Category: Healthy Living

How to Limit Consuming Pesticides From Produce

Concerned about pesticides on your produce? You’re not alone! Buying organic fruits and vegetables is a great way to limit pesticides in your body. However, cost and/or availability can be a barrier to eating 100% organic. Here are some facts that will help when you’re faced with the choice of conventional (non-organic) or organic.

Three Simple Tips to Limit Pesticides From Produce

 

1. Remember that eating conventional produce is still better for you than not eating it at all. Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet and should be consumed daily.

2. Whether you shop completely organic for your home or not, you don’t always have control over the choices when you are out and about. This is when it’s helpful to know which conventional produce is considered “cleaner” than others.

Use this helpful guide! The Environmental Working  Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce has recently updated information on 45 popular fruits and vegetables and their total pesticide loads. This guide can help you choose from what’s available in your local market.

Highlights from the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce:

 

The Dirty Dozen are the highest offenders in conventional produce per the EWG.

Here they are:

apples

celery

sweet bell peppers

peaches

strawberries

nectarines, imported

grapes

spinach

lettuce

cucumbers

blueberries, domestic

potatoes

Good news!  These yummy 15 were found to be the cleanest!

onions

sweet corn

pineapples

avocado

cabbage

sweet peas

asparagus

mangos

eggplant

kiwi

cantaloupe, domestic

sweet potatoes

grapefruit

watermelon

mushrooms

See any of your favorites on the dirty list? You may want to consider switching anything considered high in pesticide loads to organic — or ask your local produce provider how the produce was grown. Some smaller growers will go pesticide free without applying for an expensive organic label in order to keep the cost of the food down. For access to the complete “Shopper’s Guide,” go to the EWG website. 

3. Another option is to use a wash for fruits and vegetables to remove residue. These washes can be found in most grocery stores.

Good Reasons to Limit Pesticides

 

While it’s impossible to get through life without being exposed to toxins from time to time, my gut says it’s a good idea to avoid them as much as possible. Current research is linking certain pesticide residues to cancer and damage to the nervous system in humans. I think it’s important to keep these studies in mind when developing your healthy eating plan.

Have a question or something you’d like to share? Please leave a comment below. I enjoy hearing from you.

To your health!

Jennifer

 

Ten Simple Weight Loss Tips that Work

Too Much Weight Loss Information?

 

There’s a lot of information available on how to lose weight. So much that it can be overwhelming!  And, I’ve seen some unhealthy advice, including some that can’t last long term.

Like most people, you are probably too busy to become an expert in health and fitness. And you’d like simple strategies to lose weight and keep it off for good. Good news! I’ve got ten simple weight loss tips that are proven to work and will help you keep the weight off for good!

Ten Weight loss tips that are guaranteed to work!

 

1)  Eat! The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics revealed that people who didn’t blow off their meals lost an average of 8 more pounds per year.

2)  Write it down! As a personal trainer, I witness quite a bit of resistance to keeping food journals. I believe it’s because people think they will be judged or told they have to give something up. This is very normal!

On average, people that keep food journals lose more weight. One study showed that women who kept track of what they ate lost 6 lbs. more on average. Food journals have a proven track record!

If you know you have a resistance to writing down what you eat, keep it private. In the beginning, don’t even share it with anyone else. Think of it as simply collecting data. Then, start to review the journals and see if there is anything you think should be modified to help you with your weight loss goals.

The easiest way to do this is with an online app like loseit.com. After entering all of the data, you will be able to see if you are successfully creating a caloric deficit that will equal weight loss, or not.

3)  Eat the skins! A University of Iowa Study found that a substance in apple peel increases muscle and healthy, calorie-burning brown fat. And, apples are in season right now. Bonus!

4)  Exercise in the morning! Brigham Young researchers found that 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise in the morning reduces your motivation for food.

If exercising at a different time works better for your schedule, stick to what works and apply the other tips in this article.

5)  Wear fitted clothes! Fitted clothes are usually more flattering and are a great reminder to make the lower calorie choices during meals. You’re more likely to go for unnecessary seconds in a pair of sweats!

6)  Save family style for special occasions! People that serve their plates from the stove instead of the dining table are shown to eat 10% less.

7)  Like bread when eating out? Dip in olive oil instead of butter. You’ll eat 23 percent less bread and 16 percent fewer calories says The International Journal of Obesity.

8)  Eat three meals plus snacks! Eating every three to four hours helps equip you to say no to the temptations that can sabotage your weight loss goals.

9)  Add some arms! When walking outdoor or on the treadmill, make sure to swing your arms.  Swinging your arms will increase your calorie burn.

10)  Eat breakfast! Eating breakfast releases enzymes in the body that kick start your metabolism for the day. Starting your day off by having breakfast is a secret weapon for successful weight loss!

The tips above are proven to work and easy to apply. Have a weight loss tip you’d like to share or a question for me? Please leave a comment below! I’m looking forward to chatting with you!

Blessings to you and yours!

Jennifer

 

 

How To Avoid Weight Gain When Your Exercise Routine Is Interrupted

Making it Happen

 

It’s no secret that a successful long term exercise routine takes effort and planning.  Planning when and how you will exercise ahead of time increases your chances that you will stick to your routine.

However, if you are human then you know that “stuff” happens. Things like a new job, an injury, a new baby, starting a business, or the illness of a family member can easily put your carefully planned exercise schedule on the back burner. It’s normal and it can happy to anyone!

It’s important to be aware that these interruptions can lead to weight gain.  However, with the right back up plan, you can keep weight gain at bay!

Four Strategies for Dealing with Interruptions in Your Exercise Routine

 

1)  A little goes a long way!  Do your best. Incorporate as much lifestyle activity into your day as you can. Activities like walking to get a meal, or to run an errand; taking the stairs,’ or standing rather than sitting will help you burn extra calories.

If you’re recovering from an injury or illness, find out what exercise your doctor will allow and do as much as you can while waiting to go back to your normal routine.

2)  Don’t be afraid to ask for help! It seems like ‘do it yourself’ has become more and more common these days. If your exercise routine has been interrupted due to additional responsibilities, consider out sourcing daily tasks to free up some of your time. Look for ways you can out source in your personal and/or professional life.

3)  Cut the calories! When your exercise routine gets interrupted, you normally burn fewer calories per day. Unfortunately, the tendency is to increase caloric intake when you should be cutting back. Some of the more common reasons for this include stress, lack of time, and the inability to cook for yourself.

If you are unable to meal plan and cook for yourself, consider having healthy meals delivered. You can use a service like Magic Kitchen or an in-house personal chef who prepares meals in your home.

When eating out, try to check the menus online ahead of time and use sites like healthydiningfinder.com or loseit.com to check the calories in your choices. By planning ahead, you’ll be able to choose the lower calorie options and avoid the weight gain that is caused by eating out often.

Pay attention to emotional eating. If you know that stress triggers you to over eat, avoid buying high calorie snack foods just to have around. Come up with a plan for redirecting the cravings to a different behavior. Activities like taking a short walk, meditating, praying, reading a book, checking email, or listening to music can take your mind off the craving until it disappears.

Boredom can also cause you to snack. Boredom can occur while recovering from an injury or illness, or when caring for a loved one who is recovering. Just like with the emotional eating, find other activities to occupy your time and keep the high calorie snack foods out of reach.

4) Tell guilt to take a hike! Interrupting your exercise routine to take care of important priorities in your life is sometimes necessary. It happens to everyone, so give yourself some grace and move on knowing you’ll start back up with your normal routine as soon as you are able.

Guilt is a potential trigger for binging and can cause additional weight gain. So tell it to leave if it tries to enter your mind!

With today’s fast paced lifestyle, it’s work to juggle all of your priorities. Make sure to include your health and self care as one of them! 🙂

Please let me know if you have any questions by using the comment section below.  I really enjoy hearing from you!

To your long term success!

Jennifer