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!

SLIMMER FOR SUMMER

HERE is an article on some additional tips for losing those last few pounds. I don't like the article's title, but the tips are legit. Summary:

1) Downsize dinner, then sip green tea (eat more calories earlier in the day)
2) Burn off your indulgences (if you DO slip and eat that cake, work it off in the gym)
3) Be a cereal swapper (go for oatmeal instead of cereal)
4) Do a whole body cleanse (like the one in my previous post!)
5) Cut liquid calories (drop the latte and go for black coffee or tea. And NO SODA!)
6) Pump the produce (EAT MORE VEGGIES! Especially ORGANIC veggies)
7) Keep a food diary (Helps you see how many calories you are REALLY eating)
8) Skip the condiments (No mayo or oil. Go for mustard or nothing at all)
9) Take a spa day (MENTAL cleanse!)
10) Take tips from the South Beach Diet (aka cut out refined sugars and overly starchy foods)

WALNUTS FOR HEALTHY BREASTS

NEW research shows that walnuts may help reduce the risk of developing breast cancer!

Great ways to get walnuts into your diet include sprinkling them onto your salad, throwing a handful of ground walnuts into your risotto or brown rice, and adding a handful to some greek yogurt (or SOY YOGURT!).

On top of the cancer prevention, walnuts also have a TON of healthy fats that help to prevent hardening of the arteries and help to keep skin and hair glowing and healthy!

So snack away! Walnuts are yummy and their benefits are still being discovered!

MORE BREAST FEEDING BENEFITS

So we all know that breast feeding is great for baby, but here comes yet ANOTHER study that shows that breast feeding is also beneficial for mom! Some of the benefits:

*Lower risk of osteoporosis
*Lower risk of heart disease
*Weight loss (yep, it burns calories and decreased fat storage!)
*Lower risk of breast and ovarian cancer

And ALL of these benefits are increased the longer you breast feed! Turns out mother nature knew what she was doing when she blessed woman with their ta-tas!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Today, April 22nd, is Earth Day! Celebrate with some of the ideas provided HERE !!

So plant a tree, turn off your lights for an hour, GET OUTSIDE, or contribute to a worthy eco-friendly charity (like The Nature Conservancy, The World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, etc.).

Happy greening!

LOW-COST, ECO-FRIENDLY BEAUTY

I have tried a TON of natural skincare products (and gone bankrupt in the process) and seen very few that actually work. So when I found a toner and moisturizer that ACTUALLY helped with my occasional pimples and reduced the prominence of my age spots (yep, already have some), I knew I had to share the news with anyone who would listen!

The brand Earth Science, you can check out their products HERE, is AMAZING!! Free of parabens, pthalates, and other harmful ingredients, these products cannot be beat! Not to mention my toner only costs $8.75!

I highly recommend the Clarifying Herbal Astringent (it's very gentle but effective), and the A/B Hydroxy Night Rejuvenator.




Oh, and if you have a moment, PLEASE CLICK ON OUR ADVERTISERS!! It helps to support the blog :)

PUPPY PALATE

I found THIS website with a list of vegetarian dog treat recipes!

A great way to please your puppy without spending a ton of cash. Not to mention you can make this a fun activity on a boring Monday evening. Invite friends who also have pets to come over and bring a few of the ingredients (and their pooch, of course!) and have a baking party.

Here is the recipe for the "Apple Cinnamon Pupcakes":

Ingredients:
1 tbl. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 tbl honey
4 cups flour
2 ¾ cups water
¼ c. unsweetened applesauce
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c. dried or fresh apple
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all wet ingredients thoroughly. Mix dry ingredients separately. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixing as you go. Make sure dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated into the wet.

Pour mixture into muffin tins. Bake for 1 ¼ hours or until toothpick comes out dry. Makes 12-14 pupcakes in regular pans or around 30 “mini” pupcakes.

DON'T HAVE A DOG? HERE is a website with some vegetarian KITTY treat recipes, too!

WEEKEND DETOX

So I've been feeling a bit crappy this week, mostly due to major changes in my diet. I'm staying with my parents, which means food that isn't exactly so healthy and tends to be loaded with trans and saturated fat, dairy, and white sugar. I searched the internet for some detox plans that DON'T involve starvation and found THIS article.

In this economy, why spend a ton of money at a detox getaway spa or buying "detox" regimens from your local grocery store? Create your OWN detox plan for a lot less! Try it out for yourself! For a successful weekend detox, include the following:

1) Eat ONLY raw, organic foods, focusing on fresh organic fruits and veggies.
2) Drink caffeine-free herbal teas, like the Peach Detox Tea from Yogi Teas (look for Dandelion in the ingredient list), plus Ginger tea and Peppermint tea are great for easing and supporting digestion.
3) Take FIBER! Psyllium is a great option, but make sure to increase your overall water intake to almost 3 Liters per day (it helps move the psyllium through and prevents you from becoming dehydrated or forming a blockage). Try Trade Joe's: Trader Darwin's Secrets of the Psyllium. Benefiber is great, too, plus it's a little easier to swallow...
4) Take Milk Thistle. It helps support your liver as it removes toxins from the body. Recent research has also shown that it may help reduce overall cancer risk.
5) Drink lots of water! Best if the water has fresh organic cucumber or fresh organic lemon. Just fill a pitcher and throw in a ton of cucumber or lemon and let it sit over night.
6) MEDITATE each day for at least 30 minutes each day. Find a quite corner and grab a pillow for a stress and mind detox.
7) Exercise for at least 30 minutes each day. If possible, pop in an at home yoga DVD to help support your detox.

I'll make sure to update the blog and let you know how my detox goes this weekend!