Tonight I just wanted to give a little report on how I am staying on track with my diet.  I just returned from a Church Christmas party that featured a lot of delicious food.  However, I am happy to report that I only had small portions and I deliberately did not choose a dessert to eat.  I feel pretty good about it.

On another note, I have a sister who is just hilarious.  In honor of my winning our contest for the month of November, she felt it her sisterly duty to give me a giant gift box of candy bars…all of my favorites.  They have determined that I will not win the prize of the traveling pants two months in a row and are doing their very best to try to sabotage me.  But I think the joke will be on them, because I have no intention of indulging in those treats.  If one of my sisters DOES happen to win the traveling trophy next month, I think I will stuff the pockets of the pants with these candy bars.  Yeah…we are a brutal bunch.  Aren’t sisters just grand?

I am pretty happy with those results.  Especially when we just finished the month of November with the Thanksgiving holiday.  I think I did pretty well.

So what does it mean now that I have won the competition for this month?  It means that I get to have the traveling trophy in my possession until someone else claims them.  Maybe it will be next month; maybe I will win it two months in a row.  All I know is that I will now have our traveling trophy which is a girl’s size 7 pair of jeans and I get to embellish them.

This month promises to be tricky with the Christmas season upon us.  However, I am motivated to keep working on moving the scale in the right direction.  What a great way to end this year and start the next.  Wish me luck!

One of the biggest complaints from dieters is when they learn that they must increase their water intake in order to lose weight.  It is perhaps one of the biggest challenges that they face while dieting.  So how do you get all of that great water in each and every day?

I like to make a game of it.  I will often have a water bottle next to me while I am working online.  Each time that I write a paragraph or answer a question, I have to take a drink of my water.  At other times I will set a small timer for 15 minutes and then I have to take a drink when it goes off.  Sometimes I will make a rule for the day:  1 glass with breakfast, 2 during the morning, 1 glass with lunch, 2 during the afternoon, 1 glass with dinner and another during the evening.  Any water after that is just a bonus.

The point is to be creative.  Find something that will work for you and motivate you to get that water in.  What are other ways that you can think of to get your water in each day?  Please share them below!  You might have a great way that someone else hasn’t thought of before.  I look forward to your thoughts.

First of all, you should understand that approximately 60% of our total body mass is made up of water.  There are fluctuations which are normal, that occur all day long.  Two of the factors which influence water retention or water weight are the daily consumption of water that we take in and how much salt we get daily.  Now you are probably thinking that if you drink less water that you will weigh less.  Wrong!  The less water that you drink; the more your body will hold onto it.  The body goes into survival mode, and with even a slight case of dehydration, your body will begin to hold onto all of the water it can get.  So in order to flush out the excess water, you actually need to drink more water.

Sodium or salt also plays a big part in water retention.  A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium.  Doctors tell us that we should only have between 1,000 to 3,000 mg of sodium each day.  You can see how it would be easy to get too much.  Sodium is also a very sneaky substance.  You would expect to find it in mainly in the foods we consider to be salty such as nuts, crackers and chips.  However, a food doesn’t need to taste salty to be filled with sodium.  A great example of this would be instant pudding. A ½ cup of instant pudding actually contains four times more sodium than a one ounce serving of salted nuts. Generally, the more a food is processed, the higher the sodium content will be.  That is why it is best to consume basic, whole foods when dieting.  The smartest choices include items such as fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, and lean meats. That is just one of the reasons that you should take the time to read the labels on all of the foods you consume which are boxed mixes, canned or are frozen dinners.

Another factor to consider is glycogen is when looking at water weight.  Glycogen reserves carbohydrate for our bodies to use for energy.  We store some glycogen in the liver and some glycogen in the muscles.  This reserve of energy weighs more than a pound and it is stored with 3 to 4 pounds of water.  Your glycogen reserve will shrink during the day if you do not take in enough carbohydrates.  This is one of the main reasons that the weight loss of a low-carb diet is so dramatic.

It is generally possible to only lose 1 to 2 pounds of actual fat per week.  When you are following a very low carbohydrate or low calorie diet, and you lose 10 pounds in 7 days, it is physically impossible for all of that weight loss to be fat.  What you are really losing is a combination of glycogen and water.

That is why you lose water weight first when you diet and why it happens so quickly.  Any more questions?

Photo by (c) LittleMan, www.sxc.hu

One of the most important things that you can do for yourself is to make time in your busy schedule for you.  This should be time that you guard very closely and do not allow other things to interfere with it.  Block out a little bit of time each day to do something for yourself.

Perhaps it will be the time that you choose to exercise.  This is a great way to alleviate stress and work through any frustrations and stress you may be experiencing.  Or maybe it will be 20 minutes to read that new health or fitness book you have been meaning to read.  Whatever you choose, stick with it and the downtime will do you and your diet a world of good.   Making time for you will only help make this Holiday season a little less stressful. And that’s a good thing.

Unfortunately, if you are experiencing an inordinate amount of stress in your life, it could be affecting more than just your disposition.  It is probably having a negative impact on your waistline.  It is problematic for a dieter that our hormones are influenced by our emotions.  Even more so that our hormones influence our emotions and as our emotions then affect our eating habits, it becomes a vicious cycle. Stress that is long term can increase our fat storage in the abdominal area through the hormone cortisol.

Cortisol is actually a very useful hormone when it is secreted properly.  It helps us to metabolize glucose properly, regulates our blood pressure, releases insulin for the maintenance of our blood sugar, and helps with the function of our immune system and our inflammatory response.

The problem is when we secret levels of cortisol into our bloodstream that are more prolonged and higher than normal.  This has been shown to have a negative effect on our health and chronic stress is a factor.  Some of those effects are a decrease in the density of our bones, a decrease in our muscle tissue, our thyroid function becomes suppressed, our cognitive performance is impaired, our blood pressure rises, our blood sugar becomes imbalanced, and our inflammatory and immunity responses are lowered within our bodies.  And of course, we experience an increase in abdominal fat, which is associated with more health problems than any other type of body fat.  Some of these health problems include an increased risk for things such as a heart attack and stroke.  We also develop higher levels of LDL or bad cholesterol and lower levels of HDL or good cholesterol.

In order to keep our cortisol levels under control and healthy, we need to learn how to relax our body and practice stress management.  Tomorrow we will discuss ways to relax and put ourselves first.  After all, learning to take care of yourself will help you to feel better and live longer.  Aren’t you worth it?  I think you are.

It is a cold day today where I live, so I thought that I would share a healthy recipe with you.  This recipe is full of fiber and lots of good stuff and is low on fat and calories.  It is a warm and satisfying meal and my entire family loves when I make it. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Taco Soup

1 lb lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

1 can dark red kidney beans (15 oz)

2 cans chili beans (15 oz each)

1 can fat free refried beans (15 oz)

1 can whole corn (16 oz)

1 can chopped tomatoes (16 oz)

1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)

1 ½ cups water

1 can diced green chilies (4 ½ oz)

1 pkg taco seasoning mix

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (dry)

Sauté meat and onion.  Add all vegetables.  Do not drain vegetables before adding.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer 15 minutes.  Serve.

You can top this soup with low fat sour cream and low fat cheese.  It is also good when you crumble a few tortilla chips on top.

This soup freezes very well.

Photo by (c) vierdrie, www.sxc.hu

This next Thursday, thousands of American people will participate in an annual tradition of Thanksgiving Dinner.  This is a time of family togetherness and good food.  But just because you are on a diet, doesn’t mean that you can’t eat or participate in the festivities.  You just need to be a little bit creative.

If you are eating out, this is a perfect opportunity to practice making smart food choices and portion control.  Or perhaps you are participating in a potluck dinner, or buffet.  The principles are the same; it’s just another holiday to practice making smart choices.  With all of this practice you are getting, you will be more than ready to take on the Christmas season.  Make your Thanksgiving Dinner work FOR you, not against you.

Remember, YOU are the one who controls what does and doesn’t go into your mouth.  YOU have all of the power.  Thanksgiving Dinner is just another way to prove to yourself that the changes you are making will be permanent ones.  What are your plans for Thanksgiving Dinner this year?

Photo by (c) bjearwicke, www.sxc.hu

I thought that I should give you an update on my experience with the diet I called my secret weapon.  The diet I was using is actually called the Fat Loss 4 Idiots diet.  You are supposed to be able to lose 9 pounds in just 11 days.  Well, I didn’t exactly lost the entire 9 pounds.  I only lost 8 pounds.  But I will take them.

This diet was effortless and I found it quite easy to complete.  I really never felt any deprivation and that is always a good thing when you are dieting.  I also enjoyed eating all of the healthy foods, although the combinations were a little strange at times.  All in all, I will probably do this diet again sometime next month, just to keep the holiday pounds from creeping on.  It is only 11 days and I can do most anything for that length of time.

Have you tried this diet?  How was your experience?

A few days ago, we talked about the importance of planning out our meals in advance and then grocery shopping from that list.  Today, we are going to talk about the next step in our planning process.  What do we do with our food when we get back home?

If you purchased your grocery items in bulk, this will make the next step a little easier than if you just bought small amounts of those foods.  Besides, buying in bulk can also save you money and time in the future! And with the economy the way it is currently, that is indeed a good thing.

You will want to divide up your purchases into individual servings.  If you have a family that you are also cooking for, then divide it up into portions that way.  Freeze any of the meats that you aren’t going to be using right away.  I often precook portions of chicken breast to use in salads throughout the week.  This saves me lots of time when I need to eat something quickly.

Next take any of the vegetables that you purchased and wash and chop them into appropriate sizes.  This will come in very handy whenever you need a quick snack!  You are more likely to snack on celery sticks, baby carrots, raw cauliflower and broccoli if it is already chopped and ready to go.  When it comes to food, we often make the choices we do because of the convenience factor.

If you have purchased low fat snack crackers or pretzels, then divide the portions into small plastic bags.  This will also save you time when you need a quick snack.  It will also help to retain the freshness of these food items.  I even go as far as to place individual servings of cereal in those bags.  It saves me time each morning as I don’t need to measure a single serving out.  I have already done the work in advance and I can feel good knowing I have watched my serving sizes when I am eating.

Now, does all of this chopping, preparing and freezing of my food take time?  Of course it does.  However, it really doesn’t take as long as you may think and the dividends throughout the week pay off.  I make good food choices when I snack or make a meal and that shows on the scale.  Try it.  What have you got to lose except the weight?