Soda Pop

Try and kick the soda habit ladies, or at least get it down to 1 can a day. It's NO GOOD for you! If you need the caffeine drink coffee it is packed with antioxidants. Plus, soda has sodium and for those of you with blood pressure issues(like me) we don;t need to be getting sodium from our drinks. Try and substitute soda with water with Crystal Light. That's what I do and I'll never go back. Stay healthy over the holiday season!

Power Surge Your Eating Plan

1. Include many varied colors/types of fruits and veggies - daily
2. Include good sources of omega 3's
3. Carbs - mainly from whole grains
4. Water - ALL DAY
5. Minimize simple sugar intake
6. Caffeine - 2 to 3 cups or less per day
7. Even calorie intake throughout day

Secret Weapons to Weight Loss

• Lots of Fruits and Vegetables
• Fiber
• Caloric Distribution (eating 3 big meals is going to slow your metabolism, spread your calories into 5 small meals)
• EXERCISE
• Reduce fat intake
• Hunger Awareness (keep a hunger journal, when are you hungriest through out the day)

10 Super Foods

These Foods are Power Packed

1. Walnuts
2. Flax Seed
3. Pomegranate
4. Salmon
5. Dark Greens (broccoli, spinach, green beans)
6. Whole Grains
7. Green Tea
8. Chocolate (the darker the better)
9. Yogurt with probiotics
10. Tomatoes

Try to incorporate at least one of these items into your day. If you eat more than one a day GOLD STAR for you!

3 Healthy Tips

1. Eat Every 3-4 hours to prevent hunger
2. Increase your fiber intake (raspberries, oranges, grapefruit, and blackberries are all good options)
3. Healthy Challenge! No fried, beer battered or breaded food for a week!

Lindsay's Helpful Information

Hey guys, I copied this from Lindsay's blog to help what she talked about stay fresh.

Lots and Lots of great info in here!

I went to the nutritionist the morning and learned a ton of awesome things....First of all I have never been to anyone that has the knowledge of thec orrect ways to eat, so this man was incredibly interesting to me!We went over my health and blood issues and then he pulled out a listof papers and explained a ton of things to me...

He taught me the"right" way to read labels for the amount of fat... taught me allabout dietary fibers, the unhealthy, neutral and healthy proteins, and all about GOOD fats!I am going to share a bit of what I learned with you guys!

How to read a label... to find out if there is too much fat in the item you are eating.

It is called the Fat Test and this is what you do:

Total Fat... on the label it is the first thing under the calories.

This label has 2g of Fat /serving Multiply that number by 30 this answer =60

The answer you get (60) should be equal to or less than the calories...This item has 110 calories so we can for sure eat this product!because 60 is less than 110... make sense? If you want to know moreabout this... email me!

Dietary Fibers:Soluble Fibers are the best ones for me and my issues! They help normalize your blood and lower cholesterol.

They include : apples, apricots, black & blu berries, kiwi,nectarines, oranges, pears, raspberries, strawberries, oat bran,oatmeal, all bran, dried apricots, prunes, figs, beans or peas, brownrice, winter squash and yams.

Then these are 4 veggies that have lowcalories and some fiber: brocoli, carrots, spinach and brusselsprouts.

He taught me that meat should not be considered "good" and "bad" that it really needs to be placed in 3 categories... dangerous, neutral andhealthy.

Dangerous proteins include: Filet's, high fat cut meats, and all fried items

Neutral proteins include: chicken, turkey, pork, lean ground beef,(all without skin)

Healthy proteins include: fish, shell fish, all nutt butters, and soy products.

He focused a ton on fish products...Fish is high in omega 3 fatty acids and are awesome for a well balanced diet!There is though a risk of getting to much mercury when eating a lot of fish so he did give me a list :

Let me share it with you!

Best choices for fish:anchovies, mackerels (excet King), oysters (fully cooked), Salmon(farmed or wild), sardines, striped bass (farmed), sturgeon (farmed),shrimp, trout (rainbow, farmed) tuna (canned, light, yellow) and caviar.

Fish to eat 1 time a week:herring, mahi-mahi, tuna(canned, white), crab, lobster(rock, spiny),cod (Atlantic)Fish to eat 1 time a month:Halibut (pacific, atlantic), pollack, bluefish, sea bass (wild), tuna(steaks), lobster (maine, northern, american), grouper, marlin, orangeroughy, snapper(red)

Fish to be avoided:Mackerel (king), sharks, swordfish, titlefish, bluefin tuna

And this is a list of alternative Omega 3 Fatty acid foods:Egglands Best & Pilgram Pride eggs ( you can eat the yolk)Milled Flax Seeds

Good Fats:The good fats provide valuable vitamins and minerals!here is a list:almonds( 6), avocado (2 Tbsp), cashews (6 nuts) , flaxseed ( 2Tbspmilled), olives (8-10), peanuts (10 nuts), pumpkin seeds (1Tbsp),sesame seeds(1Tbsp), sunflower seeds (1Tbsp) and walnuts (4 halves)

Oils:

Healhty Oils: Canola, Olive, Peanut, Anova

Condiments: Smart Balance (do the fat test!)

Oils to AVOID!Anything starting with Palm..., coconut, cotton seed, and of course hydrogenated

Neutral Oils: Soy, rapeseed, sunflower seed ect...

So My homework was to go through this list and clean out my cabinetsof food that does not fit the fat test or apply to the other lists!Then shop to fill the cabinets back up with the good stuff!I will see him again in 2 weeks to work on the amount of food intake!I am so optimistic right now and excited to fix my blood :)I hope this info helped some of you guys! Thanks for the support and love!Please email if you want to know more or have any questions!xoxoxLindsay

Portion Control

Here are some helpful guidelines to keep those portions under control (serving sizes below are per person):

2 oz dried Spaghetti - the diameter of a nickel

1 cup of cooked rice or pasta - your fist or a tennis ball

12 oz potato - a baseball

3 oz of meat- palm of your hand or a deck of playing cards

1oz of cheese - the size of your thumb or a pair of dice

3oz of fish- palm of your hand or your checkbook

Don't forget to control your alcohol! Lots of empty calories!

Light beer - about 100 calories

Regular Beer - 153 calories

6 oz Wine - 124 calories

1 oz of Liquor - 64 calories

4 oz Margarita mix - 100 calories

Here are a couple of my favorite websites to help you stay on track:

Take the Portion Distortion Quiz

http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/

Find out what your daily Food Pyramid should look like

http://www.mypyramid.gov

Add more Whole Grains to your diet

http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/

Make a Grocery List of foods that are Heart Healthy

http://checkmark.heart.org/

Weight Loss Contract

Personal Commitment Statement

Any successful weight-loss program requires you to be fully committed to changing your lifestyle. By formally agreeing to this contract, you confirm your commitment to your goals, which is essential for achieving success.


I, _________________________, am ready to take control of my life and my health by starting a realistic weight-loss program. I realize that I get frustrated easily with diets and weight-loss programs, and that I let this frustration defeat my efforts. I also realize that there are serious health risks that are associated with being overweight. I’m fully willing to change my lifestyle so that I can improve my health and well-being. I am fully committed to my success and will no longer make excuses



Diet Plan:




Activity Plan:


Weight loss goal:





____________________________________ __________
Signature Date

Have you signed the contract?

Have you made a commitment?

It's time to get serious!

A diet works when you stick to it!

Be honest with yourself !

Make yourself worth it!

Reward Chart

Have you made your reward chart yet?

I hope you have because it works. I have mine taped to the fridge so every time I open that sucker I have to look at my old skinny self. I see those things I am working for and I think twice about what goes into my mouth. I got to get my first reward today, a new bra(s). It was pretty cool! For the first time in a LOOOOONG time I could fit into one of those cute lace bras that skinny girls with normal size breasts get to wear. It was amazing, looking in the mirror and feeling good about yourself, the feeling cannot be matched by food. So I hope you all are pushing yourselves, setting goals and then truly rewarding yourself with something special when you make it. You work hard you deserve to do this for you. Stick around longer for your kids and look damn good while you do it! Bring those charts into the next meeting I want to see what everyone is working toward.

Alcohol

LOTS OF CALORIES
Carbohydrates = 4 calories per gram
Protein = 4 calories per gram
Alcohol = 7 calories per gram
Fat = 9 calories per gram

CONS
Absorbed immediately from the stomach and quickly converted to body fat
Doesn’t occupy any space in your stomach, you can drink and then fill up on food, double the damage
SLOWS down your metabolism
Negative motivational effects, doesn’t help make good eating decisions
Dehydrates you
A program of eating right, exercising regularly and limiting excessive consumption of alcohol would have a much greater positive effect of your heart and your health than the vague and generic advice of having a drink or two each day.


CUT CONSUMPTION IN HALF
Try nonalcoholic beverages, healthy snack foods can substitute
Drink to relax . . . take a walk, play a sport, read a novel, watch a show, take a bubble bath, meditate or chill out with music
Use less alcohol in your drinks.

Alternate your drinks with water.
Drink plenty of water and eat BEFORE you attend a social event. Be full when you get there.

ONE GLASS

1oz of hard liquor
6oz of wine
12 oz of beer

Weight Loss Tips

Water Water Water

If you are dehydrated you WILL NOT lose weight. Fill a big bottle with 64oz of water (2.2 liters) every morning and empty it by the evening!

Institute an Evening Food Curfew

Stop eating 2-3 hours before you go to sleep

Journal

Write everything down that goes in your mouth, food and liquid. If it's too hard to do everyday try every other day. This will help you see where you are overindulging or need to remember to eat. Don't forget the weekends. We tend to give ourselves a break on the weekends. Write down what you eat, you will probably be surprised.

Buddy List

Here are your weight loss buddies!

Shanda & Alison
Kim & Lindsay K.
Shana & Carissa & Kristi
Chris & Pamela
Erin & Nikole
Amy & Tyne

Please use your buddy to help you stay on track and meet your goals!!!

You can also test you food knowledge with this little quiz http://www.womenshealthmag.com/foodquiz