A Fat-Loss Lifestyle

I finished work at about 8pm and was hungry. Not hungry enough for a meal, but a snack. I walked to Lunds across the street. Nothing in the prepared food section is grabbing my attention.... so I continue wondering. I end up in front of this.... of course...

It would be really easy to justify getting a pastry. I had a great workout this morning, I haven't overeaten today, it's hot outside.... etc. BUT I recently read a great write up by my mentor Jen Sinkler talking about sustainable fat-loss and the problem with dieting. It's all about living a lifestyle that encourages fat-loss. The great part about lifestyle change is that it never ends. There is no end of the program, just tomorrow, the next day and the next. So I asked myself, does this fit into my fat loss lifestyle? The answer--NO. On top of that my gluten allergy would make this for a painfully sweet experience (pun intended). ;)

I continue walking--the thought of something sweet still on my mind. I end up in the produce section and decide to treat myself to a peach AND a plum. I grab some raw almonds on my way to the checkout line and am on my way.

I will have to say, that peach was one of the best I've had in a long time! I at my two pieces of fruit with no regret and I feel good. Had I eaten one of those beautiful pastries I would have regretted it. My stomach would have hurt and I would have felt lethargic the rest of the night.

I don't think the fat loss lifestyle means never having something tasty and sweet. However, what it does mean is that you have to pick and choose. I was able to curb my craving for something sweet with a piece of fruit that didn't wreak havoc on my blood sugar. I also grabbed some raw almonds to give me sustained nourishment (protein).

Life is about the little choices. A sustained lifestyle of fat-loss is about the little choices. I can't change the food choices I made yesterday but I have control of today. :)

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo

If Granny Can Do It... Deadlift

Sandra Foli, mother of three and 73 years of life under her belt just went on to score a powerlifting recorded. She completed a clean deadlift of 181.5 pounds. WOW!

(Sandra Foli, 73 years old)

Foli started exercising just 5 years ago after suffering from septic shock and look what has happened! I listed to an interview she did and something she said struck me. She said many people her age are beginning to lose their mobility, having to use walkers and wheelchairs. She said she doesn't want that to be the case in her situation. If she continues what she's do I'm sure it wont!

Here are three points I would like to make:

1. It's never to late to start Deadlifting--or lifting heavy weights in general
2. What you do know will determine where you end up later (walker, wheelchair, nursing home)
3. The benefits of deadlifting

Foli was 68 when she started lifting. The article wasn't very specific but I'm pretty sure she had never lifted weights like that before. If a 68 year old woman can pick up weightlifting in her spare time, I think it's safe to say just about anyone can. No matter your age, gender, or athletic ability--you can and you probably should start lifting. It could be what keeps you moving and healthy in your later years.

Turning around your lifestyle NOW is better than later. If you are young in years you can potentially save yourself from experiencing an illness like Foli did. If you are farther along in years the great news is it is never too late. There are so many health benefits to lighting weights which include increased muscle mass and bone density, decrease in stored fat and improved cardiovascular function. The lists go on and on and on....

Lastly, but definitely not the least, why should you deadlift? Deadlifting is a great lift to make you strong, and who doesn't want to be strong? You can lift heavy things around the house and yard and not have to worry about not being able to lift it and getting hurt. Being strong is convenient. Deadlifts predominately strengthen your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't want a strong, firm backside, men and women both.

Increased strength in these three areas will not only increase athletic performance but will also help prevent back and knee injuries such as ACL tears, patello-femoral pain, and patellar tendinosis to name a few. 

So, if you want to look good, move well and keep yourself from injury... start deadlifting. 

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo

P.S. Here is a great article by Mike Robertson giving you all the information you need to start deadlifting like a champ! Check it out!

http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/deadlift/

Juicing Vs. Blending

Here are my thoughts

In theory, juicing sounds like a great idea. You can get all the fruits and vegetables you need in just one drink! Here is the problem with this:

1. When you go out and buy all that beautiful, organic, expensive produce and put it through the juicer you will realize that you just wasted a ton of it. This translates over to lost $$$. Who wants that?
2. When fruit is juiced, it takes out all the fiber and just leaves the natural sugars. If you were to eat a whole apple, you blood sugar levels would stay even, when you eat a juiced apple your body doesn't get the fiber needed to blunt the sugar, leaving you with elevated blood sugar levels. This is not good.

(My dad is a master at making delicious Vitamix smoothies)

What then is a better solution? My answer.... a Vitamix! A Vitamix is a high powered blender that will mix up anything (excluding rocks). You can make smoothies, add nuts, lettuce leaves, fruits, vegetables and not have to worry about your drink coming out chunky. You will get all the nutrients from the vegetables, and you wont waste anything! These drinks will also be much more filling if you are going to have one as a meal replacement. And of course, all the fiber in these drinks will also help with your bowl function. :)

So rather than giving into the juicing fad that's going around, go buy a Vitamix or a high powered blender to make your drinks. You wont regret it! 

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo

P.S. You can even make your own nut butters and hummus in the Vitamix!

A Girl & Her Ice Cream

A few years ago, or even a year ago, I would have never imagined that I would be writing a blog. It’s just never been something I’ve done. I can’t even manage to write in a diary/journal. What I have found is that I need to write when I am inspired. The only problem with this is that I typically get inspired at very odd times. Like now for instance. It’s currently Friday night at 11:30pm. I just got done sitting on the couch for a couple hours doing a whole bunch of nothing. Obviously, I live a very exciting life that you should be very jealous of. Anyways, to my point. I am inspired. Very inspired… to write about ice cream. Yes, ice cream.

Confession… I really really really like ice cream. And I need to apologize to all my past, present, and future roommates. If you have ice cream sitting in the freezer… Welp… I probably have, did and will help myself to a little bit of it, in a very common moment of weakness. I am truly sorry.

I know many women can relate... and probably men too.. but I don't know about it because I'm not a man... There are just those times when you need something sweet. For me, ice cream hits the spot every time. BUT recently, I have gotten on this kick of reading food labels… and has been devastating! I found that a high percentage of the ice cream on the shelves have high fructose corn syrup in them. This, I cannot stand for.

With a heavy heart, I decided to go on a mission, a mission to find my favorite flavors of ice cream… without high fructose corn syrup.

Thank God for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream! They have my FAVORITE ice cream and it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in it! God is good! 

I hope this post has made you chuckle or even smile a little bit. The main point that I would like to share with you is this. I think it is very important to make sure that you are giving your body the nutrients it needs to function at its best. However, we are all human (me especially), and just want something sweet sometimes. I don’t think it’s wrong indulging once in a while BUT with these indulgences why not choose the ice cream without high fructose corn syrup versus the one with it? Do your body that little favor while you enjoy your treat.

These are the thoughts of a 23 year old, on a Friday night, sitting at home. I am now going to go to sleep because I just spelled "cherry" wrong. Good night!

Until Next Time,
Hope
xoxo

P.S. I never buy the half gallon of ice cream because it will be gone within 24 hours. They've recently come out with these super small ice cream containers! Perfect for your little indulgence! :)

Dream Big, Set Goals

Dream big, set goals. I feel like that is the story of my life right now. Granted, I am a semi-recent college graduate, with a just enough of a taste of corporate America to know that I would rather skip the endless hours in a desk, and ladder climbing as my fast track to success and a decent salary.

It has been about eight months now, since I resigned from my job as a recruiter and started this adventure. This is not the path I had planned for myself. I have always been a planner. My plan had always been to graduate college, get a good corporate job, work for about seven years, save money, then start my business. Needless to say, my "plan" is so far from my currently reality I have to laugh, but I would have it no other way.

As I have taken time to reflect, I am not sure that I would have ever taken the leap of faith and stepped out to do my own thing if I hadn't been in a job that made me miserable. I had no idea how I was going to make ends meet. Businesses don't usually start over night. The day I walked out of my job for the last time I felt that I had just stepped off a cliff, I was in free fall. I wasn't even sure if I had a parachute on, but I knew I had to jump. If there was a time to do it, now was that time.

The great thing about being miserable is that it really has a unique way of making you realize what makes you happy. 

I've realized that there are a lot of things I want to go out, do and experience. The question I have been asking myself is why shouldn't I do ALL these things? By the grace of God and a hale Mary (as my grandmother would say) I have a good 60 years left in me and I don't want to look back wishing I had taken a few more chances. I realize I'm not going to be able to do all these things at once, but if I take them one at a time, set attainable goals, they will happen. Some of these things will take longer than others, but if I'm patient, one by one I'll be able to start checking them off.

A few of the things I would like to do/experience are:

1. Have my own successful business
2. Compete in ballroom dancing
3. Master a form of martial arts (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai)
4. Travel the world (I'm trying to get a side job with Delta)
5. Go skydiving
6. Set a world record (Probably a variation of the deadlift)
7. Become proficient at surfing
8. Be a part of fashion week NY
9. Start a Non-profit

These are a few of the things I would really like to experience/learn. Now I just have to figure out how I can make them happen. For instance, traveling the world is expensive... unless you work for an airline. Which is why I'm trying to get a part-time job with Delta. I would be totally okay traveling the world on standby. :)

It's never to late to make a list of dreams. But if you make the list, you have to make a second list mapping out how you plan to accomplish them. Set goals, whether that be saving money, signing up for a class, or looking for that part-time job with an airline. 

I think it's important to realize you don't have to look successful from the worlds outlook. Every persons journey doesn't look alike. From a worldly perspective I would say my life looks pretty sad right now... but, I have decided that that doesn't matter. What matters is that I am doing what I feel God has called me to do. I'm going after my dreams one at a time. 

Here is a Chinese fortune I got recently:

"Talk is cheap, barbers give it away free with haircuts."

Let's stop thinking and talking about what we want to do and go do it! 

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo

Read Your Labels

Nothing pains me more than seeing people get tricked into weight loss products. There are many companies that have done their job well and have pulled the proverbial "wool" over the eyes of your everyday consumer. Some of these products include diet sodas, vitamin water (Check out my post Drinking Fat Is Gross), slim fast and the list continues. 

How can we escape the traps set for us by very clever marketing departments?

The Answer...

READ YOUR LABELS

As I have become more educated I have begun reading labels much more frequently. I have been shocked. The amount of foods that have chemicals in them and the amount of sugar just astounds me. So, today's mission is to make sure you are not a gullible consumer. Let's learn how to read our labels and UNDERSTAND what we are looking at.

Let's start by taking a look at the ingredients list for a Slim Fast product.

(click to enlarge the image)

When looking at the nutritional value of a product I immediately skip down to the ingredients section on the bottom. It is too easy to manipulate the nutrition facts of a product based on serving size. However, more importantly the ingredients section will tell you exactly what is IN the product.

When we look at the ingredients for Slim Fast, do we really believe it's going to make us slim? Our first ingredient is fat free milk. I haven't written on this topic yet, but I believe it is important to avoid "fat free" products because to make a product "fat free" typically the product is modified and there are additives in them. Our next most present ingredient is water--no problem with that. The third ingredient is sugar. Now, it is important to note that ingredients are listed in the order from most present to least present. Meaning that besides milk at water, sugar is the third most predominate element in this drink. I don't believe drinking milk, sugar water is going to have a slimming effect on your body. I think we can all agree on that.

However, this is not were the problem stops. There are 43 ingredients (I think I counted right) in this Slim Fast shake. In my post The Many Names Of Sugar, I show 50 names of sugar you may not know. Among many ingredients I can't pronounce, I see a few different names for sugar--one of which is high fructose corn syrup, one of the worst forms of sugar/sweetener you can consume.

Here are four keys to becoming an efficient label reader overnight: 

1. Skip the nutrition facts and look at the ingredient list
2. The shorter the ingredient list, the better
3. Look for hidden sugars--sucrose, fructose, syrups (cane, corn, high fructose, etc.), fruit juice concentrates etc. (see my post The Many Names Of Sugar for a full list)
4. If you can't pronounce it, you probably shouldn't eat it

Reading and understanding labels doesn't have to be complicated. You don't need to understand everything that is on a label. Just know, that if it has a weird name it is probably made by chemists in a food lab.Your body won't be able to break it down and digest it as easily and efficiently as it should. Additionally, it probably doesn't have any nutritional value. 

Next time you are in the grocery story, pick up some of your favorite products and read the labels. You might be shocked by what you find! :)

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo  

Rethink Your Dinner Plate

Today, I would like us to rethink our dinner plate. If we look at the food pyramid that is given to us by our government, we see something that looks like this...

A rising health concern in America is the increasing number of type 2 diabetes cases along with obesity. What causes type 2 diabetes? Mainly, diet. I know a number of people with type 2 diabetes. When they changed their diets and start getting the proper nutrition their diabetes was reversed as quickly as one week. Isn't that crazy?? No drugs, no surgery. Mainly, a balanced diet and sometimes added nutritional support with natural supplements. 

So what is a balanced diet and why is this pyramid leading us astray? In my opinion, and others with many more credentials than I, believe that there is a need for restructuring of the food pyramid. Dr. Bob Rakowski came up with a plate that I believe will help you achieve optimal health. 

As you can see, this plate is very different than the food pyramid above. I believe this approach to your daily eating will do a couple of things for you:

1. It will increase your intake of plant nutrients. This will feed your cells, promote gut health (keep your regular), and they are fat burning foods.
2. Increased protein will give your body the fuel it needs to balance your blood sugar and nourish your body. 
3. This diet has a low glycemic index. When you eat grains, even when they are "whole wheat," your body quickly converts them into sugar. When you get too much sugar in your diet from eating sugar OR grains you may become insulin resistant. This is where a number of health problems start.

Let me revisit insulin resistance for my previous post Too Much Good?:

The relationship between your blood sugar and insulin is sensitive. Let me introduce insulin resistance to you--this happens when you continually eat foods that spike your blood sugar (soda, donuts, candy, bread, etc.). When you eat these foods you actually down regulate your blood sugar receptors (they become desensitized)--making your body produce excess insulin. Here is the problem, insulin is your main fat storing hormone.  When your body produces too much of any hormone it stores in your fat, because there is no use for it. Ever looked in the mirror and noticed your love handles or that you might have some excess upper back fat? Yep, that is the favorite place for your excess insulin to dwell.

In conclusion, increasing the amount of fruits, vegetables and protein you consume and decreasing the amount of "carby" foods you eat with promote health and help shrink your waistline. Who doesn't want that? Hopefully, this post will help you load up your plate differently and help you see the results you're looking for!

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo