Category: Lose Weight

Back To School Weight Loss Tips

You can feel it in the air! Summer is ending. The light is changing and it’s back to school time! Whether you are a parent, teacher, student, or simply getting back to a Fall routine, the new season usually means much busier schedules.

A shift in schedule can potentially derail your weight loss goals if you let it. I’ve put together some simple guidelines on how to stay on track while adjusting to the new season.

Five Easy Weight Loss Tips for the Back to School Season!

1)  Plan!  Back to school usually means a more set routine. This can be used for your benefit to help you lose weight! Pull out your calendar and determine when you have time for exercise, meal planning, and healthy meal preparation.  Write these activities in like like any other important appointment.

Avoid biting off more than you can chew.  Look at your calendar before saying yes to extra projects.  If saying yes will interfere with your weight loss goals, you may want to take a pass for now.

2) Brown bag it! Breakfast is key to successful weight loss. If time is tight in the mornings, a healthy egg sandwich or smoothie are easy to eat on the go. Do your best to eat by 9:00 am, and no later than 10:00.

Pack lunches and have healthy snacks on you at all times. No matter what your day looks like, busy and hungry are a dangerous combination for weight loss. By planning ahead, you’ll have more control over the food you eat.

And if you are shuttling kids, pack snacks to have on hand. Not only will it contribute to their good health, it will save you time as well.

3)  Order out!  After looking at your schedule, you may realize that cooking some nights will be a stretch.  Let someone else do the cooking for you! Order healthy pre made meals from a company like Magic Kitchen.

4)  Get creative! If your normal exercise time is conflicting with your child’s activity or sport, go for a walk while you are waiting for them. One of my clients decided to get a low cost membership at the gym across the street from her daughter’s dance class.  She’s going to run on the treadmill while her daughter is taking class.  Another option would be to see if there was an adult class to try during her daughter’s class.

Early morning and lunch time workouts are a great way to sneak exercise into the day. This strategy helps you avoid evening interruptions such as working late. 

5)  Create a fit lifestyle!  One of the reasons people are so much more active in the Summer is all of the fun outdoor activities that are available. That doesn’t have to end just because it’s Fall.  Like the beach or hiking? Bundle up and take a walk. Personally, I think Autumn is one of the most beautiful times of year!

Choose active recreation on the weekends to counter the less active time during the week. Recreational activities are a great cross trainer if you are doing more formal gym workouts during the week.  Try turning off screens (computers, TV, phones, etc. ) as much as possible on the weekends!

All it takes is a little bit of planning. Fall is a great time to meet your weight loss/management goals.  Embrace this time of year and all of the fullness it brings!

Please let me know if you have any questions or a tip you’d like to share!

Blessings!

Jennifer

 


 

How To Handle A Food Craving And Avoid Binging!

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Food cravings can lead to binging and sabotage your weight loss efforts!  If you haven’t already, read part 1 — Cravings vs. Hunger: How to Tell the Difference  The last thing I want is for you to ignore true hunger signals. 

Food cravings are normal!

We all experience food cravings from time to time.  Don’t worry!  It’s normal.  You just need to follow some simple steps that will help you handle the craving and avoid the binging.

First off, there is a difference between craving food and experiencing real hunger.  Part 1 gives you detailed steps on how to tell the difference.

Have you ever heard that if your body is craving a certain type of food, then “it probably needs it?”  This is not always true.  If your body is craving a big salad with lots of raw vegetables, that concept is totally reasonable.  However, I don’t think there is anyone on the planet that has to eat Chocolate Chip Cookies to survive!

Simple Tips to Stop Food Cravings from Controlling You!

1)  Give in!  Yes, you read that correctly.  Years ago I was taking classes from a well known nutritionist in southern California.  Because of her location, many of her clients had eating disorders.  She told me a story about a young model who would eat an entire bag of baby carrots in one sitting to keep herself from eating a chocolate chip cookie.  She told the nutritionist she was trying to avoid the “bad” food.

Fortunately, she got some health benefits from  eating the carrots.  But, she consumed more calories with the carrots than if she ate one small cookie.

The point of the story is that when you attempt to eliminate a food from your diet entirely, it can trigger binging. You’ll may redirect the binge to another food. Or once you allow yourself to eat the “forbidden” food, you are at risk of over doing it.  Better to have a small amount of the food you are craving than to try avoiding it entirely.  For example, if you crave ice cream, find a low calorie flavor you like and measure out a serving.  You may even find a half serving will do the trick.

Don’t let food control you!  If it’s only certain foods, try keeping them out of the house for awhile until you can practice moderation.

2)  Go to bed!  When you are in need of rest your body will crave sugar for a pick me up.  Go to bed early that night.  Your body will thank you for it.

3)  Drink some water!  Dehydrated bodies can send a hunger signal.  If you have eaten a full balanced meal within the last few hours, then try a glass of water before you eat more.  If you are still hungry, have a small snack.

4)  Redirect!  Find yourself digging through the cupboards for no reason?  You could be bored.  When you find your self mindlessly foraging for food redirect that behavior.  Try walking, doing a household chore, meditating, catching up on phone calls or email, or reading.  Make a list of replacement activities and keep it posted.  Use the list when the craving begins.

5)  Avoid using food for comfort! We’ve all heard of “comfort food.”  There’s no such thing as comfort food.  Food does not offer comfort.  We can associate a positive time in our life with certain foods, which is why you may feel warm and fuzzy when you eat them.

With that being said, elevating your serotonin levels does help fight depression.  But, turning to the sweets to elevate your serotonin levels is not the best choice.  You may feel great for a moment after eating a large piece of cake.  However, when your blood sugar drops, you can go right back into the dumps and may experience guilt for sabotaging your weight loss goals.

Choose a balanced meal with complex carbohydrates to elevate the serotonin in your body.  If dessert is really your thing, have a small serving that will fit into your daily calorie expenditure.

Just remember we all have food cravings from time to time.  It’s how we deal with them that will make or break our weight loss and management goals!

I hope this has been helpful.  Please let me know if you have any questions or tips you’d like to share to control food cravings.  I love to hear from you!

Blessings!

Jennifer

 

Stop Trying To Lose Weight!

Have you been trying to lose weight and it won’t budge? Or, even worse, maybe you’ve had some success only find to yourself gaining it all back and then some? Do not be discouraged! I can help you!

Your body believes you!

First off, stop TRYING to lose weight! When you use the word “try,” you set your subconscious up for failure. The body does not recognize “try” as an action word. Replace “try” with “I’ll give it my best shot.” When you tell yourself, “I’ll give it my best shot,” you are telling your body that you BELIEVE you can and will lose weight. Your subconscious will now steer you toward activities and behaviors to accomplish your goal rather than sabotage you.

Between you and me, I used to  obsess about weight loss rather than being healthy and active. The results sent me into a negative tailspin. It’s important you lose weight being “who you are” instead of living up to someone else’s expectations of exercise and food choices. This can lead to way too much pressure — and ultimately, failure.

In order to lose weight and keep it off permanently, a few simple guidelines will serve you well as you create your plan. Any worthy goal you set must have a plan of actionable steps in order for you to succeed. The most important thing is that the plan be realistic for your life — not a copy of someone else’s plan and life.

Follow these simple steps and start losing weight right away!

1)  Stop looking for the quick fix! One of the quickest ways to hop on the roller coaster of weight loss is to participate in fad diets. Diets have a 95% failure rate for a reason. A healthy, balanced eating plan is the recipe for long term success. Read this article for tips on How To Lose Weight Without Feeling Deprived Or Hungry.

2)  Exercise Regularly! It really is that simple! My clients that lose the most weight and keep it off for good exercise most days of the week and follow their healthy eating plan. Some examples are walking, hiking, biking, swimming, indoor cardio equipment, and videos.

3)  Incorporate Lifestyle Activity! Our convenient lifestyles can make us fat if we are not careful. Technology is wonderful. However, the convenience of technology has removed much of the physical activity from our everyday lives. This convenience requires that we plan physical activity into our day on purpose!

Your goal should be to spend as many calories as you can per day! I don’t mean training in the gym or outdoors for hours. What I mean is all the little extras that require movement. Activities like taking the stairs, parking at the back of the lot, walking across the mall, walking the dog, and walking your kids to school are all examples of lifestyle activities. Examples in a more rural environment could be walking to the mailbox, gardening, mowing, mucking stalls. You get the picture!

4)  Get proper sleep! Substantial medical evidence is telling us that a lack of sleep affects hormones in the body which is linked to an increase in appetite. Your body is less satisfied and you are tempted to eat more. Lack of sleep can cause you to reach for sugary foods in an effort to get a boost energy. The result is a temporary fix and an increase in caloric intake.

Without proper sleep, you are less motivated to be active. However, thirty  minutes of moderate activity may actually help you sleep.

If stress is keeping you up all night, take steps to reduce and manage the stress. If you have too much on your plate, see where you can cut things out. If you are suffering from anxiety and depression, you may want to seek a life coach and/or trained psychologist to help you get to the root of the issue.

The list above isn’t flashy and it doesn’t include cave man diets! It’s the formula that has worked for years and continues to work to this day. Unfortunately, the fad diet media has seriously confused the issue!

Take these simple steps and apply them consistently — and I know you will get results!

Blessings!

Jennifer