Great Workout/Delicious and Nutritious Lunch Recipe!

Just got back from the gym and all I can say is I am VERY TIRED! I had an excellent cardio workout, but it's funny though, I don't think of it as work so much any more. As each day goes by, I find myself looking forward to the "torture". I did a solid hour of cardio today including 20 minutes on the eliptical, 20 minutes on the bike and 20 minutes on the treadmill. I had my heart rate up for a good while! I had recent foot surgery and it has greatly impacted my ability to walk with no pain, so the treadmill is a real challenge. If you find yourself in this situation, just take it easy and work up to it, maybe do 5-10 minutes at a time. When I got home, I decided to make a healthy salad for lunch. I have become very mindful of what I eat, so I do not even buy any junk food for fear of returning to my old ways!
Try this wonderful salad at home when you get a chance, it was super tasty!

Here's a photo of the basic ingredients. It includes spinach, celery, red and green bell pepper, sliced pear, broccoli slaw and feta cheese.  Everything is so easily put together! I have discovered the broccoli cole slaw recently and love the fresh, crunchy addition to the salad. I also tossed in some dried cranberries, and a small handful of sunflower seeds. For protein I added a small package of pink salmon and drizzled a small amount of balsamic vinegar dressing! Served it with a tall glass of green tea.....Very delicious and nutritious!

Interesting Cleanse Idea

Hey everyone! got this video today in my inbox from David Bach, the financial guru. Thought it was interesting and might be worth trying....hmmm, kind of pricey though!


Watch the video:
Welcome to My Kitchen

Life is Good! When Depression Sets in Go For a Walk!

Every night when I go to sleep I think of that day's blessings. There is so much to be grateful for and I try to always focus on the positive! Unfortunately, many folks out there can only dwell on the negatives in their life. They can't think of anything positive because they have too much pain in their body, are in too much financial trouble, have marital woes, etc. The list could be endless. What I have found since my journey began is how tremendously my mood has improved since I started focusing on a healthy routine of eating right and exercising daily. It is rare for me to feel depressed, stressed out or anxious.  From my research into this, the links between anxiety, depression and exercise aren't entirely clear — but working out can definitely help you relax and make you feel better!

Other benefits of exercise are:

1. Gain confidence. Meeting exercise goals or challenges, even small ones, can boost your self-confidence. Getting in shape can also make you feel better about your appearance. This has started happening to me. It feels great to get those old jeans to button again!
2. Get more social interaction. Exercise may give you the chance to meet or socialize with others. Just exchanging a friendly smile or greeting as you walk around your neighborhood or at the gym can help your mood. The folks here in Columbus are always super friendly!
3. Take your mind off worries. Exercise is a distraction that can get you away from the cycle of negative thoughts that feed anxiety and depression.
4. Cope in a positive way. Doing something positive to manage anxiety or depression is a healthy coping strategy. Trying to feel better by drinking alcohol, dwelling on how badly you feel, or hoping anxiety or depression will go away on its own can lead to worsening symptoms. So try to avoid those strategies and instead put your shoes on and go out for a long, brisk walk!

By the way, as of today I am 5lbs lighter! I accomplished this in 12 days by just eating healthy and focusing on exercise daily! I am not where I want to be, but definitely on the way!

Biking on a beautiful day! Visit Terry Hershey Park!

From everything I hear and read it is vitally important to do some kind of activity every day for at least 30 minutes in order to maintain good health and weight loss goals. With that in mind, I was lucky enough to have discovered Terry Hershey Park in Houston. The hike and bike trails are wonderful and very well maintained. The asphalt trail is almost 11 miles long, with many scenic dirt trails along the bayou for your enjoyment. I rode my bike for at least 30 minutes without stopping, which really got my heart rate up. The trail has many many challenging turns and hills (called anthills) and is very family friendly. I absolutely fell in love with this place. I am just a beginner biker, but I found the trails to be very user friendly, set along the scenic banks of Buffalo Bayou. I highly recommend you get out there, and do something, ANYTHING! Just get active, you will enjoy yourself more than you realize!
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On the Go? Try this!

Ok, today I found myself rushing to find something to eat. Ever since I have made a concerted effort to eat at home and stop eating out (hard to avoid bad stuff at a restaurant) I usually whip something up that's nutritious. Today I looked in the freezer and decided to try a Lean Cuisine just to change it up from the normal salad or smoothie. I have to say it was very tasty! I tried the Grilled Chicken Primavera. It has grilled white meat chicken with asparagus, tomatoes and whole wheat pasta in a creamy garlic sauce. It has 220 calories (not bad at all!) and 5 grams of fiber. I paired that with some VitaCoco 100% pure coconut water! It has only 60 calories. For desert I had 1/2 container of Fage yogurt with honey and a couple walnuts (about 120 calories). This was a total of 400 calories and I am very full! Try this for yourself ..I think you will like it too! A fast and delicious lunch!

Staying MOTIVATED is the key!

I was at the gym today with Stephanie for my last official training session ( I only paid for 4) before going out on my own. I have to admit I have many reservations about whether I will stay motivated by myself to keep going. One thing I definitely noticed was that my endurance has improved in this short time span. When I started my journey about 10 days ago I was not able to stay on the elipticle more than 2 minutes without having to stop to catch my breath! Today, I was able to go 6 minutes, stop and catch my breath for a second and go another 5 minutes. I am told that many people have to take baby steps, but before long they will be improving by leaps and bounds. If you find yourself wanting to give up, DON'T!! KEEP GOING!! Nothing worth accomplishing is ever easy at the beginning! Now that Stephanie is letting me loose on my own she gave me a very specific work-out plan to follow. You can use this routine or tweak it a bit depending on your own ability:

Minimum 3 days a week:

FIRST: 6 min on EACH--------eliptical, bike, treadmill. This is great cardio work and will get your heart rate up which helps you burn more calories.

SECOND: 3 SETS OF 8 REPS------rowing (45lbs), pull down (60lbs), tricep press(20lbs)

THIRD: 3 SETS OF 8 REPS-------leg press (100lbs), leg extension (40lbs), leg curl (45lbs)

FOURTH: 3 SETS OF 12 REPS-----back extension (40lbs), abdominal (30lbs)

FIFTH: 3 SETS OF 8 REPS-------chest press (15lbs), shoulder press (15-20lbs)

LAST:  3 SETS OF 8 REPS-------multi-hip(40lbs-for the outer leg), (20lbs-inner leg)

Today's Tip: I learned that to achieve maximum weight loss and gain endurance you should strive to get your heart rate up to 80-85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is figured by subtracting your age from 220. For example: 220-54(my age)=166x85%= 141. So in my case I should try to get my heart beating at 141 beats per minute to really burn calories!

The importance of a good night's sleep!

Everyone who knows me knows that I just can't sleep! This problem started for me after I retired from my full-time job. Back when I was working 10 hour days, running a household and chasing after 4 kids I had no problem sleeping. As a matter of fact, I could hardly wake up in the morning because I was just dead tired! Slowly though, after leaving my hectic job for good, I developed very bad patterns. I would stay up long after everyone else was in bed fast asleep. The tv and pc became my nighttime partners and soon enough, I was having major difficulty winding down and falling asleep! Not only was I staying up all hours into the night, but I was creating a secondary problem, constantly snacking on bad food choices!  We all know what snacking on chips does to the waistline. NO MORE! Now when I reach for a snack, I conciously make it a healthy choice such as plain popcorn, cucumber slices with a crumble of low fat feta on top, or apple slices with a dab of peanut butter! I have discovered that sleep deprivation is a very common problem, especially for post-menopausal women! The funny thing is that ever since I started a very concerted effort to focus on my health (not just on losing weight) I am sleeping so much better! I guess all the work I am doing at the gym is paying off in more ways than one. I am not 100% where I want to be, but I can tell my sleeping patterns have improved tremendously. Before, I would sleep fitfully, and now I am getting much more restful sleep and sleeping at least 6-7 hours a night.

According to the Harvard Women's Health Watch these are 6 vital reasons to get enough sleep:

1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer

These reasons alone should be enough to motivate you to do whatever you can to ensure you get a good night's sleep. Just remember, if you want to feel your best, stay healthy, and perform up to your potential, sleep is a necessity, not a luxury. Learn what's keeping you awake and how to avoid it,  and also learn  to determine your personal sleep needs. Do what you must to bounce back from chronic sleep loss and get on a healthy sleep schedule...I know I did!