Friday, May 21, 2010

website to help with your nutrition! YAY!!

Thanks to a wonderful friend, I was told about www.myfitnesspal.com. It's everything you've been wanting so you can see results fast! AND IT'S FREE!!!

It will ask your goals, tell you how many calories and how many grams of protein, fats and carbs. It is SO EASY to track your meals and shows you how many you have left to eat. It also lets you track your exercise. It doesn't get easier than this! I am still trying it out but so far, the only thing that was different was that it low-balled me how many calories I burn doing 60 minutes of exercise... only because it calculates for regular exercise (280 calories) not Zumba (600-800 calories). WOOHOO!!!

Being this easy (and free)... there is just no excuse! Where was all this helpful stuff when I was working so hard to lose my weight. THANK GOODNESS WE HAVE IT NOW!!!

Have a wonderful weekend.
Zumba Love - Sunshine

Sunday, May 9, 2010

How's Your Self-Control?

I've been thinking lately... I know, SCARY! :D

Are you working on your self-control or have you had a change of heart?

A story to illustrate my point...
My oldest child is the oldest by 4 years. When he was about 5 years old, we would take him with us to do landscaping work for a friend. It was a fun thing we could all do together and there was always something that he, even as a 5 year old, could do to help. In those years, he thought this "family time" was treacherous. He complained and decided to just mope around and go slow. Did he get his "job" done? Yes, but you would think we were torturing the child by the way he complained and moped around. He did it, he completed it but it was such a negative effect by him.

On the contrast today, as a 12 year old, he loves to help. He loves to go out to the garden, to help those in need, to clean the van. Do I still get complaints, yes, some, but most of them are because a friend is over and he wants to play so he wants to get it done QUICK! No more moping, "poor me" or slow, dragging work for him.

What changed? His attitude. He had a change of heart. Instead of resisting the things that needed to be done and do them all begrudgingly, he decided that it was something fun, of good value and if he gets it done quickly, he has time for more things.

How do you think of your health? of exercise? of eating right? Are you doing it begrudgingly, thinking of how tortured you are or how unfair it is that we need to work our bodies in order to be healthy? Do you dread thinking of eating healthy and complain about all the things you can't eat (even if it's to yourself)? Then you need a change of heart!

I struggled with this as I was losing weight. And it wasn't until I started enjoying and actually having that change of heart, that I actually had some BIG changes in my weight and in my life. Now things didn't go from bad to good in a day, I started just appreciating the little things...
I was grateful for my muscles, for the ability to go to the gym, for the opportunity to choose what I eat. Then I decided I would change my mind about exercise. I first loved cardio and didn't like lifting weights.... then I changed and loved weights but not cardio so much... So what's the point in not liking something??? It doesn't do us any good. Especially if it needs to be done anyway, right?

Little story break.... I LOVE doing laundry. Most people think I'm crazy. The truth is, not too long ago, I DREADED laundry. It was just so tedious and I felt it took my whole day. Just blah! So one day I thought to myself... "WHY do I dread laundry so much? What is it about laundry that is so bad?"... think... think... think... (my thinking sometimes runs about as fast as my 7 year old computer) let's see... "I have a washer and dryer in my house, so I don't even have to go anywhere. I can actually do them while in my pajamas. That's pretty good. I set aside a day to do the laundry, so I don't usually have to rush anywhere... I like not rushing around sometimes... I can sit and watch T.V. while I fold... and put away my clothes... that means I can catch up on my DVR shows that hubby complains I never get to....

so.... when I do laundry, I can be calm, watch tv, do it at home and even in my pj's if i want to, I don't have to get quarters and I can get other things done while I do it. What's so bad about that? And my attitude changed. I LOVE doing laundry. And now I've noticed it is so relaxing to do laundry and I look forward to it. Maybe I like it too much since I don't like it when my husband does it for me. :D hahaha

So how do you look at exercise? How do you look at eating healthy? How do you look at leading a healthy life? Do you resist it by TRYING to have self-control over the things you "can't" have or things you "have to" do? Positivity attracts positive results and Negativity brings about negative results. Resistance is a negative feeling. Is that the result you want?

People who've achieved their dreams, didn't start their path or keep on it by stating how impossible their task was and how difficult it was. They believed they could achieve it and they put their heart into it. That is how they achieved their dreams and how you can achieve your dreams and goals too. Love them, Nurture them, Be grateful for the ability you have to achieve them.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Am I doing the basics?

Although everyone is different and each weight loss works differently for each individual, there are some basic principles that work for everyone...

First of all, are you doing the basics??? You can't reach the penthouse of achievement without starting on the bottom floor. And believe me, there is no elevator here. Before you climb the stairs, you need to walk and before you walk and need to crawl. In nutrition it is the same.


Here's the CRAWL: Not the watermelon crawl but The nutrition crawl... :D

Are you taking a multivitamin? Your body, especially in weight loss, should be eating less calories than you are spending which means you aren't getting all the vitamins and minerals you need each day. You need these vitamins to keep you strong, keep you energized, and keep your body losing FAT and not muscle. There are more reasons to taking a multivitamin but this is a great first step reason.

Are you drinking enough water? The basics of water is 8 cups of 8 oz. a day. That's 64 oz of water and more if you are sweating a lot. A few tricks... if you drink 8-16oz of water before you eat each meal, your weight loss will come faster... proven true. Water not only keeps you hydrated, it helps with satiety, it also helps curb cravings and helps your body process the food/nutrients to your body more efficiently.

Are you SLEEPING??? That's right... Lack of sleep creates A LOT of problems. First of all, your body doesn't recuperate the way it needs to so you can't create the muscle (remember lean muscle increases your resting metabolism) you are working to create. Also, it doesn't want to let go of the fat because it feels like your body is still in crisis mode*.

*Crisis mode is when the body feels it needs to protect us from ourselves. We are usually doing things to our bodies that our body feels it needs to protect us. Which usually means storing fat, since that has a great shelf life and can sustain us if we need it. It's like our own personal food storage. When we eat bad things, don't sleep enough, don't get enough vitamins, minerals, water. When we don't eat frequently enough or when we overeat. These things freak our body out and the body does what it can to protect itself.. basically, store fat. This is crisis mode.*

The other thing lack of sleep has shown in studies is... creating LOVE HANDLES!!! It's true. And you know, those aren't the easiest things to get rid of. Those little handles were hard for me to get rid of at least. I decided to keep the love and get rid of the handles! :)

Another problem with lack of sleep is.... FOOD!!! Let me explain. Food=Energy. Food is actually fuel that we use to get our bodies to function each minute of the day. So when we are low on fuel, our body sends a signal (((blink, blink))) LOW ON FUEL - NEED FUEL SOON!

When we are tired, our body sends a signal as well. The problem is, we are low on energy when we are tired so we tend to think the signal is (((blink, blink))) LOW ON FUEL - NEED FUEL SOON. When really, when we have lack of sleep, our body is really saying (((blink, blink))) LOW ON ENERGY - RECHARGE BATTERY! When we aren't used to listening to our bodies, or aren't able to sleep at that moment, we think "I'm dragging... I need some food"... at this point, if you are tired, you've got a double edged sword... "I'm low on energy, I need some food FAST, like right NOW! and... I'm tired so I don't want to MAKE something. I'm hungry now!" That's when we usually eat something we shouldn't eat or hit the FAST FOOD. That's why you have to be prepared! --- but that's another post. :) We'll get to that soon enough.

The basic principles for this post are: ARE YOU DOING THE BASICS???
Multivitamin
Hydration
Sleep

Understand why they are important and decide right now "I WILL TAKE CARE OF ME"... Because no one else can.