Posts Tagged ‘lose weight’

Wednesday Wellness: Calories on Credit?

By Tammy Parkinson | December 15th, 2010 0 Comments

The other day I was listening to the news reporting on consumer spending during the holidays. Retailers seem to be booming with business this year! I’m curious, though if the average consumer pays for their gifts with credit or cash. You see, with credit, many will over spend then take the next several months, leaning up to pay off their debt, often paying higher interest rates and taking up to half the year to chip away at their over spending. I’m sure I’m not writing anything you haven’t already thought about or possibly even experienced.

This, however, also got me thinking about over eating during the holidays. Do we spend the next 6 months scrambling to lose the 5-10 pounds we carelessly put on during the season? Are we spending our calories on credit? The “interest” which incurs with over indulging can cost us more than money; it can cost us our short term and long term health. Do we really want to take months chipping away at pounds we’ve put on due to the mindless nibbles of sugar cookies, Sees candies, decadent cocktails and cheeses?

Try and look at the holiday season’s food choices like that of the choices in the malls and the internet specials. Is it really something you need or are you simply caught up in the hype of the day and pretend if you have it now, some how magically you’ll burn it off (or pay it off) in 2011.

Something to think about!

Happy and Healthy Holidays!

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Wednesday Wellness: Summer Is Coming! Are You Ready?

By Tammy Parkinson | March 17th, 2010 1 Comment

As spring approaches, the down jacket gets packed, the long pants are the exception vs. the rule and (gasp) tank tops are donned!   What does this mean?  Skin is now exposed!

Simply put…it’s time to tone up!

We see the panic stricken friends come in to the studio to do double duty workouts and want quick options for losing the winter 10 pounds!

As you cling to your computer, hoping I’m going to give you the secret to lose body fat and lean up in 7 days or less….I am not!  (sorry!)  However…I can give you some tips that if you are diligent, you can get a head start on anyone who is watching the latest infomercial about quick weight loss.

Fitness:

  • Decide on an “amount” of minutes you will commit to towards exercising each week.  For instance, if you decide you will exercise 150 min. a week, you can divide that in 2 days, or 7, just as long as you   clock 150 minutes!
  • Get in a little extra upper body work by doing 10 push-ups a day, increasing this by 1 every day a week at a time (you can always begin by doing push-ups against the wall)
  • Once a week, make a date of sorts with a friend, coworker, spouse, child, etc to get outside and walk for at least 30 minutes.  This beats Starbucks any day!
  • Hire a personal trainer 1x a week to give you a quick head start!

Nutrition:

  • For one week, cut out any foods made with white flour.  This will help your blood sugar and will teach you how to make healthier choices, simply by committing to this one rule.
  • If you are used to having chips once a day, replace that with a piece of fruit or vegetable.  Again, try this for one week
  • See if you can have dinner be 70% vegetables, again for one week.  Ideally the other 30% should be a lean protein source like fish, egg whites, poultry or temphe.

If you try these little tips for 1week, see how you feel…if the answer is pretty darn good…try it for another week!  It’s not necessary easy…but it’s simple!

Summer’s coming!!  If you need a little “extra” push…call your favorite personal training and nutrition studio, Body Firm!

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Monday Mojo: What are you going to get rid of in your life?

By Tom Tognoli | March 8th, 2010 0 Comments

What are you going to get rid of in your life?

What are you going to stop doing in your job?

What are you going to give up?

Yes…you heard me right, what are you going to give up?

What bad habit, crap in your office, clutter at home, food in your cabinet, or unproductive thing in your schedule are you going to either get rid of or stop doing?  Because before you can start doing something good, something right, something that is going to get you what you want, you need to start by giving something up. Not only will it clear room for what you need to do to CRUSH IT, but usually the thing you need to give up is in conflict with your goal.

For example – you want to lose weight, but the cabinets are filled with cookies, Cheetos, crackers and other garbage. You need to get rid of the crap and fill the cabinet with healthy food so you can begin to achieve your desired weight.

You want to get organized and under control with your home life or at work, but when you walk in your house or office it looks like a bomb just went off. Grab a roll of garbage bags and if you don’t absolutely need it either throw it away, sell it on Craigslist, or donate it.

You want to finally start saving some money for the future, but you can’t seem to save a dime because you have NO extra money. But somehow you can find the money to hit Starbucks or Peets once or twice a day. Start with brewing your own cup of coffee instead. It will save you $25 – $50 a week or $1,250 – $2,500 a year depending on how frequently you go. Oh, and don’t forget the taxes you pay on each cup of coffee. So if you combine the cost of the coffee and taxes on each cup, that may be as much as $2,000 -$5,000 a year you could invest in your 401K or IRA instead, tax free! Invest $5,000 a year into your retirement account and if it earns a 10% return, that’s close to $300,000 in 20 years.

You want to get to the gym to get fit and healthy and feel good, but you are spending all of your time on Facebook playing Mafia Wars and Farmville games. Stop the Facebook game addiction and hit the gym instead!

Enough said. To get more of what you want, give it up. Get rid of it. Stop doing it.

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