My Healthy Weight Loss

Do you know what your children are eating for lunch? Do they take a packed lunch to school or do they buy dinner in the school canteen?

Maybe you have never considered what your children are eating for their lunch assuming that they get lunch in school and make good choices. Well maybe they are but if they are like the majority of children they have no idea what is a good or bad choice. They will normally choose what they like rather than what is healthy.

If you have no idea what is healthy and you give your children either fast food or junk food why should they make this meal any different? How do you think they are going to gain the education about nutrition if it isn’t being taught in schools and neither is it taught in the home?

If you are relying on the school then you might need to get educated about nutrition yourself and pass on those lessons to your children. Talk to them about what they are eating in school. Don’t term it good and bad food because this is often where the problems of food and eating disorders start. Explain that certain foods will add to any weight problems or could cause weight problems in the future. Help them to see that they can make choices about what they eat. Help them to see that eating a chocolate bar once in a while isn’t the end of the world. But show them eating a chocolate bar every day or every meal isn’t a good choice.

If you are creating a packed lunch for your children are you considering what is being included in it? In the United Kingdom there are schools that are banning certain foods from the lunch box. No more crisps/chips, chocolate bars, cake and other sugar products. If your children’s lunch box had these items in them do you know what to put in to replace them?

The biggest problem you are now facing isn’t what to replace them with but getting your children to eat what goes in. It will be a huge experience for many to suddenly stop getting the foods they like and have to learn to try not just one new food a day but for some all the food in the lunch box will be new.

How do you deal with that, and what choices can you make for them to help them get over this problem? Start today by introducing foods into their other meals. Instead of a sugary drink try giving your children pure fruit juice or water. There are lots of different flavored waters around which has no added sugar, buy those and try them out. Many are only 1 or 2 calories for 1 liter bottles. Fizzy drinks have so much sugar in them; a can of pop can have at least 5 teaspoons of sugar in them.

Try giving them a sandwich using whole-wheat bread. If you are having a problem getting them to eat this then try one slice of white and one slice of whole-wheat. Put in a filling that they might enjoy, but you could also try making your own filling. Open a tin of tuna and chop a little onion into it. If they don’t like mayonnaise then try adding a small amount of ketchup to it to bind it together. You could also chop a little tomato or cucumber into this mixture.

Give them some chunky vegetables to eat. Tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, peppers, radishes and anything else you think they might like.

What excuses do you have as to why you can’t exercise? The most common excuse is I can’t exercise, because and then people add what they think sounds like a good reasons. The truth is that isn’t a good reason.

If you are in a wheelchair then there are exercises that can be done, look how many people in wheelchairs take part in sports. Look at the Paralympics to see how many people are involve in sports of every kind. If you look at many elderly homes they will have a fitness instructor come in and do exercise with the people while they sit down.

Regardless of your weight or medical problems there are always exercises you can do. You will need medical advice before starting any exercise program.

Walking is a great form of exercise especially if you are starting to exercise for the first time. You can get outdoors and go for a brisk walk.

It is time for you to become inventive and have fun exercising. You might like to dance, but fear of what people might say has stopped you from doing what you love. This is no longer a problem, put a CD on and dance away at home especially at times when there is nobody around. You might want to learn a new form of exercise then buy a DVD or join a class and discover a whole new world in the realm of exercise.

Set yourself a goal with exercise. Imagine you are preparing to run or walk a marathon. You will never finish it unless you prepare, and prepare well for it. You will not succeed if you keep skipping your classes. If you have a goal then you are more likely to continue your exercises rather than quitting as you have done up to now.

Are you overweight, obese or morbidly obese? Many people who have a problem with their weight will go on a diet trying to lose the weight, but not give any consideration to getting fit. People try all types of diets without taking any form of exercise and wonder why they never lose any weight, or become healthy. Today is the time to start to get fit.

Regardless of how heavy you might be there are always ways for you to exercise. You might not be able to walk a mile, but you can start to walk even if it is only a couple of paces. Anything is better than nothing. Talk to your doctor and tell them how serious you are about getting fit.

Your doctor will give you guidance as to what type of exercise is suitable for you. They will also give you some advice about the diet you should eat, but rather than get yourself caught up with more dieting, learn how to get fit. Make this the important decision you can make regarding your health.

If you make a pledge to start an exercise plan and stick with it for 12 weeks you will see improvement in your health. If you make some changes to your diet, this will also help your health. The goal isn’t to be suddenly perfect weight, but to make lifelong changes to everything you do in terms of your health. If you look to do 4 hours exercise a week and try and eat when hungry, your cholesterol levels will drop. Your blood pressure will also improve. There will be noticeable differences in your health in this short a time.

Today is the day to make the changes. Start slowly and daily increase what you can do. Even if this week you can’t do 4 hours of exercise then do what you can, and increase until you can do the 4 hours in the week.  It is time to get fit today, because tomorrow will never come.

Let’s face it – there is nothing festive about guilt when we over indulge over Christmas. With a little planning you can enjoy the feast and celebration but without an ounce of regret.

Wouldn’t you love to go through Christmas this year with a deep sense of contentment? “Yes!” I hear you say, “But how do I do it?” I hear you cry.

Imagine it is Christmas day and it is your turn to cook the dinner. Your family want the traditional meal and no corners cut. You are now in a panic, what if the meal turns out to be a flop because I burn the potatoes, or even worse forget to light the cooker. Then I have to eat all this food, the starter, and the turkey with all the trimmings, the Christmas pudding with flaming brandy and brandy sauce or butter. Then there are all the chocolates and nuts while watching television. Then we start again with a meal in the evening. Can you see yourself surrounded by all this food, everybody eating without a care in the world. They forget the hard work that you have put into it, and to make things worse you can see those 10 lbs going on that you have worked so hard to lose.

The secret to a great Christmas is to take the focus off the feast and celebrate the spirit of the season. For starters, stop fretting about the meal. You may say but I am going away and someone else is doing the cooking what if it is high in fat? Indulge it and enjoy without feeling guilty. Remember you are in control of what you eat.

The potatoes are swimming in fat, make a choice have one only. Fill up your plate with good healthy vegetables. Take the turkey but leave the skin behind. You eat a lot of vegetables, which have been boiled or steamed, so you are quite full. When the pudding comes around you are almost full. Tell your host it looks delicious but to really appreciate it I will only have a small portion because anything else will make me too full and that would spoil the taste of what you have made. Make sure you don’t sit watching television with your hands in the nuts or chocolates. If there is fruit around then say that looks good and have some to eat, you might be surprised at how many people will join you.

Another trick is if you have a coffee table where the chocolates or nuts are normally kept then move them into the kitchen or another place. Put attractive bowls of fruit in front of people instead. I have found that people will eat what is in front of them, but they will think twice about walking to another room for chocolates.

Christmas is a time for all the family and that includes you. Make sure you have some time on your own. It doesn’t matter if dinner is served 10 mins late. You will find your family will appreciate having you stress-free rather than snapping at everybody, because of the pressure of the day. Now you will do the following.

When you get up you will have 10 mins for yourself. Go and have a bath and lock the door. Use some wonderful fragrances and relax. If you can’t do this tell the family in advance. 10 mins for me and then you can have me for the rest of the day. Get a cup of tea or coffee and sit quietly, reflect on the wonderful things in your life. Take this time to ring a dear friend who you know you wont see on the day. Just chat and relax. If the family want to pamper you let them, and that includes breakfast. Under no circumstance are you allowed to skip this meal.

You might want to eat less so you can use your calories later in the day, but you must eat something. Let them bring you a boiled egg and toast, with a cup of tea or coffee, and some fresh fruit. It is Christmas buy some exotic fruits and make a fruit salad and squeeze a fresh orange over it. You have the perfect excuse for a light breakfast in that you will be having a large meal later.

You are about to make dinner and the last thing you want is to feel stress. You need to enjoy the day like the rest of the family. Put on some nice music, light a candle in the kitchen, even take a small glass of wine. Relax is the key. Get the turkey into the oven and do as much preparation as you dare. Timing is everything. If you are not sure when to eat, ask the family. If you need help then make sure you ask the family to give you a hand. If you eat in the evening, then make sure you have a light lunch, some soup, French bread and fresh fruit. Arrange exotic fruits on a platter so people can munch away.

Now you take control either before the meal or afterwards and you say it is time for a walk. Turn on the video so they don’t miss anything, wrap up warm and go for a walk. If you can get into the countryside then go. It is never too cold to walk, you just wrap up well. There is something wonderful about feeling that cool breeze on your face.

The table needs to be set and maybe someone is artistic in the family, get them to do it. Children love to help, don’t be concerned if they do it the wrong way, encourage them. If you have younger children and are having a house full. Let them write place settings, it doesn’t matter if the names are spelt wrong. Get one of the older children to answer the door and greet people. They will feel so proud to do this, and they can also make sure the person has something to drink.

Now is the time to sit and eat the meal that you have lovingly prepared. No you will not feel guilty about it, be thankful for everything that is before you. You have tried to make it as low-fat as possible. Yes you might eat more calories than you would have liked, but no you will not feel guilty. It is one day, tomorrow you are back on plan. If you plan carefully then you will not get it wrong. You will know what is on the menu, so you will shop accordingly. You will know what each meal is going to be.

Now I can feel some of you saying, my family always have a certain meal because it is the tradition of our home. They wouldn’t appreciate me doing something different.

My answer is that a tradition was always started by someone. It hasn’t been a tradition from eternity. Someone started it and it continued. Imagine you do something different this year and your family love it. Keep imagining that you are now sitting with your children and their children having Christmas in their home. How will you feel when one of your children says we do this because Mom did it for us. She started this tradition and we love it so much that we have continued it for the past 20 years. I broke our family traditions many years ago, but replace the old with tasty foods that nobody complained about. You can do the same. Take time to be bold this year and decide that Christmas is going to be healthy for all the family. They will thank you for it in the long run. How many of us blame our bad eating habits on our parents. By keeping to these traditions you are setting yourself up for your children to blame you for their bad eating habits. By starting new traditions of eating you are setting your children up to be healthy and not have a weight problem.

This is one Christmas gift you can all give to your family. Can you afford not to do it?

What do you do if your child wants to exercise?

Children and Excercise

In the past generations children always exercised. It might not have been called that but exercise was a part of life but this isn’t the case today. We are created to exercise and a child should always be encouraged to take part in some form of exercise.

If you think back to your school days you will have had time in the playground for kicking a ball or skipping or other activities. Then there were always games or PE put into the school curriculum. Yes we might have bad memories of not being able to play one game very well or not being chosen for the team but we still managed to get exercise.

We would walk to and from school which might not be so safe to do today but instead of driving your children to school why not walk with them. That way you also get exercise and keep an eye on your children.

If your children have bicycles why not make it possible for the whole family to get out into the fresh air with a day cycling. You could pack a healthy picnic and go out into the countryside. It is a great way to get exercise without thinking of it being a chore.

While you might not like exercise make sure you don’t put your fears on your children and in return they get obese because of lack of exercise and finally have many diseases and illness which could be avoided with exercise.

What other exercises can children take part in? Children love to dance just put on a music CD or DVD and watch them dancing. If you have very young children buy some of these great activity DVD which calls for the children to dance along with their favorite characters. But for those who want to go another step further there will be dance classes where they can learn ballet, tap or modern dance.

Swimming is another great exercise and all children need to be taught to swim as it could save their lives. Again it is something all the family can do together. Get to the pool and have fun but make sure you swim and use those muscles.

You might want to consider taking your child to the gym with you but before you do talk to the gym first. Make sure they are qualified to help children in working out an exercise. Children’s bodies are not the same as adults and they will need an exercise program designed just for them.

The gym or trainer will need to take into consideration whether the child has ever done exercise before or not. If their only exercise has been their fingers and they use the keyboard on their computer then they will need to be taught how to warm up the body otherwise injury will occur.

One of the most important aspects of exercise is talking to your child to see what they would like to do. Don’t put on them to become the next gold medalist in a certain discipline because it is a dream you had but didn’t fulfill. They need to develop their own likes and dislikes.

Finally you need to make sure that whatever exercises your child does from walking in the mall to a vigorous workout in the gym that your child warms up correctly, uses the muscles correctly and drinks plenty of water and doesn’t suffer from damaged muscles or dehydration.

Those who don’t exercise will have to find time for illness. That is a great motto for those who use the excuse that they

Excercise and weight loss

have no time to exercise.

Everybody needs to exercise and there is some form of exercise available for everybody whether you are disabled, elderly or just starting out to exercise for the first time.

You need to find an exercise you enjoy and then to make sure you do it at least 3 times a week.

You might think you don’t have the time for that but 30 mins is all that is asked for. Most people will spend longer on the internet, reading a newspaper or watching television than they need to spend doing exercising. 30 mins a day could literally save your life.

One of the best forms of exercise is walking yet it is one that is often forgotten about. People will spend hours walking around the shops or mall but when they come to do some walking for exercise then they will find plenty of excuses why they can’t do it.

Make a choice to walk for 30 minutes three times a week and you will soon see the benefit to your health. Start by stretching and warming up those muscles before you set off. Then take a short walk keeping a steady pace, and when you have finished the walk stretch again to cool down the muscles.

The last thing you want is to damage any muscles or cause yourself any injury. Take care when you exercise. Make good choices and that way you can enjoy your exercises and get fit.

If you decide to join a gym or a club to get your exercise then make sure you are not wasting your money. If you pay a year’s subscription for the local pool and you only use it once then it is a very expensive swim.

If you are considering a yearly membership then make sure you use that membership. But do remember that a membership to a club or gym won’t make you fit, even going there won’t make you fit. If all you are doing is making it a social event to talk to people then again it is a waste of money.

Once you are there you need to take the time to use the equipment and not just five minutes and then quit because it hurts or you are bored.
The secret to getting fit is consistent exercising. That means at least 30 mins three times a week. It means times to warm up the muscles then to get some cardio exercise and then time to cool down the muscles.
Keep those muscles safe and you can enjoy a new and fit lifestyle as you start to exercise even if you have never exercised before.

Foto: stock.xchng: akarta

In the past people used to walk everywhere. They didn’t have much choice because there was no other way of going

from point A to point B.  Households didn’t have cars and not

Walking for Weight Loss

everybody lived on a bus route. Even if you could use public

transport you might have to walk to the nearest place to get onto it. Nowadays people get into their cars and drive everywhere. They don’t consider walking a mile to post a letter, even on a beautiful day. They would rather drive, and then wonder why they have health problems. If you are someone who never walks then it is time to start

and to walk your way to health.

If you drive to the stores park the car a little further away forcing you to walk to the store and back again. Spend longer walking around the store or malls, making sure you at least start to get some exercise.
A walk in the country is always a wonderful way to get exercise. You can go as a family and use it as a way of educating your children, pointing out the flowers and wild life you pass as you walk.
If you want to start to walk around your neighborhood, and are not sure how people will react, put on your headphone, play music, and wear a pair of shades. Then go without a care in the world knowing you are getting fit and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Your health is far more important than people talking about you. They will soon become jealous as you take your daily exercise. If you have a dog, take them with you for their exercise as well.
Walking is an easy exercise to start with. Warm up first making sure you stretch those muscles. Walk fast enough to feel your heart working but not so fast that you can’t talk. Make the decision today to walk your way to health.

The way people eat pizza you would think this is the case, but surprise pizza isn’t a food group. It comes under jun

Healthy Pizza Recipesk

food, and has a lot of the different food groups included. Why is it so popular?

I remember my first pizza. I was on holiday in Italy and of course it was pizza and pasta for many meals. But the thing was that the pizza was nothing like you get today in many restaurants. It was not overloaded with cheese; it had lots of fresh vegetables on it. We also had a pizza take away where we used to live and again because the owner was Italian it was made as a traditional Italian pizza.

If you are like a lot of people you will love pizza, but here is the problem.

* Can you eat just one slice or do you eat the whole pizza?
* What toppings do you have on that pizza?

* How many calories are you eating?
* What food groups are in the pizza that you are about to eat?
* How can you make the pizza healthier?

Many people are not disciplined when it comes to pizza and how much they eat of it. They see that a pizza doesn’t l

ook that large, maybe the size of a plate and eat it without much thought to the calories being consumed.

Let’s take for our example a supreme 12” pan pizza. This is normally sliced into 8 portions. Are you ready for a reality check here?

One slice is 330 calories which means the whole pizza is 2640 calories. As you see if you are on 1400 calories t

hat means if you eat the whole pizza in one day you are left with -1240 calories for the rest of

the day. In other words you have over eaten in just one meal.

But let’s continue with the facts here. I am looking at one slice only if you eat more than one slice you need to multi

ply it by the number of pieces eaten.

* Calories            330
* Calories from fat    160
* Total fat             17g
* % Daily Value         26%

*

* Saturated Fat          6g
* % Daily Value         30%
* Cholesterol         35g
*
* % Daily Value         12%

*
* Sodium            850mg
* % Daily Value         35%

*
* Carbohydrates         29g
* % Daily Value         10%
*
* Dietary Fibre          2g

* % Daily Value          8%
*

* Sugar              3%
* Protein             14%

When broken down like this it doesn’t look too good, does it?
How do you eat pizza if you love it? You have to learn about the consequences of what you eat. You also need to decide between picking up the telephone and ordering pizza to making your own which will be healthier.

Make your own dough, and then you know exactly what goes into it. Basic dough which will make more th

an one pizza is a simple recipe. 16 oz strong flour/bread flour, 1 tsp yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and enough warm water to mix into dough. You can’t reduce the sugar and salt as both are needed to cause the yeast to ferment but notice that you are not putting in any fat, milk powder or added extra sugar and salt.

Make your own tomato sauce, with tomato, garlic and onions. No fat or sugar needs to be added. Low calories and c

an be used as the basis for a tomato soup or pasta sauce.
Then load your pizza with plenty of fresh vegetables.

What about meat? Take one piece of skinless chicken and dice it, cook it with Cajun spices. You can dry fry it if you have a good frying pan. Again no fat is needed to be added.
Finally to the cheese, mix together a low fat mozzarella with parmesans. You don’t need to put on huge amounts of cheese as the cheese is there for one purpose to stop the other ingredients burning when the pizza is in the oven. Try it and see if your family prefer the home made pizza.
But what if you can’t resist picking up the phone or eating a pizza in a restaurant? Is it failure because you eat badly? Not it you take responsibility for your actions. You see you need to learn what to do because it is about learning to live a healthy lifestyle.

Consequence Time
To work off the 2640 calories eaten with the pizza means 11 hours of walking. You can eat your calorie laden pizza if you want but are you prepared to walk for 11 hours? Walking burns 240 calories per hour if walked at a leisurely pace.

For many of you maybe you are thinking I don’t eat a whole pizza and that is great, but how many calories are you consuming in a day? Remember all the snacks and those sugary drinks. You need approximately 1300 calories to live if you are a woman and 1600 calories for a man. That is if you are staying in bed all day and not doing anything el

se.
If you keep a diary and find you have over eaten with 250 calories today then you need to do at least 1 hours exercise to balance your food intake with the calories burned.

Yes you can have pizza but are you now prepared to take the consequences of your action?

Here is a healthy recipe for pizza:

Chicken Pita Pizza
1 whole wheat pita
¼ c low fat pizza sauce
1 portion cooked chicken breast sliced
¼ red bell pepper sliced
¼ yellow bell pepper sliced
¼ small zucchini, sliced
¼ reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese

1.    Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2.    Place the pita on a baking sheet.  Spoon pizza sauce evenly over the pita.  Top with sliced chicken, peppers, zucchini and cheese
3.    Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the pizza is heated through
4.    Slice and eat!

If you are trying to lose weight and failing then you need to ask if you are sabotaging your efforts. Dieters are often afraid of being slim even if they are not consciously aware of this fear, and in return they end up sabotaging their weight loss.

If you want to successfully lose weight and keep the weight off permanently then you have to face your fears and deal with them. Until you know what you are fearful about then you will keep on sabotaging your weight loss and keep on failing to get down to a healthy weight.

What are some of the fears that people face when they are trying to lose weight?

* They are afraid that they might become more attractive to the opposite sex.
* They are afraid of the jealousies that might come from other people.
* They are afraid of any attention they might get as a result of their weight loss.
* They are afraid of the comments they will get from their partner and family.

Fear will stop them losing the weight they want to lose. You need to look at how your friends and family are reacting to you going on a diet and trying to lose weight? Are they being helpful or are they being negative. When you finally lose that weight you might still not be happy if you haven’t dealt with all the underlying problems which caused you to overeat in the first place.

You might find friends don’t want to be around you or they are rude in your presence. Would you become so unhappy that you think your life was better when you were overweight? You might then decide to overeat, to binge or give up exercising?

You might think you want something, but deep down you are fearful of what might be waiting for you. There might be no substance in your fear but it is enough to cause you to sabotage any weight loss plan you might be following. If this is you then you need to face the fear otherwise they will take priority in your life and you will continue to sabotage your weight loss.

People will use the excuse that they can’t afford to exercise. They don’t have any spare money to join those expensive gyms. If you want to join a gym it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. You could decide to exercise in your home for the cost of a DVD. If you are serious about wanting to get healthy then you will find a way to pay for it. If you do choose to exercise then it will save you money.

You might be wondering how that could be, because we have been fed the lie that exercise is expensive. The cheap forms of exercise don’t get as much media coverage as the expensive forms of exercise.

If you look at your personal budget for a few moments, you need to see how much you are spending in two areas, food and medical care. How many medical problems like diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease do you have? How many has your physician told you are related to your weight? Your physician might have told you to lose weight and get fit.

If you talk to your physician they will be able to guide you into a fitness plan which will include both exercise and healthy eating. Many of the diseases people have can be improved and sometimes reversed when exercise and a good diet are taken to heart. People can find that their medical bills will be reduced purely by taking action and working out. As you stop buying unhealthy foods and eating out at fast food restaurants you will find that you have more money available at the end of the month.

Exercise will save you money; you will no longer be eating as much food which means your shopping bill will be reduced. You will no longer have as many medical problems which mean your medical bills will also be reduced. Now you know why exercise will save you money, then you have no excuses left as to why you can’t exercise.