Category: Uncategorized

Meal Replacement

Often times, when we want to lose weight and get healthier we can get lost in all of the details and options available. If we are not used to eating fruits and vegetables, we will often buy them, only to waste our money while they rot in the refrigerator.

A great option that I have found is a meal replacement program. These programs allow us to eat a small calorie meal packed with vitamins and minerals that our bodies need.

One of my favorite meal replacements is Herbalife Healthy Meal.This meal replacement includes my favorite candy bars, drinks like cappuccino, and more. I love getting to treat myself to a healthy meal that tastes like a milkshake. Currently, the shakes come in a variety of flavors including: French Vanilla, Dutch Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, Wild Berry, Cafe’ Latte, & Pina Colada. In addition, there are seasonal flavors like the delicious Chocolate Mint.

These are easy to make tasty shakes that can be made into hundreds of different flavors with the addition of extracts, sugar-free syrups or sugar-free puddings and gelatin.  I mix mine with light soy milk and ice in the blender. They make a fast, tasty meal. Each meal contains about 170-250 calories & 18 grams of protein while being low in sodium, fat, and carbohydrates.

You can see the nutritional information on each favor for complete details.

Are you ready for an easy to follow plan?

What Is Your Resolve?

Happy New Year! Do you have a New Year’s resolution to lose weight? If so, you are not alone. Over 60% of Americans are over weight and losing weight is one of the most common resolutions set each year.

So if this is your resolution, how resolved are you? Are you prepared to stick to your goal and hang in there until the scales say the number you want? If you are ready, we are here to help.

For the next year, we will provide daily tips and articles to help you keep you focused and cross that finish line. You can do this! Make this the last year you have to lose weight. Make 2013 the year it is done!

A Step in the Right Direction

How resolved are you to lose weight? Are you ready to make a change? Can you replace at least one sugary drink for water each day?

If you answered yes to at these questions, then you are ready to take the steps needed to lose weight.

Drinking water is critical to weight loss even if it is not “pure water”. Swapping out just one cola a day for water will give your body more of what it needs to flush out the fat. It will also give it less of what it doesn’t need: empty calories, sodium, excess caffeine.

Do this for just a few days and you will be amazed at how much better you start to feel. I know I was! Are you ready for a change?

Setting a Goal

If you are serious about losing weight, then it is time to put pen to paper and get serious of about your goals. Studies show that a person that writes down their goal is 90% more likely to reach it, so this is a major step!

A goal, is a commitment, so let’s keep some important tips in mind when determining and setting our goals:

  • Keep a small, obtainable goal for the short-term
  • Be specific: number of pounds, inches, fitness progress
  • Enlist friends and/or family to be your support team and cheerleaders
  • Commit to the specific goal for the short-term and better health for good
  • Create a list of things that motivate you
  • Determine a reward for reaching your goal

For example:
I want to lose at least 10 pounds in 10 weeks so that I can fit into one smaller size clothes. If I reach this goal, I will reward myself by buying that new outfit I want.

Now that you have set your goal, let’s get to work! You can reach it!

Test of Fitness

At the point I am at now, it is often easy to forget how far I have came. I encourage each and everyone one of you to track your success in many ways. One of these ways is a regular fitness test. About once each month, see how far you have came with a simple set of fitness drills to track your progress. An example of a fitness test that I have done before includes:

  • Drill 1 – Do as many crunches as you can in 2 minutes.
  • Drill 2 – Do as many push-ups (regular, modified or wall) as you can in 2 minutes.
  • Drill 3 – Hold a wall squat as long as you can.
  • Drill 4 – Hold your arms out to your sides (at shoulder height) as long as you can.
  • Drill 5 – Do 150 step-ups (non-stop) using a 6 or 8 inch step.
  • Drill 6 – Hold a plank (on toes or knees) as long as you can.
  • Drill 7 – Hold a bridge as long as you can.
  • Drill 8 – Do as many jumping jacks, mountain climbers, high-knees, of jump-rope skips as you can in 2 minutes (pick an exercise that is challenging but SAFE for you to do).
  • Drill 9 – See how long it takes you to walk/jog a mile.

By keeping track of your results, you can measure your success in the improvements you make each month. You might be amazed at how fast you can see a change. I know I was!

Tomorrow Is A New Day

Some days I make a real mess of things. I “get up on the wrong side of the bed” so to say. Everything I say is with the wrong words, everything I do is the wrong action. To top it off, I can forget how far I’ve come and eat for the wrong reasons.

Yes, I still have days like that. The wonderful news is, God still loves me, even when I don’t love myself. God’s grace and forgiveness is sufficient enough to cover my sins. The next day is a new day and the past is gone.I don’t have to relive my past mistakes and I don’t have to be tied down by them. God grants me the freedom to start over.

How about you? Have you accepted God’s forgiveness? Do you need a fresh start? God will give it to you, just as He has to me. Forgiveness is one of His specialties!

Make It Fun

Statistics show that the majority of people that start a new fitness routine quit not long after they begin. The good news is that there is a simple solution-make it fun. The more you enjoy the exercise you do, the more you will do it.

So, take a chance on some different activities and experiment until you find something that suits you. Some people love to run for miles on end, while others prefer going at a slower pace with a friend. Some love to shake it Zumba style, while others enjoy praising God with Body Gospel. Swimming, baseball, basketball, volleyball….the choices are many. So, what is fun for you? Have you tried something new?

Eat A Rainbow

We’ve all heard the popular marketing phrase, “Eat A Rainbow”. I am here to tell you that I want you to eat a rainbow every week. Of course, I am referring to fruits and veggies, not skittles.

There are lots of colors of fruits and vegetables available in every color of the rainbow. Each color provides its own density of vitamins and minerals. The more variety we eat, the healthier we are.

To learn more about what fruits and veggies fall into each color group check out the resource on fruit and veggies, more matters.

Have you had your rainbow?

One Day At a Time

The more weight we want to lose, the longer the journey will take. It’s important not to let ourselves get discouraged along the way. We would all love to wake up the next morning and be at that “magical” number on the scale we are working towards.

However, there is nothing magical about weight loss. It comes down to finding a plan we can stick to and making an effort each and every day. The more days we stick to our plan, the more success we experience.

If you simply have a bad day and go over your calorie count, eat that candy bar or order a dessert with dinner. Then get back to your plan the next day, or better yet, the next meal. If we find ourselves eating everything in sight and going over our calorie count day after day, it’s time to re-evaluate. We offer a free wellness evaluation if you simply fill out our online form.

It’s alright to “treat” ourselves on occasion, but for me, occasionally is once a month. I have a friend that treats herself once a week. However, I can’t reccomend letting our mindset go to treating ourselves more often than once a week.

If your family has a special meal together once a week, you can still enjoy the meal. After church on Sundays, my family and I go out to eat. I can still enjoy eating wherever we go out to eat and I simply watch portion size, leave off the bread or other appetizers and skip dessert or share it. After all, being with family is the real reason to go and its great to not feel deprived or left out while not undoing my hard work for the week.

Combatting Retention

Last week we discussed water retention and its causes. Now, this week we’re going to discuss what to do about it.

One of the best ways is to drink extra water. The water helps get our bodies back in balance and eliminate the excess fluid.

Another great thing to do is to increase your vitamin C. Talk to your doctor and find out if a food high in vitamin C or supplement should be added to your diet.

In addition, there are supplements that can be taken on a regular basis to help ward off water retention. One popular supplement that I have taken regularly is Cell-U-Loss by Herbalife. This pill is to be taken 3 times a day and helps eliminate cellulite as well as water retention.

Lastly, I want to reccomend for those of you that suffer from this regularly to spek with your doctor. Find out if you need a low sodium diet, supplements, vitamin C, to drink more water or even a prescription water pill. Track what you you are eating and drinking and how bad the symptoms are. The more information you can give your health care provider, the better they can help you.

There are many more ways to combat water retention. What are some of the ones you have tried?