Top 5 Ways to lose 5 pounds in 7 days

1. Eliminate all bread, pasta,salt  and sugar from your diet. These types of foods will slow down your metabolism and cause you to hold on to your weight.  

 2. Eat a small meal consisting of protein and complex carbohydrates every 2 to 3 hours. These types of foods will speed up your metabolism and eating frequently speeds it up even more.

3. Eliminate fat from your diet. You can’t lose fat if you keep eating fat. Your body will just burn the fat you are eating and never go deep into your fat stores.

4. Exercise 30 minutes a day after eating your small meal. Make sure it’s the right type of fuel…protein and complex carbohydrate. Lots of people think eating before exercise will interfere with digestion but in the proper combination, this is the best way to exercise.  

5. Drink at least 100 ounces of water a day. “I’m gonna flush that fat right out of my gut!”

This is tough but it works…I lost 5 pounds just last week doing this. Commit to doing it for one week and you’ll be hooked on this new way of eating. 

7 Tips to practice “Mindful Eating”

From November’s issue of Oprah magazine, Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell University, gives these tips on eating “mindfully”.

1. Buying at  a discount store means you are likely to eat more. If you do buy in bulk, divvy up your snacks in portion-controlled baggies. Never eat right out of the box.

2. The longer you sit at a table, the more you’ll eat. If you’re trying to lose weight, sit with a small group or by yourself when eating.

3. Pre-plate your food in the kitchen rather than serving yourself at the table. You are less likely to take seconds.

4. When you are eating at a buffet, put only 2 items on your plate at a time.

5. Always eat in the same room of your house but not in front of a TV or computer.

6. Don’t leave serving plates on a table unless they are filled with healthy vegetables.

7. Focus on what you really want…is it physical hunger or emotional hunger? Physical hunger is gradual; emotional hunger is sudden.

Professor Wansink wrote a book about this: “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Then We Think”.  

Top 3 Sleep strategies for more energy

Yes, we’ve heard that sleep is supposed to make you lose weight…whatever…not if you fall asleep next to an empty bag of Cooler Ranch Doritos and a can of coke! However, assuming you are eating right and exercising regularly, 7-8 hours of sleep a night does keep you rested and alert. Here are 3 strategies for getting the Zzzz’s you need…

1. Hitting the shower or taking a bath before you go to sleep can help you get a deeper, more restful sleep.

2. Power naps are a great energy booster…as long as you don’t nap longer than an hour. For me, 20 minutes is just right.

3.  Don’t try to make up for lost sleep on the weekends…doesn’t do you any good. You might even be doing yourself more harm by getting your sleep rhythms all out of whack.

Top 3 food strategies for more energy…

OK, you may have read this before but this list is from the November 2006 issue of Health magazine. Maybe there’s something new here…

 Eat Smart…

1..Eat 5 or 6 small meals a day. The theory is that it gives you the constant fuel you need to keep blood sugar levels steady.  Watch the type of mini-meal you have. Low calorie and low fat, of course. Fiber helps, like an apple and some almonds or whole grain crackers and low fat cheese. Notice the protein complex carb combo?

2. Increase your  Vitamin B budget. It converts the food you eat into energy.  How about lean beef, pork, poultry or fish. Also, bananas, nuts, whole grains and seeds. Multi-vitamins help although food is better because your body can only absorb 10% of the vitmains and minerals in a traditional pill or capsule. A liquid vitamin and mineral supplement like Vibe is also a better choice since it is almost completely absorbed by your body.

3.Eat apples, pears or oranges .  These fruits combine the vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and fiber that you really need for more energy.

Top 5 things I’ve needed to do to change my life…and you can do, too!

5. A reason. When things aren’t working in my life, I look for the reason why and then I go to work to change it. For example , I recently realized that I couldn’t blame the problems in some of my relationships on the other people I was involved with…I had more than one relationship that was suffering; the only common denominator was me! So there was something in me that had to change or things would just follow the same familiar pattern.  

 4. Determination. Whenever I’ve made a decision to change something in my life, I had to protect myself and not let the negative nellies try to talk me out of it. Sometimes they could be very subtle in their discouragement. They whine about how it used to be, ”you’re no fun anymore” or they tried to sabotage my efforts through temptation. I finally decided to just avoid those “toxic people”. I didn’t need them to drag me backwards.

3. Honesty. I need to be honest with myself and admit my mistakes before I could make any changes. I can talk myself back into my old way of thinking pretty easily by justifying my behavior. I’ve just learned to admit my mistakes and move on.

2. Teachability. I’ve had to make myself be willing to learn from people who’ve done what I hoped to do. I recognized that there were lots of people who’ve overcome the same problems I was trying to overcome. They’ve learned new ways of thinking and changed their way of doing. I can do it, too!

And the number 1 thing I did to change my life is… 

1.   Spirituality. I depend on the most high God to help me change. I’ve learned that he has all the wisdom and connections I need to make changes in life. In fact, I can’t change without Him. The good news is that He is on my side;  He wants to help me change so that I can be blessed.

Why am I opening up my soul to anyone who reads this? Because it’s time for change again! And I want to encourage anyoone whose reading this that if I can do it, you can do it, too.  

Top 6 foods that boost your immunity

…from Prevention Magazine, November 2006 issue.

1. Fish…Shellfish like lobster, oysters, clams and crabs contain selenium that produces proteins that clear flu viruses out of your body. Salmon, mackerel and herring have that crazy Omega 3 oils that everyone is talking about…2 servings a week.

2. Oats and Barley…contain a type of fiber that is more potent than echinacea..1 daily in your 3 daily servings of whole grains.

3. Garlic…fights infection and bacteria…2 raw cloves a day(!) plus crushed garlic to your cooking every day.

4. Yogurt…has “healthy” bacteria that can keep your digestive system free of germs that could cause disease…2 6-ounce servings a day.

5. Chicken soup…a study of 13 brands showed that all but one blocked the migration if inflammatory white blood cells. Chicken and added spices increase the immune-boosting effects…a bowl when you are feeling under the weather.

6. Tea…black and green are great for boosting immune system and increasing anti-oxidants in your body…drink several cups a day.

Top 7 Ways to Avoid Snacking

Memorize this list of things to do when you get the urge to do some illegal snacking .  

1. Keep your hands busy. Can’t eat if your using your hands are busy doing something else.

2. Stay out of the kitchen!

3. When you feel the urge to snack, go outside, walk around your house, lift hand weights, anything to move your body. Exercise suppresses your appetite.

4. Don’t watch commercials. Another good reason, right? Exercise instead. Or do a small chore.

5. Chew sugar-free gum or mint.

6. Drink water.

7. Plan your menus everyday to include a healthy snack and then reward yourself everyday for sticking to the menu. (Rewards can be whatever you find enjoyable that doesn’t involve food.) 

Top 5 ways to get a quick work-out

1. Whenever you open into the refrigerator, grab a full jug of milk (or whatever you have in there that’s full) and raise and lower five times with each arm.

 2. Keep a set of weights or an exercise band  around your living room (or wherever you just hang out) and do bicep curls or work your triceps. 

3. When you get out of the shower, do push-ups against the edge of the bathub or counter.

4. Make a commitment to take the stairs whenever you can and then do it.

5. If you’ve got young kids or a pet, play tag with them for 10-15 minutes. It will get your heart rate up.

Top 10 tips for treating insulin resistance

1.Rather than the typical “three meals a day” routine, eat several smalls meals. You will slow down your body’s insulin reaction and make it easier for cells to absorb the glucose it needs.

2.Eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains plus oats, beans and legumes are particularly helpful in providing your body with fiber, which controls your blood insulin and sugar levels.

3. Eat chicken, turkey and fish instead of red meat 

 

4. Minimize or eliminate processed meats and animal fats such as butter . 

5. Prepare dishes with healthy cooking oils like canola, sunflower and olive oil. Remember to use a moderate amount

6. Eat healthy snacks and avoid sugary drinks, baked goods and other sweets.

7. Eat dairy products since the proteins and enzymes can slow the conversion of glucose to blood sugar.

8.  Moderate exercise  for 30 minutes a day can make your muscles use the available glucose that’s floating around your bloodstream.

9. Sleep for 6 to 8 hours a night. Blood sugar levels can be disrupted and raise insulin resistance if you are sleep-deprived.

10. Relax with prayer, meditation or other relaxation methods. One study showed that relaxing can reduce high blood sugar levels. 

Hey, I’ve got high cholesterol but I never would have known if I hadn’t had my labs done (thank you, generous company that my husband works for who pays for free exams every year). AS a result, I found out that I had high cholesterol and steps have been taken to bring it down. But here are the Top 5 reasons why you should get it checked:

1. It’s critical to having a healthy heart.

2. You can boost your good cholesterol if you know that it’s low.

3. You can implement easy lifestyle changes that will override your genetic tnedency towards high cholesterol.

4. You can see how what you eat and how you live do make a difference in your health.

5. If you start with diet and lifestyle changes and add cholesterol-lowering medications on top of that, you may not need to take them forever.