There’s lots of confusion as to the best way to determine your best, healthy weight. Should I use the BMI? Should I check my pant size?  Should I base it on my blood pressure and lab tests?  Should I measure my waist, hips, etc.?

The answer….YES.  The other answer…NO.

Told ya there was alot of confusion here!

That is because there are sooo many mixed messages when it comes to the best way to lose weight.  What to eat, how often to eat it. Which supplements to take. How much to exercise.  The weight loss industry itself is one of the leading offenders contributing to the obesity epidemic.  The weight loss industry would go broke if people lost weight
and kept it off.  Not too many industries are looking for bankruptcy and unemployment lines (remember that the next time you read about the latest, greatest magic pill or potion).

So what is a dieter to do?

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Sugar is E.V.I.L.  It is like a best friend who stabs you in the back.  Yes, it is yummy and it is readily available but it truly is very very bad for you, in many different ways.  In addition to being empty calories with no nutritional content, sugar burns “hotter” in your system, creating more free radicals that do various types of damage within your system.  From wrinkles to cardiovascular disease, excess sugar plays a role.

What types of sugar?  All of it (white, brown and even fruit and fruit juices, maple syrup and honey) is converted into triglycerides by the liver and are subject the damage from free radicals.  These damaging triglycerides then attack your arteries, which leads to cardiovascular disease.  Ready for this?  Cancer and tumor cells FEED off of sugar. Need i say more?

Course correction:

• Eat fruit when you crave sugar as it provides antioxidants that also fight against free radicals.
• Limit your intake of sugar in the foods you eat to a very very minimum.
• If you must have sweetness, my favorite is Stevia, a natural sweetner that is very yummy.
• Read your labels (or investigate nutritional content online) and become aware of the added sugars in the food you eat.  An easy way to check sugar content is with this super simple formula:  Take the total number of carbs from the label. Subtract the amount of fiber. Divide the remainder by 5.  Now, you have the number of teaspoons of sugar in that food.  For example:  if there are 30 grams of carbs on the label and 5 grams of fiber, that means you have 5 teaspoons of sugars in that product.  (30 minus 5 = 25.  25 divided by 5 = 5)

“Non-sick” represents the vast health field between medically sick and optimal health. When you are non-sick, your energy level is low, your focus isn’t clear and you rely on caffeine or other stimulants to keep you awake and going. Typical indicators of being in a non-sick state also include:

• Being overweight

• Not sleeping well

• Fatigued

• Weak or flabby

• Stressed out

• Taking a lot of over-the-counter medications

• Not as interested in sex or having a lowered libido

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Healthy Choices, Right in Your Freezer

One of the greatest values in the super market are the bagged frozen vegetables located in the freezer isle.  With many choices to choose from, these easy to use and cost-effective options are a great way to incorporate a colorful variety of healthy produce into your eating plan.  If you price compare, you’d find that you would spend significantly more on fresh vegetables and if you are like many people, to many of these fresh vegetables go to waste.

Just as nutritious as fresh, these vegetables are picked at their peak and flash-frozen, locking in all their healthful nutrients.  Plus, you can select mixed-vegetable blends (such as stir-fry or California-style varieties) and get up to seven different vegetables per bag. And…(clap, clap, clap), the chopping is done for you!

There are so many options in using frozen veggies – add them to soups, chilies and casseroles.  Stir them into omelets, stir-fries and side dishes with your favorite protein.  You can even add them into your smoothing, adding phytonutrients to a yummy shake.  And, want to sneak veggies into your children’s diet?  Simply puree them to add to pasta sauce (they’ll never know!!)

Just be careful and chose veggies that do not contain sauces, salt, sugar or unhealthy additives

See…eating health IS easy and doesn’t have to be expensive.  Stock up on frozen veggies and you are ready to go!

Blessings,

Anytime you commit to improve your weight and lifestyle, there will be challenges that come your way.  Even circumstances that didn’t seem challenging before your commitment (like birthday parties and movie night) suddenly seem overwhelming and a tremendous obstacle to navigate.

But take heart, these challenges don’t have to stop you and it is easy to get back on course.  All you have to do is get back to the BASICS.

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In our world, “diet” has become a four-letter word, a dirty word connected to deprivation and starvation.  But did you know that the word “diet” comes from the Greek word, diaita, which means “way of living?”

Hhhmmmm….something to think about!

What if you believed, “healthy body healthy mind” and diet didn’t just refer to losing weight?  What if, it wasn’t a go-to plan that was implemented only when pants fits too snugly or the scale began its upward creep?  What if, instead of deprivation, you began to embrace diet from its true meaning…a way of living…a way of life….a way to live?  What if, you could use your mind to support your goals?

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Most of my busy, traveling clients have the same complaint…finding healthy, nutritious foods while on the road. And they have the right to complain!  Have you tried finding a healthy snack in a convenience store or vending machine lately?

Good luck.

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Often times, when we’re in need of a distraction, of comfort or a reward for a good day, or bad, we reach for food. Many times, we’ve been programmed to do this…..what did you celebrate your first birthday with?

I often wonder why sugar treats and salty-crunchy snacks seem to be the “go to” foods in just such an occasion. Why don’t we celebrate with a juicy orange or find comfort in whole wheat? Is it because we were programmed to connect comfort, celebration and reward with food? What were you given at the doctor’s office after your shots? After your first breakup, what big bowl of sugary silkiness comforted you? Yep….definitely programmed!

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Brian Tracy once said “The minute you set a goal that is worthy of you, obstacles are thrown in your path to make you the person you must become to be worthy of the goal.”

Oh my goodness….isn’t that true!  The very second, it seems, that we create a goal in our lives, obstacles DO arrive to side-track us from what it is we say we want.

Think about the last time you went on a diet. Suddenly, obstacles appear from everywhere… your friends want to go out for pizza, donuts appear at the office, birthday parties suddenly find themselves on your calendar. It seems everywhere you turn, food wants to jump into your mouth, or the time you scheduled to go to the gym disappears.

In a way, it is nice to know that this happens to everyone, not just some evil plan pointed only at you.

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If you look at the sonogram of a fetus newly forming in the womb, you would notice a bean shaped little creature with a tail, a spinal column with a tiny little speck sitting at the top. Over the course of weeks and months, the little creature transforms remarkably into the little baby we love and adore.

The tiny speck sitting atop the spinal cord is, of course, the beginning of the brain which evolves into what is now widely known as the limbic brain and sometimes still called our lizard brain. Thankfully, as the baby grows and evolves in the womb, additional parts of our more sophisticated brain develop and with it our ability to have emotion, solve problems, fall in love and do basic math. Otherwise, we’d all be running around like a chicken with our little lizard brain.

This lizard brain is very primal.  It governs our survival behavior and creates very specific chemical reactions that we have zero conscious control over. In addition to being the hard-drive of your basic bodily systems – like breathing, vision and bodily movement, it is hardwired to make sure that we survive as a species on this planet. To accomplish this enormous task, your lizard brain has evolved to the status of a teenager, and is forever hungry, scared, selfish and horny.

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