New Year’s Resolutions, Not Just For January Anymore

Try the month to month resolutions challenge, to achieve a healthier weight and lifestyle for 2011!  Here are some ideas that will help rev up your metabolism one month at a time!  Once you have mastered the monthly resolution, you must continue with it and then add the next month’s lifestyle improvement to maximize your weight loss!

 [Example- Once you have completed January’s challenge, being able to jump rope for 15 minutes every day (for 30 days), then continue jumping roping daily but add February’s activity – doing sit-ups and jumping jacks during commercials. After you have mastered January and February’s activities, keep doing them and add March’s goal, and so on.]

Now, here comes the fun part – weight loss! For each monthly challenge you complete there is a corresponding possible weight loss. The net weight loss listed for each challenge is what you may lose EACH month you successfully complete that action.

You may lose up to 50 ¾ pounds after 6 months!

[Example- January you jump rope for 15 minutes a day and lose 1 ½ pounds. February you jump rope (lose 1 ½ pounds) and do sit-ups and jumping jacks during commercials so you lose an additional 1 ½ pounds. During the month of February alone, you would have lost 3 pounds. When you add these 3 pounds to the 1 ½ pounds you lost in January, then you would have lost 4 ½ pounds in total (i.e Year to Date).]

So, in summary… make small, doable changes and achieve big results!

Ready to get started? Just follow the plan below.

Month to Month Resolution Challenge

January:  Jump rope 15 minutes everyday – burns 5,115 calories, net weight loss 1 ½ pounds

February:  Sit-ups and Jumping jacks during commercials – burns 5,096 calories, net weight loss of 1 ½ pounds – Year to date -4 ½ pounds

March:  Take your lunch to work – saves 12,250 calories, net weight loss 3 ½ pounds – Year to date -11 pounds

April:  Eat 6 small meals daily – saves 12,000 calories, net weight loss of 3 ½ pounds – Year to date -21 pounds

May:  Eat 3 fruits everyday – saves 11,160 calories, net weight loss of 3 ¼ pounds – Year to date -34 pounds

June:  Drink more water (rule of thumb, your weight divided by 2 to get goal fluid ounces of water per day) – saves 12,250 calories, net weight loss 3 ½ pounds – Year to date -50 ¾ pounds

By Emily Barr, MS, RD, CNSC

Want More?? Check out these posts from Emily…

Meet Emily

Setting Attainable Resolutions

Fight the Urge to Splurge-How to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

Lumps of Coal vs Sugar Plum Fairies- The Reason For Making Healthy Changes this Season

How Did You Do It?

Sweets & Sabotages

Sugar Aliases

Halloween Temptations

High Five to Healthy Lunches

Vitamin D: Sunshine Vitamin, or not?

Summertime Drinks that Won’t Bust Your Diet or Your Waistline

Best Defense Against Cellulite

Water Filled Summer

Value Menu-Eat now, Pay later

Different ages, different requirements to be healthy

Kids Really Do Like Fruits and Vegetables

Spring into Green

Fight the Urge to Splurge-How to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

Santa Claus is at the mall?  Check!  Christmas music on the radio, in the stores?  Check!  Check!  Holiday parties galore? Check, check, check!  That’s right, the holiday season is here and it’s time to celebrate! 

Parties at work, parties at school, parties with friends, and oh yes, parties with the family!  One thing we know for sure is that food and drinks will definitely not be in shortage for these festive events, but that cannot be our excuse to splurge!  Waiting for those New Year resolutions to roll around is not an option, some research has found that we never lose the few pounds we gain during the holiday season!   This is your year to fight the winter weight gain. 

Here are some tips to help you conquer the urge to splurge. 

By Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)'s

What You Can Control: 

• Have a high fiber snack and some water prior to the event so you aren’t starving!
• Be sure to bring a healthy dish to the party.
• Make only one trip to the buffet. 
• Choose the smallest size plate available.
• Load up your plate with high fiber foods, such as raw vegetables and salad. 
• Focus on being social at parties.  Enjoy the company of family and friends, while strategically positioning yourself out of arms reach of appetizers.     
• Drink a full glass of water between any alcoholic drinks.  Drinking in moderation is key, 1-2 drinks for women and 2-3 drinks for men.  Drinking too much is a sure segue to eating too much.
•  Incorporate exercise, especially the days prior to, the day of, and the days after each event.

 

What You Can’t Control:

• When choosing food from the buffet table, keep an eye out for the colorful foods and beware of the white creamy foods.
• Choose small portions – Try small spoonfuls of the other higher calorie foods only if they are your favorite.  Be sure to savor you food!
• Choose your sweets wisely, each dessert can have 200-1200 calories!
• Be careful with the appetizers, these little bites of bliss can easily add up in a matter of minutes. 
• Have your “excuses” ready.   One of the best lines is that you are just plain full and maybe you will try some in a little while!
• Try to avoid taking home extras of those tempting (high calorie) foods.

 Sour cream dips, cheese balls, little sausages and meatballs, sweets, chocolatey desserts, and alcohol will all be present at the holiday affairs, and so will you!

 Have a happy and healthy holiday season and do your best to fight that urge to splurge!

By Emily Barr, MS, RD, CNSC

Want More?? Check out these posts from Emily…

Meet Emily

Lumps of Coal vs Sugar Plum Fairies- The Reason For Making Healthy Changes this Season

How Did You Do It?

Sweets & Sabotages

Sugar Aliases

Halloween Temptations

High Five to Healthy Lunches

Vitamin D: Sunshine Vitamin, or not?

Summertime Drinks that Won’t Bust Your Diet or Your Waistline

Best Defense Against Cellulite

Water Filled Summer

Value Menu-Eat now, Pay later

Different ages, different requirements to be healthy

Kids Really Do Like Fruits and Vegetables

Spring into Green

Lumps of Coal vs Sugar Plum Fairies- The Reason For Making Healthy Changes this Season

What’s on your Christmas list this year? 

What if I told you, you can choose between sugar plum fairies or a lump of coal?  Seems like an obvious answer, but somehow, the decision is not that easy.  Let me explain my thinking.

By Star 5112

So…day in and day out, as a health care provider, I have the challenge of helping adults that have previously struggled with weight loss finally lose those pesky pounds to improve their health.

 In my efforts to help each person with an increased Body Mass Index  (BMI) and other health risk factors to lose weight, I pull out all of the “scary” words in hopes that each individual will have the ah-ha moment and commit to changing their ways.

 These “scary” words are the coal in your stocking.   It’s not what you want for Christmas, but what you may be getting… whether you like it or not.  These “lumps of coal” are heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, and cancer to name a few.  I tell each person about these life threatening problems, the ones that may kill you, but somehow, these warnings don’t translate to better health.  So this holiday season, I am taking a whole new refreshing approach…sugar plum fairies. 

The “sugar plum fairies” are those amazingly wonderful things that you love and live for.  Moments with your family and friends, reminiscing about old times with your favorite people, exotic vacations or traveling abroad, great laughs, and all of your happy thoughts.

 Making a list of reasons you want to lose weight is always one of my favorite requests I ask of our clients during counseling sessions.

 This list may contain some things that make you feel good on the outside – of course- like how you look in your jeans or swimsuit.  It should also contain the things that make you feel good on the inside – those happy thoughts.

 Some of my favorite reasons for weight loss is to be able to keep up with your kids, meeting your grandkids, being able to travel without feeling tired, and on and on.

 My hope for our entire Skinny Gene family is that as the New Year approaches, we can all take time to reflect on our goals for better health.

The choice is yours, lumps of coal or sugar plum fairies?  It might be time to make some changes – I’m sure you’ll find the sugar plum fairies are worth it!

By Emily Barr, MS, RD, CNSC

Want More?? Check out these posts from Emily…

Meet Emily

How Did You Do It?

Sweets & Sabotages

Sugar Aliases

Halloween Temptations

High Five to Healthy Lunches

Vitamin D: Sunshine Vitamin, or not?

Summertime Drinks that Won’t Bust Your Diet or Your Waistline

Best Defense Against Cellulite

Water Filled Summer

Value Menu-Eat now, Pay later

Different ages, different requirements to be healthy

Kids Really Do Like Fruits and Vegetables

Spring into Green

How Did You Do It?

Have you ever had a friend that successfully lost weight, and asked them “so, how did you do it?” 

Many Skinny Gene members who have been successful in weight loss for better health and diabetes prevention have been presented with the same question from their family and friends.  How did you lose it and keep it off?

We ask the questions, but what do we want to hear the answer? 

Are we asking if they went on a miracle diet, dropping pounds and pounds of weight just by taking a tiny pill a day or eliminating broccoli from their diet?  We search and search for that special combination that will give us a quick fix, well, unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that it’s just not that easy…or is it? 

What’s not easy is the commitment to better health.   About 45 million Americans diet each year, we spend $1 billion to 2 billion per year on weight-loss programs with little success.  Many of our programs out there are targeted for weight loss, but they are unable to maintain the weight loss once the program ends.  So my question is why does the program ever end…and why is it a program anyway?  We need to commit to a healthy lifestyle, not a diet that lasts 10 days or 3 months. 

The diet for diabetes gets a bad rap.  We assume diabetics must automatically eliminate all sugar and carbohydrates from their diet….such punishment.  When in actuality this is not true, we should all be eating like diabetics.  There are 5 key things to focus on:

1.  Fiber – found in fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains, helps maintain the blood sugars
2. Antioxidants –  found in color rich foods such as berries and spinach , help reduce oxidative stress (toxins) in the body
3. Nutrient dense foods – great sources are fruits and vegetables, low calories with many vitamins and minerals and oh, yes, fiber
4. Fat free dairy – great sources are milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese, help meet your calcium requirements while reducing weight, blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and heart disease
5. Eat breakfast every morning – try to reach for some of those fiber rich cereals and antioxidant rich fruits

Hmmm…do you see a common thread with our 5 keys to a healthier lifestyle, diabetic or not?  Yes!  Focus on fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains, and you won’t have time to eat much more, well, maybe a little lean protein and essential fat, but you know what we are talking about.  We need to give up the miracle weight loss scheme and commit to follow these principles for better health.  It’s not a magic pill or super duper weight loss overnight, but it will help our body shed those extra pounds and be healthier over time.

By Emily Barr, MS, RD, CNSC

Want More?? Check out these posts from Emily…

Meet Emily

Sweets & Sabotages

Sugar Aliases

Halloween Temptations

High Five to Healthy Lunches

Vitamin D: Sunshine Vitamin, or not?

Summertime Drinks that Won’t Bust Your Diet or Your Waistline

Best Defense Against Cellulite

Water Filled Summer

Value Menu-Eat now, Pay later

Different ages, different requirements to be healthy

Kids Really Do Like Fruits and Vegetables

Spring into Green

Diabetes Prevention: 5 Tips for Taking Control

The MayoClinic posted a great article which includes 5 tips for preventing diabetes. We couldn’t have said it better 🙂

If you have additional questions about how you can prevent diabetes or would like some help making positive lifestyle changes in your life, we would like the opportunity to speak with you! To contact us, please CLICK HERE!

[Skinny Gene Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that helps others make positive lifestyle change to prevent the further development of type 2 diabetes.]

Tweaking your lifestyle could be a big step toward diabetes prevention — and it’s never too late to start. Consider these tips.

By Mayo Clinic staff

When it comes to type 2 diabetes — the most common type of diabetes — prevention is a big deal. It’s especially important to make diabetes prevention a priority if you’re at increased risk of diabetes, for example, if you’re overweight or have a family history of the disease. In the United States alone, experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expect diabetes to affect more than 48 million people by 2050.

Tweaking your lifestyle could be a big step toward diabetes prevention — and it’s never too late to start. Diabetes prevention is as basic as losing extra weight and eating more healthfully. Consider the latest diabetes prevention tips from the American Diabetes Association.

Tip 1: Get more physical activity

There are many benefits to regular physical activity. It can help you lose weight but even if it doesn’t, it’s still important to get off the couch. Whether you lose weight or not, physical activity lowers blood sugar and boosts your sensitivity to insulin — which helps keep your blood sugar within a normal range.

Research shows that both aerobic exercise and resistance training can help control diabetes, but the greatest benefits come from a fitness program that includes both.

Tip 2: Get plenty of fiber

It’s rough, it’s tough — and it may reduce the risk of diabetes by improving your blood sugar control. Fiber intake is also associated with a lower risk of heart disease. It may even promote weight loss by helping you feel full. Foods high in fiber include fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

Tip 3: Go for whole grains

Although it’s not clear why, whole grains may reduce your risk of diabetes and help maintain blood sugar levels. Try to make at least half your grains whole grains. Many foods made from whole grains come ready to eat, including various breads, pasta products and ready-to-eat cereals. Look for the word “whole” on the package and among the first few items in the ingredient list.

Tip 4: Lose extra weight

If you’re overweight, diabetes prevention may hinge on weight loss. Every pound you lose can improve your health. And you may be surprised by how much. In one study, overweight adults who lost a modest amount of weight — 5 percent to 10 percent of initial body weight — and exercised regularly reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 58 percent over three years.

Tip 5: Skip fad diets and make healthier choices

Low-carb, low-glycemic load or other fad diets may help you lose weight at first, but their effectiveness at preventing diabetes isn’t known; nor are their long-term effects. And by excluding or strictly limiting a particular food group, you may be giving up essential nutrients. Instead, think variety and portion control as part of an overall healthy-eating plan.

Make it a team effort

The American Diabetes Association recommends blood glucose screening for everyone age 45 and older who’s overweight. If you’re older than age 45 and at a normal weight, ask your doctor about earlier testing. Also ask your doctor about testing if you’re younger than age 45 and overweight with one or more additional risk factors for type 2 diabetes — such as a sedentary lifestyle or a family history of diabetes.

Also share your concerns about diabetes prevention. Your doctor will applaud your efforts to keep diabetes at bay, and perhaps offer additional suggestions based on your medical history or other factors.

My Quest to Find a New Relationship (via Odds Against Me)

Here is a post we thought you would like! 

Odds Against Me is for real.  She’s honest, hilarious, and super serious about improving her health.  I think it is safe to say that we can all relate to the ups and downs that come with each and every attempt of weight loss.   Dee has started her journey to better health and is letting us follow her down this cross-country trip.   I think we will get to accompany her through the absolute highs of weight loss, I am thinking possibly equivalent to Disneyland and the inevitable lows, which I am sad to say is probably somewhere in the middle of Kansas.    I admire Dee for putting this experience out there for us to read.  And hopefully we can join her in this journey to better health.

It’s not what you think…I am not highlighting this blog because Dee has chosen yours truly to help guide her through the overwhelming world of weight loss, but because we are bombarded with nutrition misinformation and sabotage on a daily basis.  Maybe we can all come together to provide support for each other and walk side by side on this winding road….to Disneyland!

 Enjoy this blog! 

So, as I mentioned before, the plan was to start working with a dietitian.  Now, it is official…I have started a program that will teach me how my body uses food as well as gives me a solid understanding of how to make healthier choices.  As you know, my mission is to lose weight, but this time I’m looking for a real lifestyle change with long-term implications. I’ve failed many times before with gimmicks, pills, and offers like “read this book … Read More

via Odds Against Me

Surviving Your Summer Vacation & Staycation

“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy!” ( By George Gershwin, sung in this clip by Jill Scott and George Benson)

What is it about summer that makes you feel like you’re on a constant staycation?

You know, when the rules we create for ourselves on a normal everyday basis no longer apply. When you do things that aren’t necessarily “good for you”, but you justify them because it’s summertime?

Quick question- Since when did the unspoken rule that a person would could say  “I’m on vacation”, and  get a free pass for indulging in a few guilty pleasures, also start applying to the justification–“it’s summer?”

You’ve heard the excuse; you may have even used it. Maybe you don’t use the term summer. You may like to be a wee bit more specific, like…  “It’s hot outside.” “It was a BBQ.”  “The ice cream truck came by. What was I supposed to do, ignore it? That’d be rude.”

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that summer should definitely be ENJOYED! I like all aspects of summer, the sunshine, the summer concerts, and the trips to the beach. I like all of these things, almost as much as I love summertime food!

Oh, how I  love summertime! It brings back some great childhood memories, like dancing to this song.

My concern is that while the summer can be filled with endless opportunities to get out and enjoy life, it can also be packed with dangerous and common pitfalls that cause your summer vacation or staycation to end on a not so sunny note.

In fact for many people, particularly kids, the summertime may be the source of some drastic weight gain.  So over the next several weeks we are going to give you our Skinny Gene Guide to Surviving the Summer. You’ll learn how to get out and enjoy all that summertime has to offer!

Afterall, what happens during the summer should stay in the summer, not on your hips , thighs, booty or your belly!

A few upcoming topics in our series on Surviving the Summer blog posts may include:

•  How to Indulge in Summertime splurges: Having fun without adding the weight
• Tips for Surviving the Summer: How to avoid the pitfalls that lead to summertime weight gain
•  Healthy Home:  Why kids could gain up to 3x more weight during the summer. Learn how to keep your keep your kids healthy
•  Cookin’ up Summer Fun: Feel Free to indulge in some of these healthier recipes

So, don’t miss out. Follow our blog and be notified when these new posts have been added.