STARTING A NEW EATING PLAN

HERE is an article with some tips for surviving your next attempt at a diet.
Tips:

1) Eat protein and whole grains to avoid the tummy rumble you're destined to experience when you curb your intake
2) Drink lots of water to aid your body as it sheds excess water stores
3) Plan an ACTIVITY for the weekend (like a hike, bike ride, Wii fest, or LAZER TAG!) instead of planning a night to eat/drink out. You're less likely to engage in behavior that will blow your whole diet
4) Add strength training to keep weight loss up when you hit a plateau
5) Replace old habits (like snacking on chips while watching TV) with new healthy ones (hula-hooping in front of the TV!). Every-time you resist your old habits it gets easier to resist in the future!
6) Call your doc to get a cholesterol test. If you need motivation to keep losing, knowing you're getting healthier may be a good one
7) DON'T GET DISCOURAGED AROUND YOUR PERIOD! Your body naturally holds on to an extra few pounds of water weight. Don't sweat it or give up, it's temporary
8) As you drop the pounds, buy some new clothes or lingerie. Fitting into something that makes you feel sexy and beautiful can help encourage you to keep going
9) Seek out new coping strategies, like dancing or listening to music, so when you reach your goal you wont sabotage your hard work with a binge
10) Mix up your workouts, especially if you hit a plateau. Stimulating new muscle groups in different orders can help rev up your lagging metabolism!
11) Enjoy yourself but don't give up on yourself while you're on vacation! Don't deprive yourself but don't let loose either. For example, instead of choosing either the fetuccini alfredo or a salad without dressing, go for the pesto pasta. It still has the richness of the alfredo but without all the cream and calories!
12) When you reach your goal, reward yourself (NOT WITH FOOD). Take a vacation, get a massage, etc.

Best way to beat the dowsides of diets? Change your eating lifestyle entirely instead of focusing on short-term weight loss; you're more likely to avoid the yo-yo dieting that so many (myself included) have become familiar with.

NOT ALL SUGAR IS SO SWEET

HERE is an article about a recent study that showed once and for all that NOT all sugar is created equal!! In the study, participants stuck to strict guidelines and ingested a regulated amount of sweetened beverages every day, one group with glucose sweetened beverages and one with fructose sweetened beverages. The results?

Both groups gained weight (stick to unsweetened tea!), but the group that drank the FRUCTOSE sweetened beverages also saw increases in their fat deposits and alteration of their liver function! The fructose group also saw signs of the beginning stages of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. NOT GOOD.

This was regular old fructose, that natural sugar found in fruits. When combined with all of the ingredients of a whole piece of fruit (pulp, fiber, minerals, etc.), fructose does NOT have these effects. But when extracted and used alone it is harmful and leads to increased inflammation throughout the body (which can also lead to cancer).

Now think about HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. Take the negative effects of fructose times 1,000! It has higher concentrations of fructose and therefore the negative effects are magnified; you might as well shove your face into a vat of table sugar... it'd be healthier!

Lesson learned: avoid anything sweetened with fructose if at all possible!

HEALTHY BODY AND PLANET

HERE is an article about 8 things you can do to help protect your health AND the planet! The 8 tips are:

1) Take shorter showers
2) Bypass the dry cleaners (also saves $$$!)
3) Go easy on beef
4) Ditch air fresheners
5) Buy organic coffee
6) Skip the liquid soap
7) Toss the flea collar
8) Nix the screen-saver

ALL good tips for saving energy and avoiding exposing yourself to toxic chemicals!