Get Some Exercise

What comes to your head when you hear the word exercise?

For lots of us we automatically think gymnasiums, workouts, treadmills and things like that.

Something you should know is that ANY kind of exercise will do your weight loss/management a ton of good.

If you are not currently physically active (like me most of the winter) doing little things can make a big difference in how you look and feel.

What do I mean by little things?

Well, simply parking 1 block away from where you work or shop and walking the rest of the way certainly won't hurt. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator (or simply getting off a few floors lower than you need to) will give you great exercise.

One thing I have started doing is using the upstairs bathroom and since I am drinking more water lately I'm making lots of trips upstairs.

The gist of this is to get moving more than you are now.

More on this later.

Keep up the good work,

Randy

Keep Going

I didn't have a very good weigh-in last night, actually gained a bit!

I kind of expected that weight gain though, I havn't weighed in for two weeks and I did eat lots of Easter candy, and ham.

The big thing here is that I havn't given up!

Today I am right back on my plan and will stick with it. I'm sure I'll see a weight loss this week.

The lesson here is not to give up hope because of a small set-back. What you need to do is to analyse what caused the gain, make plans to get back on track and just do it.

Hope you all are having a good week.

Randy

A Good Weight Loss/Management Recipe

If you are wondering what to do with all that left over ham, here's a great recipe you can easily whip up.

First you'll need some garden vegetables, as many different ones as you like, you don't have to use them all:

sliced carrots, (2/3 cup)
green beans, (1/2 cup)
peas, (1/2 cup)
corn (kernals not creamy), (1/2 cup)
sliced parsnip, (2/3 cup)
diced turnip, (2/3 cup)
diced cabbage, (1 1/2 cups)
diced zucchini (1/2 cup)
diced onion (1/2 cup)
or whatever other garden vegetables you like..

You'll need about 3 cups of broth, whatever flavour you prefer (chicken, beef or vegetable), however, you should use the fat-free broth.

You'll want 1 tablespoon of tomato paste for a bit of colour and flavour.

And finally you'll want some seasonings to your taste, maybe a bit of salt, oregano and/or basil.

Directions: Spray a large saucepan with non-stick spray and saute the carrots, parsnips and onions over low heat until they are soft (about 5 minutes). Add the broth, tomato paste, seasonings and your vegetables and bring to a boil. (Note) Don't add the zucchini yet.

Reduce the heat and simmer your soup for about 15 minutes (or until the beans are tender). Stir in the zucchini and heat for about 3-4 minutes.

Now you can add your leftover diced ham if you wish (or any other leftover meat if you so desire).

This soup is great with just the vegetables but it is a good way to use up that leftover ham (I like ham sandwiches, however, enough is enough).

It's a good idea to have some of this soup on hand. I often have it as my noon meal by itself and/or before my main dinner meal, it's a healthy filler.

Until next time, here's to eating right and weight loss/management success.

Randy

Watch Your Serving Size To Lose Weight

There are probably as many ideas about what constitutes a serving size as there are fish in the ocean! If in doubt you can always read the package labels.

The labels will tell you how much is a serving (16 chips, 1/2 cup, etc) and how many calories, how much fat, and how many vitamins and minerals are in each serving. Use this information as your guide.

Some things don't come in packages with labels you say, and you are right.

Here are a few guidelines I use: 1/2 cup of most fruits (unsweetened) and vegetables is considered 1 serving. An exception to that is leafy vegetable where 1 cup can be considered as a serving.

1 cup of milk or 1 1/2 ounces of hard or semi-soft cheese or 2 cups of cottage cheese can be used as 1 serving of dairy.

For meat like beef and pork (and wild meats) one can use 4 ounces (about the size of a deck of cards) as a serving. For chicken I use one chicken breast (without the skin) as a serving.

Water, which is something we need lots of, is measured by the glass. Normally, 8 ounces is considered as one serving. As I mentioned before, you can use diet soda, black tea and black coffee (without sugar) as a substitute for water, however, please try to limit these alternates to no more than 3 per day.

As for grains, most cereals come with labels (choose whole-grain cereals without sugar added) and are easily identified.

Watch the labels on bread carefully. There are many types of bread on the market and they vary greatly in ingredients and therefore their serving size. There are lots of good reduced-calorie breads available so choose wisely.

It won't hurt to get into the habit of weighing and measuring your food to ensure you are judging the right serving sizes to ensure you are not eating too much but also to make sure you are eating enough.

Until next time, here's to eating right and weight management success.

Randy

Healthy Eating For Healthy Weight Loss/Management

So, what are some of the things we learned about losing weight and staying healthy from the websites in yesterday's post?

Let's see, we should eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. These nutritious foods provide us with fiber, vitamins and minerals that help fight several diseases including heart disease and stroke.

We should choose whole-grain foods such as oats, whole-grain cereals (without added sweeteners) and brown rice.

We should limit the amount of sugar we consume (including sugar in alcohol).

We should have 2 servings of milk products each day which should include low-fat or fat-free milk.

Do not cut protein from your daily eating plan. We should include one or two servings of protein, which could be in the form of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, etc.

Contrary to what some of us have been lead to believe, weight loss and management should include some healthy oils in our daily diet. These healthy oils include olive, canola, safflower, sunflower or flaxseed. In a later post we can talk about how to use oils in your daily eating plans. Comments and suggestions are most welcome.

If you don't think you are getting enough vitamins and minerals from your new weight loss eating plan you can take a multiple vitamin-mineral supplement each day.

And lastly, but definitely not least (in fact, I believe it to be extremely important) is to drink at least 6 glasses of water each day. If you're not used to drinking water, this can seem very difficult at first, however, you should endeavor to drink all 6 each day. Just to help a bit, you can substitute up to 3 glasses of your water with diet soda, or black coffee or black tea.

Next post let's talk about serving sizes. If anyone has any suggestions I would like to here them.

Until next time, here's to healthy eating and healthy weight loss.


Randy

The 'Weigh' Ahead

Now that we've given some thought to where we want to go with our weight loss/management we must now plan our way ahead.

As I mentioned before 'diets' are not always the best way to go. Not only are they NOT tailored to us, going on a diet means that eventually we will 'go off' our diet and return to our previous eating habits.

The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to create a completely new plan that will eventually be our normal plan. The time we spend together will help us to discover what works for us. So why not encourage your friends and family to get involved and join in our discussions and our weight-loss journey.

I would like to see this group grow into a variety of people from all ages and professions so we can get many different ideas. Don't be afraid to pass on your suggestions, your successes and your failures, we're all here for the same thing.

By the way, if you haven't had an appointment with your doctor, where you've talked about losing weight, I strongly suggest you make an appointment and discuss your plans to lose weight before starting a new program. Your doctor can recommend to you what your healthy weight should be and he can suggest you see a nutrionist for healthy eating guidelines.

Speaking of guidelines, I would like to leave you today with a couple of interesting links. These are links to the Canadian Food Guide and American Healthy eating guidelines. No matter what weight loss plan we intend to follow, we should remember to follow these guidelines.

American Healthy Eating Guidelines: http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/index.html

Canada Food Guide: (pdf version): http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/food-guide-aliment/view_eatwell_vue_bienmang_e.pdf

(html version): http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/order-commander/eating_well_bien_manger_e.html

Have a great day,

Randy

Getting Personal With Weight Loss

I believe that losing weight is a very personal thing. That's why I think that the vast number of "Diets", that are popping up everywhere, don't work.

After all, how do the people writing these diets know you?

Fact is, they don't. No one knows you but you. They don't know what you like to eat, whether you jog two miles every day or spend your awake time at your job, or anything else about you.
You are the only one who knows you and you're the only one who can decide how you want to live your life.

You and only you know why you want to lose weight. Perhaps it's because you want to look better, or feel better, or improve your health, or maybe even just so you can play with your kids. Whatever the reason, it's your choice.

Please don't get me wrong here, I am not suggesting that we all run out and buy a diet plan. What I'm talking about is deciding what we really want to do and findng the right path to meet that goal.

Let's take some time now to think about why we want to lose weight and next time we'll start on the ways and means.

If anyone wants to talk about their weight goals please feel free to comment. No one is here to judge you, only to help and support.

Till next time I'll leave you with this thought:

When you feel confident, and in control, you eat wisely. And when you eat wisely, you feel confident, and in control. It just may be a new way to live.

Have a good day;

Randy