Move it to Lose it

Know someone who's getting amazing results from an insanely low-calorie diet? It may be tempting to severely restrict your calories in hopes of a drastic weight loss, but don't even think about it! Truth is, very few people can maintain one of those crazy kinds of diets for more than a couple weeks. And to make things worse, most people on near-starvation diets gain back all the weight (and more) just a few months later.

In weight-loss terms, fat is energy and the best way to lose it is to use it. You have to do it with diet and exercise. If you diet without exercise, the majority of your weight loss will be from muscle. The minute you stray from your diet, the weight will come right back on.

The only way to lose it for good is to get moving! Exercise not only helps you burn calories, it also helps build, strengthen, and maintain lean muscle. Exercise has another benefit called afterburn. A great cardio routine keeps burning fat not just during your workout but for hours afterward. Not bad, eh?

The rule of the game is increasing your intensity. The exercise afterburn is also referred to as "excess post-exercise oxygen consumption." It represents the calories used up to return the body back to its pre-exercise state, or resting level, which can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 48 hours, depending on the intensity and duration of the workout. What's more, if you do resistance-training workouts in the morning and your cardio at night, you will reap the benefits of a twice-a-day afterburn without overtraining your muscles.

Doing any type of physical activity is healthier than sitting on the couch downing a bag of chips. And activities like bowling and golf do burn calories — but not enough. To see dramatic weight loss, you must do heart-pumping cardio. Cardio is any activity that is rhythmic, continuous, requires the movement of large muscles, and raises your heart rate. While bowling and golf get you moving, the action is stop-and-go. There's no reason to give up those activities, just be aware that you must still put in time on the treadmill (or doing some other cardio activity) as well.

Are You Watching Out for Your Kids?

I hate to break it you, but there are so many toxins in our environment nowadays that our kids are exposed to chemicals and endocrine disruptors on a daily basis. I know — scary, right? Luckily, they have YOU to help do something about it. Now, you can't change everything, but as parents, you do have a great deal of power over what your kids put in their mouths and on their skin. You probably know you need to feed them the best quality food you can afford, but what about the quality of the clothes, toys, and diapers you buy for them? Here are four important steps that you can take to help clean up their environment.

Clothing and bedding: Make sure your kids' pajamas, bedding, pillows, and mattresses do not contain polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a class of flame-retardant chemicals. They pose potential health risks to children — they've been linked to thyroid disruption, learning and memory problems, hearing damage, decreased sperm counts in later years, and birth defects. Choose organic bedding and clothing that's free of these chemicals, and your body, your kids' bodies, and the planet will be much happier.

Toys: The phthalates DEHP and DINP are added to plastics to make them flexible. But they pose a health risk to you and your children because they are endocrine disruptors. Many manufacturers and stores have pledged to remove phthalates from their toys, but if the recalls on toys from China tell us anything, it's that we can't be 100 percent sure about the products we buy. Instead, choose unpainted wood and organic fabric toys.

Bottles and diapers: Don't put endocrine disruptors directly into babies' mouths or on their bottoms. Instead, use glass bottles and unbleached diapers, such as Seventh Generation chlorine-free diapers or gDiapers.

Lice shampoo: You don't want to pour toxic pesticides on children's heads. Adopt a "no nits" policy and do regular screenings: Use a lice comb and get the nits out before they develop into lice. If your children do get lice, find a gentle anti-lice shampoo with natural ingredients, and prevent recurrences by sprinkling a few drops of tea tree essential oil on their heads every day.

Setting Daily Goals

Your first step on the road to total health and your best life is simple: You can't achieve success if you are not moving toward something, so before you do anything else, you have to establish both short- and long-term goals. Need some motivation? Here are examples of what they want to accomplish today:

Make NO EXCUSES!
Stay on track
To work harder than yesterday...I was a little easy on myself yesterday
NO BAD SNACKS TODAY!
PUSH it on the elliptical
No cheating — chocolate is a killer when it's sitting right in front of you
Check out a martial arts course, Krav Maga, tonight
Plan dinner (because it's a busy night and when it gets busy what is not thought of is...dinner)
Not to procrastinate with my circuit exercises
Drink water instead of soda
What short-term goal can you commit to right now that will help you reach your larger goals?

Find the Middle Ground

What's your favorite treat? Come on, now — if you could eat your way out of a room filled with one kind of food, what would it be? Cake? Chocolate? Cheese? Ice cream? When you know that you can never stop at just one bite of ice cream, it's tempting to swear off that food forever — especially now that you're focused on improving your health, diet, and physique. But as many of us have found out from experience, labeling something "forbidden" makes it all the more appealing!

A critical step in renouncing the destructive all-or-nothing mind-set is knowing how to walk the line between self-denial and self-indulgence. It's the middle ground that offers the best foundation on which to build your new life. Denying yourself little pleasures such as an occasional glass of wine or a chocolate truffle will only make you feel deprived, frustrated, and ultimately hopeless about maintaining your discipline. A temptation is a lot less powerful if it isn't totally forbidden. This is where moderation comes in.

There is room for all foods, no matter how "bad" they are; it's just a matter of being conscious of and careful about how often and how much. It's fine to have a piece of cake now and then — just not every day, and not the whole cake.

Masala Bhangra Workout

Dance your way to fitness!
The Masala Bhangra Workout® is derived from two Indian words:

• Masala, which means ‘spicy’ in Hindi, and

• Bhangra, which is a traditional folk dance from the northern state of Punjab, India

The Masala Bhangra Workout® is an exercise dance routine that modernizes the high-energy folk dance of Bhangra by blending traditional Bhangra dance steps and the exhilaration of Bollywood (Hindi film) moves, seen recently in the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire! This unique dance mixes cardiovascular with fun, and is suitable for participants of all ages and fitness levels.

Yup, it's me again

I'm sticking to my workout plan and well, my food is as good as I can feasibly do at this time. I'm tired of trying to lose weight so I'm just going to do everything I know is good/right for my body & hope for the best. I've logged in over 10,000 steps a day for the last week and my food choices have been pretty darn good exceptfor Monday night when I had a piece of cake. It was really good but I ate it to late at night & it kept me up most of the night with heart burn, indigestion, and making me feel like I was going to throw up all night long. I learned an important lesson ... don't eat sweets so close to bed time & even better then that just skip it as often as possible. I feel better when that crud isn't in my body anyway.

Cardio: 1.5 mile walk with hubby
20 min. latin dance
20 min indian dance ... next entry will have a clip of the workout. Best dance workout I have found in a long time. Check it out!!!

Food: egg beaters w/cream, 3 cups coffee
cup of oatmeal, 2 waters
2 pickles, 2 cups water
2 cups 15 bean soup w/ turkey sausage, 4 cups water

Gee, whadda ya know

Weigh in day & I have gained all my weight back despite getting back into cardio and eating all the right things. I friggin want to give up. ha ha ha ya know I'm not really giving up. I never give up.

Cardio: I have completed my 20 min salsa dancing ... dang it's so much fun to get my groove on. I was sweating like crazy by the end of the workout. Oh, almost forgot, I also got up at 7 & went for a neighborhood walk with the hubby this morning. It was a lot chilly but well worth getting out there & burning some butter.

Breakfast: 2 egg beaters mixed with heavy cream, 2 slices of whole wheat bread, serving of mayo, cup of coffee, 2 cups of water
Lunch: 2 egg beaters w/heavy cream, 2 slices whole wheat bread, 1 serving mayo, 2 cups of water
Snack: protein bar, 4 cups of water, fiber supplement
Dinner: Vegetable beef soup, 2 cups of water, herbal tea

On Track!

So I've been busted my hump today to get my cardio in ... and my 10,000 steps a day that I have made a must do each day. I log on to see this was supposed to be my rest day.Whoops!!! When it comes to cardio I just don't know how to rest. I usually take one day off which is usually Sunday but even with that I still take a 1.5-2 mile walk. Oh well, can 2 days off really make that much difference.

I got on the scale this morning to see no weight loss as of yet but I 'm not gonna freak out cause it could be a number of things. Mostly I think it could be muscle cause although I have been doing cardio I have really let my weight training suffer.

Cardio: 660 calories burned
30 min BL circuit, 30min Latin Dance

Food: 1186 calories in
B: Lucky charms with milk
L: Turkey on wheat, lettuce, tomato, can of pears
S: string cheese, baby carrots
D: Taco salad, with sour cream

Notes:
I'm having one heck of a time eating as much as the plan says I should be eating. The more I exercise the less I want to eat. No matter how hard I tell myself to eat something or exercise a little less ... it's just not working. I can't force myself to eat and I can't stop myself from exercising. Yes, I'm still a workout nut. I've always loved it!

Checkin' In

Yep! I'm still here trying to shed this stupid weight & yes I have another plan to try cause all the protein was making me feel ill. I'm now trying Jillian Michaels approach that isn't just about exercise although I know I have to get more then a few walks in each week. Her program focuses on the kind of eating as well. I know, those of you who know me know I don't really eat poorly so I wasn't sure what her program could bring to the table. It's basically eating organic.

Her philosophy is this; if it doesn't have a mother & it doesn't come from the ground then don't eat it. Not really a major problem there. I should go to a farmers market & get as much fresh veggies as I can instead of getting it from the store ... no problem there either as we do this when ever we drive by the side of the road stands. The high protein diet left me feeling tired, run down and really like I couldn't have much of anything. I couldn't eat many things that the rest of the family were so I didn't feel like I was part of them. =(

I missed my fruit & most of my veggies. I still have to stay away from some of them the majority of the time. The starchy ones, but I can still have them, just once or twice a week instead of daily. I can deal with this.

So, this morning ... bright & early (6 am) hubby & I did our 25 min. 1.5 mile walk around the neighborhood. It was nice cause all the kids we're sleeping (fall break around here), the soldier were off doing their PT and everyone else I guess was still sleeping. We had a nice breeze ... so nice that when we came home we decided to open the house up & get some fresh air blowing through. Love this time of year. Yes, I love the summer but I don't like the bill that goes along with it. The fall is just perfect ... light t-shirt, light workout pants & very little sweat. It's wonderful!

Get Real with Yourself!!

It's easy to let the media — and the world — dictate how you think you should look and feel. It's time to stop and get real!

Your first step on the road to total health and your best life is simple: You can't achieve success if you're not moving toward something, so before you do anything else, you have to establish a long-term goal. Sounds easy, right? Not so fast. It's easy to say to yourself that you want to look like an ac­tion hero or a supermodel. It's a little bit different to arrive at an ultimate goal that's both ambitious and attainable.

What's attainable, you ask? In our day-to-day lives we're bombarded with images of supposed perfection and beauty all the time; it's easy to let the media and the world at large dictate how you feel you should look and consequently how you feel about how you do look. That's got to stop. You know those articles about how to get Jessica Biel's tush, Kelly Ripa's arms, Matthew McConaughey's rock-hard abs? Forget them! Even Cameron Diaz doesn't look like Cameron Diaz. Most of the photos we see in magazines are shot after hours of hair and makeup sessions, then air­brushed to perfection. Trying to live up to these impossible standards will lead you down the road to poor self-image, self-loathing, and disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

Find Your True Shape
So what is a realistic expectation of an ideal you? Below are three basic body types — identify the one that best applies to your body. It's important to understand your shape and what you can and can't expect from it.

The apple shape. The apple tends to store fat in his or her upper body, so if a person is carrying extra weight, it's usually around the belly. Fat stored in the upper body can lead to cardiovascular disease, so it's important for apples to be health conscious. Apples have evolved to store fat in this way to adapt to long periods of famine.

The pear shape. Pears are almost always women and hold the majority of their fat in the lower body: hips, butt, saddlebags. This shape has evolved because fat stored in these areas aids in fertility. This type of fat isn't as much of a health risk as ab­dominal fat, but it can be harder to lose!

The proportionate shape. Lucky proportionates have fat cells dis­tributed equally throughout their entire body. When they gain weight, they gain it everywhere. When they lose weight, it comes off evenly.

After identifying your shape as one of the three basic types, you need to es­tablish a realistic weight for your specific build.

Now that you've got an honest idea of what your shape can look like and what your goal weight should be, visualize it! Imagine in great detail how you'll look and feel, the many ways in which your life will be different and, yes, bet­ter. Use your blog/journal every day so you're inspired to work through your issues and toward your goals, rather than avoid your problems and stay in neutral.

Meditate on your daily goals every morning to give purpose to your day. And every night before you go to sleep, think about your vision of the ulti­mate you — strong, healthy, and happy. Reaffirm your belief in yourself and your goals, and you'll find yourself taking the active steps needed to achieve them.

Weigh In Day

Monday's & Friday's are my new weigh in day. I can see how wellI do all week and then over the weekend I have to stay on track to see my progress come Monday. Anyway, this morning's weigh in I was hoping for more but I'll take it. 206. That means this week, without any real exercise I have lost 1.6 pounds. I know I need to get in my exercise but I just don't feel like I have the energy for it most days or hubby & I will say lets go for a walk ... we will get side tracked with errands or something to do with the kids. I'm noticing he needs the exercise to. He's getting a belly on him and he seemsto be winded more than usual. For the last yr and a few months (retirement) he hasn't done any type of cardio except for our neighborhood walks. It's not good for him just like it's not good for me. He's still eating crap ... he's getting away with it for now but I'd say in a couple more years his naturally skinny body is gonna give him the finger! Maybe he will see my good example like the kids and start eating better and not put off our walks.

Food for today & it's pretty much the same everyday. It's boring but it keeps me from having to think about what I'll be having. The numbers to the side are not WW points but net carbs. I'm trying to watch how many & what kind of carbs I take in. My body isn't doing well with certain carbs & milk is out of the question. Everytime I drink it I feel horrible & my stomach has me doubled over. I stopped drinking it & now I feel fine. Sucks cause I love the way milk taste.

B- coffee (1), 3 egg beaters (3), cream (0), cheese (1)
S- pickle (1), protein shake (1)
L- protein bar (3)
S- string cheese (1), ham slice (0)
D- idk (yet have 6 pts to use tho)
S- snack bar (3)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Calculator

Weigh In

I was s oscaredto see the number on the scale but I know that putting it off isn't good for me either. I needed to know where I stood so I know where I have to get too. So the verdict ... 207.6! Not nearly where I thought I was. I was truly expecting to see 215-220! I'm guessing my clothes felt tight because TOM was here & I was having one heck of a time with my bowel movements. I know this is TMI but in the week we were gone I only had 2 BM's. Not good huh!

Ok so on to my food choices for the day.

B- 3 egg beaters, 1 oz cheese, salsa, coffee
S- string cheese wrapped in ham slice
L- protein shake
S- protein bar
D- chicken, steamed broccoli with cheese, 2 cup garden salad, ranch dressing

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Calculator

Vacation pounds

I have no idea what I weigh ... I was to scared to check the scale this morning but I have no doubt that being on vacation for 7 days & only having take out that I gained major weight. Sure I walked a ton, I avereraged 17000 steps a day ... some more, some less. I just know how I look in pictures & I also feel like my clothes are tighter then when I left. I'm really upset about my weight so I'm going drastic with my food intake until I lose at least 30 pounds. I'm going to be watching ever carb amount that I take in. It seems my body doesn't handle carbs well at all so I'll just have to watch what carbs I do eat.

Guess what I learned on vacation? I'm no longer 5'6 but 5'4. How the heck does that happen? Now I have even more weigh to lose since I'm shorter. That just sucks rotten eggs! Oh well, means my weight range is now 106-140 pounds. My original goal was 145 so I guess I'm really only dropping my goal by 5 pounds I know I can do it. I'm sick to death of being a chunky monkey.

B- egg frittata

S- string cheese wraped with a slice of ham

L- protein bar

S- protein shake

D- baked chicken,brocooli with cheese