Archive for November, 2011
The Two Ripped in 30 Winners!
Congratulations JenniferHarmon and Heidi! Our lucky readers (comment #27 and #39 on our giveaway post) just won the Workout DVD Ripped in 30 by Jillian Michaels!
This is a great Workout DVD to help anyone stay or get in shape during the holidays! Since I can’t come there to your house and train you, I figure Jillian can help get the job done! As if you didn’t already know, Jillian is one tough trainer…so you will see the results you were looking for! Good luck!
Thank you everyone for participating in this contest! We will have many more opportunities for you to win something, so stay tuned…
Winner’s next steps: Watch for our email! It will come from editor@SkinnyTwinkie.com, and we will need you to provide us with your mailing address so we can have your prize sent directly to you.
If you do not reply back to us within 48 hours after our email, we will have to choose another winner.
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Tags: Fitness, giveaway, Health, Jillian Michaels, workout
How Jennifer Hudson Lost 80 Pounds
Do you want to know how your favorite Diva lost 80 pounds? Jennifer Hudson was able to lose the extra weight when she focused on her diet, through Weight Watchers, and hired a Personal Trainer to help her get started with an exercise routine. Bottom Line: Diet and Exercise.
“It’s all about self-motivation because at the end of the day, you can have all the trainers and all the money in the world, but if you don’t have that mindset, it’s not possible.” – Jennifer Hudson on Oprah
Jennifer Hudson’s Diet
For Jennifer Hudson, it all started with Weight Watchers, which is basically a support group for those who want to calorie count their way into their skinny jeans.
The great thing about Weight Watchers is that you don’t have to buy a specific brand of food to participate in their program (such as the Special K diet or Slim•Fast), though, they do sell their own Weight Watchers products in the grocery stores. Another positive thing about Weight Watchers is that the program doesn’t completely eliminate an entire food group, such as all carbohydrates or all fruit. Other diets are just not as practical.
A couple of concerns about the Weight Watchers program is that dieters are allowed to eat as much fruit as they want. This may sounds like a wonderful thing, but all foods, including fruit, have their limitations. For those who truly want to lose weight, and unlimited amount of sugar is not ideal, even if the sugar is coming from a healthy source such as a piece of fruit.
Weight Watchers is a glorified calorie counting program that costs you money every month. You don’t need to pay a company to find out how many calories you should be eating. It’s common enough that it’s found free throughout the internet. For a free support group, let your family and friends know about your healthy weight loss goals and have them help support you with your efforts. Again, I just don’t think you need to pay for that.
If Jennifer Hudson found success with Weight Watchers, why not you? Something to consider. She was approached by this company and was offered millions of dollars to endorse their product. Trust me, I am sure that would motivate anyone to lose the extra pounds that they wanted to lose anyways.
Jennifer Hudson’s Exercise Routine
In addition to Weight Watchers diet plan, Jennifer Hudson hired a Celebrity Personal Trainer, Harley Pasternak, to help her start an exercise program that would work for her.
Harley started Jennifer with a 25 minute circuit training routine that included cardio, shoulder presses, lunges, sit ups, and ab exercises for five days a week. As Jennifer progressed, she worked her way up to a 50 minute routine. In addition to a traditional style workout with her trainer, Jennifer also gets in at least 25 minutes of cardio every day.
Jennifer tries to keep her cardio workouts fun, so she will enjoy playing some basketball or even jump roping. You don’t have to be in a gym on an exercise machine to burn calories and lose weight!
I am proud of Jennifer Hudson for learning how to eat well and starting an exercise program to help her become healthy. Yeah, she lost weight – but even if you aren’t trying to lose weight, it’s important for your health to eat right and exercise on a regular basis.
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Image Credits: jenniferhudsonweightlossx.com
Tags: Celebrity, Harley Pasternak, Health, Jennifer Hudson, personal trainer, Weight Loss, Weight Watchers
Prevent Thanksgiving Weight Gain
You can still enjoy your Thanksgiving meal without having to gain unwanted pounds that lasts all Winter long. You can still enjoy Thanksgiving – It’s just all about planning ahead and keeping your health goals in mind.
Tips to Prevent Thanksgiving Weight Gain
• Start your day out with exercise, preferably cardio since you will need to burn as many calories as you can today! I have come to notice that if I start my day out with exercise, I tend to eat healthier throughout the day.
• Eat a light breakfast after your workout. I prefer to drink a healthy low calorie shake that keeps me satisfied without over eating.
• Drink plenty of water before, during, and after your Thanksgiving meal. People usually confuse dehydration with hunger, so drinking water will help prevent overeating.
• If you are in charge of making any of the food, choose healthy recipes that will rival the traditional favorites. You don’t have to add unhealthy fats or sugar to make a dish taste great.
• Don’t eat a dish, just because it’s a holiday “tradition”. If you don’t like sweet potatoes, for example, you don’t need to eat them just because they are on the table or because of it’s holiday tradition status. If you don’t like it, don’t eat it.
• It would be ideal if you can enjoy your Thanksgiving meal in the afternoon rather than at night. Eating a carb-heavy meal right before you go to bed is the perfect recipe for gaining weight, which is why it’s ideal to have the biggest meal of the day for lunch. This way, you have plenty of time to burn off those calories before you go into hibernation.
• Eat in moderation. You can eat all of your favorite dishes, just eat a small amount of each dish. You don’t have to clean up all of the food on the table – that’s what leftovers are for! Just eat until you are satisfied, not full. Go ahead and eat one slice of pie (if you must!), but don’t grab seconds and thirds. It’s all about moderation.
• Wait a little bit after the big meal, but go play a friendly game of football, go skiing, sledding, or playing catch with the kids – the point is, move! You don’t need to be in the gym to burn off those holiday calories!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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Image Credit: inhabitat.com
Tags: Thanksgiving
Few Die Of Hunger…
Many more people die of their eating habits rather than the lack of food. Think about it just for a second. Many diseases are caused by us, whether it be over eating, eating all of the wrong foods, or a combination of the two.
“I saw few die of hunger; of eating, a hundred thousand.” – Bejamin Franklin
Yes, lack of food is a serious problem, but right now big Corporations are trying to profit from the obesity epidemic rather than truly resolve the issue. If you’d ask me, the lack of education about the food we eat and the lack of acting on that, is perhaps a bigger issue that goes unnoticed until it’s just too late.
Educate yourself on what’s healthy and how much you should be eating. Don’t be afraid of the kitchen, and learn how to make healthy food from scratch. You’re body will thank you.
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Sweet Potatoes with Maple Syrup
I love creating new recipes, it’s my way of creating art. As much as I love this creation process, there are few recipes that get me really excited about them. This is one of those recipes that I just can’t stop smiling about. You need to try this recipe out and let me know what you think of it. Oh yeah, it’s ridiculously healthy too.
Ingredients:
2 Sweet Potatoes
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground Cloves
1/8 teaspoon All Spice
Cinnamon, garnish
crushed Pecans, garnish
Instructions:
Step 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2) Peel, wash, and cut sweet potatoes into small pieces and place in a baking dish.
Step 3) Mix the maple syrup, nutmeg, cloves, and all spice together.
Step 4) Pour maple syrup mixture over the sweet potatoes.
Step 5) Cover pan with tin foil and bake for one hour or until extremely soft.
Step 6) Put sweet potatoes and maple syrup juices from the baking pan into a bowl. Use a mixer and beat until texture is smooth(similar to that of mashed potatoes).
Step 7) Scoop mixture in a bowl or on a plate and add cinnamon and pecans as garnish.
Notes:
This recipe is a great new twist to “candied yams” except it’s still healthy once you are done making it and I personally think it tastes better too. The spices give a nice warm flavor to the sweet potatoes, which is unique and something I’m sure you’ll enjoy.
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Tags: all spice, cinnamon, cloves, maple syrup, nutmeg, pecan, Recipe, sweet potato
