After 25 days of vacation I went back to work today. It's hard for me to get back into the swing of things after a long weekend. After almost four weeks, it was darn near impossible. I'm so tired right now I can barely stay awake.
Today is also the first day in a really long time where I was extremely careful with what I ate. I'm doing an experiment through the end of January. I'm still counting Points, but I'm also counting calories. Double the fun, right?
I have my doubts about the new Weight Watcher PointsPlus plan. Zero Points for all fruits and most vegetables just doesn't seem right to me.
I know someone reading this is thinking 'she didn't get fat from eating too many fruits and vegetables'. That's probably true, but it's also true that I can consume massive quantities of fruits and vegetables. Six large bananas is 600 calories. I've easily eaten six bananas in a day several times in my life, in addition to my regular meals. I seem to have a bottomless pit for a stomach. This is enough calories that would prevent me from having a weight loss and might even cause a gain.
I rarely list what I eat unless it's something I binged on like the can of cake frosting I ate about a year ago. Or the pizza and coconut cream pie I ate on New Year's Eve. In an effort for accountability I'm going to post every bite I eat, at least through the end of January.
Since I don't want to bore you all to death with my daily food intake, I've created a separate blog of my food diary. The calories and the Points will be documented. This is really for me, so I can see it all in one place. I just started it tonight, but haven't added the link yet.
Unfortunately, since I'm dead tired right now and getting up this morning was a challenge, I'm heading to bed right now.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
4/365 The salty lies of our scales.
It felt good climbing up on the machine. I'm not as sore or stiff and the time didn't seem to drag like it did. I know it's only been four days, but it's amazing how quick my body responds to exercise.
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| Photo Credit |
I already notice my muscles feel firmer, just a hint. But the thing for me to remember is I tend to firm up easier than I drop weight--which can be discouraging. Why? Even if I gain muscle and loose fat at the exact same rate, the scale will go up at first because muscle is heavier than fat.
I have a friend diligently going to the gym for an hour workout on a regular basis. The scale hasn't budged in over a week and she wants to quit. For some psychological reason we are attached to our scales. It's important to remember they don't tell the whole story and it's easy to psych ourselves out because of it.
This is what I love about this goal, it has nothing to do with the scale or how my clothes feel. It doesn't even consider my eating habits. Right now, my biggest and only concern is that daily workout. As I work to change habits, I don't feel guilt if I over eat or feel a tightness in my waistband because at the end of the day, I feel good I'm building a workout habit and hitting my daily goal. For now, this is what I need, that sense of accomplishment. As time progresses, I'll be able to better focus on the other important changes I need to make with the confidence needed to make them.
School's Back! Lunch Box Ideas
Children need to eat a variety of foods everyday to stay healthy and help them concentrate and learn at school. However, packing a lunch box and trying to keep it delicious, healthy and interesting can be quite a task for many of us - but it doesn’t have to be if you follow a few simple steps:
A lunch box should always include:
As well as keeping lunch simple, try to encourage children to help choose and prepare their own lunch. Praise children when they choose healthy foods for their lunch box. They may even want to have a Masterchef lunch box competition between siblings for some fun and variety.
Most importantly - don’t forget your own lunch! Set a good example as children learn from their parents more than you may think therefore prepare your lunch and snacks while the children are doing theirs. Make it a healthy family approach for all to benefit from.
A lunch box should always include:
- Fruit (fresh is best, but tinned and dried are also suitable)
- Vegetables or salad ingredients
- A meat or protein food such as lean meat, hardboiled egg, fish or nuts
- Dairy foods such as a cheese slice or stick, milk or yoghurt
- Starchy food such as high fibre bread rolls, pita or flat bread, fruit bread or grain crackers
- Water (frozen water can be used as a freezer brick to keep foods cold)
- Cold pasta spirals mixed with salad vegetables and lean meat e.g. ham, pastrami
- Rice with vegetables mixed in it with lean meat e.g. ham, pastrami
- Mini pizza with cheese and pineapple
- Avocado and lemon with salad on a wholemeal wrap
- Bagel with vegemite and low fat cheese
- Corn or rice cakes with peanut butter
- Grainy crackers with slices of cheese
- Plain popcorn as a snack
- Yoghurt, low fat milk or low fat custard (freeze overnight to ensure it stays cool)
- Small packets of dried fruit and nuts as snacks
- Include extra celery and carrot sticks
- Fruit
As well as keeping lunch simple, try to encourage children to help choose and prepare their own lunch. Praise children when they choose healthy foods for their lunch box. They may even want to have a Masterchef lunch box competition between siblings for some fun and variety.
Most importantly - don’t forget your own lunch! Set a good example as children learn from their parents more than you may think therefore prepare your lunch and snacks while the children are doing theirs. Make it a healthy family approach for all to benefit from.
Healthy & Happy New Year
Christmas is over...
Guidelines for setting goals include:
We hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and Happy New Year, from the staff at WWMC!
References
...So where to from here?
Research from the United States has found that the average end of year holiday weight gain is 0.5kgs and this weight increase is not reversed over the following year. Regardless of whether your festive season went to plan or could have been better, the silly season for 2010 has passed and we are faced with a new year ahead.
The New Year presents a good opportunity to re-evaluate where we are at with our health plans to set those New Year’s Resolutions. Ask yourself - what would I like to achieve in 2011? Remember, a few parties don’t make you overweight; it’s what you do the other 350 odd days of the year that matters.
Here are a couple of recommendations for getting started:
The New Year presents a good opportunity to re-evaluate where we are at with our health plans to set those New Year’s Resolutions. Ask yourself - what would I like to achieve in 2011? Remember, a few parties don’t make you overweight; it’s what you do the other 350 odd days of the year that matters.
Here are a couple of recommendations for getting started:
- Make sure you have a healthy environment around you - This means throw away any of those Christmas leftovers – weight loss is hard enough without having fruit mince pies, rum balls, peanuts and boxes of chocolates laying in the house. If possible, give these away to guests, neighbours or even colleagues at work.
- Set goals for what you want to achieve in 2011 - what are the greatest advantages with being healthier in 2011? It could be more energy, feeling better, looking better or improved health. Think of your resolutions as new goals for the year. Set short term goals to accompany your longer term goals.
- External goals e.g. Eating habits, food choices, exercise, shopping, reading food labels, health outcomes, etc.
- Internal goals e.g. Managing comfort eating, stress management, self-esteem, negative thought patterns, assertiveness, etc.
Guidelines for setting goals include:
- Keep it real - Make your plans realistic and achievable. Consider your lifestyle and how reasonable your resolutions are. This may also involve starting small, for example, if you are doing less physical activity, maybe set a goal to increase this by one extra session per week and build on it weekly.
- Be specific – Set specific goals so that you know exactly what you are aiming to achieve and so you are able to measure your progress. For example, if you want to drink alcohol, how many standard drinks will you have?
- Plan – Think ahead and be prepared. This definitely applies to food and exercise – know what events or activities are coming up and re-arrange your original plan accordingly. This could be returning to work or ensuring the kids are all prepared for school.
- Anticipate setbacks - Let’s say the Christmas / New Year break didn’t go exactly to plan. Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world! We have a new year ahead of us remember! The important thing is to remain focused. Return to your normal routine with meals and exercise as quickly as possible and keep in mind that one meal or one day is not going to make a significant difference in the overall scheme of things.
- Dealing with setbacks is part of the behaviour change process. Don't get downhearted if you experience them; see them as an opportunity to learn about yourself instead. Avoid 'all or nothing' thinking and learn to accept your mistakes and then move on. Does a musician cease playing when an incorrect note is played? Does a tennis player pack up after they serve a fault? They learn from the mistake and grow in experience so that they improve for next time.
- Reward yourself - Develop a system of non-food related rewards for behaviours that support your goals. Don't wait until the very end - set milestones and reward yourself as you go. For example, get a massage, buy a new CD or book.
We hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and Happy New Year, from the staff at WWMC!
References
Stay Cool This Summer – How to Avoid Heat Illness
Despite what has been an unseasonably mild summer to date, the hotter days are becoming more frequent and it is important to be aware of the dangers of exercising during this time of year. Summer climates increase the risk of developing heat illnesses such as heat stroke when exercising, resulting in many debilitating health complications such as:
Pre-exercise
References
- Feelings of tiredness, weakness, dizziness and faintness
- Dehydration and headaches
- Excessive fatigue
- Heat cramps
Pre-exercise
- Hydrate effectively – Daily water requirements during summer increase to a minimum of 4L per day
- Drink 2-3 cups of water 2 hours before and 1 cup 10-15min before undertaking exercise
- Avoid hot foods, alcohol and heavy foods that increase your core temperature
- Choose lightweight, light-colored and loose-fitting clothing as well as wearing a hat
- Use sun block with an SPF rating of 15+ or higher
- Avoid exercise during the hottest time of day; train closer to sunrise or sunset
- Drink 1 cup of water every 15minutes throughout exercise
- If you feel any headaches, fatigue or irritability or notice your exercise performance decreasing, stop exercising and cool off
- Weigh yourself before and after exercise and replace any lost fluids accordingly
- Drink 1.5L of water for every kilogram of fluid you lost during exercise
- Try to avoid too much sports drink, however for intense exercise above 60min, these may help to further accelerate water intake after exercise in the heat
References
WWMC January 2011 e-Newsletter References
Healthy & Happy New Year
- Yanovski, J.A. (2000), A prospective study of holiday weight gain, NEJM, vol. 342: pp.861-7.
- Quinn, E. 2009, Hot Weather Exercise Safety: Tips for preventing heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat rash and dehydration’,http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/enviromentalissues/a/Exercise_Heat.htm
- Sawka, M.N., Burke, L.M., Eichner, R., Maughan, R.J., Montain, S.J., Stachenfeld, N.S. 2007, Exercise and Fluid Replacement, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 377-90.
- Sawka, M.N., Montain, S.J. 2000, Fluid and electrolyte supplementation for exercise heat stress, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 72, no. 2, pp. 5645.
calories To Lose Weight, if your goal is to lose weight with exercise calorie calculator
Counting calories accurately is essential if your goal is to lose weight, and the only way to do that is to record what you eat and drink accurately.Because it’s so easy to forget your exact food intake during the day, the solution is to keep a small notepad or food diary in your
handbag or pocket wherever you go. That way, every time you eat something, you can make a note of it. Then when you’re counting your calories up for the day, you can use your notepad to jog your memory to ensure that every single mouthful is counted.
handbag or pocket wherever you go. That way, every time you eat something, you can make a note of it. Then when you’re counting your calories up for the day, you can use your notepad to jog your memory to ensure that every single mouthful is counted.
But it’s not just the forgotten nibbles that can make the difference between calorie counting success and failure! It’s also worth evaluating your portion sizes. Many of us stop weighing or measuring portions of foods after the first few weeks of recording food intake and instead rely on judging our portion sizes by sight. Unfortunately, this often means portions and calories gradually creep up, stopping us from losing weight.
The good news is, once you’re counting calories accurately, you’ll be able to identify your problem areas and ditch them from the menu once and for all – along with those excess pounds.
Counting 'Forgotten' Calories
You might forget about these nibbles but they soon mount up the calories…
| 4 oven chips pinched off your kid’s plate | 48 calories |
| 6 extra strong mints while stuck in a traffic jam | 71 calories |
| 1 leftover sausage in the fridge | 135 calories |
| 1 chicken nugget left on your child’s plate | 37 calories |
| A sliver of cheese while you’re cooking | 124 calories |
| A handful of peanuts in the pub | 155 calories |
| A chocolate digestive at a work meeting | 90 calories |
| Slice of birthday cake for your colleague’s birthday | 294 calories |
| 5 Maltesers from a friend’s packet | 48 calories |
| 6 crisps from the packet your child’s eating | 65 calories |
| 1tsp sugar in your coffee because you’d run out of sweetener | 16 calories |
| Couple of swigs of cola from your partner’s can | 40 calories |
| ½ slice of toast with butter left by your child | 82 calories |
| 2 slices of leftover pepperoni from your husband’s pizza | 48 calories |
| 1tsp of peanut butter from the jar while waiting for your toast | 30 calories |
| 2tbsp pasta and tomato sauce left by your child | 70 calories |
| Slice of ham from the fridge | 30 calories |
| Two mouthfuls of your partner’s donner kebab | 82 calories |
Calorie Intake to lose FAT!
Exercise calorie counter by Chris Buskirk
The calorie counter shown below calculates how many calories you have burned depending on your weight and how many miles you have run. Health studies have shown that heavier people burn more calories when they are exercising, than lighter people. Hence the reason you need to type your current weight into the exercise calorie calculator below.
article source http://www.howtoloseweighthealthy.com/
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