Hey friends… today I have for you a video, about my favorite things recently. This took me FOREVER to get up and working, and honestly it never would have happened if it wasn’t for my sister.
Before we get to the video, I just wanted to do a little check in for all of you. As I said in this post, this year for me is all about making my lifestyle a healthy one based on what makes me feel and good. This means that there has definitely been some trial and error so far this year however it has all been leading to me understanding what makes me feel best as well and how my body works over all. This isn’t the first time I am saying this and it won’t be the last…. we are all so very different that different people do best on different diets as well as with different exercise regimens.
This week has been busy since the kiddo’s haven’t been in school and my workouts have been a bit different than usual. This has lead to some bloating and over all fatigue. For me, this has been a great reminder of what works for me and what doesn’t. The more snacking I do, the worse I feel… one snack a day for me (usually around 3) is about all I can handle. I also thrive on cardio every day, even if only for 20 minutes. I am loving my strength training 3 days a week (H.I.I.T. style) and feel like it is really changing the shape of my body. S at this point, me attempting to workout like someone else would be counter productive and you should feel the same way. Gve your unique body what it needs!
My eating has been all over the place this week. It hasn’t necessarily been bad, but definitely not consistent. I have had a bit of an upper respiratory thing happening and my taste is definitely off. This can and will be improved hopefully starting this weekend.
Now for the video… these are the thing I mention in it.
Hey guys, it’s me, Sarah! Yesterday I bought a Fitbit, and I have to say, I couldn’t have done it without Leah’s help! A Fitbit is a device that is used to push your fitness to the next level. It counts how many calories you have burned throughout your day, keeps track of your sleep patterns, and helps you manage your weight goals. There were so many questions I had. For example, which Fitbit has a screen? Which Fitbit is right for me? Do you need a subscription? Does it count steps and stairs? How do you know what size to get? Can I shower with it on? If you’re having some of the same questions as I did, you can find the answers at www.fitbit.com.
So now, I have to get active! This is the hardest part for me. I’m very good about changing my eating habits, but it takes everything inside of me to get my booty off the couch. Im exhausted most days, because my little sweetheart still gets up twice a night and is starting to lose her second nap. SO, how do you motivate yourself to get up and MOVE?
There are three things that help me to stay motivated:
Find someone to hold you accountable, to encourage you, and hey, maybe even join you
Getting equipped with resources that can help you count calories and track your exercise so you know exactly where you’re at during the day so there is no guessing (For example: Fitbit, BodyMedia Fit Armband, MyFitnessPal, and LoseIt!)
Research Fitness, Healthy Eating (learning to read labels), and Food Substitution
I cannot wait for Leah to blog about how sitting for most of your day is the new smoking. It literally kills you, causing tumors and disease. I think most of us Americans go to our job without eating breakfast, sit at a desk all day, and drive our cars into our garage only to sit down to a dinner in front of the TV. Let’s face it, we need all the help we can get!
The reason that I like devices like the Fitbit, BodyMedia Armband, and MyFitnessPal, is because it spells out exactly how much activity you have gotten during your day, the quality of sleep you are receiving, and you can also track your food consumption so that there is no guessing. This has been the single most eye opening realization for me through my weight loss journey. I thought I was eating good, but once I logged it into MyFitnessPal and saw how much sodium, calories, and sugar that was actually in the food I was inhaling, I WAS SHOCKED.
So join me in getting healthy and making REALISTIC, lasting goals. By the way guys, I’m down 12lbs this month! YES!
I don’t think the kiddos are ever going back to school (today makes for the 7th snow/cold day this month)… I also do not think that people are ever going to stop getting diseases.
In this last week, I have heard story after story of people, both young and old, who have been given diagnoses that are either a death sentence (in their opinion) or extremely life altering. I am begging and pleading for people to start eating healthier and moving more. I think the food we are eating is causing great consequences to our health and I just wish so badly I could go with each and everyone of you to the grocery stores to help you buy food and then take you home to teach you how to cook these new healthy foods. I have heard of young 22 year old moms being diagnosed with kidney disease, a slightly older 20 something mom who has been diagnosed with thyroid disease and a hormonal disease, a teenager who has been diagnosed with M.S. and a middle aged man with bi-polar. Sadly, this bad news will probably never end… but I still believe we can make each of these lives healthy and much more enjoyable if only out nutrition is taken into more consideration.
Now onto today’s post…
Have you ever wondered how people treated infection, virus and bacteria 400 years ago? I have… in fact one day after being given a high dosage of antibiotics for a re-occur issue I was having, I thought this very question. How was bacteria, infection and virus treated 400 years ago, and this question was accompanied by, why am I having a re-occurring health issue at such a young age? With a little research, I found out that not only was my re-occurring health issue directly linked to the consumption of yeast (what M.S.G. is made of) but I also found out how these types of illness where treated.
So what’s the answer you ask…. Garlic!
You see, garlic is natures power food… and it doesn’t taste to bad either. SO much so that before the introduction of antibiotics in the early 1900s, garlic was even used to treat tuberculosis. The super nutrient in garlic is something called Allicin and it is found to be 15 TIMES more effective than penicillin. Garlic has been reported (in medical journals) to have killed not only bacteria and viruses but also the over population of yeast in your gut, MRSA, and parasites. It is also stated to being anti-tumour (helps kill off tumors), anti-hyperlidemic (helps to lower lipid levels) and anti-microbial (inhibits growth of micro bacterial in the system).
So how do you use this potent bad boy to help your health? You eat it… yes, it is as simple as that. You crush up a clove of garlic (it’s easiest in a food processor) and let it sit for 5 minutes. This allows all the enzymes and properties of the garlic to really come out of the garlic for better absorption. Then you scoop up the garlic in a spoon, drizzle some honey on it, and eat it!
No, it isn’t the most delicious thing to eat but it most definitely helps. In fact, I do this when I’m feeling run down, way before I grab for any medicine. I promise it always takes care of things by the time I hit the snooze button the next morning. Also, when I met and started dating Coop… he had the worst immune system ever. He would easily get sick once a month. One winter for about a one month stretch, I had him juice before he would go to bed and right in the morning when he would wake up as well as do garlic immediately after eating dinner about 3-4 times a week. His immune system, ever since then, is about one million times better. In the last year he has only gotten sick once (for a whole 24 hours) and it was immediately following an extremely stressful week. And even that bought of sickness was like nothing in comparison to what he used to be like.
Do you use any home remedies or natural agents to fight of illness?
If so, what do you use?
P.S. I have a bit of a cold right now, hence this post. Stay warm everyone and stress less!
Everybody wants to know the answer to the question, “Is salt bad for you?” There’s no doubt about it, salt is a very important part of our diet. Essentially, we cannot live without it and it is a critical part of our biological process. Furthermore, Mercola Articles states that imbalances can present itself if your levels are too LOW. When levels are too low, it can cause imbalances in your mood, appetite, and increase your risk of heart attacks and bone fractures. But don’t get it twisted, problems can also occur when your sodium levels are too high. For example, low levels can cause dehydration, drowsiness, confusion, and nerve and muscle damage to name a few. Just like the saying goes, too much or too little of anything can become a problem. SO, lets take a minute and sort this problem out.
Sodium and the Biological Process:
It is a major component of your blood plasma, lymphatic fluid, extracellular fluid, and even amniotic fluid
Carrying nutrients into and out of your cells
Helping the lining of your blood vessels to regulate blood pressure
Helping you regulate propagation of nerve impulses
Helping your brain send communication signals to your muscles, so that you can move on demand (sodium-potassium ion exchange)
With that being said, according to the Mayo Clinic, the average American gets 3,400 mg of salt each day in the american diet. This is very concerning, since the recommended dose is 1,500-2,000mg per day, and even that amount is considered high.
The three main sources for Sodium:
Canned and Prepared Foods
Foods that naturally contain high levels of sodium
Cooking and Shaking the salt shaker during meals
This is further put into perspective when we realize that only 1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce contains about 1,000mg of sodium, and who only uses one tablespoon?!
If your body is getting too much sodium, according to the Mayo Clinic, your Kidneys, which filter out the sodium, may not be able to elimnate it and the sodium will start to build up in your blood. “Because sodium attracts and holds water, your blood volume increases, which makes your heart work harder and increases pressure in your arteries. Such diseases as congestive heart failure, cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease can make it hard for your kidneys to keep sodium levels balanced.”
The Mayo Clinic continues, “some people’s bodies are more sensitive to the effects of sodium than are others. If you’re sodium sensitive, you retain sodium more easily, leading to fluid retention and increased blood pressure. If this becomes chronic, it can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and congestive heart failure.”
So what can we do to find a balance? I am one of those people who are “sodium sensitive.” I can literally feel my body swelling and retaining water when I eat a high sodium meal. So I came up with the list below to help keep myself in balance, and hopefully your can too!
Six ways to make sure you’re not over doing it with the salt:
Drink 1/2 your body weight in water per day
Check your food labels- especially condiments
Don’t allow salt at the table
Use more fresh spices to your food for flavor
Choose low-sodium choices
Wash your canned vegetables (cuts back on half the sodium)
1.7 billion servings of Coca-Cola products are consumed each day.
Despite the myth, teeth and coins will NOT dissolve overnight when soaked in Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola was created in 1886 by John Pemberton. At the time, he was only selling 9 glasses a day.
In 1985, Coca-Cola was the first soft drink to be enjoyed while in space.
Coco-cola was never green, however once upon a time, the glass bottle it was served in was.
Every year, so much Coca-Cola is consumed in America that the sugar consumption would be the equivalent of every American eating 10.8 lbs. of sugar.
Coca-Cola has 2.8 million vending machines, which is enough to fill up 4 Empire State Buildings.
The Coca-Cola company claims to have made the image of Santa as big, jolly and dressed in red.
The term “Coca-Cola” is the 2nd most widely understood in the world… after the term “okay”.
The Coca-Cola company produces over 3,500 different beverages.
I may be a bit passionate about coke. Why you ask? Well, it was my first word! Next to the usual dada and momma, coke was my first real word as a young tike. In fact, my first real words in general were a bit unusual for a big eyed, blonde hair, smooshy toddler. A few of the other words that graced my oh-so delicate lips included “shit” and “damn”. All of these 3 words were and still are thanks to my wonderful aunt.
Anyways… you can’t blame a girl who speaks of the product so passionately as a toddler, for still loving the drink as an adult. Can you?
I often feel bad for coke… it get’s such a bad rep! People leave it behind and then tag along with it’s younger brother Diet Coke because they think he won’t make them fat… they think he is better for them. But he’s not! And let’s not even get into the topic of coke’s weird step brother coke zero… let’s just say I often imagine him as a Dale Dobak (from stepbrothers) kind of character and diet coke as Brennan.
I find them both to be inefficient and stupid!
You see, I am not one of those “don’t drink soda” people. Instead, I am a “drink soda when it counts” kind of person. I am a “don’t drink diet soda please-please-pretty-pretty-please don’t” kind of a person.
Ok, now I know that the last 2 or 3 sentences of this rant I’m calling a blog post probably didn’t make much sense to you, so let me explain… drinking soda when it counts means doing so in celebration. Take for instance my wedding (in case you wanted to know, it’s in 223 days – happy dance)… I will not be “gracing” the dance floor with anything but a coke in my hand. Why you ask? Because I LOVE coke and I don’t drink it often. Instead of guzzling this fizzy party of a drink often, I save it for things like New Years, my birthday, girls night out and other special and rare occasions. I make my coke drinking experiences, count!
So now that I have explained that to you, you would probably like to know what my big beef is with Coke’s little brother diet coke. It probably won’t be much of a surprise if I start talking about artificial sweeteners and how bad they are for you. However, there is something else you don’t know about Diet Coke and Coke Zero… they contain something called excitotoxins. What in the world are those you ask? Well, they are really just the combination of aspartame and caffeine. The reason they are so bad for you is because they go into your system and excite all of your brain cells… then they kill a few off! Yes, they kill off your brain cells.
Now let me please explain something to you. I have the attention span of an eight year old. Take right now for example… I am blogging, planning my wedding, emailing some clients and texting my sister. Now when I say this, I don’t mean I’m doing all of these things today… I mean I am doing them all at once. As in, I type a paragraph here, then do an email, type some more, send a text and so on. All of this to say, I don’t think it would be good for me or the world if I start getting my brain cells all excited then kill them off.
But that’s not it friends… there is more to the dangers of diet coke than just excitotoxins. Did you know that many pilots don’t drink soda? It’s true, and if you don’t believe me, read this telling testimonial on the subject. The complaints from pilots (in general speaking terms) is that these drinks, containing aspartame, gives them negative neurological symptoms such as seizers, induction of vertigo and adversions to other food additives.. Thankfully, our wellbeing is taken into examination, considering that neurological symptoms could lead to great disaster when pilots are responsible for our safety in the air. But let me ask you this… why isn’t our well being taken into consideration at any other time concerning aspartame?
Let’s honestly think about this for a minute… the consumption of aspartame is looked down upon in the pilot world because they are responsible for us getting safely, in the sky, from point A to point B – and some times point C if you have a lay over. So what about all the other people responsible for us throughout the day… like a little kids mom, or a taxi driver? How about the school bus drivers and the people who draw your blood at the hospital? Better yet, what about the teachers or YOU? Why is it ok for all of these people to put others at risk whether physically or in some other way by drinking something that can do so much damage? Think about it… is this drink worth really worth it?
One last thing… aspartame leads to weight gain. I talked about this in this post, but I’ll recap quickly. Aspartame, although calorie-less tricks our brain into thinking it is getting sugar. Since our brain can’t tell the difference, it then craves more sugar (what it lives off of). So although you think you are drinking something for zero calories, you are causing yourself to crave sugar. And as we all know, sugar equals weight gain.
Although some companies trick us into believing that diet soda is associated with voluptuous Columbian women (Sophia Vergara)… it’s not. Instead, it get’s our brain excited, kills off some of our brain cells, gives us neurological symptom and then makes us fat! Great, right?
So drink the coke, or pepsi if you must (although I don’t recommend it). Just don’t do it every day, do it when it counts. But definitely do not, no matter how bad you want to, drink diet soda!
For those of you who are addicted to diet soda… here is what I recommend: cut your consumption in half and start drinking more water. After a week or so, do it again! Then, start drinking the real soda once a week, and on the day your drink the real soda… don’t drink the diet. Slowly, remove it completely from your diet. Don’t do it in 2 weeks, not even in 4. Do it slowly, as in over the next 6 months, consciously decide that you don’t deserve a product that impacts your life in such a negative way.
Well friends, it’s Friday! I personally will be SO happy when this week is behind me. It has been a tad (I cried 3 out of the last 6 days) bit stressful. The kids don’t have school AGAIN today because it’s a snow day! Now mind you, they have had 5 snow days since January first. They also had last Friday off for teacher in service AND this last Monday for MLK Day. There is not enough paper and glue for this I tell you!!!!!
All the stress has lead me to channel it out via exercise. In fact, I have killed it in the gym/my basement this week. I have been using every resource available and have been burning close to 500 calories every day. I’m starting to really notice my body change and although I’ve lost 4 lbs this year (no diets, just better choices all around), I feel very tight and compact! I’m so glad that I have been losing my pound a week by eating good real foods and sweating.
My sister has also been working out with me and she’s been doing a great job of chugging along her days with sore everything! Keep it up lady! However, last night she said something to me that really resonated with me while we were working out. Now a little info for you, I had been doing some pretty intense workouts this week as well as getting in my miles on the treadmill… my sister said to me “Sorry, this probably isn’t a very good workout”. She meant it in terms of intensity and it was while we were doing a modified “Walk Away The Pounds” workout. I said to her in return… A WORKOUT IS WHATEVER YOU MAKE OF IT!!!!!!!
Can we remember that please? Whether a crossfit style workout, a beginner walking workout, running at one speed for any length of time… it isn’t the workout itself that makes it successful, but that person doing it. Workouts challenge us physically, but also mentally and emotionally. For some, workouts are even about the spiritual. Allow your workouts to be everything YOU need them to be for you. And don’t be afraid to modify them if they are too hard o too easy. That is what’s so wonderful about hand weight… the intensify things without going over bored.
I wanted to share with you a few workouts that I have found on youtube to be great “fillers” as well as great for anyone, beginner to advance. When doing any videos, I highly suggest that you modify if need by doing some or all of the following: squat and lunge deeper, squeeze in extra reps of exercises, use hand weights to intensity, and include body parts that aren’t being used other wise -for instance, you can hold 2 lb. weights in each hand and do shoulder presses, a chest fly and so on. These little modifications will not only boost your heart rate but also incorporate more muscle which means a higher calorie burn.
A dance video that really get’s your heart rate up!
Do you remember the episode of Friends that Monica got her identity stolen? In it, the girls go to a dance class to try and find the imposter… and Phoebe is convinced she is dance right on with the choreography however most definitely is not. I’m 100% positive that is exactly how I looked while doing this video. But it was soooooo fun, I just wouldn’t stop.
A walk that can be whatever you make of it!
This video is definitely an example of a short 20 min. workout that can be intensified by adding some squats to the mix as well as hand weights. I burned 154 calories in just under 20 minutes!
Another great walk, however longer which is great for days you absolutely can’t make it to the gym.
Now for some workouts from me!
This is intense but I promise if you stick with it, you will be so happy!
This is my new baby… you go through and do each set with either 20 or 25 reps. If you choose 20 reps, then you complete the circuit 5 times, and if you do 25 reps, then you complete it 4 times. The key is that you are not to stop the entire time. No water breaks, bathroom breaks or anything else. This will getting you sweating, complaining and much more and the next day you will be madly in love with it.
That’s it for me (Leah) today friends! I hope you have a great weekend, and don’t forget to check back in tomorrow for a another great story about health and fitness and how it has effected yet another life!
Hey ya’ll, it’s Sarah! I came up with this muffin recipe off the top of my head last night, because I was craving carbs, peanut butter, and sweets. It’s a great way to start off your day, it’s healthy, and it’s low calorie and packed with nutrients. I added PB2 to this recipe, which is a form of peanut butter with 85% less fat calories than traditional peanut butter. Check out the ingredients below! And if you’re feeling nutty, add a few walnuts, cashews, or almonds! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 finely chopped medium Granny Smith apple
5 chopped Prunes
1/4 cup washed Blueberries
2 Tbs PB2 Powder (or organic peanut butter)
1 1/2 cups Rolled Oats
1 Tbs ground Flax Seed
1 cup organic, unsweetened Apple Sauce (check ingredients so there is NO Fructose Syrup)
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 Tbs Chia Seeds
1 cup unsweetened Almond Milk
1/4 cup Egg Whites
1 Tbs Organic, Raw Honey
Directions
Heat oven to 350
In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (PB2 powder, oats, baking soda, chia seeds, flax seeds)
In another Large bowl, add chopped apple, prunes, blueberries, apple sauce, milk, egg whites, and honey.
Add the dry ingredients into the Large bowl and mix together.
In a cupcake pan, add baking cups so your ingredients don’t stick to the pan. Pour ingredients into the cups until they are full to the top
Bake for 45min -1hr (depends on oven)
Nutritional Information: Serving: 1 Muffin (This recipe makes 12 muffins)
The winner is…….. Barbara F. Please look for an email from me soon as I need an address to send your winnings!
Now, on to the answers…
Question 1:
– According to the America Medical Association, what percentage of Chronic Disease can be prevented and/or cured with a healthy lifestyle (proper nutrition and exercise)?
45%
80%
63%
27%
The answer is 80 %, isn’t that crazy??? This means that even though we claim that we are healthy, if our eating and exercise routines are not, then we aren’t. THis is also a great remnder that just because out pants size is where we want it, our vitals may not be. In the same way, just becauseout vitals are not showing signs of illness, well that doesn’t mean illness is not in our near future.
Question 2:
– What is the best form of sugar (as far as overall consumption) for your overall health?
High Fructose Corn Sugar
Organic Cane Sugar
Light Brown Sugar
Coconut Sugar
The answer is Coconut Sugar! Not only does this form of sugar come from a healthy source, it is very rarely fussed with in terms of chemicals, pestiside and G.M.O.s and although many people would find it hard to believe but you really can’t tell much difference in the taste compaired to cane sugar. Lastly, I want to point out that High Fructose Corn Sugar is extremely dangerous to your liver. In fact, over long periods of consumption on a regular basis, HFCS is shown to lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Question 3:
– The National Institue of Health spends how much money on finding th cause of obesity each year?
$8 million
$100 million
$800 million
$1 trillion
The answer is $800 million a year. I had to re-read this time and time again. I could not believe that this much money is spent on finding the “cause” of obesity each year considering most 10 year olds know that sugar isn’t good for you. This is a waste of money if I have ever heard of one.
Question 4:
– When cooking, which oil is the healthiest to use for all needs (grilling, sautéing, frying etc..)?
Coconut Oil
Vegetable Oil
Canola Oil
Olive Oil
The answer is Coconut Oil… can we all leave the vegetable oil in the stores please? Vegetable oil is what I call fake oil, it’s made in lab and not from vegetables. When individuals reduce their intake of vegetable oil, studies have shown a reduction of cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease. Canola oil is a tricky one… it is technically a vegetable oil, a hybrid if you will. Well, you see… Canola oil contains something called erucic acid which is poisonous to the human body. Add on top of that disturbing fact that the process of making canola oil is one which includes the adding of chemicals and heat over and over, and well it’s a poor choice as well. finally, the only reason coconut oil wins over olive is because of the unbelievable health benefits that coconut oil contain. That post will be coming next week!
Question 5:
– Which of the following is the best post-workout drink?
Gatorade, or another sports drink
Coconut Water
Electrolyte Infused Water
Plain H2O
The answer is electrolyte infused water… if you are working out to lose weight (which most are) you do not want to add sugar back into your body after using what was there, up. The idea of working out to lose weight is to use the glucose (sugar) in your liver and muscles so that fat can then be burned. Fat cannot be burned if there is glucose (sugar) around. therefore, why stop the process of burning fat in your body after working out to fuel life by giving your body sugar to use? Coconut water is a great option however most people aren’t crazy about it so I’m just trying to be realistic for your sake. And finally, electrolyte water wins because when you sweat you alter your electrolyte levels. So you should replace them 🙂
Question 6:
– According to the American College of Sports Medicine, exercising on a regular basis positively impacts what?
Physical & Emotional Health
Intellectual & Spiritual Health
Social & Financial
All of the Above
All of the above friends… why you ask? Well, you see, when your physical and emotional health are in good condition, you have a better chance of your intellectual and spiritual health being nourished and that often results in between social and financial health!
Question 7:
– Of the following, which has the greatest potential in ruining and impairing your health?
Your Actions
Your Thoughts
Your Words
Your Feelings
Your thoughts it is… see, your feelings can be altered by yourself and other factors (hence the science of psychiatry), however your thoughts… well those are up to you. And after all, your thoughts become words which become actions.
Question 8:
– What is the most common weight loss goal?
10 – 20 lbs.
20 – 50 lbs.
50 – 100 lbs.
100+ lbs.
The sad answer is 50-100lbs. The answer should really be 100+ lbs. considering 68% of American’s are either overweight or obese, but generally speaking people shoot for 50 lbs. then work their way up to a larger goal over time.
WEel, I hope you enjoyed today’s post and I hope your Wednesday went well. Check back tomorrow for a great recipe from Sarah!
Happy Hump Day everyone!!! I am thrilled that it is Wednesday because that means I have survived this week so far 🙂
In this day and technology driven age, most of us think we are relatively knowledgeable about almost anything, especially our health. If we have a rash, we just google it. If you want to know how to replace white flour with something healthier, you can just simply start looking over millions of recipes, conversion charts and product reviews to find how you can do so. But do we really know the truth about our health?
Today I have for you a quick quiz… just 8 questions about your health. I found all of these facts and statistics to be very interesting and some even surprising. So this is how we are going to do today… I am going to post the quiz without the answers. If you take this quiz, post your answers in the comments below. I will come back tonight and edit or post again not only the answer but also the reason behind them. I will also be picking a winner (from the comments below, no matter if their answers are right or wrong) and this individual will be sent a bit of a care package. Let the quizzing begin…
Question 1:
– According to the America Medical Association, what percentage of Chronic Disease can be prevented and/or cured with a healthy lifestyle (proper nutrition and exercise)?
45%
80%
63%
27%
Question 2:
– What is the best form of sugar (as far as overall consumption) for your overall health?
High Fructose Corn Sugar
Organic Cane Sugar
Light Brown Sugar
Coconut Sugar
Question 3:
– The National Institue of Health spends how much money on finding th cause of obesity each year?
$8 million
$100 million
$800 million
$1 trillion
Question 4:
– When cooking, which oil is the healthiest to use for all needs (grilling, sautéing, frying etc..)?
Coconut Oil
Vegetable Oil
Canola Oil
Olive Oil
Question 5:
– Which of the following is the best post-workout drink?
Gatorade, or another sports drink
Coconut Water
Electrolyte Infused Water
Plain H2O
Question 6:
– According to the American College of Sports Medicine, exercising on a regular basis positively impacts what?
Physical & Emotional Health
Intellectual & Spiritual Health
Social & Financial
All of the Above
Question 7:
– Of the following, which has the greatest potential in ruining and impairing your health?
Your Actions
Your Thoughts
Your Words
Your Feelings
Question 8:
– What is the most common weight loss goal?
10 – 20 lbs.
20 – 50 lbs.
50 – 100 lbs.
100+ lbs.
Like I said above… complete this quiz by putting your aswers in the comment below and you will be entered in today’s health care package giveaway!
Hey guys, Sarah here! So, it’s 1:44am and I am sitting in my empty bathtub trying not to wake my sleeping husband and baby. I can’t sleep. I have too much on my mind. In two days, it marks week four of my weight loss journey. See, me and some family members are challenging each other to see who can lose the most Body Weight Percentage in 6mo, and although 6months is a very long time, it always gets hard for me at the end of week three- going into week four.
In three weeks, I have lost 7.5lbs so far, which I’m sure is mostly water weight because I haven’t been working out. The first two weeks I lost 7lbs, this past week is where I only lost a half of a pound. For some strange reason I’m feeling discouraged about this past week. How could I only have lost a half of a pound? Then I think to myself, “Why the heck are you discouraged? In three weeks I lost 7.5lbs! That’s a miracle!” I haven’t dieted or starved myself. I’ve just been adding fresh juices every morning that consist of mostly vegetables. I feel like the juices have started to change my taste buds or something, because I’m not constantly and ravenously hungry. I mean, I usually craaaave carbs and sugar around week four, but I’m not right now. Right now, I’m feeling discouraged about this puny .5 lbs lost. So I think to myself, how can I take my weight loss to the next level?
Do you ever feel like, “I’m trying so hard and I only lost a pound. Why am I doing this, it’s not worth it.” I use to equate happiness with the food I ate. I mean, to me, a good night was having my husband home, curling up on the couch with him, having a movie marathon, while sharing a pizza and breadsticks. I had to change my thinking though. I was right about the fact that Food is directly related to happiness, and I knew this because when I would eat 2 pieces of pizza, I would feel happy… at first. Research shows that carbs are directly related to feelings of euphoria, because of a rush of sugar that goes straight from your mouth to your blood stream. Then, you suddenly have a downward crash, which makes you feel completely depressed, regretful, and sleepy. Does anyone know what I’m talking about?
I heard someone once say that it was possible to re-train your taste buds by adding a lot of vegetables into your diet. So that’s currently what I’m trying to do. How do you take yourself to the next level without becoming obsessive? If I’ve learned anything from past experiences, it’s that my obsessive behavior can only last so long and then I’m TIRED and I’m right back into my old habits. I think you just have to learn to be happy with the progress you’ve made up to this day, because you never know what tomorrow holds. Don’t think about yesterday or tomorrow. Think about right now. Choose to make a good choice right now, and worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes. Live in the NOW and be happy about yourself, even if you have a problem with never following through. When you need a pep talk, sometimes YOU have to be your biggest fan. Look yourself in the mirror and speak life over yourself- “I am beautiful. I am strong. I can do this. I can follow through. I am pretty. I am worth it.” Lavish yourself with kind words today and learn how to love yourself.
I hope you have a great week and I’m praying for restful sleep, energy, hope, and conviction to hit your hearts this week to make a step in the right direction, no matter what you’re going through! And by the way, I should take my own advice.. I wrote this post on Saturday night, and when I woke up Monday morning for my weigh in, I was correct when I said, “you never know what tomorrow holds,” because when I got on the scale, I ended losing another 2 lbs for a total of 9.5 lbs lost in three weeks. Whoa. See what changing just a little bit of your diet can do? My body was literally starving for nutrients. Sorry, body!!
Do you need an encouragement buddy? Sometimes our loved ones just can’t encourage us the way that we NEED to be encouraged for success. I want to help. Please write me and let me know how I can help support you in your weight loss journey.
Just for fun, here are my two favorite juice recipes that will help you with:
bloating, swelling, joint pain, and water retention:
*These recipes are for a JUICER, not blender
*I soak all vegetables in 1:3 ratio of vinegar to water for 15 min
Sarah’s Water Retention Buster Recipe
4 stalks of celery washed
1 cucumber peeled
1 organic Granny Smith apple (or peel skin off)
4 leaves of kale washed
1 knob of ginger
Sarah’s Calming Carrot Creation
4 large carrots (peeled)
1 organic Granny Smith apple
1 knob of ginger
THE KITCHEN REVOLUTION 