TOP 5: Maintain., NOT Gain during Holidays.

Wellness Hero’s Top 5:  Ways to maintain, NOT gain this holiday season.


 1. Daily Food Plan -Know your food plan for each day, don’t let circumstance dictate what you have to eat, verses your choices that could be pre-planned.  Going to a holiday gathering is great, but knowing ahead of time your food strategy for putting energy (calories) in your body can improve your control.

 2. Portion Control - Measure out what you plan to eat, use a small plate and do not stand/sit near the food.  Each feeding should have a variety of color & moderation.


3. Emotional Eating - Whether it is pure JOY or anxiety over seeing family with the time of year, be understanding of the way you feel.  Have a coping practice in play that doesn’t involve food. 


4. Mindful Eating - When you eat, challenge yourself to enjoy each bite.  Count your chews, savor the flavor, start the digestion process off on the right break down.  The idea is to slow down & be conscious of what you are eating.  Eating in front of technology can really take away from a food expereince. 


5. Water, water, water...drink it constantly all day, especially when you first wake up.  Hydrating consistantly creates a balance in many aspects.  Not only does it support digestion, but regulates hunger (as it is possible the body just needs water, but you feel hungry). 

TOP 5 Ways to Lose Weight, WITHOUT a Diet.

Wellness Hero’s Top 5 Easy ways to BURN FAT (AKA lose weight).


Our bodies only want to maintain an ideal weight, a balance in body composition (which is 1 of 5 components of health-related Fitness).  Body composition is made up of Bone, Organs, MUSCLE (tissue too) and FAT.  We need it all, an we function optimally when it is in balance.

Here are some of my favorite tips for losing weight without out ever going on a diet. Of course a diet is just what a person consumes over the course of a day, so we are always dieting :)

1. Drink water.

Sounds simple, but let’s be honest: how much water are you currently drinking? If the answer is anything less than clear pee coming out of you, your body is telling you with Yellowish (apple juice) color pee that dehydration has started.  Plus, if you're active, it should be drinking even more than that. So here’s what you need to do: drink lots of water and cut back on things like soda (even diet!), alcohol, and sweetened beverages. You won’t notice a difference, but your body will thank you. How much to drink?  Everyone is different & the answer I have posted previously it worth your time to know, check out that post!  Hydration Basics  & How much to Drink?

2. Load up on vegetables.

You may not be the biggest fan of vegetables, but I promise you can learn to like them. Vegetables fill us up, and they're loaded with fiber, energy, and vitamins. Plus, they're low in calories, meaning you can eat a ton of them without gaining weight. Add vegetables to every meal and you’ll be sure to see a difference.  Raw is the most valuable way to MAX the benefits!

3. Don’t fear the fats.

Fats do not make us fat. In fact, they do quite the opposite. They help us absorb vitamins, give us glowing hair, skin, and nails, and even keep us more satiated, meaning you'll stay fuller longer and be much more satisfied with your meals when you add a little fat. Consider adding things like olive oil, avocado, coconut oil, sunflower seeds, or flax seeds to your next meal. You’ll be surprised at how full you'll feel!

4. Move in a way that you love.

We all know that exercise can contribute to weight loss, but what if you hate it? The key here is to actually move in a way that you enjoy. This way, you'll be more likely to stick to it in the long term. Chances are, you’re not going to want to get up at 5am for a run if you hate running, but if your alarm goes off at 5am for your favorite dance class, I bet you’ll be way more likely to make it there. Remember diversity of exercise or more specifically do things to support each component of fitness:  Muscular Strength & Endurance, Flexibility, & Cardio style movements.

5. Don’t label foods "off limits."

We want what we can’t have, so once you label something off limits or not healthy, it's going to become more appealing. Whenever I used to say I was going to cut bread from my diet, it would be all I could think about for a week until I finally caved and ended up eating an entire loaf because I couldn’t take the torture. Sound familiar?  I LOVE BREAD!

Now that I allow myself bread if I want it, I don’t crave it nearly as much and those intense cravings I once felt have totally disappeared.

So there you have it, 5 simple things you can change about your eating habits today without ever going on a diet. Still struggling with this concept? I want to help you ditch the diets for good so I invite you to contact me for support.  I specialize in POSITIVE BEHAVIOR CHANGE, find out how you can benefit from this simple lifestyle change.

Hydration Basics

HYDRATION BASICS are not just for the summer months, but a daily choice all year. 

Here are some facts and self checks for you to apply this knowledge.  Love that H2O.....The amount of fluids needed each day depends on age, gender, activity level, environmental conditions, the health of the person, the quality of their diet, and the number and type of medication being taken. Your body loses fluid throughout
the day so it is important that you replace the fluids lost through beverages you consume or the food you eat. Why should you care? Several studies indicate that your metabolism and even concentration levels may be compromised if you are dehydrated.

ARE YOU PROPERLY HYDRATED?
How do you know if you are not getting enough fluids? Check off the questions that you can answer “yes” to:
____ Is your skin dry? If you wrinkle it or pinch it, does it take awhile to “bounce” back?
____ Is your urine yellow or darker? (It should be clear to a light yellow in color (lemonade))
____ Are you frequently constipated, meaning not going once a day?
____ Do you get groggy or experience headaches part way through the day?
____ Do you have a lot of trouble staying cool or keeping warm?
A “yes” to any one of these questions may mean that your body is dehydrated and you should increase your fluid intake.

Water is your body’s principal chemical component and makes up about 60 percent of your body weight. Every system in your body depends on water.

HEALTH BENEFITS Of WATER

Functions of water in the body
Moistens tissue such as those in the mouth, eyes, and nose
Protects body organs and tissues
Carries nutrients and oxygen to cells
Lubricates joints
Regulates Helps    body
prevent constipation
Relieves kidneys and liver by flushing out waste products
temperature
Helps dissolve minerals and other nutrients to make them accessible to the body

Thoughts about food, how to shift?

How a person thinks about food is significant.  If dirt and sunshine are required in our diets, then how do we eat that?  Well, this video brings it back to basics to shift an idea about Food Matters.  Thanks for watching and subscribe to my channel.  Enhance education for all, support your Wellness Hero!
Food Matters Video

Burn More Calories, start here....

Change isn’t easy.....               Our Daily Habits & Choices                   2.12.13


Humans are creatures of habit.  Both good & bad habits rule our day to day lives as we make choices about everything.  Thousands of decisions are made by the time we even step out of the house in the AM.  What does all this mean?  A person is in more control of their happiness then previously thought.   Not just happiness, but how your body processes energy through metabolic function. 

Personal responsibility is over looked in the pursuit of daily life, what most consider minor details or insignificant choices are truly important small parts that make up the greater whole for our METABOLISM.  People who don’t even give any thought to is the simple decisions we make every moment, like choosing to smile from ear to ear at any moment.  Or take stairs vs elevator, the list goes on to our options we have to MOVE and EAT.   Yet they are the same people who are complaining having a slow metabolism have NO ONE to blame, but THEMSELVES.  Be ok with your choices, but understand that every choice has an outcome.  Take the black and white perspective with your decisions, either it WILL help or hurt, speed up or slow down your metabolism. 

The view I look through is simply this, my happiness is where I am?  Basically, I choose to be sitting here in front of this computer typing, so it was my choice to sit here.   Sitting slows my Metabolism, so I know I can’t sit too long.  

This practice is easier said then done, I have placed much intention behind my metabolism.  I use to believe I had a SLOW Metabolism, but after gaining more EDUCATION, I now realize I WAS EATING WAY TOO MUCH Calories for how ACTIVE I was.    Ironically, I love being physically active now & honing my 4 parts of health to thrive with a high quality of day to day life guide my choices. 

What is their to do for the average person who is out of practice for good personal decisions?  It all starts with one change, just one, start eating once more a day or start moving more today then you did yesterday and create that pattern/routine. 

Also supporting to change is to specifically find out what you want to change, write it down, find support, and make it happen.  Goal Setting.  Remember everything can be changed from the way we walk to the way we think, the power is all in the daily choices we make.....

What to eat when your done Working Out

I want to stress that Carbohydrates are SUPER important to maintaining our health with a balanced diet.  The difference, complex (good) verses simple (bad) carbohydrates, eat the good, don’t eat the bad, but this blog is more about the science of eating after your are done with your physical activity.

Recovery Nutrition Science 101
The body continues to burn calories after a workout, called exercise post oxygen consumption (EPOC), which lasts 15 minutes to 48 hours after training. EPOC causes an additional calorie burn and higher metabolism beyond the workout--a benefit for weight and fat management. The amount of EPOC calories burned depends on gender, training status, training intensity and duration, and fitness level-- accounting for a few to several hundred calories. Why are extra calories burned?
EPOC calories are burned because:
• The body replenishes sugar in muscles and replaces the simplest energy form called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) at the cellular level; 
• Lactate--responsible for post exercise muscle soreness needs removal.
• Normal breathing, heart rate and body temperature needs restoration to pre-exercise levels
• Blood needs re-oxygenation after muscles cease working out.
Recovery Fuel 
Depending on training type and timing of the next workout, the composition and amount can vary while keeping in mind the golden recovery rule; getting something--anything as long as it's within the window of refueling opportunity, about 15 minutes to two hours after training for adequate replenishment.
The best foods to eat are those high in carbohydrates. Planning ahead by storing a sports drink, bar, or snack in the gym bag or stopping for a smoothie on the way home is one way to ensure adequate replenishment within the recovery window. Meals/snacks with 65% carbohydrates or more, about 0.8g to 1 gram/kg bodyweight / hour have been shown to replenish muscle stores best. For the 150 pound athlete (68 kg) (kg=pounds / 2.2), a snack or beverage with about 54 grams -68 grams carbohydrates. Visit the Recovery Fuel Chart for snacks that meet this requirement.
It's just as important to refuel after shorter high intensity workouts as it is for longer workouts. The difference between the recommended foods depends on whether or not it is the last workout of the day.
As for hydration, replacing fluids at a rate of 1-1½ times, about 16-24 oz for every pound lost in sweat. Weighing before and after a training session can provide a good guestimate of fluids lost during exercise. And while it's not necessary to weigh daily, seasonal weightings are recommended since ambient temperature affects fluid losses.
Urine color is the simplest and one of the most accurate measures of hydration. If the urine is pale yellow, that's good, while dark urine means dehydration. Completely clear urine is a concern since it suggests overhydration--the overconsumption of water and potential loss of electrolytes. Therefore, recovery fluids should include water, electrolyte rich sport drinks, and recovery fuels with sugar and protein (depending on the intensity of the workout) to cover all bases and replace all losses. When food doesn't work, a sport shake is an easy, portable way to replace carbohydrates and protein needed for maintaining muscle gains and strength accomplished during workouts.