Reduce the Sugar in Your Family's Diet

Does your family eat a lot of sugar? A lot of candies, processed foods and fast food make their way into your household? As more and more families search for ways to try and become healthier, one of the most commonly overlooked health concerns is sugar consumption. While this is true, there are even more ways that sugar is incorporated into your family’s diet.

Here are a few tips for you to start reducing the your family's sugar intake.

• Brown Rice – White rice contains mostly carbohydrates, which converts to sugar after consumption. Brown rice offers full nutritional value and should be chosen over white grain rice.
• Whole Fruit – Most kids love fruit juice. However, there are fruit juices on the shelves today that are loaded with sugar additives. Instead of drinking fruit juice, opt for whole fruit instead, like apples, bananas and grapes.
• Vegetables – Lots of kids fuss over eating their vegetables. Even though this might be a huge hurdle for some families, incorporating more vegetables into your meals will reduce your sugar intake by far and large. Smart vegetables include green beans, carrots, tomatoes, and squash. Be cautious not to intake too many of the starchy veggies, like potatoes and corn, which contain high amounts of sugar.
• Snack Wisely – Families tend to snack a lot—yes, even parents. Make fun, healthy snacks for your family instead of binging on junk food. For power-packed snacks that will keep away hunger, use protein. A light snack, like a turkey and cream cheese roll-up, will keep hunger at bay a lot longer than a bag of potato chips.

These tips can help you get your family on the road to a healthier lifestyle.

You CAN Fight the Middle Age Spread

This is it...the magical year - I'm turning 40 this fall. I'm starting to see it and maybe you are too. The Middle Age Spread!

Is this just a fact of life? I have many friends over 40 who tell me that it really is a turning point in your life emotionally AND physically. Is this something that I can fight? Are exercise and diet enough to ward off this impending doom? According to weight loss experts, it’s all in the metabolism. When you hit middle age (somewhere in the 40 range), your metabolism changes. Your body somehow puts on the brakes.

There is hope, though. Here are some tips that can help speed up your metabolism when you reach that magical age :)

Exercise
The main ingredient in increasing your metabolic rate is to increase muscle mass (which burns more calories) and, at the same time, reduces your body fat. This is not to say you should pump up your muscles to such an extent that you redefine your body image; but it is a well known fact that without exercise, you lose muscle not fat. Therefore, if you wish to avoid the middle age spread, begin an exercise program which is appropriate for you. Try walking 20 minutes a day, and work up to a mile or more. If you enjoy swimming, this is another very healthy exercise which can shed those pounds. More importantly, these exercises speed up your metabolism which yield a higher rate of return. In other words, more calories will be expended after your exercise routine is finished.

Diet
Perhaps the most important key to keeping your metabolism at a higher rate is to eat low-fat foods. Combined with strong doses of protein such as fish, and leafy green vegetables, a healthy and balanced diet has proven to be the best method in which you can burn fat and gain additional energy. Leans meats, chicken and low-fat dairy products can be very beneficial in burning calories. While it is true that not everyone’s metabolism is the same, it is also true you can maintain the same metabolic rate in middle age as you did in your early adult years. A proper diet is the key.

Emotional Well-Being
Try to remain stress-free. Yoga can be a great stress reducer! It will not only improve your emotional state, but your physical being as well. We all tend to eat when stressed or depressed - that's where the term "comfort food" came from. Maintaining a balance within will deter you from eating and snacking unnecessarily.

While fighting the middle age spread may sound difficult to achieve, it doesn’t have to be. If you exercise, enhance your diet with nutritional fat burning calories, try to keep your stress level to a minimum, you can be feeling lean and mean just like you did in your twenties!

Resolutions - Sticking With It?

I found this great article and wanted to share it with you...hopefully it will encourage you to stick with your New Year's Resolution to lose weight :)

Make Your Resolution To Lose Weight Actually Work This Year

You know the drill; you make a resolution to lose weight on New Year’s Eve. You go grocery shopping for all kinds of health food on January 2nd, and while you are at it, you join a new gym. Everything goes well for a few days and you start to see the pounds drop off. Then things slow down, and you start to lose interest. Cravings for your favorite foods set in and you’re getting tired of these diet meals. By the end of January, most of us have given up on our weight loss resolution. Don’t let this happen to you.

Make this year different; make your resolution to lose weight actually work. It’s really not that hard, but you have to do it right. The best way to make sure you will stick to your weight loss resolution is to find little ways to hold yourself accountable. Announce your resolution to family and friends. Find a weight loss buddy that has the same goals. The two of you can check on each other and motivate each other to stick with the plan. If you can’t find a weight loss buddy, make your spouse or close friend your accountability partner. You report your weight loss to them weekly, and they will do their best to keep you motivated to keep going.

An alternative to using people to hold you accountable is a weight loss journal. By simply putting what you eat, how much you worked out and how much you weigh into a journal, you will feel more responsible about what you are doing and are less likely to skip that workout or sneak in an extra snack. A weight loss journal can also be a great motivator when you glance back though the pages and see how much you have accomplished over the past weeks and months.

One last piece of advice – don’t be too strict on your diet. The main reason people give up on their weight loss plan is that they aren’t allowed any of their favorite foods. You should aim more for lifestyle changes you can stick with for the rest of your life than a traditional diet. This means that the piece of chocolate or that cheeseburger are ok – in moderation. Limit yourself to one small piece of chocolate a day, and only indulge in that cheeseburger or slice of pizza once a week. If you eat healthy foods the rest of the time, you will be able to indulge every once in awhile and still see those pounds melt off.

Are you struggling with keeping your weight loss resolution? Healthy Menu Planning is the solution – it helps you stay on track. Sign up for a free 7-day sneak peak today.