Happy Thanksgiving...don't eat the whole pie!

For those of you who know what this is, you can go hurl in the toilet and come back and finish reading the post when your stomach has settled. For those of you who don't I can tell you this. It isn't gravy.

Each year we celebrate the tradition of gathering with family, gorging ourselves on turkey, buttered mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (for some), red cabbage (for others), stuffing, jello, yams slathered in butter and marshmallows, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, chocolate silk pie, cheesecake, pecan pie...and the small helping of salad...if there is still room on our plates.

I'm here to tell you, it's OKAY! One day of eating 2000 calories isn't going to kill you. You may feel lathargic, you may wake up the next morning with a food hangover, but it won't kill you, for one day. What you can do is to make a plan. Exercise today for an hour, eat between 1200-1400 calories today, Friday, Saturday and hopefully most every day next week. Get to the gym everyday for the next week and get in at least 60 minutes of cardio daily. And I guarantee those fat laden calories won't stick.

There's also the mental preparation, because let's face it, most of us are prone to food triggers. And when we get around family for at least a few hours, in confined spaces, that food is going to keep getting shoveled into our mouths. Get mentally prepared for the family gathering. When those certain family members are getting on your nerves, make a plan that doesn't involve food. Play with the nieces and nephews, watch football (my plan!), find a family member that owns a wii or Rock Band if you don't, and have them bring it! Or if it's really bothersome, make other plans with your own little family or close friends so you have an escape plan to leave early. Because the last thing you want to do is keep getting triggered and making round trips to the buffet table!

Have a great Thanksgiving! I'm back in blogging business and posts will come regularly once again! Enjoy yourself and don't let food give you guilt. After all, there's much to be thankful for! (And the pic above is actual human fat from liposuction.)

Company Ethics

Last week while thumbing through the Costco ads, Troy noticed they are selling Bodybuggs. Yes, the same ones I sell. Only, at cost. Which has really ticked me off, because I paid a fair amount of money to be set up as a dealer only to be undercut by the company. It's annoying and simply not right, unless they decide to sell the armbands at a lower cost to the smaller dealers. But I doubt that will happen. I highly doubt it.

This past year, 24 hour fitness bought out Apex, which was the original creator and seller of the Bodybugg armbands and Apex products. Now that 24 hour fitness controls it all, they are big enough to sell at cost and at bulk to bigger companies. I do have two armbands left and one digital display. I will sell my two armbands for $175 each and the digital display for $60 for local clients. I am debating not selling them anymore unless I can get a great deal at wholesale so my clients can get the same pricing as the other companies who are selling the armbands.

If I can't get them at a better cost, then I will stop selling the armbands but still continue weight loss counseling to my new and existing clients. It sucks as the armbands are truly accurate and an easy way to track calories out and calories in. But I refuse to sell them at a higher cost to my clients than they could get elsewhere. What I can do, is set up the armband for you so you will always have a coach and help on hand when you need it (unlike the call center these customers of Costco will get).

I also have been involved with a new job, which I have been working with a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon. The practice will open up next month and hopefully, by spring, we will also have a weight loss program in place. So even though the Bodybugg business hasn't turned out all that I have expected, I am excited to still be able to be working in the weight loss industry as well as with a surgeon who will be able to provide even better options than I could just with the armbands and counseling alone (weight loss medication, liposuction, etc.). I, of course, will still be blogging! Passing on great information and help on to you all to help everyone live better and healthier lives!

Poor Health...But Still Going Strong

WOW! It's been a long time since my last blog. At first I thought I had a virus, but then after some fixing, my computer has been having some serious hardware issues. Enough to keep me from one of the things I love doing best - blogging! My computer has been in very poor health!

Sometimes we hit road bumps, and even when we make goals. Like weight loss or fitness goals. Last year, right after I had made some pretty serious fitness goals, I broke my foot, causing me a set back. A BIG set back. I couldn't to any cardio for a month and then after that, it was just a stationary bike. It was horrid. And I hated that I had no control over my circumstance.

But after the long drought of no exercise, I finally started up again. I had gained a few pounds during that time because a part of me thought "what's the point". And I kept my eating habits the same. Yes, it was only a few pounds that I had gained and yet, it took a while to work it off, because I had to start slowly until my foot completely healed and was able to get back on a treadmill (after 3 months).

I dropped those pounds and then my body decided to take a break. I hit a plateau and no matter how hard I had been exercising, it wouldn't budge. It's frustrating when that happens. Because the body gets comfortable and sooner or later you have to change something else. Food.

I love food. It's why I exercise as hard as I do. I refuse to completely give up pizza, Oreos and all other forms of chocolate! But I went back to a program that my trainer had me on a few years ago, and I finally pulled out of that plateau! What is it?

I'll tell you! 1100 calories for 3 days, 1400 calories for one day, and then follow it, as close as you can for a month to six weeks. It will kick your metabolism back into gear and get you off that plateau! For men, you'll need a little more than just the mere 1100/1400 plan. Add 300-400 calories. Yes, it will take work to chart every thing you put in your mouth, but after that time, you'll find your weight will have dropped and your body will be out of your plateau.

It's been easy to accomplish this with the help of having the ability to track all my food with ease on the Apex food logging program. And the funny thing is, I didn't worry about the calories I was burning, because I had to focus on my food intake and I still dropped what I wanted! (just let me know if you want me to set you up on the food logging program)

Always remember that 80% of weight loss will be attributed to what you put in your mouth. And timing your food properly and what you eat will only accelerate your progress.

So, if you find you're in a funk at the moment, dreading all the upcoming holiday gatherings (that will be filled with hams, potatoes and plenty of pies), take things one at a time. Focus on one aspect until you feel you've got it under control, whether it be in the gym, or at the fridge. But remember, never quit!

What Comes Around....

After a very busy day yesterday and today, I finally got to sit down tonight and watch The Biggest Loser that was on yesterday. Sometimes I get frustrated with the "games" they pit with the contestants on the show, but this season was a first for how conniving it became.

One of the reasons I love watching the show is because everyone encourages everyone else. Everyone who is lucky enough to be chosen to be on the show knows that positive reinforcement is key to losing weight, especially when you have a lot to lose. Unfortunately this season, one contestant had somehow missed that part. That it was all about them and only them. I think up until this point, this show has showed how people encourage each other, no matter what team they belong to.

Tracey is what I would like to refer to as a "mean girl". No, I don't know her personally, and yes I am making a judgment on her based on a 2 hour show that has been cut and pasted to add drama, but the fact is, she is one of those people who will say nice things to your face and then stab you in the back. It is really a shame that she was picked to be on The Biggest Loser. I know that hundreds of people apply each season, only to be turned down, people who understand how to be a real friend, a real support, a real team player, even if you are on a different team.

I love that Jillian has no problem speaking her mind. I would have done the same. Because it's about learning to lift others, not only when they are down, but even when you are down. In the words of Jillian, Tracey is B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

We all know people who struggle with their weight, because over 60% of the country is considered overweight. Make it a point to encourage, not to tear down. Make it a point to understand and be supportive rather than being critical about someone's weight. If more people encouraged instead of condemned, took time to understand rather than sneered, more people would find hope and motivation to keep trying, to keep fighting to get the weight off.

You Are What You Eat

I want to start out by saying, that within all of us lives a "Barbie". Perhaps not 5'10" with long, blond flowing hair, but we all want to be perfect (in a sense). We want to look perfect....as perfect as our individual bodies can be, anyway. The problem is, we don't live in a perfect world. In fact, we are condemned to having those Chick-Fil-A waffle fries, the Pepsi's, the Krispy Kremes, the Oreos staring us down every single day. And what's even worse, they taste delightfully yummy.

I will admit something. Something from a Food-a-holic. I LOVE feeling the grease seep between my teeth when I eat french fries. It's true. There's something about it that makes it that much more enjoyable. Gross for most? Probably. But, for someone that is addicted to food, it's makes it more of a completion of the whole experience. And I admit it. I could also eat a tub of frosting....and I used to.

What you eat shows. No matter what. Eating a Costco sized tub of cheese puffs in three days will result in not only weight gain, but water retention, feeling sluggish and going through a dozen or so of TUMS (believe me, I know). It also results in the emotional let down of giving in, once again to that vice. That vice you promised yourself you wouldn't go to again. It's a vicious cycle. But here's the best part, you can change the cycle!

It doesn't mean throwing out all your food in your house and buying all health food. You'll end up going back to your old habits before the week is through, because your lifestyle isn't all health food, and for most people, neither is their taste preference. What it means, is cutting back on your sugar for the week. Limiting how many times you eat out. Making a choice to only occasionally eat fried foods. You can still have your steak, your chocolate, your soda, but less often than more.

It's not about changing who you are, it's about making who you are, better. It's about making little efforts every day to replace those habits that lead us to where we don't want to be, into who we know we are and what we can be. It's about taking a personal inventory of ourselves and improving what we need to, and letting go of the things that hold us back. Because let's face it, we really are, what we eat.

Week Two

It was week two of The Biggest Loser. I have picked out my favorites and my not so favorites already. As the seasons have progressed I have noticed more emphasis on food, nutrition, and the importance and balance of calories in to calories out. Because frankly, 80% of what you put in your mouth will directly affect your weight. 80%!

Usually, guests will appear on the show and tonight, one did. Him. That guy up there holding the lobsters. Curtis Stone. World known chef...from Australia...with the blue eyes and that blond hair. He was there to teach portion sizes, fat and calorie contents, better ways to...um...I forget. Seriously? The female contestants were supposed to remember what he said for the quiz afterwords? I'm surprised they did. I'm surprised I did! I know, I know this is my health blog...which I am about to tie this all in together (just you wait!).

Unless you are actively cooking in your kitchen, equipped with a reliable and accurate scale to measure food on, you are only guessing how much a portion size truly is. If you're eating out more often than not, chances are your portion sizes are skewed, because restaurants serve you at least a double, if not a triple size of what a regular portion is. The only sure way to know is to measure and weigh your food daily (yes daily) until you can eye your food and know exactly what that amounts to. If you don't have a food scale, buy a good one this week and just try it out. You'll be surprised at what a portion of chips, a portion of meat and even a portion of pasta really is!

If it takes the "Take Home Chef" to make it happen, then that's what it takes! (Thank you Biggest Loser!) :) ...see, I told you I would tie it all in!

I am a fan. A fan of The Biggest Loser. It's one of those shows I must watch, and thanks to having a DVR, I can.

I will admit this. I cry, every episode I watch, some time during the show, with one of the contestants I get teary eyed, because I know. I've been there. Maybe I didn't weigh as much as the people that get chosen (did you know there is a weight requirement in order to even be considered?), but mentally, physically, I was there. And it's hard. Because mentally, you fight just as much, and some days even more, than you do physically to shed the weight.

As I watch The Biggest Loser, I have to say I am grateful for good trainers. Trainers that know what it takes to help someone who has lost all hope in themselves, to dig that back out. To find it again. Trainers that don't give up. Trainers that see you for who you feel you are deep inside, suffocated underneath all those layers of fat. That is the trainer I will be one day.

Watching The Biggest Loser last night, one of the guys commented that he didn't know how he got there. It's amazing that day by day, month by month, the little habits of eating when we're lonely, bored or stressed, combined with more sitting than being active, can add up to weighing nearly 500 pounds. It doesn't happen overnight, and we need to remember, neither does getting it off. It takes 2 minutes to fill a tank of gas in your car, but it can take a week to burn it. The same applies to food and how our bodies use the energy. Eating a 3 donuts in fifteen minutes will result in a weeks worth of daily, hour long workouts at the gym to burn it off.

The Biggest Loser is one of the shows that I not only love because I have been there, but it is one of those reminders of how I got there and reinforcing those goals of never going back.

Take time to evaluate yourself, your eating habits, your lifestyle and see where they will take you a year from now and in two years from now. Does it look promising or uncertain? Remember, you are in charge of you. You can make the choices to live a better and healthier life!