Don’t buy Temptations!

There is a reason why you are healthy or unhealthy. Duh, right? Well…if it were all so easy, then everyone would be healthy and fit. Reality is most Americans are not healthy. Here are some tips on how you can make sure you are making the healthiest decisions while you are shopping at your local grocery store.

Plan Ahead

Be sure that you come up with a complete meal plan-even one with a little wiggle room! I have noticed that I am the healthiest when I come up with a plan- healthy snacks and all- before I head to the grocery store. Be sure to come up with a grocery list based on your eating habits for the upcoming week, and stick to it!

Buy Yummy foods!

Be sure you enjoy what you are eating! If you aren’t going to look forward to your lunch or your 3:00 snack…what makes you think you are going to stick to your healthy meal plan rather than hitting the vending machines to splurge on your latest craving? If you treat yourself with healthy foods that you love, you are more likely to stick to your planned food.

I love Strawberries. To me, they are a wonderful treat. A dessert! So when I know it’s going to be a tough day sticking to my healthy eating habits, I am sure to include a nice bowl of fresh strawberries in the mix. I have delicious food to look forward to; comes with everything healthy and won’t leave me with any type of regret when putting on my skinny jeans! Moral of the story? Just because you are on a “diet”, doesn’t mean you can’t be happy when it comes to what options you have to eat.

Don’t buy your biggest Temptation!

Be sure to set yourself up for success! When you are at the grocery store, be sure to only buy healthy foods that you will enjoy eating. If you buy chocolate, candy, cakes, cookies, etc and you may think “it’s just a little bit” or “it’s just one”, but you are setting yourself up for failure (aka “weight gain”). You may think your not chowing down on a lot of goodies, but more often than not,  you are chowing down on more calories (the fat and sugar kind) than you realize, and they will add up faster than you can say “Skinny Twinkie”. If it’s not in your house, it’s not likely you will run to the store at 10:00 PM to pick up your craving food. If it is already available in your house, there is a good chance you will just eat it as you watch “The Biggest Loser”, which of course causes regret and unhappiness.  Do yourself a favor. Don’t buy anything you know you can’t control yourself with.

Up, Up, and Away!

Are your jeans getting tighter and tighter every week? Don’t give in to the horrible temptation of going up a size. Ok, if you are in the 6th grade going through a growth spurt, that doesn’t count. But if you are a grown woman gaining weight that is just “fat” due to poor eating habits and lack of exercise…don’t just go up a size and forget the weight gain ever happened. If you go up a size…you will more likely go up another size…and another size…    Do you see where this is going? One day you go to the Mall to just go home and realize you are a size 16 when you used to be a size 8. Ever heard of “letting yourself go”? This is how it happens. One French Fry at a time. Good news, there is hope! Don’t take that route again. Let’s start eating healthy NOW! Don’t wait until after the holidays…after your Birthday…or after this or that. Start an Exercise program NOW, or as soon as you speak with your Personal Trainer on what exercises you can begin with.

The choice starts now. Make the right one, please.

♥, Twinkie

Tags: craving, diet, exercise, failure, Fitness, gain weight, Healthy, Lose Weight, personal trainer, plan ahead, snack, strawberries, success, temptation, win

Are you “Skinny Fat”?

Are you “Skinny Fat”? You heard me right!  There is a new term called “Skinny Fat”, and it refers to those who look skinny, have a healthy BMI, but have a higher amount of fat versus muscle, and are at risk for Obesity related illnesses. That’s right- just because you are “skinny” or look good on the outside, it doesn’t mean you are healthy on the inside.

So how many of us are considered “Skinny Fat”? 30 million Americans. So how can we prevent ourselves from being “Skinny Fat”? It’s everything we already know, which is to Eat Healthy and Exercise on a regular basis.

Check out this great video from MSN Health:

“Skinny Fat” Video

Please let me know what you think about this new discovery of Skinny Fat!

♥, Twinkie

Tags: exercise, Fitness, Health, Healthy, illness, MSN Health, muscle, muscle mass, news, obesity, Skinny Fat, skinny twinkie, Twinkie

Skinny Tip #6

Skinny Tip #6

Say “NO” to FRIED Foods!!!

Tags: Avoid Fried Foods, Fried, healthy tip, skinny tip

Thanksgiving can be good for you…

Thanksgiving can either brake you or be quite beneficial for your body. It’s all about preparation. Here’s a couple of traditional foods that no Thanksgiving should be without.

Turkey

Great news, Turkey is not only low in fat (ok, without the skin anyways), but it is also high in B Vitamins, Potassium, Zinc, and Folic acid. So what’s so great about all of that? These wonderful nutrients are helpful in lowering blood cholesterol, protect against heart disease, and cancer. What else does Turkey do to help? Turkey also aids the immune system, nerve function and growth, and help regulate blood pressure.

Potato

High in Vitamin C, B-Complex, Potassium, Magnesium, and Calcium. As a result, potatoes are helpful with relieving high blood pressure and rheumatism, and helps boost the immune system. If you are trying to lose weight though, limit the potato intake.

Cranberry

Full of antioxidants, Calcium and other healing properties.  Research suggests that Cranberries can help with heart disease, helps to strengthen bones, can get rid of some types of stomach ulcers, heal urinary tract infections, and even helps as dental health. A lot of Cranberry products are loaded with sugar, so try to go the all natural route.

Yam

Yams are like a super veggie, with lots of vitamins and minerals that are very helpful to the body. Yams are a great source of Potassium, B Vitamins, Manganese, Fiber, Folic acid and healthy carbohydrates. If you want to reap the ultimate benefits of yams, I would suggest skipping the idea of “candied yams”. Adding the sugar to the yams will dilute the health benefits of the yam, so a great alternative is using a small amount of butter or coconut oil and a couple dashed of salt and pepper. No sugar needed to enjoy.

Pumpkin

High in Antioxidants (Carotenoids, Zeaxanthin and Lutein) and also high in Fiber, Iron, and Zinc. If you can find a Pumpkin Pie recipe without all the sugar, you will be all set!

Healthy Thanksgiving

As you can see, Thanksgiving can be very healthy for you. How you can ensure that Thanksgiving is a healthy meal for you, is to avoid sugar as much as possible. Another thing that you can do, is be sure that you eat until you are satisfied. Don’t just keep eating more and more just because food is there. That’s what leftovers is for! Don’t get so stuffed that you feel sick. If you do, you aren’t benefiting your body the way you should be.

Tags: Cranberry, Healthy, Nutrition, potato, potatoes, Pumpkin, Thanksgiving, Turkey, Weight Loss, Yam

Skinny Tip #5

Skinny Tip #5

When you are full…stop eating! You are already full! Seems like an obvious thing, but many continue to finish their plate.