This week on the Oprah Winfrey show, she invited people who lost dramatic amounts of weight to share their stories. All of the people that were there were able to drop the pounds without surgery, and without diet pills.  One women dropped over 500 pounds! Really, it’s amazing and is a great motivator. If these people can lose that much weight, we can reach our goals too whether it’s 10, 50, or 100 pounds. Here are a few before and after pictures:

Nancy

Current weight: 173 pounds
Total weight loss: 530 pounds

David

Current weight: 173 pounds
Total weight loss: 530 pounds

Bunny

Current weight: 168 pounds
Total weight loss: 267 pounds

Chris

Current weight: 180 pounds
Total weight loss: 187 pounds

Emily

Current weight: 135 pounds
Total weight loss: 160 pounds

Apparently there are restaurants popping up over the country specializing in none other than breakfast cereal! They’re called “cereal bars” and are becoming quite popular. I live in a rather small city where these restaurants haven’t made their way here yet, but they can be found in larger cities like Chicago, Miami, Indiana, and more.  Instead of offering the plain ole bowl of cereal, they mix it up and form new creations that their customers have to love. Shape Magazine posted three different “recipes” from three different restaurants and I think you’ll love them!

1. Something Sweet…
   Mix ½ cup Cheerios, ½ cup Special K, 2 tbsp. walnuts, ½ cup sliced peaches, and 1 tsp. honey. Add milk. (From Cereality Cereal Bar & Cafe in Philadelphia)
   
2. Something Warm…
   Stir 1/3 cup canned pumpkin-pie filling and 1 crushed graham cracker into 1 cup cooked plain oatmeal. Sprinkle with about ¼ tsp. each ground ginger and cinnamon. (From the Cereal Bowl in Miami)
   
3. Something Crunchy…
   Mix ½ cup Wheaties, ¼ cup lowfat granola, ¼ cup trail mix, and a sliced banana; add milk. (From Cereal Barn & Peanut Butter Cafe in Bloomington, Indiana)

The #2 recipe sounds like a wonderful concoction, doesn’t it? Especially this time of year in the mid-west when it’s cold and snowy. I haven’t tried any of these mixes, but they all sound great!

It’s the time of year when many of us will be spending more time socializing with family, friends, and co-workers. Those who are throwing the party or invited you over are going to feel obligated to offer you food, and it’ll likely be foods that you’re trying to avoid. Food Pushers are going to be around every corner, so you need to know what to do in advance so that you can enjoy yourself, but keep your lifestyle and diet on track.

• You’re invited to happy hour … Your friends and co-workers are going to want you to enjoy a cocktail with them, but it’s not hard to get out of this one. If you must drink, choose a low calorie beer or wine spritzer. Then just babysit the drink all night long!
• Your spouse, partner, boyfriend or girlfriend … If they’re not watching their calories, they’ll probably want to indulge with your company. One way to solve this is to get them involved in eating healthy too, but allow one day where you two can indulge together.
• Boss bought lunch at the office… and it wouldn’t be polite to not show up. Eat a healthy snack in the middle of the morning so you aren’t so hungry, and then eat a few bites of what they’ve bought.
• The in-laws invite you over for a calorie filled, high-fat dinner… Offer to bring a dish to pass, and make it something you’ll feel comfortable eating. Then just take small portions of what they offer and eat a bite or two.
• You’re on a date… and your date takes you to a nice restaurant where he wants to impress you. Telling him you’re on a diet may not be such a great idea if you don’t know each other well, so either order something healthy for yourself, or make up an excuse like you ate a late lunch. Then he’ll be understanding when you just nibble on the five course meal he ordered for you.

Source: AOL Body

I don’t know about you, but I’m STILL trying to get rid of Thanksgiving leftovers, especially turkey which seems to be never ending. Instead of continuing to eat the turkey on a sandwich for lunch, I decided to seek out a recipe for soup… but not just plain ole’ traditional turkey soup. I found a recipe for Tex-Mex Turkey soup and it sounds delicious! If you still have a plate full of turkey you’d like to get rid of, give this recipe a try.

 All you’ll need:

One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 small onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces raw, dried angel hair pasta, broken into 1″ pieces
3 cups drained, canned pinto beans
6 cups low-sodium turkey or chicken stock
1 1/2 cups cooked, diced turkey
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
chopped, fresh cilantro for garnish

All you’ll do:

1. In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic and Cajun seasonings. Process until smooth.

2. In a heavy soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta starts to turn golden, about 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Add the beans, tomato mixture and the chicken stock. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, until the pasta is al dente, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the turkey and heat thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Ladle the soup into 6 bowls and garnish with the cilantro. Serve immediately.

Serving Size: about 1 1/2 cups

Calories per serving: 283

Fat grams per serving: 6

When you decide that you want to change your lifestyle so that you’re happier and healthier, it can be daunting to think of all the things that you need to do to get there. If you set out and think you have to do it all at once, chances are, you’ll fail.  Today we’re going to look at just five foods that you should cut back on that will give you the start that you need to get you on your way to a healthier lifestyle.

• Sodium
  Pay attention to the sodium content in the foods that you eat.  Frozen foods, fast food, and foods from restaurants are almost always extremely high in sodium. High sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure among other things. Use fresh ingredients when you cook, and you’ll have no trouble lowering the amount of salt that you consume.
• Caffeine
  You don’t have to eliminate caffeine from your diet, at least not yet. But what you should do is cut back. It really doesn’t do your body much good, and you’ll be better off without it.
• Sugar
  Sugar provides you with no nutrients and can lead to weight gain. Instead of turning to candy, cakes, and pies, try eating a piece of fresh fruit. It’ll help satisfy your sweet tooth and provide you with nutrients, all at the same time.
• Fats and Cholesterol
  Our bodies need fat- it’s a given. But, out bodies don’t need fat in the amount that many of us eat it. Fast food often times is nothing but fat and cholesterol, especially fast food that’s fried. Try to reduce or eliminate foods that are high in fat like butter and gravies, ice cream, fatty meats, and fried foods.
• Alcohol and smoking
  Most alcohol has a high sugar content which we know can promote weight gain. Remember to drink in moderation or eliminate it completely, and avoid tobacco.

Source: Yahoo Health

Yesterday we talked about a few things that you can do to keep the holiday weight off, so today I thought we’d look at ways you can make Thanksgiving dinner just a bit healthier and easier on your figure. Given the average Thanksgiving dinner has over 2,000 calories, eating healthy is key!

• Don’t show up to Thanksgiving dinner starving! You’ll eat a lot more.  Be sure to eat a great breakfast and if time allows, lunch. This will prevent you from overeating once all of that food is before your eyes.
• Fill your plate with veggies! If there are multiple vegetables, take some of each. Once your plate is half filled with veggies, choose a starch and leave room for that turkey.
• Limit high fat items — like gravy! Other items like green bean casserole and mashed potatoes are usually loaded with fat. If you’d like to indulge a little, be sure to do so in moderation.
• Portion-size - Keep an eye out for portion sizes! It’s easy to load up a big mound of potatoes and stuffing, so be conscious of what you’re putting on your plate.
• Choose a skinless piece of turkey - The skin of the turkey just provides you with fat and cholesterol which we all could do without.  Choose an appropriate portion of turkey… but leave the skin.

It’s Thanksgiving week and we all know what that means — food, food, and more food. It’s inevitable that between now and the start of the new year, most of us will be indulging a bit with friends and family. Just because you indulge doesn’t mean you have to gain a bunch of weight. Here are a few suggestions to keeping the weight off and enjoying the holidays a bit more.

1. Send all the leftovers home! If you’re cooking for a bunch of people, be sure to send all of those mashed potatoes and stuffing home with your friends and family. Keep the turkey though, that’ll be great on top of a salad or a sandwich.
2. Set weekly exercise goals. With holiday parties and the hustle and bustle of shopping, it’s easy to ditch the exercise. Keep it a part of your routine, and you’ll be able to indulge here and there without putting the pounds on.
3. If by chance you do skip the exercise and over-indulge (notice I said it’s okay to indulge, just not over-indulge) — don’t beat yourself up.  Keep a positive attitude and do your best to stay on-track.
4. Pick and choose the times that you’re going to drink alcohol.  Alcohol is simply empty calories and you should limit your intake as much as possible. Instead of two glasses of wine, have one. Two or three beers? Not such a good idea nor is multiple martinis or a couple long island’s.
5. Don’t stress! The holidays can be a stressful time, but try not to stress like crazy. Stress can increase the chemicals in the body that cause weight-gain, especially around the mid-section.

Finally…. have fun! It’s a great time of the year and you deserve to enjoy it.

Source

If you have just 30 minutes of spare time during your day, you can use it to better your health. Even if you have to skip your favorite TV show, it’ll be worth it!  A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that incorporating 30 minutes of walking into your day can have unbelievable benefits.  They found it was enough to prevent weight gain (and who doesn’t want to prevent weight gain?) and can help encourage moderate weight loss. I can vouch for this too!

Back in the Fall of 2006, I was finishing my last semester of college student teaching in a 2nd grade classroom. It was definitely one of the most challenging times of my life and a time where I had hardly enough energy to come home and cook dinner, let alone go back out to go to the gym.  My husband and I had already gotten into the habit of taking a daily walk previous to my student teaching, and so we continued to take our walks while I was teaching. Not only did walking help calm my mind and give us a chance to talk about what went on during the day, but my husband was able to maintain his weight and I was able to drop a few pounds over 5 months.

If you really don’t have 30 minutes to give up, don’t worry, a brisk 10 minute walk can be quite effective as well. Helene Glassberg, MD says, “Just the act of going from sedentary to moderately active gives you the greatest reduction in your risks.” Take baby steps! Start incorporating just 10 minutes of activity, and when you have more time, up that time to 20 or 30 minutes. At the same time, remember to take baby steps at the dinner table to eliminate fats or unhealthy foods that your body could do without.

Source: WebMD

A recent article over at AOL Body caught my attention because it was titled “5 Food Fixes for Flat Abs.” I read the title and thought to myself that it couldn’t be possible to eat certain foods to trim my abs, so I read on to see what it meant. The gist of the article was this - foods alone aren’t going to trim your mid-section, but they’ll certain help. Here’s their advice for getting a flatter tummy:

• Eat Fruits and Veggies (duh!) - in particular, orange ones like carrots. Researchers believe that foods like carrots are loaded with antioxidants which ward off ab fat.
• Eat foods with Selenium - apparently selenium is a cancer fighting mineral that also helps lower rates of abdominal obesity. This one is tricky though because the levels of selenium you get will vary based upon where the foods were grown. They suggest to get a supplement if you don’t think you’re getting enough.
• Incorporate protein - Protein helps keep you full, boost your energy, and can help reduce the amount of fat being stored in your mid-section.
• Drink a glass of wine - It’s not that you should start drinking, but if you already drink a glass of wine each day, know that there are some benefits!
• Eat healthy fats - like olive oil and Omega 3s!

Can you imagine life without a Microwave? I can’t. I use it all the time for cooking frozen veggies, popping popcorn, and heating up those leftovers from last night’s dinner. I must admit, it’s one of the more useful appliances I have around the house and one that simplifies my life. While I use it frequently, I’m not “addicted” to it.

So what do I mean by addicted? According to Jo Ann Hattner, RD, clinical dietitian at Stanford University Medical Center, many of us have an addiction to the microwave.  We come home from work, starving, and pop a frozen dinner into the microwave. Minutes later, dinner is on the table and your stomach has been satisfied.  What’s wrong with this picture is that a small frozen meal alone usually isn’t enough, but more importantly, you’re not getting enough fiber and antioxidants.

Did the scenario I just described sound like you? Here’s what you can do to get all of the nutrients that you need: Instead of eating just the frozen dinner alone, try pairing it with a green leafy salad and a small whole wheat roll.  Should your sweet tooth crop up later on you, try eating a piece of fruit for dessert.  This way you’ll get the nutrients that you need, and you’ll probably walk away from the table feeling more satisfied than if you had just eaten the frozen dinner alone.

Source: Yahoo Health