Twinkie’s Challenge: Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

Every holiday season we are bombarded with loads and loads of extra calories that are nothing more than sugar, fat, and simple carbohydrates that help us gain more weight than we’d care to admit.

We first get slapped with Halloween, which most people are sugar loaded before October 31st even comes. A short couple of weeks later, we get to enjoy Thanksgiving which is a day we consume a single meal that has more calories than what we normally consume in an entire week, not to mention the pies and other treats for dessert. One month later we get to enjoy Christmas, which is full of holiday traditions that are full of sugary hot cocoa, stocking stuffers, and making a whole house made out of candy (and buy extra candy so we can eat as we build)!

It’s no wonder why most people gain so much weight during the holidays. As a society, we don’t have just three days to celebrate – the holidays last a full three months!

I love that the holidays are three months long of celebrations, and no, I am not all “bah-humbug” just because I refuse to make sugar a part of my holiday traditions! Quite the opposite, really. I have actually found a way to not gain weight during the holidays! If you listen to what I have to say, you can even lose weight during the holidays, even with a couple of holiday treats every now and again.

Keep Exercising!

If you’ve been exercising all year (or even just the Summer) long, good for you! Now that it’s the holiday season, it’s time to step things up and keep going!

If you haven’t been exercising at all, now is the time to start! You have three months left until the end of the year, and that’s plenty of time to get moving towards your goals. You might not reach your ultimate health goals within just three months, but you will have gotten a three month head start towards those “New Years Resolutions”! Look at you, so proactive!

Here’s a thought: If you burned 300 calories a day (for example, 30 minutes on an elliptical machine) and eat within your calorie “budget” everyday (use a useful site like Lose It!), you will set yourself up for maintaining or even losing weight – it’s your choice!

Get you Rest

It’s easy to forget how important sleep is to our overall health, including how it can effect your weight loss efforts. With all of the holiday parties coming up, it’s time you take your sleep seriously! I am not one for sleeping in (I am a morning person!), but in times where you just stay up too late (which should be the exception, not the rule!), you really do need to get your rest. Go ahead and sleep in. You can always do your workout when you wake up…whenever that is : )

Drink Water

It’s easy to get dehydrated during the cold Fall and Winter months, so make sure that you track how much water you are drinking so that you know your daily intake.

Why is it so important to drink enough water each day? Water is a great way to stay full for longer periods of time, which helps prevent you from overeating at all of the social gatherings coming up! It also helps with your metabolism and allows for your body to function properly (which helps you lose weight easier).

Whenever possible, opt for water instead of soda or alcohol since they are both full of calories that are quickly consumed and add on the pounds fast.

You Don’t Have to Eat Everything Given to You

A lot of people show their love by giving you sweets. You don’t have to eat everything in sight just because it’s homemade or a special tradition. This is just something I had to tell you, and even give myself the little reminder.

When it’s OK to Induldge…

OK, I get it. The holidays come once a year, and you want to enjoy yourself. If you are going to indulge on your favorite holiday treats, there’s nothing I can do or say to prevent you from eating them, but there is a couple of things you should keep in mind:

1) Don’t eat your favorite candy/dessert/etc. when you are hungry. It’s not supposed to be a meal, and if you eat your favorite holiday treat when you are hungry, you will be more likely to eat a lot of it, and I mean a lot more!

2) Moderation is key! If you have little to no self control, you might want to consider “calorie counting” temporarily during the holidays, to make sure that you don’t overdo it when it comes to eating treats. If you know you don’t have self control, sometimes it’s easier to never start than to try and stop eating the treats later on.

3) Don’t give into temptation all of the time. Don’t make a three month long habit of indulging because “it’s the holidays”, since that phrase is what gets everybody in trouble and regretful come January 1st when they are carrying several extra pounds of holiday weight gain with them that lasts much longer than that holiday party ever did.

Plan out the days you will indulge a little, and adjust your day accordingly. You know yourself and your weaknesses, so put a strategy in place on how you plan on handling the situation and stick to your plan! For example, you can exercise more on the days leading up to the holiday party, or you can eat a big healthy meal before you look over the dessert bar! If it means you skip out on candy/desserts/treats altogether since you know you can’t stop at just one or two, then avoid the junk food and have fun socializing and being the life of the party instead!

Maintain – or Lose! – Weight this Holiday

Follow these steps, and maintain – or even lose! – weight this holiday season! You can achieve whatever you want, and whatever you are willing to work for. And yes, you can enjoy a wonderful holiday season with less (or no) junk food because the food isn’t really what makes the holidays special (I’ll let you think about that one).

Are you ready to take this challenge on?!

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Tags: holidays, Twinkie's Challenge, weight gain

Twinkie’s Challenge: Exercise Regularly

We’ve all been told that we are supposed to exercise on a regular basis, since it’s healthy for us. But why should you and I exercise on a regular basis? Is the effort worth the sacrifice?

I am challenging each of you to make exercise a part of your life, and I suggest you check out some of the benefits that are associated with regular exercise.

Define “Regular Exercise”

In order to benefit from regular exercise, you need to start somewhere. What’s considered “regular exercise”? In general, adults need to exercise for about three to five times a week, for 20 – 40 minutes.

Health Benefits of Regular Exercise

There are plenty of reasons why you should take on this challenge of making exercise a part of your life. I will list some of the top benefits of exercise, just to give you some encouragement and to help you get started.

•Increased Energy

Do you notice that you are lethargic and too tired to exercise? If you are already tired, I don’t blame you for dreading exercise. Interestingly enough, if you just push through that first workout,  you will notice an amazing boost of energy!

•Muscle Strength

If you want to burn more fat in any given moment, you need to gain lean muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn which leads to less body fat.

•Live Longer

According to a 20 year study, regular exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of dying prematurely. This isn’t a surprise considering all of the health benefits associated with exercise.

•Reduce The Risk of Breast Cancer

Studies show that when women exercise, two ovarian hormone (Progesterone and Estradiol) levels are lowered in the body. This is a very good thing, since an excess of these hormones have been linked to breast cancer tumor production. This means that by regular exercise, you can reduce the risk of breast cancer by up to 60% – if this isn’t a reason to exercise, I don’t know what is!

•Lose Excess Fat, and Keep it Off

Exercise increases your metabolism which helps you burn more calories throughout the day – long after your morning run (or whatever you decide to do). Exercise will help you reach and maintain a healthy weight.

•Clears Skin

Exercise is a great way to remove toxins from your body, which occurs when you sweat during exercise. Exercise is a natural detox for your skin, which helps you get rid of acne. Your skin increases the natural production of collagen, which is an all natural anti-aging benefit!

•Increase Cardiovascular Efficiency 

The stronger your heart is, the more blood can be pumped through your heart with less effort.  This is a very good thing since strengthening your heart with regular exercise will decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease in the process.

•Lower Blood Pressure

If you need to reduce your blood pressure, you need to start an exercise program (which this challenge should be the perfect opportunity to start, right?). All forms of exercise has been shown to be effective in lowering blood pressure.

•Strengthens Bones

Increase your bone density by choosing an active lifestyle! If you include cardiovascular exercises and weight training (nothing too intense, mind you…), it will help promote bone formation which will delay bone loss. Increase bone mass has been shown to protect against osteoporosis, which is bone loss associated with aging. As you get older, keep on moving!

•Prevent (or cure) Depression

You don’t need (in my opinion) antidepressants to help with your depression. First of all, they don’t fix the problem. Second of all, they are actually harmful to you and your mental health. Thirdly, study after study has proven that exercise reduces the symptoms of depression and promotes mental health. Exercise for 30 minutes just three to five times a week to experience significant improvements. This is something the drug companies don’t want you to know…since we all know how exercise can be cheap or even free.

•Reduce Stress Hormones

Is stress affecting your health? Sounds like you need to exercise (and perhaps resolve the issues causing the stress!) . Sometimes we can’t easily resolve the cause of the stress, but it’s good to know that regular exercise has been prove to reduce the amount of stress hormones in your body. Less stress hormones means lower blood pressure and a healthier you.

• Prevents Illness

Are you sick all of the time? Maybe you need to jump start your immune system, which will help reduce the amount of illness you will have to experience. Regular exercise is a great way to rev up your immune system

•Reduce the Risk of a Stroke

Exercise may reduce the risk of total, hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes – according to research data.

•Better Night’s Rest

Exercise has been shown to help you get to sleep at night. So long sleep apnea!

•Increase New Brain Cells

Did you know that exercise actually stimulates the formation of new brain cells? Research has shown that the area of the brain that forms the new cells is responsible for learning and memory development.

•Lower Cholesterol Levels

Do you have high cholesterol, and need to lower it? Exercise has shown to have a direct effect with influencing blood cholesterol levels by decreasing LDL (bad) cholesterol and increasing HDL (good) cholesterol.

•Prevent Diabetes

Studies have shown that exercise, combined with a healthy diet, can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by up to 60%! Considering how dangerous diabetes can be, exercise and a healthy lifestyle should be a no brainer.

Ok everyone – it’s time for you to take this challenge seriously. Do this for you. Do this for your own health, and take charge of your life. Make the choice today to make exercise a habit…you won’t regret it.

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Tags: blood pressure, cancer, cholesterol, Depression, Diabetes, energy, exercise, Fitness, immune system, muscle, prevention, strength, Twinkie's Challenge, Weight Loss

Twinkie’s Challenge: Accomplish your New Year’s Resolutions

On average, New Year’s Resolutions just don’t seem to last past February. This is the year to finally change all of that. This is the year to put the odds in your favor and finally accomplish your goals.

Focus on a select few

List all of the goals you would like to accomplish this year. Now just pick two or three goals that are the most important to you. If you choose too many goals to accomplish, you can get too overwhelmed which can hurt your chances of getting anything done.

Be realistic with your goals. If you are 5′ 11″, you probably shouldn’t have your goal to be a “size 00″.  Not only would an impossible goal be discouraging to anyone, this type of a goal would be extremely unhealthy for you. Your goals should better your life rather than become detrimental to your health.

List your reasons “Why”

For each goal that you have decided to work on this year, list a couple of reasons why you want to achieve these goals. If you are trying to lose weight to help with your Diabetes, list that as your reasons why. Be very detailed with your “Why”, since this is what’s going to help motivate you when you want to quit.

In addition to detailing your “Why”, maybe you can write yourself a note to read when you are at a weak point and thinking about giving in to temptations. You are your biggest motivator. Use it to your advantage.

Create a Plan

Now that you know which goals to focus on and your reasons for achieving them, it’s now time to create a plan on how you will carry out your goals. List specific steps on how you will accomplish  your goals. For example, if your goal is to lose your last 10 pounds (yay!), write “exercise 5 days a week” or “eliminate fast food” as part of your plan. This process  is all about action items, which shows you how you will accomplish your goals – for real this time!

There may be several components for accomplishing each goal, which is exactly why you only want to focus on a few important goals. Don’t overwhelm yourself.

Set a Goal date

A very important part of creating your New Year’s Resolutions is to have a Goal date. Each of your goals should have it’s own goal date. Setting a date for when you want to achieve your goals is an important part of your success since it helps you stay on track.

I personally like goal dates since they give me a  set dead line. Sometimes I will give myself some extra time to allow for some wiggle room, but not too much since I don’t want to procrastinate working on my New Year’s Resolutions goals.

Track your progress

Have regular check ups to make sure you are still on track. Have some time set aside each week or each month to go over your goals. This will give you accountability and help you remain focused. If you are having a tough time with one of your goal, check out the reasons why you are working so hard.  Focus on the positive, and stay motivated.

Get support

Get the support you need from friends and family to stay on track. If you write down your goals and tell people about them, you will give yourself accountability to accomplish your goals as well as some positive encouragement. If your family knows you are trying to lose weight, they will know not to bring over cookies or other fatty foods that will distract you from your goals.

Make the decision to Succeed

Decide today that you will accomplish your goals. Success is a decision, not a hope. You may not always accomplish your goals exactly how you planned it, but you can still succeed with your New Year’s Resolutions. Remember that big worthwhile goals don’t happen overnight, and each day is a step closer to where you want to be.

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What’s your New Year’s Resolution goals?

Tags: accomplish goals, goal, Goal Planning, holiday, motivational, New Year's Resolutions, New Years, Twinkie's Challenge

Twinkie’s Challenge: No Sugar or Artifical Sweeteners!

This quarter, I challenge you to avoid processed Sugar and Artificial Sweeteners! (You can still have natural sugars found in Fruit, Vegetables, Agave Nectar, Raw Honey, etc). So why would I give you (and myself!) this Challenge?

The Harmful Effects of Sugar

Processed Sugar and Artificial Sweeteners are really bad for you. But how bad can it be?

•Raises insulin levels in the body, which promotes the storage of fats. By storing excess fats, it causes your body to gain weight, and Sugar has been linked to causing Obesity.

•Depresses the Immune System. If your body is trying to fight an illness, Sugar and Artificial Sweeteners are only going to make things worse for you by preventing your body to fight back whatever illness it is trying to get rid of. If you want to lower your risk of getting sick this Fall and Winter Season, avoid processed Sugars and Artificial Sweeteners!

•Diabetes. Though people don’t like to blame sugar as causing their Diabetes, they admit that “Sugar may have been part of the cause”. First of all, too many calories leads to weight gain, which causes Diabetes. If you are eating that many excessive calories to cause weight gain to cause Diabetes, I am taking a shot that you are probably consuming a lot of processed Sugars and Artifical Sweeteners in your diet, and I doubt you would be eating too many vegetables.  I will let you decide on this one.

•Cardiovascular Disease  is the leading cause of death for both men and women. There are many studies that show that Sugar is linked to Cardiovascular disease, but the FDA believes that processed Sugar has no harmful outcome other than Dental issues. No offense to the FDA, but I can’t believe that Sugar in the amounts being consumed today (2-3 pounds a week) is actually OK and not a “hazard” as they put it. Puh-lease…

•Stroke. There was a study published back in July 2002 in the Journal “Neurology”, and it showed how stroke victims who have High Blood Sugar were found to have a higher risk of death,  than the stroke patients with normal Blood Sugar levels.

•Blood Clots. Sugar can increase the blood’s platelet levels and becomes more adhesive, which causes not only Blood clots, but also strokes as well.

•Yeast Infection. Sugar feeds off of Yeast Infections! If you are trying to prevent or get rid of a Yeast Infection, be sure to avoid all forms of processed Sugars and Artificial Sweeteners.  An all natural yoghurt is really good for you since it has what’s called “Good Bacteria”. Just be sure to get the Plain Yoghurt that doesn’t have anything added to it (a lot of them have added sugars or artifical sweeteners that defeat the pupose of the youghurt in the first place).

•Depression. Large doses of processed Sugar causes the brain to slow down it’s production of endorphins. With the lack of endorphins, this causes anywhere from a minor to a major depression- depending on the person.

•Cavities. I think we have all known that Sugar causes cavities since we were all like 5 years old, but I thought I would mention it anyways. Sugar mixed in with Plaque Bacteria causes Cavities. If you go off of Sugar, you will notice your teeth tend to feel cleaner. If you eat a bunch of junk food, your teeth tend to feel dirty.

•Cancer is fueled by Sugar. If you have cancer and  can suppress the amounts of Processed Sugars and Artificial Sweeteners in your diet, build your immune system back up to fight it off, exercise – you would be so much better off. There is a difference between “trying to eat good”, and “be healthy”.

•Etc. The list goes on…

Ask yourself this…is that candy worth it? No!!!

How you can win this battle against processed Sugars and Artificial Sweeteners…

So now that you have had processed Sugars and Artificial Sweeteners, how do you get rid of the habit? You and I know very well how addicting Sugar can be, so how do we avoid it altogether?

Overcome Sugar cravings

Be sure to have plenty of healthy and natural sugar in your diet, such as fruit, agave nectar, and raw honey. If you are getting enough natural sugar in your body, you shouldn’t be craving the unhealthy processed sugars and artificial sweeteners that you are trying to avoid. It’s good to know that once you stop having processed sugars and artificial sweeteners, you stop craving it after awhile!

Plan meals ahead

Review what you are currently eating for your Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks. Read the labels, and think about every aspect of the meal (sauces, side dishes, etc), and see if you need to replace anything that has processed Sugar or Artificial Sweeteners in it.

Come up with planned meals for the upcoming week (or two weeks, depending on how often you go to the grocery store). Make sure you read labels (I can’t stress this enough!). Buy foods that you love to eat, and will enjoy. This will ensure that you will stick to your planned meals throughout the week. Be sure to prepare enough food throughout the day, so you won’t be hungry and desperate for anything- including something with processed Sugars or Artificial Sweeteners. This is exactly what we are trying to avoid!

Read Labels,  and understand what they really are

The following are words you need to look out for, and avoid:

Sugar is the easiest label to read and understand, since it is just Processed Sugar

Brown Sugar is processed, and it is refined sugar with some of the molasses returned to it.

Sucrose is regular known as Table Sugar

Dextrose is Corn Sugar

Corn Syrup is not naturally created or possible, and must be processed. The only company who believes Corn Syrup is Healthy, is the ones who sell it and make money off of it.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is produced by processing Corn Starch to create Glucose, and then processing the Glucose to produce a high percentage of Fructose. Let’s just say, it is NOT natural, NOT considered a Vegetable because it was made from Corn (sad, but some believe it is actually healthy), and it has to be processed several times.

Fructose, considered to be a “simple sugar”, but since it is not found in natural forms of Sugar such as Vegetables and Fruit, you should avoid it.

Aspartame is also known as “NutraSweet” and “Equal“, and is an Artificial Sweetener, and not good for you.

Saccharin, which is also known as “Sweet ‘N Low“,  is an Artificial Sweetener, and not good for you.

Acesulfame-K, which is also known as “Sunette” or “Sweet One“, is an Artificial Sweetener, and not good for you.

Sucralose, which is also known as “Splenda“, and this is an Artificial Sweetener, and not good for you.

Beware of Marketing Traps

You will probably find a lot of things labeled as “All Natrual”, “Healthy”, “Sugar Free”, etc. I urge you to read the ingredients, and see exactly what is included. Most “Sugar Free” products have an Artificial Sweetener in the product (Splenda, Aspartame, etc.), and they are promoted as being “Healthy”, but in reality, they are not good for your body.

Even foods that you would have never believed to have sugar added (I found frozen vegetables with sugar added, for example), or Artifical Sweeteners (I found Wheat Thins with High Fructose Corn Syrup), you need to read the labels to make sure you are getting the real Health Food, rather than all of the scams out there.

Make it official

Tell someone else about it. Blog about it. Create a YouTube video about it. Post your goals on Twitter or Facebook. Just make it official however you do it, so you will stick to it. If you don’t, you will make it too easy to just let yourself off the hook. If you tell the world about your determination to live without Sugar (even if it is for just one month!), you will be more likely to stick with it, especially if you know people will follow up with you in the weeks to come.

Believe and Know that you can accomplish this goal

You have to believe you will accomplish the goal, and focus on the end result – to be Healthier. Know that this is a possible goal, and you can succeed! I know you can! Know that you aren’t doing this challenge all by yourself. I am here with you, every step of the way as your support group, and together we will make this happen.

Holidays are coming up

Tags: Artificial Sweeteners, Blood Clots, cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, cavities, Corn Syrup, Depresses the Immune System, Depression, Diabetes, Fructose, goal, Harmful Effects of Sugar, heart disease, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hypoglycemia, marketing traps, processed Sugar, Raises insulin levels, read labels, Stroke, sugar, sugar free, Sweeteners, Twinkie's Challenge, video, Yeast Infection