Happy Thanksgiving

Hello all. I hope that today you have been able to spend time with loved ones. I also hope that you were very thankful for those you were able to spend the day with. Whether it be the family that you were born into or the one that you have chosen to be a part of. Hopefully you were with someone. I'm spending time with my family today (thus the late entry) but I wanted to wish everyone a very happy holiday and I'll post something new and exciting tomorrow.

My Life's Biggest Project: Cheaters Lose

My Life's Biggest Project: Cheaters Lose: "Everyday I watch the news and read articles about health and fitness to try to find something interesting to talk to you about as well as re..."

Cheaters Lose

Everyday I watch the news and read articles about health and fitness to try to find something interesting to talk to you about as well as researching what kind of things will work  for me. I'm new at trying to have this new train of thought so I'm interested in personal stories. This of course doesn't suprise me. I'm a journalist and my favorite stories to write have always been feature stories. They may not be the hard hitting news that wins people awards, but to me to get to write someone's story and give them recognition on any kind of level is amazing. As an undergrad I wrote several feature stories, not just on students and professors, but everyone. I wrote feature stories on people from the president of the university all the way to one of the janators at the university (and her story and interview really was more interesting...lol). Seeings how these are my favorite kind of story the write it only makes sense that I also enjoy reading them as well.

Today I was looking up stories online and I came across Linda's personal account of how it was that she lost a little over 100 pounds in about a year in a half. She has kept this weight off for over a year. Like most dieters Linda had tried all different kinds of diets (like Weight Watchers and the Nutrisystem plan) in the past and would be successful with them, but as soon as she would  stop the diet she would gain all of the weight right back. Linda said that she would sometimes lose up to 70 or 80 pounds, only to see it come right back.

Linda before

At 222 pounds Linda had reached a breaking point. She was driving in a car with her husband who told her that he wanted to lose some weight because his pants were getting kind of tight. Linda's husband was not overweight, but she thought that if he was going to do this she needed to do something too. So Linda told her husband she would do it with him.

Linda decided that she was going to do this different than she had before because things in the past hadn't worked. She figured she didn't have to pay anyone to put the weight on so she wasn't going to pay anyone to help her take it off. This time she was doing it with no diet pills and no specific weight loss plan. Linda also realized that she was going to have to consider this a lifestyle change and not a diet (doesn't this sound like what I've been saying the whole time?).

So Linda took it old school and just started watching what she ate. Linda cut her calories back to 1,000 a day Monday-Saturday and on Sundays she would allow herself to have a "cheat day" where she could eat whatever she wanted. Linda believes this cheat day was the key to her success. Sure it may have taken her longer to drop the pounds by having it, but it also helped her stay on track and keep her sanity. By allowing for this one day she would not cheat throughout the week because she kept telling herself that she could wait until Sunday and she could have whatever it was that she was craving.

Linda now

Linda now weights 116 pounds. That's right she went from 222 to 116. That's amazing! The point in me posting this specific story is because of the holiday and all of the food that we will be faced with tomorrow. It's OK to mess up a little and dieting shouldn't ruin your life. If yu spend teh whold day stressing about what you're eating tehn it's just going to be a bad day. And as I've said a million times before sterss is bad on teh body. If I mess up and eat a little bit more tomorrow than I have been I'm not going to consider myself a failure, I'm just going to have to be more thoughtful about my intake the rest of the week. I also remind myself of the wonderful feeling I feel when stepping on the scale and seeing that the number has gone down. Normally that is enough to supress my cravings.

"It took me a year and a half to lose over a hundred pounds, and I have had the weight off for one year," said Linda. "I truly believe that the reward days were the secret to my success. In the past, whenever I dieted, I never, ever cheated, but as soon as I reached my goal, I ate like a nut because I had deprived myself for so long. Now that I have reached my goal, I still follow the same plan, except that I can have 1,300 to 1,400 calories a day with the reward day on Sunday. It has become a lifestyle for me now, but I know that I can never let my guard down on my weight or I will be right back where I started. How funny that after so many years of following diets strictly, my success all hinged on my 'cheat day' each week!"

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and hopefully you will get to spend it with your friends and family. Remember don't beat yourself up over your intake and think of Linda. Maybe this Thursday can be your cheat day. If you want to know more you can read Linda's story.

My Life's Biggest Project: Turkey Day Tips

My Life's Biggest Project: Turkey Day Tips: "We all know that the holiday season is one of the worse times to gain weight. We like bears put on extra weight (but we don't hibernate). We..."

Turkey Day Tips

We all know that the holiday season is one of the worse times to gain weight. We like bears put on extra weight (but we don't hibernate). We have a million things going on during this particular time of year so things like working out and cooking healthy home cooked meals certainly get pushed to the side. The thing to remember is that there is an end goal to be reached.

I found some cooking tips for the Thanksgiving meal that may be beneficial to those of you preparing your Turkey Day menu. These little tips can help you to not take on as many calories without having to feel like you're missing out on the meal. Here are the 6 Guilt-free Choices for Thanksgiving written by Joe Wilkes (received in the p90x e-mail).

1. Turkey- The main dish and symbol of Thanksgiving. Lean turkey breast is the way to go it contains 8 grams of protein and only 44 calories and 1 gram of fat per ounce. Turkey may be one of the healthiest things that one can eat. If you prefer dark meat to white meat you only need to add one extra gram of fat and 9 more calories per ounce. Of course as most of you know you want to avoid the skin of the bird to cut back on extra calories and fat. Another big tip is to go easy of the gravy. Wilkes suggests doing what he has coined the "salad-dressing technique- dip the tines of your fork in the gravy before you spear the meat to get more flavor with less fat." Another thing suggested if you happen to be the cook, you should use broth as a baste as opposed to butter.

2. Cranberries- Use the real thing here and don't cheat with the cans. These tiny little berries are full of nutrition, including high levels of vitamin C and several polyphenol antioxidants. I had no idea how good cranberries were for you until I read this, but they really do lots of cool little things. They're good for stopping the growth of harmful bacteria in the bladder and urethra. They also contain a chemical that helps stop tooth decay (however since most are prepared with sugar that would make this one fact obsolete). A neat way to prepare cranberries would be in orange juice, or a teensy bit of port wine. These will bring out their flavor and not over sweeten them.

3. Yams- Yes I mean yams and not sweet potatoes. These are great sources of vitamin B6, which has the ability to reduce the risk of heart disease. They also contain potassium, which can help regulate blood pressure. They also contain complex carbohydrates and fiber that won't spike your blood sugar. So many people want to candy the yams, but that really takes away all of the blood sugar benefits. Try spicing them up with a little bit of cinnamon instead. You can also try a little bit of maple syrup on the side that way the extra sugar is optional.

4. Sweet potatoes- They have a lot of the same benefits of yams because they are relative to them, but the sweet potato also has bunches of nutrients that regular potatoes do not, including beta-carotene and vitamin C. These high levels of carotenoids in sweet potatoes helps regulate ones blood sugar and that helps for people to avoid the tryptophan turkey coma. Melting marshmallows on top can take away the nutritional benefits, but you can always scrape those off!

5. Salad- of course this is something that you should load up on. And by salad obviously what is meant by this is lettuce and veggies, not the cream-based salads like Waldorf salad or mayonnaise packed potato or macaroni salad. Put the dressing on the side and use it sparingly of course. You can use the salad dressing technique discussed earlier.

6. Pumpkin Pie- Yum yum pumpkin pie, the dessert most associated with Thanksgiving. Keep in mind that one slice of pumpkin pie has as much beta-carotene as an entire carrot. It is also very high in vitamin C. Like everything else mentioned above we end up killing it with add ons like fats and sugar. So if you are making the pie, you can sub skim milk for cream or sweetened condensed milk. You can also add silken tofu to thicken up the pie filling and that also provides the extra health benefits of the soy!

Obviously there will be lots of yummy choices around, but I will remind myself how proud I am of myself as soon as I step on a scale and see that the number has gone down. Another thing to remember that me like everyone else I know tend to forget during this particular holiday is portion control. When I'm full I'll stop eating. Another thing is that it is bad to sit in front of a television when eating and what happens on most people's turkey day get together? That's right, plopping down on a couch in front of a television watching some football. When you're distracted you don't realize how much food you are shoving in your face and it also takes you longer to realize that you're full.

I'll try to keep all of these things in mind and I hope that this information has been beneficial to you too. Only two more days to go :)

My Life's Biggest Project: P90X Fit Test

My Life's Biggest Project: P90X Fit Test: "Several of my friends have asked me a lot of questions about the P90X program since I started this blog and ask if it's worth purchasing. We..."

P90X Fit Test

Several of my friends have asked me a lot of questions about the P90X program since I started this blog and ask if it's worth purchasing. Well like I said because of my surgery that I'm having a week from today the doctor insisted that I not do it, but what I can tell you about the program is that even though I only did it for a short while that short time really kicked my butt. It is a reasonably priced program, somewhere in the ballpark of $200, but a lot of people are scared to purchase a fitness program and I get that too. So what I have decided to do for you all is post the fit test.

This fit test is listed at the beginning of the P90X program and they say of course after consulting with a doctor you need to pass this fit test. Once this fit test has been passed you can start the program. I assumed that most of you contemplating whether or not to buy this would want to know this beforehand. What they don't tell you is that really this program is created for seasoned athletics not people who haven't worked out in 5...10 or how many years. So I figured I'd hook you all up!

For the first part you'll need a way to do pull-ups. Try to do as many as possible. Women only need to be able to do 1 and men should be able to do 3 to pass this portion. (I have no upper body strength and couldn't do one...lol).

2. Vertical leap. It says to stand sideways with shoulder against wall and raise arm straight overhead. Record your lenght here. Then jump with step: Then lower arm, take just one step back and proceed to jump straight up, trying to touch highest point on wall (don't gather up a head of steam prior to your jump) record that height. Subtract theh first measuremnet from the second and that is your vertical leap. Men should have a minimum of 5 inches and women should have 3.

3. Push-ups- Men should be able to do at least 15 and women should be able to do 3 unless you are doing push-ups off your knees and in that case women should be able to do 15.

4. Toe touch- sit on the floor with legs extended directly in front of you. Bend forward at the waist and extend arms over legs towards toes. If not able to reach, measure the distance from fingertips to toes (you'll need a tape measurer). If able to extend fingers beyond toes, measure teh distance from fingers reach beyond toes. Do not strain or force this. Reach should be no less than 6 inches from your toes.

5. Wall squat. You should be able to hold for at least 1 minute.

6. Bicep curls- use a minimum of 20 lbs if man and 8 lbs if woman. No breaks longer than 1 sec between reps. Men should be able to do at least 10 curls w/20 lbs and women should be able to do at least 10 with 8 lbs.

7. In and outs- seated with hands on the floor at your sides, knees bent with feet on the floor. Raise feet off the ground and bring knees in towards your chest. Straighten legs back out and repeat movement without touching floor. You should be able to do at least 25.

8. Do jumping jacks for 2 minutes straight. You should be able to do this without stopping.

If you pass all of thise then you are ready to P90X. If not then you should work out, eat better and get in a little better shape until you can. Once you can pass this fit test you are ready for the program.