don't accurately know what a portion is or what kind of work it really takes to burn the calories we consume. I am a big offender of feeling like my 30 minute walk makes a piece of cake a wash. It doesn't. Oh those are harsh words!

MSN highlighted some reality today -

To burn off a 6-oz. bag of vegetable chips, a 180-pound man would have to:
Run 55 min
Swim 65 min
Bike 70 min
Row 70 min
Lift weights 1 hour, 45 min
Golf 2 hours, 20 min
Shop 4 hours, 30 min
Do desk work 7 hours

Not pretty, who would think vegetable chips would require so much work? Turns out it is, of course, better to eat the veggies. I think it is going to be essential to keep the active lifestyle going in addition to serious workouts.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Drop those pounds! Motivation and inspiration

Sometimes I need external inspiration and motivation to keep me on track to achieving my goals. MSN Fitness and Health featured the story of Caroline, she has lost 124 pounds and has kept it of for over four years! I don't have quite as much to lose, so it can't be nearly as hard. She looks fantastic, and I know I can too! Check out her plan for change.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Weight loss Wednesdays: exhausted

Oh the joys of Wednesday, a day when we come to terms with what happened over the last 7 days. I have been keeping up on the healthy eating...except for the baby shower, and the birthday party. I really ate like crap, delicious crap, those days, but the working out was spot on as you can see by reading some older posts.

Time to really focus on eating right. Fitness Magazine has a diet tool that lets you create a diet by selecting meals from their list and then generates a shopping list of all the foods you'll need. I am going to give it a shot next week. If you try it, let me know, and I, of course, will do the same.

Dance started back up again yesterday and I was thrilled to be back in class. The energy you get from a class working toward a common goal is incredible. More on that later. Good luck this week!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Refresh tea, refreshing indeed

During the whole caffeine drought I became a huge fan of Refresh tea from Tazo. It's invigoratingly minty and delivers a nice refreshing lift any time of day while staving off the need for snacks. I was buying it at Starbucks but decided it best to head to Kroger's and buy a box for the house.


I am a big fan of tea, any suggestions on types to try?

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Sweet came back! and Recital info

Today there were some fabulous homemade cookies at work and yeah, I ate a few. I am glad I did. I can't help it, food is a reward.

So off I went to the gym to pay for my indulgence. I have to look good, meaning not terrible, when recital comes around in a few weeks.

If you would like to attend the info is:

Friday, April 25, 2008 or Saturday, April 26, 2008

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Sterling Heights High School
12901 15 Mile Rd.
Sterling Heights, MI

Tickets are $13.00 in advance and $15 at the door. If you would like me to buy yours please get your money to me.

If you are coming Saturday the plan is to head out to the bar after I show off all my time spent at the barre, so let me know and I will reserve a seat for you! lgibalawarren AT gmail

Monday, March 31, 2008

Possibly the best quick meal

Recently my favorite quick meal has become pierogies and peas. It's low on calories and fat, and high in protein and fiber. I love this meal and eat it when I know I am eating a big meal later or have already had a large meal for the day. Bonus: it is quick and easy, has only three ingredients, and tastes like comfort food.

You will need:
Mini Pierogies
Frozen Peas
Pam spray (fat free)

Spray a pan and place on medium heat
Add pierogies a flip them immediately (so they get a bit of Pam on both sides)
Add Peas and let cook uncovered for 3 minutes
Flip and stir contents
Cook until pierogies are lightly browned and hot

Below is the info from the brands I use. Pierogies and Peas are two things Kevin will not eat, so I only make this for one.

Mrs. T's Potato and Cheddar mini Pierogies
Serving: 7 mini pierogies
130 calories
1.5 grams of fat
1 g fiber
4 g protein

Frozen peas
Serving: 2/3 cup
70 calories
0 fat
4 g fiber
5 g protein

Pam Spray:
Serving: 1/3 second burst
0 calories

Meal: 200 calories; 1.5 g fat; 5 g fiber; 9 g protein

Photo from Mrs. T''s