Finding Peace in the Mirror

Loving yourself really is half the battle! It's hard to look in the mirror and see things that you don't like, whether you think you're too skinny or you wish your nose was smaller, there's always something we wish we could change about our physical appearance. It's important to remember that looks aren't everything. Accepting and loving yourself for who you are, flaws and all, is an important part of living a healthy life. If you love yourself enough to take care of yourself, you will naturally make healthier lifestyle choices. I found this article called "Finding Peace in the Mirror: The Quest for a Healthy Body Image" by Pamela H. Hansen and I wanted to share it with you because it really hit home with me. The quote that I posted last week was actually taken from this article in LDSLiving:

A lot of unhappiness results from agonizing over our physical appearance. But if we are able to see the divinity inherent in our wonderful mortal bodies, we can find a serenity and peace that eludes those who are caught up in the world’s obsession with the so-called ideal body.
-Pamela H. Hansen

She also relates being physically healthy to our spiritual well-being. It's a wonderful article and if you want to read it I've posted the link on the side bar or just click the link in the first paragraph.

What shape are you?

Like it or not we all have "predetermined" body shapes, that is to say we all have certain places fat deposits like to settle the best. There are 3 different body types
The apple-shape: people with the apple body type tend to store fat around their midsection (belly). This is the most dangerous place to store fat because it surrounds your vital organs, meaning it is the most likely to lead to heart disease. Apple shaped people need to be or become health conscious to avoid excess fat stored in this area.
The pear-shape: Pear shaped individuals tend to store fat below the belt, that is in the hips and thighs. It is harder to lose than belly fat but it is not so dangerous to your health as belly fat.

The proportioned shape - These people distribute fat evenly throughout their bodies.

Holiday Feasting

So it's that time of year again, people are putting up Christmas tress and lights and there's the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers everywhere you go, not to mention the Christmas treats in the oven and the parties being thrown with all kinds of yummy not-so figure friendly food! But do not despair you can still enjoy all the things you love and keep the extra pounds at bay! How you ask? Just a simple matter of portion control! I know you've probably grown entirely weary of hearing me blabber on about how portion control is the key, but my friends, it's the truth! ANY food can be a part of a healthy diet as long as it's enjoyed in moderation! That is a wonderful thing, it gives you a free pass to go ahead and have a cookie and not feel guilty about it ! Here are some other tips for all those goodies that are sure to come your way this holiday season!

- If you don't LOVE it, don't eat it! Just because you start to eat something doesn't mean you have to finish it if you don't love it. For example, you're at a Christmas party and you put a cookie on your plate that looks delish, but when you take a bite it's only so-so, DON'T finish it and don't feel bad for not doing so! Put it back on your plate or throw it away, your hips will thank you when the season passes and you can still fit into your fave pair of jeans!

- Have an apple or a light snack BEFORE you go to dinner or a party where you know there will be a lot of unhealthy food and snacks. Doing this keeps you from being famished and loading your plate up with everything that looks edible!

- This one is probably going to be difficult if you're like me and love to bake, especially for the holidays, so take it in stride. Instead of baking cookies and other goodies to give to friends and neighbors (which come on let's be honest, we sample everything that comes out of the oven because we wouldn't want to give away bad cookies...=) why not give away little baskets of Christmas oranges or clementines or any wintery fruit for that matter? Not only are these baskets pretty, but it's ok if you sample the holiday fare!

I have to run the baby's awake, but if I have any more tips I'll be sure to send them your way and as always, if you have any tips of your own please share!

Slacking

Ok, so it's been over a month since my last post, so sorry! My baby's been in the emergency room twice in the past two weeks and sick pretty much all month. Poor thing. Anyway, I'll have some healthy holiday tips coming so don't give up on me yet!

Eating Out

It's a lot easier to make healthy choices when you are the one fixing the meals, but what to do when you go to a restaurant? Should you avoid eating out entirely so you can stick to eating healthy? No! A lot of people who "diet" (I hate that word in relation to losing weight) feel like they need to be social outcasts and refuse all lunch/dinner invitations because "there's no way to eat out and stick to their 'diet.'" That is untrue, you just have to know how to maneuver the menu to choose the healthiest choices. Here are some tips for eating healthy while eating out:

1. Stay away from options described as "creamy"- This means that they are undoubtedly made with heavy cream and/or whole milk which adds mucho calories to that piece of chicken or bowl of pasta.

2. Be salad smart - It's true that salads are definitely a healthy choice while eating out, but what gets people is the salad dressing. When those good for you greens are drowned in ranch, your healthy salad just turned into a fat bomb! If you're like me and still like dressing on your salad, order the dressing on the side and dip your fork in the dressing before you dig in. This way you get the yummy-ness without ALL the fat and calories.

3. Think H2O- Instead of ordering the magically refilling glass of soda, order water with lemon. This will save you hundreds of calories because the waiter refills your soda glass how many times before during and after the meal? I mean who keeps count of how many times the sneaky guy comes by and refills your soda glass anyway? Water is definitely the way to go.

4. Go grilled - Order your food grilled instead of fried. One tablespoon of oil is 100 calories and when foods are fried they practically take a bath in the stuff so that adds a few hundred more calories and, you guessed it, lots of fat to your meal. Even if the menu doesn't have the grilled option you can usually still get it grilled if you ask.

5. Substitute the fries - Ask for fresh fruit or steamed veggies instead of those fried fries, same things applies, even if the menu doesn't have the option, you can substitute for a healthier choice.

6. Ask for a box as soon as your meal comes (or before) - Portions these days are out of control, so ask for a box and place half of your meal in the box before you start eating. This way it's not on your plate tempting you when you are full.

Those are some of my tips. Does anyone else have any other tips or ideas to add?

Of Diet Pills and Food Journals...

Unfortunately there is not a "magic" pill that will make you thin and healthy, if there was everyone would be taking it!!! There are no substitutes for eating healthy and exercising. My take on diet pills/appetite suppressants is if you talk to your doctor about them and he prescribes you one then by all means go for it, but if you just want to shed 10 or 20 pounds, I wouldn't experiment with diet pills. They can seriously mess with your body and not in a good way (remember ephedra?) So to answer your question, there are not any diet pills that I would recommend.

I've found that the thing that works best for people trying to change their eating habits, rather than taking a diet pill, is to keep a food journal. Write down EVERYTHING that passes your lips for a week, then go back andreview it. What you find may surprise you. I've had people, who before I asked them to do this, thought they were eating healthy and then, when we went through their food journal, were taken back by how much food and how many calories they were actually consuming on a daily basis.There are online food journals that can be helpful also. SparkPeople has one that I used to use when I worked at the gym, just click on the link and you can check it out. Just remember when you're keeping a food journal you need to write down EVERYTHING, even if you just eat a couple peanuts or drink a glass of milk, write it down!

Clean Plate Club

When you were growing up did your parents ever say to you "You can't leave the table until you eat everything on your plate!" or "If you don't clean your plate no dessert!" Your membership in the "Clean Plate Club" could be sabotaging your efforts to lose weight. As adults we still think that we need to eat everything on our plates or we're wasting food and the people in Ethiopa are starving while we're not finishing everything on our plates! Well, even if you boxed your leftovers and mailed it to them, the food would spoil and get thrown away anyhow, so what's the difference? =) Now is as good a time as any to relinquish your membership to the "Clean Plate Club"! Don't feel like you have to eat everything on your plate, when you're full, put your fork down and push the plate away or take it to the sink, that way the temptation to clean your plate is gone. My mantra is "If you want a little behind, you need to leave a little behind!" I love that saying and besides being cute it is SO true. Did you know that by just cutting 100 calories out of your diet a day that's cutting 36,500 calories a year, which translates to losing 10.4 pounds?!?! And that's just by cutting 100 calories!

Couch to 5K...

Valerie told us about this site and I checked it out, it's a great way to get yourself going if you've been at a lost of how to get started on a program. It maps out a week by week program to get you from the couch to a 5k in 2 months. The site is www.coolrunning.com then click on the Couch to 5k link. Thanks Valerie!=)

Running - A Love Hate Relationship...

Some of you have expressed a desire to learn how to love running. I've given this A LOT of thought, why do some people hate running and why do some people love running? Here's what I've come up with: a lot of people don't like running because they try to achieve a run that is above their current fitness level. If you haven't been exercising regularly and decide hmmm..I think I'm going to go for a run today, your run is going to be miserable! You'll be out of breath, in pain, and it will breed an intense dislike for running because it makes you feel awful. Who wants to intentionally make themselves feel that way? Nobody! On the otherhand if you start out slow and work your fitness level up to where running is comfortable for you, you are much more likely to develop a good relationship with running. It just takes a little patience! Here's how to start: Start with walking at a pace that is not too easy and not too difficult (use the talk test I posted about below) Walk at this pace for at least 1 week if you're walking most (5-6) days of the week, 2 weeks if you're walking 3 days a week. By this time this speed should be too easy for you and you should bump up the speed to a pace that is a little more challenging. Continue increasing your speed every week or two and you'll be well on your way to a healthier you who MAY have learned to love running (I'm not making any promises!=). Just remember you don't have to become a runner to be healthy, so don't be discouraged! There are a lot of other activities that you can do, the important thing is to find something that you enjoy doing so you'll continue doing it.

Just a little side note: David, my husband, started this program (combined with portion control) July 1st and has lost 30 lbs! I just want to give him a big pat on the back and tell him how impressed I am with him and the efforts he's made to live healthier!

Exercising to Lose Weight

Sorry I've taken so long to post! We've been out of town for the past 5 days and I haven't had access to a computer! Let's jump right in to answering Jen's question about the best exercises to lose weight. The best exercises to achieve weight loss are going to be cardiovascular exercises. These should be weight bearing exercises such as walking, jogging, swimming, etc. If you're just getting started on an exercise program, start slow. Lots of people want to jump in full force which will lead to overtraining injuries (such as pulled muscles) Let's say you're going to go with walking to start off your exercise program, you need to make sure that you are working and not just out for a Sunday stroll (although a Sunday stroll is better than nothing at all!) To gauge your intensity, use the talk test: if you can carry on a light conversation while exercising, then you are in a good intensity range. Once your speech starts to break, slow, or cause discomfort, you’re working too hard and you might want to take it down a notch. This test is easy to use while you're exercising. If you are on a machine that tells you your heart rate calculating your target heart rate (where your body burns calories most efficiently) will tell you if you are exercising at the right intensity. To calculate your target heart rate subtract your age from 220. For example, if you're 25, 220-25= 195. 195 is your maximum heart rate(the max number your heart beats per minute). You would then multiply 195 by 70% (.70) to get your target heart rate -->  195x70%=136.5 (137) So if you are 25 years old your target heart rate is 137 beats per minute. Try to exercise at your target heart rate for at least 20 minutes of your workout. It is important not to exercise over your maximum heart rate because you are making your heart work too hard which can cause potential problems.

Nursing Mommas!!!

So, for you nursing mommas out there (me being one of them, so I've taken special interest in this topic!), there is a lot of conflicting information on how many calories nursing "burns" and how many calories you need to eat. Valerie you were right on, the answer is NOT 2600-2800, that is WAY too many calories (unless you are a VERY active person, and most of us, the Domestic Goddesses that we are, do not fall into that category!=). Taking in 2600-2800 calories will definitely get you to keep (if not add to) the baby weight! The fact of the matter is, your body uses 600-800 calories a day to produce milk (depending on how often your baby nurses).  When you factor that in to your pre-pregnancy caloric intake, shave a couple hundred calories off for weight loss, your intake should be around 1800 calories a day. Don't worry about affecting your milk supply though. Studies have been done on nursing mothers in countries where the mothers do not get enough food and they still produce quality milk for their infants. Our bodies are amazing in that if we don't get the nutrients and vitamins our babies need from our food, our bodies take from our stores to make sure the baby gets the best nourishment your body can provide. Don't take that the wrong way, I'm not saying it's okay to starve yourself! That's definitely NOT a good idea, I'm just saying don't be overly concerned about losing your milk supply if you're just cutting a couple hundred calories from your diet; as long as your diet is well balanced, you and your baby will be fine! Excellent question!

Eating Well

Today, I'm going to let you all in on a little secret...the secret of how to lose weight. The secret is...(drumroll)... EAT! Counterintuitive, I know, but believe it or not if you want to lose weight you HAVE to eat. Skipping meals is not going to help you, it's just going to hurt you. For example, if you skip breakfast (the most commonly skipped meal, but also the most important!) by the time lunch rolls around you're  going to be so hungry you'll over indulge. The key is to eat 6 SMALL meals a day instead of 3 BIG meals. Constantly fueling your body with healthy foods is going to rev up your metabolism. The key to this is portion control, portion control, portion control. TIP: Dinner plates now a days are HUGE, so if you eat off of your salad plates instead, you'll be less likely to overeat.
 
So, now to Jen's question,what should we eat?  I could go on and on and on about this one, but I'll try to do this Reader's Digest style! For breakfast opt for the egg or a bowl of high fiber cereal with skim milk instead of the bagel with cream cheese. The egg is high in protein and low in calories (1 egg = 70 calories 6 grams of protein), while the cereal is high in fiber which will keep you full longer (Raisin Bran or All Bran are good ones.) Like I mentioned before just be careful when it comes to portions. A serving of Raisin Bran is 1 cup, if you have to break out the measuring cup, go for it! It's really easy to eat more than one serving when it comes to cereal. Snacks should be 120 calories or less if you're trying to lose weight. If you aren't in the habit already, try to get in the habit of checking the nutrition facts of what you eat. Fruits and vegetables are excellent choices for snacks as well as yogurt (Yoplait lights are yummy and only 100 calories!), and string cheese (70-80 calories, Weight Watchers Brand has only 50 calories) Okay, hopefully you're not on information overload. Before I go into too much detail, I'd like to get your input so I take this in the right direction. Like I said before I could go on and on with this one, it's a rather broad topic, so any questions or concerns you guys have about what to eat will help guide me so I can give you the information you want. With that being said, I'll save the rest for another post! Feel free to add any suggestions or tips you have about what meals and snacks work for you!

What's in a name??

For those of you wondering why I chose to title this blog "Feeling Hot, Living Healthy," I want to pose a question to you: When do you feel your "hottest?" Is it after looking through a fashion or beauty magazine, or after watching a movie with a pencil thin leading lady? Or is it after you had a great workout, achieved a personal goal, or ate a healthy meal? It's probably different for everybody, but one thing I've found is that after I sit down with a fashion or beauty magazine I definitely DON'T feel my "hottest." I feel lacking. I know I can't possibly be the only woman  who feels this way. I don't think that society's definition of "HOT" is what we should aspire to. Let's face it, we're all not built to be 5'10", 100 lbs, it's not healthy and it's not realistic. So what is your definition of "hot?" When do you feel your absolute best and comfortable in your own skin? Since I'm asking the question, I'll be the first to answer it. I feel my personal best after I've had a good run, there's nothing in the world like runner's high! What about you?