Just another manic Monday

It is just another Manic Monday...wish it were Friday (not sunday) but it's Monday.    Ok that is my sad attempt to sing :-)

A man who is too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools

That is an old spanish proverb and it simply states that it is completely up to you to take care of yourself, not up to anyone else.

I have not been here for a while, life has been hectic but I have not neglected my healthy living just never had time for blogging.

I promised a couple of weeks ago I would give you the advantages of bananas.

Bananas are not alone good tasting fruit but they are nourishing and good for you.

1.Avoid from anemia,
Bananas have high zinc content so that help to product higher hemoglobin

in your body.

2.Decrease high blood pressure
Bananas have high potassium content, suitable to people that have low salt diet program, but they need potassium.

3.Improve concentration
The highest potassium in bananas, proved can improve your mind shard and more concentration. (Based on survey to 200 students that have breakfast with bananas menu)

4. Improve normal digestion
Bananas have highest fibrous content that help to decrease acid stomach. According to researchers, acid fibrous of bananas are not bad effect to acid stomach, but help to improve normal.

5. Decrease depression
Survey proved that some one eat bananas when they have depression, tend to decrease, because of bananas have high protein can make your body relax and potassium in bananas can stabilize your heartbeat.

6.Decrease sunburn
Antacid of bananas can decrease your body temperature, because of drying on the sun for long time.

7.Avoid stroke
Based on the New England Journal of medicine said that people always consume bananas every day, help to avoid stroke ( almost 40 %)

8.Good for smoker addictive
Vitamin C, A, B6, B 12, potassium and magnesium in banana are good for smoker addictive. The vitamin and mineral can help to recovery your body cell because of nicotine.

9.Good for pregnant woman
Pregnant woman tend to feel queasy in the morning. They had better to eat bananas for breakfast. The highest natural sugar in bananas can help to decrease feeling queasy.

Advantages of Bananas


It is also proven that Bananas help you sleep at night.   If I wake up in a middle of the night I will reach for a 1/2 banana and within minutes I will fall back to sleep.


Today is high calorie day for me.  The weather is horrible so I decided to take a night of exercising although I am feeling guilty so I may get on the treadmill for 30 mins after the news.

Until tomorrow...remember a healthy lifestyle is YOUR choice.

The of Power of One

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.    ---Douglas Everett

Smile and make today worth it!

I found this quote this morning that simply explains my thoughts today.

Life's not always fair.  Sometimes you can get a splinter even sliding down a rainbow

 It was quoted by Chrrelea Morgan.

I have not written here since Friday.  I was not feeling the greatest this weekend so I just relaxed.

This morning I came into the office and was greeted during our morning meeting that a co-worker and dear friend passed away last night.    We are all very sad here today and productivity is low.   R.I.P  Beetle (D Bailey).

A couple of you asked me this past week about the nutrient values.   Coincidentaly I received an article on the Healthy Protein, Fats and Carb Ranges.   You can read the whole article by clicking here but I will give you the highlights. 

Basically it states:

• 45% - 60% of your daily calories should be eaten in carbohydrates
• 20% - 35% of your daily calories should be eaten in Fat
• 10% - 35% of your daily calolries should be eaten in Protein.

Today for Breakfast I had

Egg fried in olive oil spray, english muffin and a piece of black diamond cheese snack

Snack

Not a healthy one...package of animal crackers (130 calories)

Lunch

Roasted Beef (made yesterday for lunch) sandwich on whole wheat bread with mustard
Low fat Chocolate Pudding

Afternoon Snack

Forgot to have afternoon snack

Supper

Peanut butter and jam sandwich

Exercise.

Today I burned 300 calories in cardio alone.  I ran three miles on the treadmill at a speed of 6.2 mph and then did 10 mins of skipping.  Boy don't know how I skipped for so lung as a kid...it is tough to skip.

Until tomorrow remember....SMILE today :-)

Friday is here.....

Ellen DeGeneres is one of my favorite comedians...one night I was watching her show and she said

You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is.

It was a funny line but her message was clear, irregardless how old you are you need to continue your healthy lifestyle.  Stay in shape and take care of your body.

This morning I was up bright and early to go to the gym.  Friday is my favorite day of the week.  My alarm went of at 5:45 and I was at the gym for 6:10.   I burned 300 calories between the  Stepper and the Treadmill (quick 30 min cardio session).  

Tonight is play time with a few friends.  I will let my guard down and enjoy the night without too much guilt.  I always have one night where I eat/drink to  my maintenance calories.   Maintenance means the amount of calories I can eat without gaining weight.  For me it is 2000 calories.

Be back later with my updates

I think I can.....I know I can....I CAN

Eleanor Roosevelt once said

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do"

We think that we cannot lose fat because of excuses like  'we don't have the time to dedicate to it' or 'we tried once before and you didn't succeed.".   But if we pay attention to Eleanor Roosevelts quote we can , 'DO the thing you THINK you cannot do'.   As my mother always told me there is no such thing as 'can't' it is simply you don't want to try.

As I promised yesterday my topic today is about Calorie intake and Net Calories.

You often hear people talk about Starvation Mode.   I like to refer to it as conservation mode.   When we get in the mode to lose fat we automatically think that we should drop our calories drastically.  I hear people telling me I didn't have breakfast, had lunch and only had a bagel for supper and I never lost a pound.  Or I hardly eat and the scales is not moving.    You should NEVER skip your breakfast, it is the most important meal of the day.    Eating little or nothing causes your body to go into conservation mode. (read more about this below under "why 1200 calories".

But first:

Why is breakfast important?

• It helps start your metabolism.  It is said that you should eat within the first 1/2 you are awake.   Some of you will say "I can't eat breakfast", well try.  Even if it is a piece of fruit or a 1/2 cup of yogurt but really try.   Preferable it should be your largest meal of the day and be well balanced with Protein, carb, and fiber.
• It prevents 'conservation mode'.   Let's look at this scenario.   The last time you ate  was last night at 7:00 pm.  It is now 10 am and you are "not hungry", but you have been up since 6:00 am this morning.   Right now your body is gone into conservation mode and will hold onto every bite you eat just in case you starve your body again for 15 hours.   

Calories Consumed

Calories Consumed are the calories you eat in the run of the day.  To figure out how many calories you should consume daily follow the link to the right of this page  under 'my favorite links' called "Harris Benedict Equation".  By doing this equation you will have an idea on how many calories you can consume throughout the day.

Net calories

This is the amount of calories that you have left after you exercise.  Let's take my example from yesterday.  I consumed 1500 calories and burned 700 calories that means my NET was only 800 calories.  I like to keep my NET at 1200 so my body don't go into that conservation mode.     One day of going below 1200 calories is not a big deal, but I try not to make a habit of it.

Why 1200 (1500 for males) calories?

When you eat only 1500 calories and burn off 700, your body didn't have this extra 400 calories to build a leaner, meaner, fat-burning machine. The first thing that disappears is your glycogen stored in your muscles. Your body had to tap into this because you weren't taking in enough calories for your needs. For every 1 part glycogen, your muscle stores 3 parts water (it needs the water to be able to utilize and process the glycogen). So when the scales drops in a week after you ate below 1200 calories, it is almost certain it was WATER, not fat, that you had lost. If you don't believe me, try eating at maintenance tomorrow, and I bet the scale rebounds overnight.

Your body may have also burned some fat, but it is very likely you also lost some muscle. Any time we are in a deficit, we are likely to lose muscle, because you need a calorie surplus if you are going to gain muscle. While you *may* have managed to maintain muscle mass if it was just one week of short-changing your nutritional needs, you almost certainly did not *gain* any muscle mass.

Quite possibly you also lost some bone. Your body stores minerals like calcium and magnesium in your bones, for emergency use when needed. Unless you are very small (5 feet or so), or very careful with your diet, 1200 calories may not have been enough to meet your calcium and other mineral needs. So your body may have had to tap into the bone for it. You almost certainly did not have enough extra calories that week to build stronger, denser bones.

Please note it is not enough to merely take a vitamin or pill to attempt to cover any deficiencies. It's been well-documented that a pill simply can't duplicate nature's own vitamin delivery system: food.

Breakfast

2 slices of Homemade 100% whole wheat bread, made by a co-worker and friend.
1 slice of Maple Leaf Cheese
1 tsp of Becal Margarine
330 calories, 6 g fiber; 14 g protein; 640 mg sodium

Morning Snack 


Kellogs Special K Bar
90 calories,120 mg sodium;

Lunch

For some reason I didn't have an appetite lunch time but I did force myself to eat something.
2 oz of boneless skinless chicken breast and a small greek salad without dressing and olives
202 calories; 310 mg sodium; 25 g protein; 2 g fiber

Supper

Supper consisted of a 4oz rib eye steak, small baked potatoe and mixed veggies.

Exercise

Today was exercise free day...although I did burn a few calories shopping with my daughter for 3 hours in high heel shoes (we went after work).

Until tomorrow  remember Eleanor Roosevelt's Quote:   You must do the thing you think you cannot do"

Let's Get Moving

It is Wednesday, traditionally known as HUMP Day.  It is the day of the week where our bosses suppose to l get the  most work out of us.   It is also the day of the week where you have the most energy to Work Out.  So today you have to get moving.  Get your butt off that sofa and do some sort of physical activity.

I know you are saying to  yourself that girl is crazy, she must love working out.  Well the truth is I HATE IT.  But I know it is part of my lifestyle.  I can't really say I hate it, that is a strong word, but I am not fussy on it.     On the other hand I love the after affects. I can't say every day I hate going to the gym, there are some days that I am excited, depending on my activity for the day but weight lifting days....I can leave it but I know it is important to a healthy fit lifestyle.

Some people think that getting on a treadmill 3 times a week is sufficient exercise.  But it is not true.   I  have made it a habit to weight train every second day (opposite day of my cardio)  Statistics show that you burn the most FAT (I mean fat not weight) through Weight Lifting.    But there is proper technique.   I read an article by the MAYO CLINIC  that goes into detail about the proper method to lift weights.   Some of you females think that if you lift weights you will look like those body builders that you seen on TV and you don't want to have those big muscles.  Well I am here to tell you that you will not look like that.  I have been lifting weights for 2 years now and I am toned but I don't look like a body builder.  It is genetically impossible for females to bulk up with out taking steriods and living at the gym for 6 + hours a day.

 Today is weight lifting day for me....I will be attending a weight lifting class that runs for 60 mins called Group Power...great class, great instructors.

So my challenge to you today is to check out this YouTUBE video on lunges with free weights and start some sort of weight training.

Today for Breakfast

I had a cup of multi grain cheerios and skim milk followed by 1 large naval orange.

215 calories, 7g protein, 7 g of fiber; 26 g sugar , 230 mg of sodium

Lunch


Lunch was on the run today as I went to the hospital to visit a dear friend/co-worker who is not well so a few of us went to Wendy's to grab a quick bite before the hospital visit.

I was craving french fries so I had to figure out the best strategy to have those fries but keep the calorie level down.   What I decided on was.

• Grilled chicken sandwich plain without the bun.  (Without the bun I saved 160 calories)

•  I ate 1/2 of the small fries (I just needed a taste)

365 calories, 828 sodium; 25 protein, 3 fiber

Not to bad for fast food eating.    Sodium was the killer; which is the norm at most restaurants.  If I know I am eating out I will always do my homework by going online and reviewing their nutritional information  ie. Wendy's has their information online, so I planned what I was eating before I went.  This way I won't go to the restaurant hungry and regret calories that I ate..

Afternoon Snack

My afternoon snacked consisted of 1/2 bodywise bagel with 1/2 tbsp of Kraft Light Peanut butter. 
150 calories;

Supper

Supper consisted tonight of Whole Wheat Pasta, Pasta Sauce and Extra Lean Ground Beef. 

435 calories; 28g of protein; 420 mg sodium; 8 sugar

Workout:

I had lots of energy this evening and did weights and cardio training.    My weights consisted of 50 mins of a weight lifting class followed by 50 mins of Group Ride (cycling)

Total Burn tonight:  710 calories.

Treat  Snack

Frozen Yogurt and a Kellogs Special K Bar

Calorie consumption today was 1545 but my NET is only 835 due to my calorie burn.   I would like my Net to be 1200 calories but some days you just can't eat that much.   So tonight I will have to live with a low Net.

Tomorrow I will talk about the difference of Net Calories and Calories Consumed.



Until tomorrow remember.....THE GROUND OF ALL HAPPINESS IS GOOD HEALTH

Failure....Is it real?

My title today reminds me of a quote my grade 12 teacher said to me when I was struggling with Math.   He said:

"Failure is only a fact when you give up.  Everyone gets knocked down.  The question is will you get back up?"

He did say who he was quoting but I don't remember the author only the quote.

I hear so many people tell me that they tried to lose weight but they 'failed'?  Really????  You never failed, you gave up.  You lost the willpower and the motivation.  We all give into our cravings sometimes, I do most every day but I make sure I portion my cravings.  If I want a chocolate bar I will buy a 100 calorie cadbury thin.     The problem with giving up is that you never get back up again.     I hear some people say that I ate a chocolate bar today so today is lost.  It is not lost, we are humans and make mistakes...just record it and compensate the rest of the day with healthy options.     Believe me when I say I was there.  For 17 years I struggled with the battle of the bulge but then one day I just knew it was time to stop giving up and get motivated.

It is Tuesday, the day of the week that they say you give 22% of your energy to your work.   Today is Cardio day, I hope that I can save some of that 22%  to burn 500 calories.   My plan is to attend Spin Class with good old Dr. Barter after work.  Great Spin Instructor and an intense class.   Wondering what SPIN is...watch this YouTube video.

My Goals today are:

500 calorie burn

1700 calorie intake

Protein: + 60 grams

Sugars: less then 50 grams

Fiber: more then 20 grams

Breakfast

Balanced breakfast this morning which consisted of:

Boiled Egg; 100% whole wheat bread; 1/2 tsp of becal margarine; small banana; plain yogurt.

335 calories; 16 g protein; 6 g fiber; 21 g of sugar; 361 mg sodium.

Sugar is a bit high but that is because Banana's are high in natural sugars.

Importance of Water

I am sure you have heard and read that Water is important to our daily diet lifestyle.  

Why?

Water is important to the mechanics of the human body. The body cannot work without it, just as a car cannot run without gas and oil. In fact, all the cell and organ functions made up in our entire anatomy and physiology depend on water for their functioning.

• Water serves as a lubricant
• Water forms the base for saliva
• Water forms the fluids that surround the joints.
• Water regulates the body temperature, as the cooling and heating is distributed through perspiration.
• Water helps to alleviate constipation by moving food through the intestinal tract and thereby eliminating waste- the best detox agent.
• Regulates metabolism

In addition to the daily maintenance of our bodies, water also plays a key role in the prevention of disease. Drinking eight glasses of water daily can decrease the risk of colon cancer by 45%, bladder cancer by 50% and it can potentially even reduce the risk of breast cancer. And those are just a few examples! As you follow other links on our website, you can read more in depth about how water can aid in the prevention and cure of many types of diseases, ailments and disorders that affect the many systems of our bodies.   Source

So your challenge for today is to drink at least 6 glasses of water today.

Morning Snack:

I found these delicious breakfast bars at the supermarket last night.  They are only 90 calories and taste so yummy.

Kellogs Special K Chocolatey Crunch Bars.

90 calories; 120 mg of sodium; 8 g of sugar

It really don't sound all that healthy once I write down the nutritional information, the sugars are a bit high.    No biggie though I will be enjoying and will limit my sugar intake for the rest of the day. 

Today's lunch was yummy but a bit high in sodium but great for the protein.

1.5 oz of roasted turkey breast (not deli); 1 slice of whole wheat bread; 2 cups of turkey soup and 2 premium crackers.

296 Calories; 425mg of sodium; 11 g sugar; 4 fiber; 30 g protein

Afternoon Snack

Large Naval Orange!

85 calories; 4 fiber; 17 g of sugar and 2 protein

Supper

When I got home from work today my darling daughter had supper cooked for me.  She is such a sweetheart.   She broiled skinless chicken breast with Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Seasoning and brocolli.   She was reading my blog and knew I needed more protein. 

185 calories, 28 g protein; 7mg sodium; 3g fiber.

Exercise:

I burned 471 calories in SPIN Class......Great class tonight.    I have to admit I had to talk myself in going to the gym tonight....I could of easily put on my pj's and curled up on the couch and did nothing but instead I kicked myself in the butt and went to class.   I am HAPPY I did.

Snack this evening:

Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding  (yummy)

Until  tomorrow remember healthy choices are wise choices.   Tomorrow I will talk about BANANAs.

Working 9 - 5...what a way to make a living?

So Monday's are not my favorite day of the week, but I have a job so I am lucky. *trying to convince myself here.

Goals today:

Burn 500 calories

Calorie intake 1,700

As I write this blog the song "Working 9 - 5" by Dolly Parton comes to mind. Stumbled out of bed and stumbled in the kitchen, poured myself a cup of ambition.....

I planned to get up early this morning to do 30 mins of cardio but that didn't work out so well when 3:00 am I was still wide awake. Instead I will be doing 60 min incline walk after work followed by weight lifting at the gym.

Breakfast was not that exciting. Time to go grocery shopping.



->1/2 cup of plain yogurt
-> english muffin with light peanut butter and sugar free jam.
270 calories; 12 protein; 2 fiber; 593 sodium.

Morning Snack:

Fiber 1 bar


140 calories; 5 grams of fiber (great way to get in your fiber); 2 protein, 13 g of sugar (bit high for a snack)

Importance of snacks

I eat 6 times a day. This way of eating has helped me succeed. I have breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, supper, snack.

I try to limit my carbs at night, not because you will gain weight because it is an old wives tale that you can't eat after 7:00 pm; but because I don't have a good nights rest if I eat carbs at night. I dream and toss and turn. The reason why people believe that they should not eat anything at night is because they have not counted their calories throughout the day and therefore have consumed more then their daily limit by the time 7 pm rolls around.

Blackstrap Molasses.

I remember growing up that my mom used to make homemade bread and we would put molasses on it. I am not sure if it was Blackstrap Molasses but I recall how good it was and knew it was full of sugar. Through my journey of healthy living I have been reading allot of magazines, books and websites to increase my knowledge of 'clean eating' and realized that Blackstrap Molasses is good for you.

Why is Blackstrap molasses good for you?:

It provides you with iron for energy
Helps with your calcium
A good source of manganese and copper
A good source of potassium and Magnesium
A good source of Vit B6

Great ideas to integrate molasses into your daily lifestyle:

• Adding molasses to baked beans

• Adding it to your cookies and gingerbread cakes

• basting chicken or turkey will give it both a rich color and rich taste.

• In your coffee or tea; substituting your sugar for Blackstrap molasses is a healthier option.

Lunch:

As I said earlier I need to go to the grocery store.  Today I ate at Mr. Sub.  I had a Veggie Sub without cheese on a Harvest Wheat bun, with mustard; Sprite Zero and a bag of Baked Dill Chips.
329 calories; 500 mg of sodium; 3 grams of sugar; 10 grams of protein.

 Afternoon Snack

Jello chocolate Sugar Free Pudding
60 calories; 1 g fat; 170 mg of sodium; 2 protein

Supper:

Grilled Chicken Breast; Large enriched sesame seed bun (couldn't find whole wheat); 1 tsp of mustard; small banana, and a large orange.  No veggies....I know I needed the veggies but was too lazy.
455 calories; 360 sodium; 28 protein; 8 fiber

After giving my exercise routine much thought today I decided to listen to the advice of a fellow online friend and weight lifter.  I decided to mix up my exercise with 1 day weights and the next day cardio.

SO...tonight I did a full hour of weight lifting.  I attended a class at my local gym that is called Group Power.  Very intense class that is full of barbell lifting, squats, lunges, bi-cep curls etc.   

 Did I meet my goals today?

I burned approximately 440 calories in my weight lifting class.   It is hard to gauge how much you truly burn when you lift weights as most fat is burned after the workout is complete.       So it was not quite 500 calorie burn but close to it.

I didn't eat my calorie intake today but close to it at a total of 1479 calories.

I was happy with my fiber and sodium levels but I ate a little too much carbs and not enough protein.

Better planning tomorrow ...I was at the super market tonight.

Until tomorrow...enjoy your night.

Sweet Dreams.

Healthy eating today :-)

My Journey

This is my first post. I will start by telling you about the last 18 months and how I got the willpower to start a journey of Healthy living.

I was close to 198 lbs and knew that just 2 more lbs and I will be 200 lbs. YIKES. I did not want to be in that weight category of morbidity obese. I was squatting into a size 14, and when I say squatting in....they were tight but I refused to buy a size 16. It was after the Christmas holidays and I was looking at pictures that family members posted on Facebook of me. Oh boy, I was Fat and Hideous. I needed to take action.

I didn't want to start some fad diet. My theory on diets is in the word DIET...they DIE. I wanted this to be a lifestyle change not something that will begin and then end.

I have successfully lost over 60 pounds and hoping to lose the last 10 pounds before Christmas. Today I am a vary between comfortable size 6. These last TEN pounds are hard to lose but I am starting to increase my physical activity, increase my calories (yes increase) and blogging and I should be where I want to be by Christmas.



Here is a picture of me before my journey.

This picture was taken in December 2007.















My 40th Birthday...I lost 50 lbs.















Since Janaury 2009 I have lost another 10 lbs. (The fat loss slows as you get closer to your goal)

What was my secret??

Sorry guys, there is no real secret. It is called Motivation and the desire to be healthy. It was not hard once I put my mind to it, but I really needed to have motivation; the desire to achieve a goal, combined with the energy to work towards that goal.

What were my tools?

Calorie counter.

My best tool was a website that has great forums, great online friends and a calorie counter/diary.


This site taught me that you don't drastically cut calories. This was a new way of thinking for me. I figured that if you cut calories you will lose weight. Nope..not the case. If you do drastically cut calories you will go into starvation mode and won't lose any weight. A great calculator to find out how many calories you should eat a day is the Harris Benedict Equation or this calculator. Both calculators states that you should not eat below your Basal Metabolic Rate, as this is the amount of calories your body and organs need to function properly (even if you stayed in bed all day).

I also learned that there is more to this healthy journey then just counting the calories such as watching my levels of:

1) sodium
2) Carbs
3) Protein
4) Fiber
5) Fat
6) Sugar

My goals each day are:

Keep my sodium under 2000 mgs. This was hard for me at first but I quickly realized that I had to cut out processed foods. All processed foods are full of Salt.

Limit my carbs to 30% of my daily intake.

Increase my protein to 100grams a day. (Lean proteins...I eat allot chicken)

Increase my fiber to 25 mgs a day. (this is tough some days)

Limit my sugar to less the 50 grams. (most of my sugar should come from fruit, but I am human and do like the odd 100 calories chocolate bar)

Limit my fat to 30% of my daily intake. (good fats)

What about Physical Fitness?

This came later. I first concentrated on eating right. Cutting calories and focusing on what are the right things to eat and what to eliminate. After I lost 15 lbs and plateaued I knew it was time to add physical fitness to my lifestyle.

I started out simple. I purchased a DVD by Jillian Micheal's (30 day Shred) and started off on Level 1; boy after this 30 min workout I really thought I was going to die. It was tough.

Today Level 3 is challenging and a great work out but not a struggle like a year ago.

I am happy to say that I completed a 10 mile run this summer; Tely 10 ;and finished it in 109 mins. Great timing for me. Just one year before I would not of been able to run for 10 mins let alone 109 mins.

After the Tely 10 I end up with a foot injury (heel spur) but that didn't halt my physical fitness, instead I explored other options at my gym to continue my healthy lifestyle. Today I go to Spin classes (cycling classes) and exercise on such machines at the stair climber, elliptical, rower and still do a bit of running on the treadmill.

I also integrated weight lifting to my physical fitness, a method that helps build muscle and lose FAT.

Tomorrow I will start blogging my daily physical fitness along with my food diary.

If you want to read my blogs click on the bottom of this page where you can subscribe.

Until tomorrow have Healthy Happy Day!! :-)