Category: Secrets to Successful Weight Loss

The Right Foods For Weight Loss

Have you been struggling to lose or maintain your weight? Don’t worry! You’re not alone. The good news is you can begin to make simple changes in the foods you eat and lose weight for good!

For the past 22 plus years, I’ve helped clients make easy changes in their daily/weekly food intake and lose weight. No deprivation diets or crazy workouts, I promise! Just simply swapping out some of the higher calorie foods with good tasting low-cal substitutes helped them lose weight. It can help you too.

Try food swap magic!

Here are some small yet powerful changes you can make to lose and maintain your weight:

1)  What’s for breakfast?  Do you know that one cup of granola can pack in 450 calories? Yikes! You can eat a serving of oatmeal (with blueberries and butter), and two eggs for only 360 calories. Granola is a healthy food, but if you are trying to lose or maintain your weight, avoid the high calorie cereals in the morning. They make better toppings than meals.

If you eat breakfast at your favorite coffee shop, you will want to find out how many calories are in that on the go meal. Keep it to 350 calories and have a plain cup of coffee with a small amount of creamer. This simple tweak alone helped one of my clients stop gaining weight and lose three pounds in five weeks!

2)  Snack wisely. A small serving of chips is about 150 calories on average. But, did you know you can eat four cups of popcorn for only 60 calories? Popcorn is way more filling, and will keep ,you satisfied longer. Not crazy about popcorn? Eat a piece of fruit.

3)  Entertain with lower calorie choices. Having company? Offer hummus and yoghurt based dips. Offer whole grain crackers as well as fruit and cut vegetables to go alongside the dips. Serve smaller portions of the higher calorie fare such as cheese and cured meats. You and your guests are likely to eat less when the portions are sized smaller.

4)  Limit the fast food!  I realize this may be obvious to some. However, with 25% of our nation eating fast food daily, I do not like to ignore this one. Most of us picture a drive through window when we think of fast food. However fast food can be healthy take out as well. When you let someone else cook the meal, you have zero control over the calories.

Just like with the breakfast meals, find out how many calories are in your favorite take out and decide if it meets your weight loss goals. Or, have some healthy frozen food on hand and combine it with a fresh salad for a last minute dinner option.

5)  Watch the sweets! There are 196 calories in a large chocolate chip cookie. Switch to a piece of dark chocolate (60 calories), a small cookie (49 calories), or a small serving of sorbet (110 calories).

These tips will help you cut calories and stay on track without feeling deprived! Please let me know if you have a food swap you’d like to share or a question about your daily food intake by leaving a comment below.  I really enjoy hearing from you!

Blessings to you and yours!

Jennifer

 

Proper Rest Helps You Lose and Maintain Your Weight

With today’s fast paced lifestyle, rest can often seem like more of a luxury than a necessity. But, did you know that proper rest is critical to permanent weight loss?  When I say “rest,” I’m not just talking about sleep. I’m talking about resting your mind as well.

Here’s how lack of rest makes you fat.

Without proper rest, you become fatigued and lose enthusiasm and energy. You may become overwhelmed, leading to emotional paralysis. In turn, this will interfere with physical activity. Your mind will search for an escape such as sitting in front of the TV with a bag of cheese puffs. Or, another common statement I hear is, “My subconscious thinks I deserve that giant bowl of ice cream because I have been working so hard.” Soon you will see the needle on the scale creep up slowly but surely.

Maybe you know you have been burning the candle at both ends. You’re thinking, “yeah, but this is just temporary.”

The human body can handle about three months of being in the pressure cooker and then you need to back off and get your balanced life back. If three months is what you mean when you say temporary, you can probably get away with it and plan a vacation for when you are finished. If temporary has no end in sight, you are at risk of weight gain and serious health issues.

When I first started my personal training business, I was working about 60 to 70 hours per week. It was a thrill in the beginning. However, over time I began to “burn out.” I became overwhelmed and depressed. So depressed I didn’t even want to get out of bed. My health began to deteriorate. The good news is, it forced me to cut back on my hours. That was the best thing I ever did for my mental, spiritual, and physical health.

Here are six tips for proper rest and life balance.

1)  Take a long weekend! Schedule a long weekend with your spouse every three months. Do this if you are single as well. Unplug from technology. Choose somewhere that you can drive to and avoid airport hassles, which would interrupt your relaxation. If budget is an issue, try camping or a staycation — and act like you are out of town. If you have kids, ask another couple if they would like to trade weekends with you and watch each others’ children.

2)  Evaluate! Write your top five to ten life priorities in order of importance. Then, look at your calendar and see how much time is being devoted to each. Is there a balance? Is there something that should be put on hold for awhile? Depending on what that list looks like currently, that may even include formal workouts and temporarily switching to lifestyle activity for your exercise. You can learn how to add lifestyle activity into your day with Lose Weight Living Your Life.

3)  Get help! Outsource tasks. If you are trying to be a do it yourselfer for everything, it doesn’t allow much time for rest. For example, you can hire a business assistant, pay a teenager to mow your lawn, assign chores to your children, and have your car washed professionally. This will open up time for your priorities.

4)  Get some exercise! If you are lacking rest, moderate exercise can help you sleep. However, this is not the time to attend boot camp style workouts. Moderate activity such as lifestyle exercise, walking, and light strength training is more appropriate. This is called active rest. You are still moving and burning calories. However, your body is not being over stressed either.

5)  You have permission to pamper yourself! Get a massage, a manicure, a facial; play golf, or go to a spa — whatever small time out you can take that rejuvenates you! Make sure it’s on your calendar. I get a manicure/pedicure every three weeks, and spend the day in the city getting my hair done every six weeks. These little treats help me rest and relax.

6)  Find water! There’s something about water that feeds your mind, spirit, and soul. Maybe that’s why so many singers write songs about escaping to an island or the coast. When I want to relax, I head to the beach or a lake. A pool works as well. Schedule a weekly swim, or plan a full day at your local beach or lake. You’ll come home renewed!

I’ve shared my personal strategies for getting rest and leading a balanced life. Use this list and feel free to add to it. Get creative! I’d like to hear your personal favorites for rest and relaxation.  Let me know by leaving a comment below. I really enjoy hearing from you!

To your health!

Jennifer

 

Cooking Shortcuts To Help You Maintain Healthy Eating Habits

Eating at home is one of the key ingredients to maintaining a healthy diet. When you know what’s in your food, you have more control over the amount of calories and the quality of the food you consume.  However, with today’s fast paced lifestyles it can be difficult to carve out the time to cook.

Here are eight quick and easy cooking shortcuts for healthy eating.

These tips come straight to you from my personal kitchen! 

As a wife, homemaker, fitness coach, and doggie mom I have a limited amount of time I can spend in the kitchen.  Here are some shortcuts I use when following my favorite recipes:

1)  Use cookers that need no supervision! I use my rice cooker all week long. I make rice, quinoa and steamed vegetables in it. Slow cookers and crock pots serve the same purpose. While one part of the meal is cooking, you can prepare the rest. You can cook stew while you are at work, or run errands while the food is cooking.

2) Use pre-made sauces. I often substitute healthy pre-made sauces in recipes instead of making them from scratch. Organic pasta sauces, dips, and dressings are pretty easy to find in almost every grocery store.

For example, I make lamb burgers that call for a “raita” sauce. The recipe isn’t hard. However, Trader Joe’s sells a yoghurt cilantro sauce that works well in place of it. If you add up the time and cost of buying the ingredients and making the sauce, it is worth the $2.99 I paid for Joe’s version. Just be sure to check labels when buying pre-made sauces. Avoid partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. And be sure you recognize the ingredients!

3)  Speed up the veggies! Pre-washed and pre-cut organic vegetables are a great way to save time. Check the frozen section for a great variety as well. Frozen veggies are better than canned because they preserve more of the nutrients without preservatives.

4)  Prep well. Do all of your cutting, chopping, and mixing before you start cooking, including a side salad. This will save you time, and your meals will come together seamlessly.

5)  Recruit in-house! My husband and I have a lot of fun cooking together. We open a nice bottle of wine, turn on some music and enjoy quality time. The families I work with turn cooking into family time. The kids look forward to working in the kitchen, and mom and dad get to teach their children while getting a little help.

6)  Create a meal plan. Plan your meals one week in advance with the groceries in the house. If you have to stop at the store multiple times per week, you will lose a lot of time shopping. And this can tempt you to eat out. If you are not sure how to meal plan, check out Meal Planning Helps You Lose Weight for detailed steps.

7)  Have a back up! I always keep a few easy meals in our freezer and pantry just in case the day does not go as planned. Frozen organic pizzas and a fresh salad make a great last minute dinner. By making your own pizza, you have more control over the calories than if you went to the local pizzeria. Dry pasta and minced canned clams make an amazing linguini and clams dish. Add a salad on the side and your family will think it’s gourmet all the way!

8)  Buy freeze dried herbs!  Did you know freeze dried herbs become “like fresh” when they are moistened? Use these to avoid all of the chopping without sacrificing flavor. They are great in the winter when your herb garden isn’t producing, and it saves having to buy an entire bunch of herbs just for a couple tablespoons!

Please let me know which strategies are the most helpful, or share your own time saving tip below!

Blessings!

Jennifer