Health, Nutrition & Weight Loss - Week 1, Day 4

O.K., I warned you we were going to make some adjustments! But be honest, up until now there have not been any really hard changes - have there?  All right, then! We're just going to take another step toward a healthier lifestyle.

It's time to start eating more healthy breads and sweets.  We don't want to cut them out completely, just make some changes that make it possible to continue eating them in a way that will cause your body to lose rather than gain weight. Are you with me?  Good!

Since we want to focus on the foods that accelerate fat burning and avoid those that slow things down, it will be necessary to start reading labels. In order to really get the metabolism going, we will do our best to avoid foods and beverages that have refined sugars (aka The Dirty Dozen), as well as white, enriched and bleached flours listed among the first four ingredients  on the nutrition label (not counting those in parentheses). Nutrition labels list ingredients in order by amount. So if a product lists sugar or "high fructose corn syrup " as the first ingredient, then it has more sugar in it than anything else! We want to start looking for foods made with 100% whole grains and sweetened with no-calorie or less refined sweeteners.

Enemy #1 of fat loss is processed and refined carbohydrates - sugar and white flour are at the top of the list. Sugar, whether it is straight from the sugar bowl, or in the form of candy, soda, or baked goods may have started out in a 'whole' or 'natural' form, but has been refined to the point that all of its fiber and nutrition was stripped away and what is left goes straight to the bloodsteam and spikes your insulin level putting your body into fat storing mode. Unbelievable, I know!  So here is a list of things we want to watch out for:

THE DIRTY DOZEN
1. Sugar (sucrose)
2. High Fructose Corn Syrup
3. Brown Sugar
4. Dextrose
5. Maltose
6. Corn Syrup
7. Malt Syrup
8. Maple Syrup
9. Maltitol (Sugar Alcohol)
10. Matitol Syrup (Sugar Alcohol)
11. Modified Corn Starch
12. Corn Starch

Yea, I know! What's left? There are so many more choices out there now with low or no calorie alternatives like Splenda, Stevia or Neotame. And for baking, there are a lot more healthy substitutes like evaporated cane juice, whole fruit and fruit juices, raw or organic agave nectar, xylitol, brown rice syrup and Sucanat.

Now for the BREAD! The ingredients to watch out for are 'bleached, enriched or white flour'.  Foods and bread made with 100% whole wheat flour and cereals made with whole grains are healthy, high in fiber, and aid in weight loss as well as the prevention of many diseases.
DON'T  LET THE LABEL FOOL YOU! Just because it says 100% Whole Wheat on the front, doesn't mean it is healthy! Remember to check the first four ingredients. If it lists 'enriched flour' and/or 'corn syrup' there, than it probably has no whole grains and is LOADED with sugar!

Label reading may take a little getting used to, but you will soon become an expert "Label Detective", and will benefit in the long run. (Did I say "long run"? - Oh, we'll talk about that later! LOL!)

Before we wrap this up, I want to put out a little Disclaimer/Promo here:  The basic information I am sharing with you here comes from Nutrition expert Robert Ferguson's "Food Lovers Fat Loss System", and I would highly recommend his weight loss regimin to anyone.  What I have been sharing here is just a small part of what his program offers.  All I am really looking to do is pass along some of the valuable health tips I have learned with a few friends.

Health, Nutrition & Weighloss - Week 1, Day 3

Time to talk about the importance of breakfast and portion sizes.  Unless you want to be a Sumo Wrestler, who purposely skips breakfast to prevent their metabolism from getting into gear, than you will need to get in the habit of eating as soon as you get up.

Breakfast really is the MOST important meal! It's called Break - "fast" for a reason. If you just woke up from 8 hrs. of sleep, then your body has been in a fasting mode.  Your metabolism has slowed down, and it needs a 'jump start'. It's O.K. if you are not a 'breakfast person'. A simple snack will do. Just EAT something!

I also want to reiterate that you MUST eat every 2 1/2 - 3 hours to prevent the 'hunger monster' from sabotaging your health and weightloss. If you let yourself get too hungry, you're almost guaranteed to overeat. Once you have stoked the furnace with breakfast, you need to keep it going.

Here are a few suggestions: A bowl of cereal like Kashi Heart to Heart or Trader Joe's Raisin Bran Clusters with low fat milk and berries on top; French toast made with wheat bread and sugar free syrup and a cup of berries on the side; a low fat blueberry muffin; or an egg sandwich with canadian bacon and low fat american cheese on a whole wheat english muffin.

PORTION SIZE.  It may be hard to keep this brief, but here are the basics:
Meats, poultry and fish - the general rule is 3-5 oz. for women and 4-6 oz. for men. That's about the size of the palm of your hand (less if it is a 'fatty' meat like ground beef, ham, hot dogs, ribs, salmon,etc.).  Eggs: 1 whole w/ 2 egg whites for women and 2 whole w/ 2 egg whites for men. (Eggbeaters/whites: 3-4 oz. women & 5-6 oz. men). Protein powder: 1 scoop.
"Limited carbs" - Bread = 2 slices, 1 english muffin, 1 bagel, 1 flour tortilla, 2 corn tortillas, 2 halves pita;  Pasta = 1 c. for women, 1 1/4 c. for men (or the size of your fist); Potatoes = 1 c. for women, 1 1/4 c. for men; Rice & other grains = 1/2 c. for women and 2/3 c. for men (1/2 fist); Cakes, sweets & chocolate = 1/2 palm (look at the palm of your hand and cut it in half diagonally)

     Just in case you are asking: "Can I REALLY have chocolate cake with my grilled chicken breast and asparagus?" The answer is 'YES'!  Just remember portion size and decide if that will be enough to keep you satisfied until your snack 3 hrs. later.

Additional "Limited carbs": Melons (2 fists); high sugar fruits (cherries, grapes, passion fruit, pineapple, plantains & quince) 1 fist; Med. round fruits (apple, banana, mango, orange, peach, pear) = 1 med. women & 1 lg. men; Sm. round fruits (nectarines, plums, tangerines, kiwi) 2 med. for women & 3 med. for men; Dried fruits = 1/2 fist; Winter squash & onions 1 c. for women & 1 1/4 c. men (1 fist); Corn 1/2 c. women & 2/3 c. men (1/2 fist); Hot cereal 1 c. women & 1 1/4 c. men; Carb rich dairy (lowfat ice cream, lowfat or skim milk, lowfat yogurt) = 1 c. women & 1 1/4 c. men.

"Go for it Carbs" - Veggies (cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, cukes, mushrooms [button, crimini, white], radishes & sprouts) and Leafy greens (Bok Choi, cabbage, endive, lettuce radicchio, spinach & watercress) EAT ALL YOU WANT;

Tomatoes, squash & other veggies (artichokes, asparagus, bell peppers, brocolli, brussel sprouts, carrots, eggplant, green beans, leeks, mushrooms [portobello, shitake], okra rutabaga turnips) 1 c. women & 1 1/4 c. men (1 fist)

Berries & low sugar fruits (apricots, all berries, grapefruit, lemons, limes) 1 c. women & 1 1/4 c. men (1 fist);

Beans, peas & lentils 1/2 c. women & 2/3 c. men

Cooked greens (beet tops, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, swiss chard, turnip greens) 1 c. women & 1 1/4 c. men.

There!  I think that is enough for you to 'absorb' for today! :)

Health, Nutrition & Weight Loss - Week 1, Day 2

Write it down!  Yes, get a notebook or a journal or anything 'stationary' that you can write on. (Ha, I just realized where that word came from!)
It has been documented that if you keep a record of everything you eat and drink, you could lose 64% more weight than those who don't.  Note the start time of your meal or snack and use as much detail about what and how much.

Now, let's talk about how these fantastic bodies process food (aka 'our Metabolism'):Our bodies will do one of two things with whatever we eat or drink. It will either burn it for energy or store it for later as body fat. That's it! In order to lose weight, we obviously want to do more burning than storing.

The best way to do that is to understand how to combine foods so they send less sugar into you bloodstream. This leads us to talking about carbohydrates. NO WAIT! I am NOT going to tell you that ALL carbs are bad! None of your favorite foods have to be off limits if you understand how to use them.

O.K., here's a little science lesson: ''Carbs" (whether they are from a baked potato, bread, pasta, a piece of chocolate cake - "yummy"! :P, or a piece of fruit) get converted to Glucose (sugar) which sends the message to your body to release insulin - a fat storing hormone. This really is amazing, because if our bodies didn't do that, it could damage our arteries - "Thank you, God for insulin!"

The good news: There is a way to eat these carbs where you can not only keep your body happy, but your taste buds too!  We can 'optimize' our glycemic levels by keeping our insulin levels low throughout the day, thus preventing our bodies from going into the 'fat storing mode'.

Now, let's define the two kinds of carbs. We'll simply call them 'limited carbs' and 'go for it carbs'! How's that?!  I already gave you a sample of the 'limited carbs' above, so here are some of the 'go for it carbs':
Leafy greens, high fiber veggies, berries & grapefruit, beans, peas & legumes. I will give you more on this later, but for now, let's talk about portion sizes and combination of these foods.
Of course, we need protein too, so we have to add a few of those here: Lean meats, poultry, fish/seafood, eggs, cottage cheese, protein powder and soy (yuck! Did I say soy? - O.K., to each his own!)

So, what's the formula? Common sense for starters! If you are looking at your plate, which is mounded with spagetti, meat sauce AND 8 meatballs, doused in parmesan with a big hunk of garlic bread on the side - well, we have to talk!  Just to keep this short, look at your plate and imagine it divided into 3 sections.  You have a protein, a 'limited carb' and a 'go for it carb'.  There you go!  Yes, it will mean deciding between the noodle and the bread, but personally, I don't usually put my spagetti sauce on bread!  You REALLY want a piece of garlic toast? SAVE IT FOR YOUR SNACK (you might want to go light on the butter while you're at it!)

REMEMBER - snacking is IMPORTANT (I knew you would like that!), because it keeps your metabolism (your fat burning machine) going!

O.K., we'll talk more tomorrow - it's time for me to get away from this computer!

One last thing that might help you get started.

Here are some SNACK IDEAS (We are not going worry too much about calories for now, but here is a good guideline - Women 100-200 cal., Men 100-300 cal.):
1 small bag of chips
1 slice of bread/toast with peanut butter
1/2 turkey sandwich (o.k., the garlic toast if you really  must have it!)
cheese and crackers
fruit
a chicken leg
leftovers from a meal (snack size portion please!)
Protein bar

Health, Nutrition & Weight Loss - Week 1, Day 1

One of life's mysteries is how a two-pound box of candy can make a woman gain five pounds!

A lot of people have been noticing that I have lost a few pounds and look a little thinner, and have asked me what I've been doing. I can start by saying, "I AM NOT DIETING - I"M EATING!"  That' right! No more dieting for me!

I have FINALLY found "balance"! And have decided to share what I have learned here with those who are interested.

Our bodies are amazing! They are MACHINES! No, they are more marvelous than that! We are 'fearfully and WONDERFULLY made"! And, we have to take care of these machines if we want to keep them running efficiently for the rest of our lives no matter how long that is.

I'm going to "promise" you, that if you make even SOME of these life changes that I am going to share here, you will notice the difference; but more than that, you will be amazed at how you can just 'tweek' and 'adjust' a few habits, and your body will thank you!

Here goes: Step 1 (Week 1, day 1) - EAT!
(I'm going to give you a minute to 'digest' that statement! LOL!)
That's right - I said EAT!  EAT when you get up; EAT throughout the day; and EAT in the evening! You may have already heard this ("eat smaller meals, but eat more often"), but it works!

Here's the 'skinny'. (Oh, I crack myself up!).  Our bodies NEED fuel just like your car needs gas.  Plain and simple, when you don't eat, or when you skip meals, your body goes into starvation mode and begins to hoard everything you digest if you let it go too long without food. You need to "train" your body to trust that it's not going to starve.

So, here is your assignment. Starting tomorrow, eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs. Try to eat within the first 1/2 hr. after getting up (yes, you can!), and continue until bedtime. That's right - the "No eating after 7:00pm" is a myth. If you are still going until midnight, your body still needs fuel! (Yes, common sense has to come into play here, but we'll talk more about that later!)

Here is a sample: 6am breakfast, 9am snack, 12pm lunch, 3pm snack, 6pm dinner, 9pm snack.

Not rocket science (well, maybe it is!), just the basics. Yes, there is more to it than that, but we're talking about changing some 'life-long' habits for some people. You don't do this overnight. You do it ONE STEP AT A TIME! We all know we didn't get this way overnight, and if we want LASTING results, we have to make it a lifestyle.

That's it for now! God bless!

Our Sin Affects Others (It started in the Garden, and the cycle continues)

The negative affects from individual sins can resonate in ways that we cannot predict.

From the beginning of time (according to Genesis), sin has caused consequence, pain and even death. Adam and Eve had everything they could have ever needed including fellowship in the garden with God himself. Then sin entered, and brought heartache and consequences that continue to this day.


Yesterday, I was faced with the reality of how much my sins affected a friend 40 years ago.


We're always aware of when we are doing wrong, but rarely consider how it affects those around us. That's the sinful, selfish nature of man.


 The truly awesome part of this story though is the restoration that came to both lives through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Healer & Redeemer!


He has promised to restore ALL that the cankerworm and locust have eaten; and to take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose!

Obama's Nobel: The Last Thing He Needs

A surprisingly unbiased News article by TIME/CNN

Obama's Nobel: The Last Thing He Needs

"Yes, Mr. President, we ARE a Christian Nation!"

The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony.

"Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean."  William Bradford

“Almighty God, by your great mercy we have reached this land, which we now claim and establish for Thy eternal purposes. We ask thee to open hearts and enlighten the understanding of the peoples of these shores to comprehend the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The Mayflower Compact - 1620

     In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.      Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honor of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.

John Carver
William Bradford
Edward Winslow
William Brewster
Isaac Allerton
Miles Standish
John Alden
Samuel Fuller
Christopher Martin
William Mullins

William White
James Chilton
John Craxton
John Billington
Richard Warren
John Howland
Steven Hopkins
Edward Tilly
John Tilly
Francis Cook

Thomas Rogers
Thomas Tinker
John Rigdale
Edward Fuller
John Turner
Francis Eaton
Moses Fletcher
Digery Priest
Thomas Williams
Gilbert Winslow

Edmond Margeson
Peter Brown
Richard Bitteridge
Richard Clark
Richard Gardiner
John Allerton
Thomas English
Edward Doten
Edward Liester
John Goodman
George Soule

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhIfzURC9HU