Weekend Cheats, Your Ace In The Hole

The weekend is here . You can reward yourself for dieting all week  but use some common sense. You simply cant’ stick to a restrictive diet forever. So enjoy some special foods. Do not waste calories on the same burgers, fries, pizza, and chips. Have the really good stuff. You aren’t goingt to limit what you eat, just how much. Stick to high protein and high fiber when you can. But enjoy what you eat this weekend and Monday you won’t feel like your diet has the deck stacked against you.

TODAY: GET SOME EXTRA ACTIVITY TO BURN YOUR EXTRA CALORIES.

Have A Good Conversation For Dinner

You need time to fill up when you eat your meals, so eat with friends and start  talking. If you’re tslking you can’t be eating. Unless you have no manners and talk with your mouth full. That 20 minutes you need to feel full will come around and you will have eaten less. So carry on a good conversation to carry around less weight.

TODAY: SLOW DOWN YOUR MEALS.

A Micro Workout Is Better Than None

No time for a workout? I’m sure you have 30 seconds. Researchers have found that a measly half minute sprint on a stationary bike 4 to 6 times a week can fire up your cells to get more energy (glucose) from food. It will help keep diabetes away.  It’s not enough to really aid in your weight-loss. But it will really help your muscles, bones and even your mood.

You still need that half hour of walking a day, but these little sprints will really make you feel like you’re doing something good, and maybe inspire a few longer sessions too.

TODAY: DO A FEW HALF MINUTE SPRINTS ON AN EXERCISE BIKE, STEPPER OR JUST AN EXTRA FAST WALK.

Spice Up Your Diet

Add spices to your food to add more flavor. It can help you feel satisfied. It will stimulate your taste buds so you won’t eat as much.

Intense sweets can do the same thing. Those little sugar-free Altoids and other powerful candies can do the same to curb cravings. Those and a hot cup of coffee can keep you going till you can have a protein filled snack or meal.

TODAY: KEEP UP THE FASTER PACE WHEN WALKING

Your Diet Is A Stretch

You need to do a bit of warm up before your daily walk to increase the effectiveness of the exercise and reduce any stiffness that might come later. There are just a few to do to give you a great start.

Hamstrings (back of legs)

1. Sit on the edge of your bed with one leg up and the other on the floor and reach with both hands until you feel the stretch in the back of the leg.

Calf stretch

1. Stand at arms length away from a wall and lean against it.

2. Put one leg straight back and the other bent under you.

3. Keep your back straight and lean your hips forward.

4. Keep rear leg straight with your heel on the ground.

5. Repeat for other leg.

Side stretch

1. Stand with both arms over your head.

2. Lean to one side, then the other.

3. You can also leave your right arm at your side and bend to the right while reaching your left arm reaches overhead, then reverse.

Torso twist

1. Stand with both arms out to side with elbows slightly bent.

2. Feet should be at shoulder width or slightly wider.

3. Twist your torso to the right and then the left, alternating back and forth slowly.

Quadriceps (thigh)

1. While leaning against a wall, reach back with your left hand and grab your right ankle.

2. Pull your foot back and away from your butt.

3. Repeat for the other side.

It really won’t take you long to do these. It’s a good way to start your exercise or even just your day.

TODAY: DO YOUR WARM UP EXERCISES.

There Are Worse Things Than Eating Less & Exercise

This ad from the early the early 1900s shows that we’ve always looked for the easy way out. But eating tapeworms?! I think you’ll agree that you can’t wriggle out of eating less and exercising more.

TODAY: TAKE A WALK AFTER EACH MEAL.

Weight Loss Starts Bright & Early

Some people go on a diet and stop eating some meals. in particular breakfast falls off the schedule. It seems so easy to skip it that many people never eat it. That’s a bad habit. Breakfast is really good for you in a number of ways.

• You stoke your furnace to get your body (and brain) going.
• You get your metabolism started so it burns more calories as it fuels your body.
• You will actually consume fewer calories during the day. (You won’t be starving at lunch.)

It’s supported by research at the University of Texas. They studied the food diaries of almost 600 men and women and found that the more they ate in the morning, the fewer calories they ate during the day.

So eat your breakfast do give your diet a fast break. (After yesterday’s post I won’t say that “the early bird catches the worm”.)

TODAY: HAVE A GOOD HEALTHY BREAKFAST. THEN TAKE A GOOD HEALTHY WALK.