8 easy ways to lose weight

Need some extra help with your commitment and motivation? We are always very excited and motivated after the holidays but after a month or so we kind of lose momentum. Here are 8 simple ways to get you going again.

1. Learn to Read Labels

• labels provide information on how the food fits into an overall daily diet
• labels will include information on the amount per serving of saturated fat, cholesterol, dietary fiber, and other nutrients of health concern to today's consumers
• terms such as light," "fat-free," and "low-calorie" meet government definitions
• be consistent across product lines to make comparison shopping easier
• expressed in common measures
• reflect amounts people actually eat

Serving Sizes
Serving size is the first item listed on a nutrition label. Serving sizes are standardized, recommended snack or meal size portions. Depending on the type of food, the serving size may be indicated by cup measure or number, such as one cup of cereal or one slice of bread. Some foods, like salad dressing, can be represented by small measures like tablespoons. This information is followed by the metric amount (e.g., grams) the serving contains.

Serving size is the most important part of the food label. It is integral to using the additional information on the label to lose weight. Whether you count calories, fat grams, or carbs, it is impossible to accurately track them without knowing and measuring serving sizes.

Calories and Percent Fat Calories

The calories in a serving are displayed directly under the portion sizes. The number of calories you actually take in is determined by the number of servings you eat.

The FDA considers a food with 40 calories or less per serving to be low calorie; 100 calories per serving, moderate; and 400 calories or more per servings is a high calorie food (How to Understand).

The food label assumes that the typical adult needs 2,000 calories a day to maintain his/her weight. Most people fall somewhere in the middle, with men requiring more daily calories than women to maintain their weight.

It is recommended that your diet provides no more than 30 percent of total calories from fat (Choose a Diet). For a 2,000 calorie diet, no more than 600 calories of your day’s food intake should comprise of fat.

Using Food Labels in the Real World

The key part of using food labels is they provide instant portion control. The only way you can use food labels effectively is to measure and eat portions based on the recommended servings sizes.

The good news is, in time, assessing the serving size of your favorite foods will become second nature.

At first, measuring food servings will seem tedious, but it will not always be that way. Within a matter of weeks, you will learn to eyeball servings and practice automatic portion control.

Once you assess your caloric needs, food labels will help you identify areas in which you can cut back painlessly and lose weight.

For example, when you see your favorite yogurt contains 160 calories per serving, it will be much easier to identify one that contains 100 calories if you always check the nutrition label. If you eat yogurt every day, this one change can cut over 400 calories from your diet each week!

Remember ... every 3,500 calories cut or burned equals one pound lost. A little light reading on the packages of your favorite foods could be the start to making it happen.

2. Snack Smart

You can help prevent overeating and maintain blood sugar levels by eating something about every three hours. Getting too hungry will backfire on your efforts to eat healthy and practice portion control. Aim for a healthful, satisfying snack, such as an apple and some reduced-fat cheddar cheese. Eating more may seem counterintuitive, but smart snacking will help you lose weight.

3. Eat More Grains and Produce

Whole grains and fruits and veggies do more than provide nutrients that improve your health and reduce disease-risk; they can also help you lose weight. They're naturally low in calories, so you can eat more of them and have less room in your diet for less-than-healthful foods. Plus, the fiber in whole-grain foods and produce will help you feel fuller longer (which helps you control portions and avoid overeating) and as a result, lose weight.

4. Eat Enough, Often Enough

One of the worst ways to lose weight? Meal skipping. Many people think skipping meals is a great way to cut calories, but in the end, they fail to lose weight. You'll be more likely to overeat or even binge (when you finally do eat) if you do not eat regular meals. Plus your body may go into "starvation mode" if don't eat enough, causing you to maintain (or even gain) rather than lose weight!

5. Drink Plenty of Water

Water helps you lose weight in several ways: If you tend to have a problem with "water weight," drinking more water can help alleviate bloating. Replacing high-cal drinks such as soda with water cuts hundreds of calories. You shouldn't wait until you're feeling thirsty to drink water; thirst can be mistaken for hunger, causing you to overeat. Proper hydration improves your sense of well-being, which will keep up your motivation to lose weight.

6. Get Moving

It is virtually impossible to lose weight and keep it off without exercising regularly. Start out today by taking a brisk walk or riding a bike. Work your way up from 10 minutes to 30-40 minutes a day, most days a week, and you could reap health benefits and weight loss results in a matter of weeks. Plus, exercise boosts your metabolism, making it even easier to lose weight.

7. Practice Portion Control

Measuring food may seem like a drudgery, but it will prove invaluable in your efforts to lose weight. Start out by comparing a measured standard serving of foods to your typical helping. You may find you usually consume two or even three times the recommended serving. In time you will reprogram your brain to eyeball portion sizes, a key skill for losing weight.

8. Write it Down

What's the first thing I think anyone who wants to lose weight should do? Keep a food diary. All you have to do is jot down what, when, and how much you eat in a notebook, or you can do it online at a Web site like http://fitday.com A food diary will give you a clear picture of your current eating habits so you can identify the changes you need to make to lose weight.

Tip of the Week

Here you go... we have always known olive oil was good for you now there is more reason to use it.. have a great rest of your day everyone

http://www.realage.com/tips/more-amazing-olive-oil-news

Breakfast Omelet

This is what I have a lot of mornings for breakfast. I used to have bacon eggs pancakes etc (any wonder why I was so overweight??) until I came across this. It filled me up, was really tasty and I didn't have that ugh feeling like I did eating all the other fat stuff.

Nonstick cooking spray
2	cups sliced fresh mushrooms
3	tablespoons sliced green onion
1	clove garlic, minced
1	cup refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed, or 4 eggs
1/4	teaspoon herbes de Provence or dried thyme or basil, crushed
1/8	teaspoon salt
	Dash ground black pepper
1	teaspoon olive oil
1/4	cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (1 ounce)
1	tablespoon finely shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese
1	medium plum tomato, chopped
	Snipped fresh parsley (optional)

1. Lightly coat an unheated 6- to 7-inch nonstick skillet with flared sides with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, green onion, and garlic to skillet; cook until tender; stirring frequently. Remove mushroom mixture from skillet using a slotted spoon; set aside. If necessary, pour liquid out of skillet; carefully wipe out skillet.

2. In a medium bowl, combine egg product or eggs, herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper. Beat with a whisk or rotary beater until combined. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the oil to clean skillet. Preheat skillet over medium heat.

3. Pour half of the egg mixture into prepared skillet. Cook, without stirring, about 1 minute or until egg mixture begins to set. Run a spatula around edge of skillet, lifting egg mixture so uncooked portion flows underneath.

4. Continue cooking and lifting edges until egg mixture is set but is still glossy and moist. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese. Top with half of the mushroom mixture. Continue cooking until cheese just begins to melt. Using the spatula, lift and fold an edge of the omelet partially over filling. Transfer omelet to a warm plate. Prepare another omelet with remaining oil, egg mixture, mozzarella, and mushroom mixture. Top omelets with Asiago or Parmesan cheese, tomato, and, if desired, parsley. Makes 2 servings.

• Servings: 2 servings
• Calories 170
• Total Fat (g) 8
• Saturated Fat (g) 3
• Cholesterol (mg) 13
• Sodium (mg) 508
• Carbohydrate (g) 8
• Fiber (g) 2
• Protein (g) 20
• Vitamin A (DV%) 0
• Vitamin C (DV%) 0
• Calcium (DV%) 0
• Iron (DV%) 0

Diabetic Exchanges

• Vegetables (d.e.) 1.5
• Very Lean Meat (d.e.) 2.5

7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom

#1 - Right Thinking

Lay aside self-defeating, invalid mindsets that do not work. They have the power to keep you from different choices or developing new behaviors. Too often, we let those negative notions go unchallenged, and act as if they were true. If it is not working replace it with thinking that does work

Substitute for Nachos

I came across this years ago when I started losing weight. I was a huge Nacho fan (which is why I looked like a huge Nacho hehehehe) and wanted to substitute something that would still give me that taste and crunch. So try it out and let me know some feedback!

Mini Nachos/Pizzas

16 low salt Triscuits
1 tsp oregano and basil each
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
low salt salsa
6 TBSP low fat shredded cheese


Preheat broiler. Combine spices and set aside
Place crackers on rimmed baking sheet (I cover mine with parchment or foil paper)
place 1 tsp salsa in middle of each cracker
sprinkle with a bit of cheese

Place about 5" below heat element and broil till cheese just melts, about 15 seconds. Sprinkle with herbs and serve at once.

these really are very good. Makes 2 servings

Per serving:
69 calories
5g Protein
9g carbs
2g fat
1g fibre
264mg sodium

Let me know what you think

First week

Hello Everyone!

You will be happy to know that our team's first week added to a total of 24 pounds lost!!!! Great for you! You all deserve major pats on the back! Keep up the good work!

Tell me what you need.. are you looking for some recipes that are lighter? Need some snacking ideas? Some exercises that doesn't put you through hyper mode? This is your blog... ask away

Here's to an even better week!!!

Sally

Real Age

Here is a way to check to see what your REAL age is. When I first did this it was 6 years ago so I was 47. It showed my age as 62. I lost my weight, got more fit, started walking regularly and 3 years later at age 50 I was "down" to being 55. I did it again today and even with having been diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago I now am at 48 so am actually 5 years younger then my actual age.

What's your real age? I would be very interested in knowing.

http://www.realage.com/

Monday Jan 11 2010

From 363 to 360.

Personalized Workout

Here is a site from Prevention Magazine that if you enter your name and email address they will work out a workout for you.

http://www.prevention.com/newyou/index.shtml

I'm in....

Ok so my starting weight was 363lbs. If you want to read how I am doing for more than just weight updates feel free to look at my blog haysomtales.blogspot.com

Lets lose some weight and be healthy!!


PS Mom why'd you send me that invite 238 times???

My Story

I thought this might be a good start to this site...writing about my weight loss. Where do I start....I was diagnosed with migraines some 30 odd years ago. I had been having them since early teenage years but no one seemed to know what they were. The Neurologist finally prescribed a drug that typically was used for depression but he had found good results in his patients who suffered with migraines. It worked wonderfully but unfortunately one of the biggest side effect was weight gain. I went from 120 pounds to almost 200 in less then a year. Because the drug for that was new it never occured to anyone that it was a side effect. They kept saying I was eating too much.. uh I have 5 small kids who has time to eat??

At that time I started nursing school and doing some research for my drug therapy class I came across the drug and there it was big as ever... side effect weight gain. I went off the drug and it took me several years to get the weight off. About 6-7 years after that the migraines again were really bad so I went back on the drug. I thought this time it would be easier, I could watch what I ate etc. It took longer this time to put the weight on  but on it did come. I was working 2 jobs at the time, the little kids had grown to teenagers and Keith was going to school full time out of town and then working out of town on his breaks.

When we moved to BC I decided to go off the drug again. I had hit 250 pounds and it was very upsetting. This time it would not come off.. it was 40 off 50 on 50 off 50 on and back and forth for years. Then something else was going on with my body that we couldn't figure out. I also was struggling with pain with my spine which I had been for many years (partly due to the excessive weight on my joints and partly due to degenerative discs) and that was getting worse. I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and between that and the degeneration of my spine I ended up having to go on disability from work.

By the end of the first year of being at home I hit an all time high of 312.5. My scales only went to 275 and in my brain I figured that is where I sat. I could only walk with a cane and if I went out I had to use a wheelchair. 2 things hit home to me and I had my ah hah moment. It was Christmas 6 years ago. Our kids were coming over for dinner and I happened to see my daughter drive up to the door. I opened the door and one of my granddaughters came running up to me. I braced myself for her jumping up at me just as I heard my daughter tell her to not jump up as it would hurt my back. That upset me that I could no longer pick up my grandkids. The 2nd thing was Keith had gotten me a Team Canada hockey jersey. It was a 4Xl size and when I put it on I could barely pull it down over my hips. Not good.

We also had gotten family portraits done that week and when we picked them up I saw myself and thought ewwwwwwwwwww!. What I didn't know was at the same time, one of our daughter in laws was also saying the same thing to herself. We ended up starting our weight loss journey together and when we talked about it we realized we were just a few pounds apart when we started and we both ended up losing the same amount of weight in the same time frame. A very close friend of mine had been up at that same time and we were watching Dr. Phil while we were visiting and she was saying she wanted to follow his Ultimate Weight Loss Solutions plan but wanted to do it with someone. I said I would do it with her so we started our journey together. I read his book from start to finish and although I had always said I wasn't an emotional eater (my idea of an emotional eater was someone who pigged out when they were depressed or angry) but after reading it I realized I also was one. I related all family gatherings with food, all friends visiting with food, all movie nights with food. Get the picture? Every event, gathering, social outing had to involve food and lots of it.

I learned why I ate what I ate where I ate it and how I ate it. Once I got my head fixed the rest was history. I knew there was only TWO ways to losing weight successfully. Take in less and work out more. Plain and simple. Who would have thought diet and exercise was the key answer after all those years of yo-yo dieting??? The diet part I could work out the exercise was another story. My daughter lived a 6 minute walk from door to door and that was how I started. One foot in front of the other from my house to house. There was a park bench half way and I would have to sit there on my way and once I got to my daughter's house I had to lay down before I could attempt the walk back. I had to take some painkillers before I started my walk as it was very painful. Then one day I made it all the way there without stopping, then I could walk there and back without stopping. I remember the elation I felt the day I could walk all the way to my bank 4 blocks away without stopping!!! I was on top of the world!! And there was no stopping me then.

Like everything else I do in my life, I don't do something without learning how to do it, study how to do it and then plod in headfirst. I figured out what proper portions were and used things easy to use rather then having to measure every morsel. It was a lot easier to know a chicken breast the size of a deck of cards was easier to put on my plate then to have to weight the silly thing. It was easy to guage a ball sized potatoe then to weigh in grams etc. I also knew that my worst habit was not eating breakfast ever, rarely eating lunch and then from about 4pm till I went to bed it was constant eating. I had to start eating breakfast and so I did. It was hard let me tell you. But I stuck to it. My eating plan was breakfast, then a snack, then lunch, then a snack, then supper then nothing till the next morning. THAT nearly did me in let me tell you. We also had to go through the house and got rid of everything that was not a healthy option. If it was unopened we took it to the food back if it was opened we gave it away or threw it away.

We wrote to our children and told them what we were doing  and to help support us we needed them to NOT bring food with them when we had our movie nights etc. If they had to bring something then to bring a fruit or veggie tray. Definitely no more Costco size bags of Cheetos. I was surrounded by sabotagers. People constantly would say "Oh you can have just one piece, one bite won't kill you, you can diet tomorrow etc". Would you offer an insulin dependant diabetic a pice of cheesecake or a glass of scotch to an alcoholic? I had to get it through my head that this was NOT a diet but a lifestyle change.

Once I got my head on straight my body got on straight. I lost 150 pounds in 2 years and have kept it off for 4 years. I now weight myself still once a week and give myself a 5 pound window. Once I hit that 5 pound mark I look back at my food intake and output and automatically see where I have falthered. But now instead of eating half a cheesecake, I now have half a piece, or if I go to McDonalds with the grandchildren I will share a cheeseburger with one of the little ones etc. I will have to be diligent for the rest of my life. This is my 4th Christmas since I lost my weight that I have not gained the proverbial 10 pounds. That makes me happy.

I still have 20 pounds to lose and this will help me work that off with the help of others who will join with me. I hope that together we can make us a healthier us in 2010, one pound at a time. In closing I would like to add some pictures of me with the hockey jersey that was the pivoting moment in my life. The one of two of us in the shirt is the same granddaughter who had not been able to jump in my arms 6 years ago.