Whoa…Simmer Down Now!!

                  http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81958481/

Of course, that saying always reminds me of the funny skit on Saturday Night Live years ago with Cheri Oteri playing Nadeen, the “Simma Down Na” lady.  I’m referring to it because with Thanksgiving over and Christmas right around the corner, this is the time where diets can spiral out of control. 

Before your eyes and taste buds take over your brain, think about what lies ahead for you this year.  Keep in mind that it’s much easier to maintain than it is to pig out and try to get rid of it in January like most people do every year.  Save yourself the misery by acknowledging the bad food and drinks that you know will be plentiful in the weeks to come.  Keep a clear vision of how you want to look and feel at the beginning of the year and stay focused on YOUR body and YOUR actions to make it your best. 

There’s nothing wrong with tasting things that look good or having a sample.  Just don’t let that turn into a free for all that has you regretting it the next day, week and even months later.  It is so NOT worth the instant gratification of eating it at the time. 

Keep everything in perspective, try not to lose control, and ask yourself this:  “IS THE INSTANT GRATIFICATION WORTH SABATOGING MY LONG TERM GOAL?” If you ask yourself that every time you get ready to binge on something terrible for you, I’m confident that you can control what could be “food frenzy freak-outs” that do nothing but make you overweight, unhealthy and sad. 

Take a minute and think about what lies ahead for YOU.  As I always say, YOU are in control of what YOU put into YOUR mouth.  YOU are in control of molding and shaping your body into how you want it to look with the proper fuel/diet and working out.  “Simma Down Na”…and control yourself so it (bad food) doesn’t control YOU.  

Halloween candy! Trick…no treat.

Here it comes again…Halloween and the candy that comes with it!  Hang on, because you cannot avoid seeing it in the stores, at least for a few more weeks.  Then comes Christmas Candy…great. L 

Those huge bags of "fun size" Snickers, Twix, Skittles, Kit Kat, M&M’s, etc. Yum! In the past, I would buy several bags so it would “look” like I was buying it for trick or treaters. Rrright…you know what happened! I would break into those bags, have a hay-day and go back and buy more. After all, they are called fun size, right?

Being a self-admitted sugar-holic, it's not smart for me to buy any candy, period! I KNOW that I’m just going to eat it myself, HELLO!  If any of you have ever read the book Sugar Busters or know what sugar really does to your body, then you know what what your in for if you choose to eat it. Unfortunately, the taste of candy can be heaven!  It was for me for most of my life.  

I’m sure everyone has noticed that a lot of packaging on candy says FAT-FREE.  Yes, it IS fat-free because it's ALL sugar!  Sugar and fat are not the same. I repeat, sugar and fat are NOT the same. Sugar turns into FAT once it's inside of you!

  

If you’re currently dealing with extra stomach rolls, pooches, muffin-tops, back boobs and general extra poundage, it’s because you probably made stupid food decisions in the past that are still stuck on you today. Trust me, we’ve all been there, but it IS fixable. Not without a lot of hard work, but most of us are capable of fixing ourselves. It’s YOUR choice.

I love Halloween, but I had to completely give up candy and sugar!  Yes, it does taste good, but do you really want to wear it for years to come? They’re not really treats, they’re tricks! The trick is…how do we get rid of it after it’s turned into FAT and we’re already wearing it?!

So, STOP, DROP, & ROLL (or run) from the candy this Halloween season! You will thank yourself.  J

The Death of a Sandwich

I know how to kill a sandwich in two seconds flat!  Ditch the bread, slide off the toppings, and go for the guts of it…the meat!  On my recent trip to Las Vegas, with not many choices out by the pool café, a grilled chicken sandwich was the closest thing to healthy on the menu.  So, this is what it ended up looking like:

It’s a sad ending to once a perfectly good looking sandwich.  Looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy is NOT my goal!  If you’re still eating white bread, you really should rethink it and here’s why:

White bread contains a large proportion of high GI (glycemic index) carbohydrates. These carbohydrates cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels which trigger a similarly rapid release of insulin.  It also causes raised levels of bad LDL cholesterol in your bloodstream. This can lead to problems such as heart disease as well as high blood pressure.  Another negative effect of eating white bread is on the body’s metabolism. This is retarded causing reduced efficiency in digestion and greater fat storage, which is more often than not accumulated around the belly. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why weight loss is so difficult for people who continue to eat white bread. Not only that, but it makes you feel more sluggish and less inclined to want to exercise.

http://janicewhite.hubpages.com/hub/why-white-bread-is-bad-for-you

Enough said! L

You can quickly get used to ditching bread from your diet if you want to.  I was never a big dough, roll, or bread eater anyway, but now that I’m used to not having it, I don’t miss it at all.

As I laid there on my lounge chair by the pool, I was proud of the fact that I’ve worked so hard to keep my body fat and sugar free.  I’m not self-conscious about my body like I had been for so many years prior to changing my life.  No bread, no problem! 

Be a caveman (or woman) and kill the sandwich - go for the meat!  J

Need an Expert? Become Your Own!

I consider myself an expert in my field.  Am I a certified personal trainer?  No.  Am I a registered dietitian?  No.  Am I trained chef?  No.  I am NONE of these things, but definition of an expert means:

Ex·pert  - A person with a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain subject.

Ok…I do have a high degree of skill and knowledge of eating clean, cooking healthy, weight training, and workouts.  I've been doing this for several years now, so yes, I DO consider myself an expert! 

Because I wanted to change my body from the inside out, I educated myself on the proper food or “fuel” for my body first.  After I got that down, I focused on the proper way to lift weights and what muscle groups each worked. I did this through many different avenues…online, videos, books, and magazines.

But, if you really want to get to KNOW an expert, talk to a professional bodybuilder.  Now, I’m not saying that this would be the healthiest way to live the rest of your life, (it is very strenuous on your body over time) but if anyone knows how to control the way that their body looks with food and weight training, it’s them!  They truly are the experts on how to manipulate the human body with protein, carbs, weights, and cardio.  They have mastered it to the “T”!  They know exactly what to do, and when to do it, to make their body look and perform the way that they need it to.

For anyone who feels like they have not mastered it just yet and still feels like it’s a guessing game or that you’re just flailing through life trying to make sense of the eating and exercise game, become your own expert.  Do this by educating yourself on how to properly fuel your body with non-processed healthy foods, how to properly workout with weights and cardio, and how to sculpt your body into how you want to shape it.  

YOU become the expert of YOUR own body inside and out.

Take charge, learn, know, and DO! :)