Thanksgiving is Coming...and so are the Calories

Hello dear readers!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  Here are some quick and easy ideas to keep the pounds OFF this holiday season!  More to come as Christmas nears...

Quick Ingrediant Subs to Make!

1. Baked Goods


Oils and butter in these recipes can be substituted with apple sauce, prune puree, or bananas.

2. Chocolate

Use fewer chocolate chips than a recipe calls for or substitute with cocoa powder.

3. Whole Milk, Whipping Cream

Lower fat milk or imitation whipped cream will reduce your calories greatly

4. Butter

Use healthier fats like light cooking spray, canola oil, whipped butter, olive oil, peanut oil, or a trans-fat-free margarine.

5. Salad Dressing

Salads may seem super healthy, but just a tablespoon of some salad dressings can set you back 100 calories. Instead use reduced-calorie salad dressing, lemon juice, reduced-fat cottage cheese, or herb-flavored or wine vinegar.

6. Cheese

Instead of the usual cheese, try reduced fat cheese. I bet neither you nor your family will be able to tell the difference.

7. Sour Cream, Mayonnaise

Use a plain fat free Greek yogurt--it has the same texture and similar flavor to both sour cream and mayonnaise.


8. Gravy

Put your gravy into the refrigerator before serving. Once it gets cold the fat will collect at the top, skim it off, defrost, and serve.


Dinner!

9. What to Serve

Serve low calorie foods like Canadian bacon, roast beef, raw vegetables, light cheese, dip made with fat free yogurt, and/or homemade salsa.


10. Lean Your Meats

Make your meats lean by removing the skin and fat before eating.


11. A Full Plate

Fill up half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables like salad, green beans, spinach, or broccoli.


12. Portion Control

If you have trouble with portion control, drink two large glasses of water right before you start your meal and continue to take sips between bites.

Dessert, yum!

13. Low-Calorie Sweets


Make a lower-calorie dessert like Angel food cake topped with light whip cream and fruit.

14. Fruits

Poached or baked fruits with a light whipped topping also make great desserts.

15. Cakes and Pies

Gingerbread is a lower calorie alternative to the usual cakes and pies.
After the Meal...

16. Walk it Off

Make activity a habit after your meals--whether it be a walk or an interactive game, get the whole family involved so that you can all burn a few extra calories and lead a longer, healthier life together.

Stay tuned.

Samantha

Sneaky Ways to Burn Calories

Hello dear readers,

Look at how faithful I'm being!  Two posts in a row!  Told you I'd be back.

I thought you all would be interested in this... how do we burn calories, without really "working out?"

Here are 8 "sneaky" ways...

1. Don't sit still! If you're a nervous leg bouncer or pencil tapper, you're in luck. On average, fidgeting can burn between 300-350 extra calories per day, though that number will vary widely depending on your fave form of fidgeting. (For example: pacing will burn more calories than table drumming.)

2. Laugh...a lot! According to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study, "Ten to 15 minutes of laughter could increase energy expenditure by 10 to 40 calories per day, which could translate into about four pounds a year."

3. Spice it up! Research shows that chili peppers can boost your metabolic rate, causing the body to burn 50 more calories a day.

4. Chomp away! Chewing gum burns roughly 11 calories an hour. Make sure you use sugarless to avoid added calories and cavities. Extra credit for walking at the same time.

5. Clean up! Don't groan at your to-do list, thank it: light housework like dusting and laundry burns 170 calories per hour. Tackle bigger chores like washing the car or cleaning the gutters and up your burn to 204 calories per hour.


6. Shop 'til you drop! Roaming the aisles and swiping the credit card is more taxing than you think. The typical grocery shopping trip incinerates 156 calories per hour. Up that burn even more by parking far away from the store, carrying your groceries to the car yourself, and multiple trips to bring them inside. Just don't ruin that burn by filling your cart with junk.


7. Drink up! According to Men's Health, drinking eight pints of ice water a day will cause your body to expend 123 calories of heat to warm that water to body temperature. When it comes to water, the colder, the better.

8. Just dance! Just 20 minutes of dancing can burn 100 calories. If you don't have the smoothest of moves, just turn down the shades, crank up the tunes and go nuts!


*Calories burnt are based on a 150lb woman

Stay tuned.

Health Tip: Little changes, BIG results

Hello dear readers!

I've left you again.  My apologies.  It is a busy, busy season.  I have a few small fun facts for you.  I hope they inspire thought!

1) Gum chewing can burn 20 calories per hour.  If you chew gum for 6 hours a day that is 120 extra calories burnt a day!  That is 840 extra calories a week!  That is equivalent to an 8.5 mile run for the average person.  I'm not saying you should chew gum every day for 6 hours, but that small activity added up to a BIG calorie expenditure.  Think little activities throughout the day!  You don't need to hit up a gym six days a week to see huge improvements in weight loss.

2) Choose after-work-activities wisely!  If you come home from work and watch TV all night, you are probably burning 50-75 calories for that evening...just sitting.  If you come home from work and rake leaves then paint a bedroom (or clean...or take the dog for a walk..or something), you can expect to burn 100-150 calories an HOUR.  So while the TV watcher burns 50, you burn 600-900 calories.  That makes a big difference! 

Many people get "bogged down" and overwhelmed with the idea of loosing weight, mainly because they envision the gym.  However, most weight loss happens OUTSIDE of a gym.  And people who are lean, usually just burn more throughout the day...not at the gym. 

So do butt crunches on car rides, stand up periodically and stretch, if you watch TV do crunches and push ups during commercials, park far away, take the stairs, stand more then you sit, jump up and down ten times fifteen times a day, whatever it takes!  Increase your energy output.

Have a fantastic day ya'll. 

Stay tuned.  I promise to be more consistent!

Weekly Challenge: No White This Week

Hello dear readers!

Once again I've failed to be consistent!  I had my GRE test this weekend (Saturday), so I was a bit of a crazy mess until it was finally over.  Now, I feel as though a good weight has been lifted and I can blog once again!  Hip hip hooray for health! I know its Monday tomorrow, but lets all just try and enjoy the week.  After all, whats better then a mid-week break?! 

On to this weeks health challenge...its going to definitely be a challenge, considering this week is the fourth of July!  Good luck....

Challenge for the weeek: NO WHITE FOR A WEEK.


What does this mean you ask?  No "white?" Yes, no white. You heard me. 

None of this:



*Gasps* from the reader.  This guy, is a nasty fellow.  Just look at how sinister he looks! 

The Why:
White bread is bleached flour.  Most of the fiber that was in it - has been removed.  When the fiber is removed, it becomes a simple carb.  You're body treats simple carbs like sugar.  When you ingest white bread, because you're body treats it like sugar, your insulin levels rise.  Because your insulin levels rise, you're body in turn stores this into fat cells.

You wouldn't eat bleach.  Don't eat bleached flour. 

So when you're at the family picnic this Wednesday, just remember "the whiter the bread, the quicker your dead" and maybe you will stay away from white bread. 

For those of you who say, "I only eat whole wheat!" (with a triumphant face) please feel inclined to take this challenge to the next level.  Eat 100% whole grains this week. 

Please let me know how this one goes. 

Stay tuned.

Day 4: Health Tip - Eat Some Breakfast

Hello dear readers!

It is Friday - how wonderful, how spectacular, how fantastic... except for those of you who have weekend shifts of course.  But still - lets delight in the fact that it is Friday, and the weekend is a breath away.

I hope you are enjoying these daily health tips.  Be sure to check out the other tabs as I've recently added a recipe, a workout, videos, and photos!

Here is your Friday, day 4, week 1, health tip!  Enjoy!

Eat Some Breakfast!


Countless people skip breakfast today because they are "too busy."  They rush around the house in the morning, getting themselves ready, only to run out the door five minutes late, stressed out, and on an empty stomach.  Then 10am roles around, and they start to have a strong urge for sweets or heavy carbs.

Eating breakfast is easier then you think it is.  And way more important then you think it is.

Here are some benefits:

• Decrease in stomachaches and headaches
• Eating breakfast has been linked to individuals making healthier food choices throughout the day
• Increases feelings of "fullness"
• Linked to eating fewer calories at lunch
• Linked to healthier overall weight, body image and BMI
• Breakfast helps people feel more "motivated" and increases ambition 
• Increases cognitive performance 
• Increases visual perception
• Increases spatial and short term memory 
• Increased body image
• Decreases overall rates of illness 
• More strength and endurance to engage in physical activity

And these are just some of the benefits.  This list is nowhere near extensive.  

Myth: Skipping breakfast does NOT make you skinnier.  If anything, it actually makes you GAIN weight.

Be smart - eat some food.  

Check out a sample of my breakfast:

• 1 egg w/ cut up spinach 
• 2 cups Greek non-fat yogurt
• 1 cup natural granola 
• 1/2 cup fresh fruit 

Key ingredient?  Protein.  And tons of it.

Secret?  Variety.  

Protein fills you up.  Keeps that growlin' hunger at bay.  

In that breakfast I had food from all the categories: veggies, fruit, meat/beans, grains, and dairy.  Keeps me happy, and healthy.  

So go ahead, eat some breakfast - it'll make you smarter, stronger, happier, healthier.

Stay tuned.  

Day 3: Health Tip - ReThink Moderation

Hello dear readers!

It is Thursday.  Woofta - we almost made it to the end of the week.  So put on a smile.

That's better.  Here is your health tip for day 3... enjoy!

Mod·er·a·tion:The avoidance of excess or extremes.

A big problem in our society today is the concept of moderation.  Since 1980 our obesity rate has tripled.  TRIPLED!  If this trend continues, by the year 2040 over 75% of the United States will be overweight or obese.  That has huge implications as a society.  Why has it tripled?  There are many, many reasons.  One of them is that our view of moderation has changed.

Thirty years ago, moderation would be considered having an ice cream cone maybe once a month, roughly.  Today, our idea of moderation is having a bowl of ice cream once a week.  We have this attitude that "we deserve it."  After a long day at work, we deserve that bowl of ice cream.  After a tough week, we deserve to order pizza (and eat 3/4 of it, plus breadsticks, and two glasses of soda).  After a long day of studying, we deserve to go out and eat appetizers at 10pm at night.

Don't you deserve to treat your body right?  

In my "home town" of Willmar, the popular thing to do was grab 1/2 price apps at Applebee's at 9pm.  It was really the only thing to do (no offense Willmar).  Most of us ordered wings...you know, juicy, boneless buffalo wings.  With ranch, or blue cheese.  Yum, right?  Did you know that just A SINGLE order of wings with sauce is roughly 1,200 calories and approximately 50 grams of fat??  

I-N-S-A-N-E.  And its bad enough we're eating them, let alone at 9pm at night.    

And we view eating Applebee's appetizers (or insert any restaurant) once a week as moderation.  This is not moderation.  

I'm not saying don't go out with your friends, or don't ever eat ice cream...no no no.  Just rethink how often you eat certain foods.  

A handful of M&M's...or what we consider a handful of M&M's... is 300 calories.  That will take you thirty minutes of running (at a steady pace...) to "burn" it off.  

Eat two handfuls of M&M's a week?  600 calories.  Consume this for a year, gain approximately 15lbs.  

Same with a glass of juice.  Keeping your exercise routine the same, your eating habits the same, just adding ONE glass of apple juice once a week?  Yep, 10 lbs.   

ReThink Moderation.  

Stay tuned.  Enjoy your Friday!