Weigh In - Week 8

Well? How did you do this week? Did your weight go down? Did your body fat go up? What difficulties did you have during this week that might have hindered your progress? Were you more stressed than you usually are?

Check in here to let us know how you did this last week. We'll gather all of the numbers and put them in our tally next week.

GOOD LUCK on this week's challenge and weight loss goals! We know you can do it!

Challenge Check In

Alright, how did you do with last week's challenge? Were you able to reward yourself because you accomplished your goal? GOOD!!

Let us know here, just how good you did, if you had problems at certain times, or any other concerns with the challenge that you had for this week.

We are excited that you are doing so well, and look forward to hearing about your achievements!

Keeping Focus on the Obliques

I know you are starting to get excited because you are probably seeing a difference now. And with the workouts that you are including besides just walking, you are probably starting to see more shape in your body. So here's another exercise that can be done with a resistance band, free weights, or nothing at all but yourself.

Seated Oblique Workout

Have a seat on the floor. With your legs bent, place your feet about a foot apart. Hold the resistance band in your hands with no more than 8-10 inches of band between your hands. Keep the band taught during the exercise, but DO NOT stretch the band as we have done in other resistance band exercises. The band in this exercise is used to keep your hands steady and at approximately the same level throughout the exercise.

Start by placing your hands on your knees, then lower your upper body a few inches toward the ground, which will bring your hands off your knees, and they will be in the air. Start by bringing your hands to the right side of your body, as if you were to place something to the right of you, then bring them back to the starting position and to the left side. Repeat this exercise for 2 minutes to start. This will not only strengthen your abs, but the swinging of your arms from side to side will work your obliques, presenting a body with some good curves. :)

When you use free weights for this exercise, hold the weights in your hands and in your starting position, make sure that your palms face each other. Keep your palms facing each other throughout the exercise.

When you are not using a resistance band or free weights, clasp your hands together, making a point, and keep your hands clasped together throughout the exercise.

So give this a try this week with the other exercises that you have learned from here. Soon, we will have our own little 30 minute workout from all of these exercises that work your entire body in one workout. Pretty cool, right? That's the point. :)

GOOD LUCK!!

Making Feng Shui Work For YOU!!

I am sure that you have heard of Feng Shui, the art of decorating your home, office, workspace, etc. to produce a happier, healthier, wealthier YOU. Well, now we are taking it a step further. Beyond all of the use of positive colors and better room layouts. We are taking it to where our food spends most of its time.

The Kitchen.

In an article in May's Woman's World, they explained just how to make this happen. In feng shui, the kitchen represents family togetherness (since it's considered the heart of the home), health and prosperity. And placing a big bowl of fresh fruit on the kitchen table is said to create harmony and success - oranges, in particular, are seen as bringing good luck!

According to research, the sight of fruit makes people more likely to eat healthy and skip junk food. And in another study, it was found that eating healthy as a family is the strongest predictor of a child's academic achievement, self-esteem and even future success! Bonus: Nutrients in fruit - like vitamin C and folic acid - improve energy, mood, mental functioning and even our response to stress.

So the lesson here? Go to the store at the beginning of the week and place fruit in a medium or large bowl in the middle of the table, or somewhere it will be seen frequently, and subconsciously you will find yourself craving what is in sight. Pretty neat trick, right?

Give it a try this week.

GOOD LUCK!

Weigh In - Week Seven

Okay, so last week we really didn't have anything going on. But how did you do on your own? Did you maintain the better way of eating? Were you able to keep moving? I hope so!

Check in here to let us know how you did last week. Did you gain a little weight? Did you lose a lot of weight? Is there something that you would like to see us focus on for the next week? Let us know!

I know you all did great! Here's to another great week ahead of us!

GOOD LUCK!!

Challenge Check In

Okay, so you had a week off for the challenge, I hope you're refreshed! No need to check in this week, but GOOD LUCK on completing this week's challenge!

Work Those Obliques!

So you're doing good with those arms and legs workouts, right? Cool! So you should have very shapely arms and legs for the summer! But what about that midsection that we all know and have very little love for? You may be doing crunches to help your abs out a bit, heck, you may even be doing reverse crunches to work the lower abs! But what about those extra tires that hang on to your sides for dear life? Here's a great resistance band workout, just for those obliques!

Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, and sitting up straight with your shoulders back. Place your resistance band around the bottoms of your feet, wrapping the resistance band around each of your hands. Make sure that the resistance band is taught so that there is effort in working with the band during the exercise. In the starting position, you should be sitting up straight, legs straight, and your arms only slightly bent at the elbow.

Starting with your right side, pull the resistance band back, bending your arm, and twisting your body in a rowing motion. Once you return to the starting position, move to the left side. Start by doing this for at least two minutes, alternating sides during the workout.

I assure you, after a week of doing these at least five times a week, for at least 6 minutes each time, you will start to see and feel a difference. You will be working the obliques of your body, perhaps muscles that you have never worked before. When all is said and done, your body will be sexy in all the right ways!

GOOD LUCK!!

It's a Joint Effort!

If you look within your own family, I bet you would be able to find at least a handful of family members that have arthritis. And if you dig deeper, you could probably find another handful that will be or are prone to developing arthritis in their later years. But there's nothing you can do about it as far as you're concerned, right? WRONG!!

First, let's see where you stand. Take a piece of plain paper, and wet the bottom of your foot - you can wet it with water, paint, ink - but make sure that it covers the whole foot without being excessive. Next, stand on the piece of paper. When you lift your foot off the paper, do you notice that there is a space for your arch? Or is the space where your arch should be completely filled in? If there is no space where your arch should be, you are flat-footed, and have a one in three chance of eventually developing arthritis. That type of foot causes wear and tear inside ankle, knee, and hip joints. How can you protect yourself? Fitting in 30 minutes of walking or yoga daily will make your joints 30% more flexible and strong, cut the risk of further tissue damage by 43% and trim excess weight lowering stress on your knees and ankles.

And you thought it was hopeless! Try to keep yourself moving and flexible, and you've got better odds at beating arthritis before it can beat you!

Weigh In - Week Six

Check in here to let us know how much you gained, lost, or if you stayed the same.

Also, if there are certain things that you would like to see more information on in this blog, let us know so that we can gear some of our topics to things that will help you reach your goals.

GOOD LUCK for Week 6!

Challenge Check In

Alright, how did you do for last week's challenge? Were you able to stick to it? Did you reach your goal for the entire week, or just a couple of days?

Check in here and let us know. We are aiming for reaching certain goals, like building our stamina, exercising more, drinking more water, increasing healthy ways of eating, etc. These challenges are geared toward helping you to reach these goals, so let us know if you were able to accomplish every aspect of the challenge or not.

And GOOD LUCK on this week's challenge!

Tired of Flabby Legs?

Okay, I know, we all worry about the leg wiggles. Nobody likes them. Whether your legs are wiggling on the inner thighs, or right around the hips, it's not pretty, and we want to do something about it! Well, here's your chance!

These exercises can be done with or without the resistance band. Of course, adding resistance puts a little more muscle into the workout and will help to show a quicker improvement. And, as with all leg exercises, remember...WHAT YOU DO TO ONE LEG YOU MUST DO THE SAME TO THE OTHER LEG! If you don't, the end results will scare you!

Inner Thigh Workout

Lay on your back, knees bent, and arms to your sides, palm down. Start with your knees together. Keeping your feet flat on the ground, spread your knees apart 12-18 inches, and return to the start position. When using a resistance band, wrap the band around your thighs, approximately 2-3 inches above the knees, and tie the band ends together. Wrap the band tight enough to give you good resistance, but not so tight that it is virtually impossible to spread your legs.

For starters, time yourself doing this exercise. Do the exercise for 2 minutes, rest for 1 minute, and repeat for another 2 minutes. After a week of this, you'll feel and SEE the difference!

Upper Thigh/Hip Workout

Start by laying on your right side, propping yourself up on your right arm. Bring your left arm around the front of your body, and place your hand, palm down, in front of your chest. Lift your left leg in the air 12-18 inches and return to the starting position. Continue in this same manner for the duration of this exercise. When using the resistance band, wrap the band around your ankles and tie it so the band provides resistance. Wrap the band tight enough that there is good resistance, but loose enough that you are able to raise your leg high enough in the air.

Start by doing this exercise for two minutes on each side.

There you go! A couple more exercises to help you get the defined body that you want!

GOOD LUCK!

5 Lessons From Oprah

So I picked up this great little magazine, that is about the same size as one of those Reader Digest magazines, or one of those smaller magazines with all of the recipes for appetizers, etc. Inside, there was this great article, of which I will paraphrase, on ways that we can better our dieting efforts. So, from Oprah's mouth, to this magazine's pages, to our blog, here are 5 extra little tips on helping you stick to your guns and keep that weight rolling off!

Tip #1 ~ PLAN FOR SUCCESS!

Weight maintenance requires vigilant mental engagement, just like weight loss. Autopilot is not going to work! Start by reserving, in ink, time for exercise (walking, yoga, gym workouts, etc.) for five days a week. Next, make a meal plan. While doing your meal plan, think about ways to eat healthier all of the time. For example, how are you going to come by a healthy lunch at work? Is your fridge and freezer stocked in a way that makes it easy to put healthy meals together in a snap? Do whatever you need to block out eight hours for sleep. Sleep deprivation actually alters your hormones to make you hungrier. The less you sleep, the more you eat. Until you shape your lifestyle to accommodate the habits that will help you keep the pounds off, you run the risk of putting them back on.

Tip #2 ~ ASK YOURSELF: "WHAT AM I REALLY HUNGRY FOR?"

Stress often makes people feel as though they have no control, which prompts them to regulate or "self-medicate" their emotions through eating. Stress hormones also boost fat storage in your belly, making weight loss even harder. To sidestep this spiral, ask yourself: "What am I really hungry for?" If it's honestly not food, opt to chew on whatever you're feeling...over a walk. The endorphins you'll generate may just satisfy your craving as well as your jones for control.

Tip #3 ~ SWEAT CONSISTENTLY

There's no way around it: You simply must exercise in order to lose weight and keep it off. Increasing your activity in order to lose weight, will create a habit for you and help you to continue to be active once you have lost all of the weight that you would like. Here's a key part to understanding the need for exercise...Strength training builds muscle, which takes up less space in your body than fat. The result: Your wardrobe fits better. :) Muscle tissue also requires more calories to sustain it than fat tissue does. For example, if you have more muscle than fat, when you take in calories through eating, more of your calories will go to maintaining your muscle tissue when you are exercising. If you are not exercising, then when you intake calories, the calories are merely sitting in your body, turning into fat, and making those cute outfits feel not so cute. Bottom line? The more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you'll burn.

Tip #4 ~ SHARE YOUR GOAL WITH OTHERS

You've made the first step in achieving this goal. You are here. Sharing your weight loss or weight maintenance goals and checking in regularly with supporters has been shown to greatly boost the chances of maintainin a significant weight loss. Break up your large weight loss goals into weekly goals, write your goals down and post them on the fridge, put a picture of you at your heaviest on the fridge to help motivate you and remind you what you are working toward. If you are able to, buddy up on exercising, but DON'T BAIL OUT ON YOUR BUDDY! If you seek a workout buddy, find a workout buddy, then take it seriously. It does you no good to bail on your workouts, and you never know what kind of motivation, or lack thereof, you can be to someone else.

Tip #5 ~ FIND THE JOY

Being joyful reduces the circulation of the stress hormone cortisol, thereby decreasing appetite and promoting weight loss. Are you being fulfilled? Are you meeting your emotional needs? If you are not, your body may seek fulfillment from food. Ask yourself at the beginning of each day, am I looking forward to the hours ahead? If your answer is no, do something about it. Vow to wipe out at least one source of stress in your life and to embrace at least one new source of pleasure.

So there it is folks! Five helpful tips to boost your motivation to keep you on track to losing the weight that you want to lose. So keep at it, and does lose hope now!

GOOD LUCK!!

Weigh In - Week Five

Well? How did you do last week? Were you up? Were you down? Did you stay the same?

Check in here and let us know! We'll be adding more recipes and workouts to help get you Healthy, Fit, and Fabulous faster!

Challenge Check In

Okay, so how did you do for Week Four's Challenge? Were you able to accomplish it? Did you find it a little difficult or way too easy?

Check in here and let us know how you did. Let us know if it was hard or easy, if you were able to accomplish the challenge on every day or just three. We want to know how you did so that we can keep the challenges challenging, but not so challenging that they are discouraging, so your input matters!

And HEY! GOOD LUCK on this week's challenge!

Cool Resistance Band Arm Workout!

Okay, let's face it, we all know about the arm jiggle. Where it came from, we can never pin, but the fact of the matter is that IT'S THERE! I am sure that just like me, you are sick of it! Wish it would just go away! Here are a couple of easy workouts that you can do to help jiggle that arm away!

WITH a Resistance Band...

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Wrap part of the resistance band around your right hand to start, and place the other end under both feet to ensure that the band does not come free during your workout. Put your right arm out, as if you were making a "T" with your arm, slightly bending the arm at the elbow. Make sure that the resistance band is tight so that you have some resistance for the exercise. Place your left hand on your hip, and slowly raise your right arm over your head. Bring your arm back to the starting position, and repeat. Continue this exercise for a number of minutes, or a certain number of reps. A great starting place would be 2 minutes, or 25 reps.

When you are done on the right side, move it over to the left side. Be sure to do the same number of reps or minutes on the left side that you did on the right! We don't want uneven arms! :)

WITHOUT a Resistance Band...

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Bring both of your arms out to make a "T" with your arms bent slightly at the elbow. Raise your arms above your head, clapping when they meet at the top. Return to starting position and repeat.

Obviously, the exercise works with or without a resistance band. Having a resistance band will add "weight" to the exercise, helping to define those fabulous arms just that much quicker. You can find resistance bands for about $10 or less from Target, Wal-Mart, etc. There's no need to spend more than that. No need for extra things, just the resistance band.

Have fun with this one! We'll put up more exercises on the blog that you can use the resistance band for, so it will definitely be worth the small investment!

GOOD LUCK!