Diet and Health

Take control of your life and your health by proactively making easy changes now.  If you are like me, your love handles are there for a reason, you have created them. What you really need is a lifestyle change to lose them and make sure they do not come back.

CLEAN OUT THAT KITCHEN - Please see my article on tips for a Healthy Kitchen. Rid your kitchen of all of it’s evils even the things you didn’t think were evil. Throw out all products with high fructose corn syrup, and products with partially hydrogenated oils. Throw them all out.

RESTOCK - Stock your kitchen with healthy food that you can eat in large quantities, such as blueberries, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, steel cut oats, sprouted wheat bread, brown rice and corn tortillas.

GET MOVING - Clean, garden, reorganize your house, play with your kids, go up the stairs an extra time, park at the far end of the lot and start walking each day. You can start out slow, walking 5-10 minutes per day. Work yourself up to 60 minutes per day within 1 month. Add in other exercises such as crunches and weight training.

CONCENTRATED EXERCISE - There are many different kinds of abdominal exercises that can help with your center. Double crunches, crunches, reverse crunches, you’ll feel it if you do them correctly!

KEEP UP THE POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE - You can do it, I know that and you know that, you just need to do it everyday. Create and use a personal mantra to keep you going. Say it to yourself daily. For example: I know I can!

written by Mitestarossa 

The hardest part of losing weight is getting started. Preparing yourself ahead of time will make it easier.

CONTROL YOUR MIND - You can control your weight by controlling your thoughts. Tell yourself that you can have whatever you want to eat, but you are choosing not to eat it at this time. Tell yourself that you will exercise right now to get it done with for the day and then do it.

PREPARE YOUR HOME - Have lots of healthy and nutritious, easy to eat snacks available. Such as blackberries, grapes, carrots, apples, blueberries,etc. Buy yourself a cute and comfortable workout outfit, even if you are bulging out of it like I am, you will feel more empowered to workout with it on.

PREPARE YOUR BODY - Drink 5 to 10 cups of green tea a day to help you feel full and burn more calories.

BABY STEPS - It is fine to start out with small steps. Even a 5 minute walk is a workout and you can gradually increase it and add more exercises such as weight training.

MUSIC - Have music that you love to move to easily available so that you can turn it on instantly when you are ready to workout, it will really keep you motivated.

IF YOU HAVE A SETBACK - Don’t let it keep you back. Keep moving forward even in small ways. That should be your mantra, say it to yourself: Keep moving forward!  

written by Mitestarossa 

Green Tea has natural chemicals that help you feel full sooner and help your body burn more fat.

Green tea is filled with the compound catechin polyphenols, chemicals that act both as an antioxidant and as a metabolism (fat burning) booster. Green tea has about 27 percent catechins per cup, while black tea (orange pekoe) has just 4 percent per cup.  Catechin polyphenols are natural chemicals that make your body burn more fat.

Drink at least 5-10 cups of green tea a day.  I know it is quite a challenge, you will know what I mean when you get to the 5th cup of the day.  Green tea can be counted as part of your total daily water intake.  The tea will help you feel full and help your body burn more fat.

Should I use tea bags or loose tea?  You may want to start using tea bags for ease of use if you are a beginning tea drinker. However, eventually, you may want to switch to loose tea which is higher quality and makes a better tasting cup of tea.  A good green tea, such as sencha can be steeped (soaked in hot water) 2-3 times, so although it costs more, you can use it more and it is better for you.

That flat belly will come with an overhaul of your entire body. Regular exercise (even in small amounts) and eating healthy will help you to achieve this goal.

EAT HEALTHY - Don’t eat anything that has high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils. High fructose corn syrup bypasses your body’ s normal processing system and goes straight to your blood stream. This increases your chances of obesity and diabetes. Have a lot of healthy food on hand so that it is easy for you to eat healthy. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains. You are worth it!

EXERCISE REGULARLY - Even if you have to start out small, 5 minutes of walking, it does make a difference. Gradually increase the amount of time to 45-60 minutes of walking per day. That’s right, every day! Then start a weight lifting program.

CONCENTRATE - Working on your abs will help. There are many different kinds of crunches you can do so you don’t get bored. Double crunches, reverse crunches, etc. Also, tightening up your abs can be done anywhere at anytime. I tighten up my abs while driving and try to hold it for as long as possible. It really does help.

GET SUPPORT - Track your progress online at sites like mydailyplate.com and livestrong.com It is great to support others while helping yourself.

Some of us may not even realize we have a double chin. If you suspect you have one, look in the mirror sideways, you’ll get glimpse if there is one there.

GENERAL GOOD HEALTH - If you change your lifestyle, begin eating healthy, exercising regularly and stop eating junk food, you will lose that double chin naturally. All though this is my best choice, I realize that it is a difficult one. For some, even after weight loss, there is still excess skin that needs to be removed by another method.

EXERCISE THE CHIN - Huh? Exactly! I know there are those out there that recommend exercising your chin to remove it, this sounds absolutely ludicrous to me. Step One is the clear winner here.

DISSOLVING THE FAT - Now this one may be plausible. Talk to your doctor about the details, but I hear that it requires multiple doctor visits and injections. You may want to ask about the success rate and if the fat comes back easily.

ULTRASOUND - I am not a doctor so it sounds good to me. I still prefer Step One over this other methods. Question your doctor thoroughly about this method.

CHIN WRAP - Oh, please. I should just wrap this thing around my double chin and it will eliminate it! If you want a good fantasy, go to Disneyland it will be cheaper.

COSMETIC SURGERY - I am sure this works, but the risks seem awfully high for something that you can do at home with diet and exercise.

No we are back to reality. If you really want to lose that chin, start taking better care of yourself. Read my other articles on healthy weight loss.

You can control your urges with these helpful tips. Your life is worth it, do it for yourself.

MENTAL CONTROL - You can control your overeating by telling yourself that you can have the food if you want it, but you do not want to eat it now.

DRINK LOTS OF WATER - Drink the recommended amount of 8 glasses of water per day, spacing them out throughout the day. This will help you to feel full.

DRINK GREEN TEA - Green tea can count towards your daily water intake. It helps you feel full and in addition it helps burn fat.

DISTRACTION - Keep yourself very busy. Make a list of things that need to be done or things you like to do. When you have a desire to eat, do something on your list instead.

LOAD UP ON GOOD STUFF - Before each meal, eat an apple or other fruit or vegetable. I like to eat a cup of salad before lunch and dinner and an apple before breakfast.

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS - Load up your refrigerator with easy to eat healthy snacks, such as blueberries, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, etc.

Make a list of healty foods that you can eat as much as you want. Such as water, just kidding. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains, such as baby carrots, celery, avocados, apples, oranges, blueberries, steel cut oatmeal, rice cakes. Allow yourself to eat as much as you want of the foods on your list. Steel cut oatmeal moves slowly through your digestive system and helps you to feel full longer.

Drink plenty of liquids including water and green tea. Green tea helps your body metabolize (burn) fat. I recommend at least 5 cups of green tea per day. NOT SWEETENED!

MOVE - Keep yourself moving even if it is not “exercise”. Walk as much as you can. Park your car as far away from the store or bank as possible so that you can maximize your exercise. Even if you start out walking only 1 minute per day, you can slowly increase the amount until you are walking 45-60 minutes per day.

Have your favorite snacks available, but do not eat them. Remember, if it tastes good, spit it out! Choose not to eat them right now. Keep yourself busy, distraction is the best method to reduce eating.

Losing weight does not need to be strenuous. With these easy tips you will lose as much as you want within weeks. Two pounds a week is safe, but you should always check with your doctor before any weightloss program. You can do it.

DRINK GREEN TEA - Not only will drinking green tea give you the water intake, but it will also give you a full feeling and help your body to burn fat. I recommend a minimum of 5 cups of green tea per day. Remember to drink the equivalent of 8 glasses of water per day or the amount recommended by your doctor.

FOOD SUCCESS - Set yourself up for success by making healthy, nutritional food easily available. By fruit and vegetables in convenient, easy to eat packages, such as apples, blueberries, bananas, baby carrots, etc. Also remember to have plenty on hand so that you can easily eat 5+ servings per day. Eat your veggies at the beginning of each meal so that you feel full sooner. Eat steel cut oats in the morning to give you a fuller feeling all day long.

EXERCISE ENJOYABLE - Exercise everyday even if you need to start with just 1 minute per day. Start by walking. Gradually increase the amount you walk each week until you are walking 45-60 minutes per day. Next add weight lifting slowly and researching it properly with your doctor before you begin. Even if you start out with 1 lb. weights, it will make a difference and you can slowly increase the weight amount.