No time to eat?

During this time of the year, I find myself rushing around with longer work hours, trying to decorate, get Christmas cards out, buying/wrapping gifts, going to holiday parties, and trying to do all the traditional stuff. Somewhere in there I’m trying to exercise and eat healthy!…….YOU TOO?………

If you are a healthy person and eat well, you shouldn’t supplement a meal with drinks, it’s not necessary. You also shouldn’t use it as a weight loss tool agonizing over how you go back to real food after you lose your weight. BUT……when I am so busy I am not getting my meals in, I NEED to pop a quick Ensure down me to keep me going. It’s much better than grabbing a greasy burger on the go, or munching on sweets that will only leave me hungry again in an hour.

I choose Ensure for multiple reasons…..It doesn’t need to be refrigerated so I can just have a bottle sitting in my purse all the time. It’s what hospitals used for years to keep sick people nutritionally healthy when they couldn’t eat regular food for whatever reason. It’s okay for lactose and gluten intolerant people, contains protein to keep your blood sugar up, full of vitamins and minerals, and it’s not loaded with extra calories or fat. It’s also good as a recovery drink if you are a work out fanatic that doesn’t stop to eat enough!
So enjoy your holiday season, get everything done, including taking good care of yourself! Don’t forget to get some good nutrition in you during this hectic time of the year!!!!!!

Health and Confidence

The only realty show I really enjoy watching is The Biggest Loser. Have you noticed the greatest successes include a simultaneous increase in confidence and assertiveness?  It’s occurred to me this may be the chicken and the egg syndrome. Research shows unhealthy people tend to be depressed  not just because of the circumstances, but because of the physical change in the body and hormone levels. With our biggest losers, do they get a sudden burst of confidence that causes them to work hard enough to lose more weight, or does the initial weight loss physically improve their mood which increases their confidence and make them more assertive? In either case, it creates a landslide of good emotions and substantial weight loss!  What better reason do you need to want to lose weight?!

We’re walking……..We’re walking

As I’m walking on the treadmill this morning, I’m thinking, what a wonderful thing walking is! Think about it. No matter what physical shape you are in, most people can walk to exercise. Even if you walk slow, you are still burning calories. There are so many things you can say about walking. You can walk outside. It’s free, it’s easy, it’s low impact and it reduces stress. If you walk fast enough you get a cardio workout, if you walk slow and deliberate you can work out your muscles. If you pick up the pace to a run, you are getting high impact which is great for your bones, can help reverse osteopenia or at least minimize the chance of osteoporosis. I never thought I would buy a treadmill, but on a cold morning like today….it’s nice to have options. If you can’t afford a treadmill, you can walk in the mall.  There is always a way. Ahhhhh walking…….it’s a beautiful thing!

Back to Work

Getting back to work after a holiday weekend of eating is hard.  I get hungry so much earlier than normal. My favorite snack to keep me going is 10 raw almonds chewed SLOWLY to make it last. It helps me last until lunch and then I don’t overeat.  I also pack my lunch rather than go out. Keeps me in line! You know………I wonder how much money I save packing my lunch over going out? In this economy, it’s nice to think I can both eat healthy and save money too!

Happy Monday!

 

Hot Dry Winter

Ever have one of those mornings when you wake up with a terrible sinus headache? It’s getting cold at night and I forgot……..the heater is kicking on full blast drying up my sinuses! My solution is to pop a couple ibuprofen and grab a couple cups of hot tea, sitting quietly sniffing the moist steam coming off the top. My favorite is peppermint tea……Tazo’s Refresh to be specific. Full relief in 30 minutes! A nice steaming shower afterwards set me up for the day. Time to pull out the humidifier for the winter! You know……an ounce of prevention and all that…………….

Welcome to a new simple healthy life!

What better time to start thinking about your health than the beginning of the holiday season! I always start Thanksgiving looking in the mirror at the weight I promised myself I’d lose over the summer and think….I really need to watch myself over the holiday!

Well….I survived the day! I started by roasting my all-natural turkey in roasting bag, breast side down. I’ve tried organic turkeys but found they don’t have enough meat and tend to be dry. I don’t add oil or butter. Why breast side down? Cooking it this way draws all the juices into the breast making it moist without the additions. The bag also retains the moisture, cooking it faster and the meat literally falls off the bones. Turkey by itself is actually a good lean protein option. It’s when you throw gravy on it that you start adding extra fat and salt.  

I find it easy to make my garlic mashed potatoes with milk rather than cream, omitting the gravy, but still trying to find a better stuffing. My husband likes Stove Top Stuffing, but I’m pushing for gluten free. Homemade cranberry sauce is fat free, a healthy size salad and the from scratch pumpkin pie (pumpkin from my organic garden) with non-fat evaporated milk, tops everything off nicely!   

Top this all off with a walk along the river and I feel great!

Hope you are having a great Thanksgiving weekend too!