Here's step one! Get moving.

So my first step to getting healthy was to do 10,000 steps a day. How do you do this being stuck indoors in winter weather? Walk on the spot or get a exercise mini trampoline. I find the time goes fast with the rebounder in front of the TV. Then you can watch your favorite shows while getting your 10,000 steps. For motivation I watch health and fitness shows like the Biggest Loser but anything that helps you stay there to get your steps will work.

In the past I have wasted lots of money on lots of exercise and equipment, you may have too. I have used the Orbitrek, treadmills, gone to gyms, fitness classes locally, group trainers, curve and more. They all help but for people looking for excuses to not exercise you will find them. They cost money, time, opportunity (it is raining, I don't want to catch a cold from the others indoors), they are inconveniently placed (Orbitrek is in the garage and I can't use it, I need to pull it inside or elsewhere to use it) I have no space indoors for the treadmill, I have placed the Orbitrek and treadmill in convenient places indoors but then resent the space they take up and get guilty when I give up using them. My foot gets numb on the treadmill after a while and I find I don't want to use it. Gym classes are 15 mins away and I need to go on their schedule and work my week around this. Group trainers are great but expensive. You get the point, excuses can be many and go on and on.

Get any mini trampoline that works for you, do make sure it can hold your weight though and I have a link on my page for one that is heavy duty. If you are thinner then the rebounders are built cheaper and cost less too, again find something that will work for you. You can find specials for rebounders from $30-90 or more depending on features, quality and weight restrictions. The one I suggest is very reasonably priced yet heavy duty for most customers. But 'caveat emptor' either way.

Get a pedometer, anyone will work, I use and love the fitbit (mine costs $100, but I got it from my credit card thank you points) and that costs from $50-120 but any pedometer will also work. Keep your pedometer on all the time, yes it will alert you to how little you may move every day. But keep it on, it will propel you to do your workouts and to not avoid reality. It is easy to fool yourself in to thinking that you get more steps than you actual do. Obesity does that to you, kind of like addictions (you are sometimes in denial). I got my fitness tracker last Mothers Day 2014 and I was excited to do my steps in the beginning, then once I got too busy I realized how few steps I actually did. Now I want to stay at the 10K steps range to lose weight.

Find a time that will work for you, I have tried all sorts of different times through out the day and have found it the easiest to stay the course if I get started the first available opportunity as early as possible in the day. If you are not a morning person, then try to have a routine where you do your steps as soon as you get home in the afternoon. I find if I don't do my steps as early as possible that there will be ALL sorts of distractions later on. Someone will have an urgent issue that keeps me busy, something else will come up or I will be tired later on.

You can wear fitness clothes but really no special clothing or shoes are required. If you walk on the spot then sneakers are recommended but not necessary. Rebounders are easier without shoes so no additional purchase is required.

The next steps is to repeat this activity EVERY DAY. It doesn't matter if you don't feel like it and there will be days that you will miss but unless you force yourself to do this every day then you won't get anywhere fast. Things that work are to make yourself put your exercise clothes on and get on the trampoline even if you don't feel like it, in fact you won't feel like it most of the time but do this anyway even if you don't want to. Then put your show on and get walking, doesn't matter how fast or slow just get moving. Might take a couple of episodes in the beginning to get your 10K steps in and I was looking at the pedometer all the time to check steps, but stay there till you get as many steps as you can.

One thing that propelled me to lose weight is a photo taken of me and my cousin. I hate taking photos of me and this may also be connected to the denial linked to obesity. I can be in denial if there is no proof. So if you find you can't make yourself get on the rebounder, get someone to take a photo of you, you will surely get on the next available time. Keep doing this or anything else that makes you keep getting on the trampoline EVERY single day. Yes you will get sick and can't etc. But get on asap the next best available opportunity.

I don't weigh myself regularly as it makes me sad and then I overeat but I have noticed I feel MUCH better. I have more energy, get up easier in the morning, can do my daily tasks without too much trouble, can take a walk without getting winded, get a surge of feeling well (what is the word I am looking for?) right after my workout and much much more.

Let me know how you do! Any other advice or tips? Are you joining me in my journey or just getting inspired?

@myHFjourney

Nourishment while losing weight

I wanted to type 'diet' but it shouldn't be called diet cause of the negative connotations. And nutrition sounded official and clinical, of which I am neither. So the title 'nourishment' fits the bill.

I suspect that part of obesity is the expansion of the stomach. I am not a doctor and can't elaborate here, but my suspicion (cause of my health and fitness journey) leads me to believe that I eat more cause I don't get the 'full' feeling sooner. It is so hard to stop eating before you get the full feeling. However I suspect that I need to stop at 75-80% (almost) full at 20 mins post meal. That is also hard to do, eat for 20 minutes or slowly to register the almost full feeling and then stop. A lot of us eat so quickly and read/watch tv or otherwise distract ourselves while eating. No wonder we don't get the 'full' feeling sooner. Eating with others and focusing on your meal will allow you to register the almost full feeling sooner.

I don't always diet as I have tried and failed with a lot of them. However I think it is critical to feed ourselves well while trying to loose weight. If I don't feed myself sufficiently and well then I will reach for the chocolate bar. It is very important to eat plant based foods at every meal and your body will recognize them and reward you with the sufficiently full feeling sooner than any other type of food. If I can't get full during a meal I will try to eat an apple, cut fruit, more vegetables and other plant foods. Then I feel satiated.

A lot of times I am too lazy to make myself a meal, lunch for instance, since I am home often during the day. Then I find I crave sweets and chocolate, it is like my body is trying to get satiated without a meal and chocolate will do the trick. Anyway chocolate and cravings and other addictive foods will be mentioned in another post. I just want to mention that we need to feed ourselves healthily with plant and other foods and to not neglect or starve ourselves regardless of where we are, who we are with etc.

You can't feed yourself well if you don't have good food at hand. A huge part of eating well, is getting in to a food shopping routine, find a favorite store, finding a shopping list that works for you and sticking to it. If you take your favorite junk foods off the list then make sure you have something to substitute them with. Don't deprive yourself of nutrients and nourishment. Buy lots of plant based foods, whether fresh (important to have something fresh at every meal cause it helps the gut), frozen, or canned/processed. Get in to a grocery shopping routine to make sure you can nourish yourself well. There are lots of options for groceries these days if you don't or can't shop often. Shop Amazon - Subscribe & Save is great for bulk & staples, Peapod is very reasonable (they also take coupons) and in most neighborhoods nowadays, and there is the store pickup options at lots of local stores (they will collect your items and you just need to pay and take items home). Those conveniences may be worth it in saving time & money, and avoiding temptations.

Do you have something that works? Share below.

@myHFjourney

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Can Eating Fruits and Vegetables Help People To Manage Their Weight?

Summer and fitness photo blog

Is it just me but is it a little easier to workout while on vacation? Working out while on vacation may just be a hike/walk/jog/swim/bike ride and so on.

Is it that we are away from our usual distractions and have no avoidance?

Is it that often we are in a swim suit and it reminds us of our fitness?

Is it that we often workout in a couple or family, since we often vacation with others?

Perhaps it is that we often buy or pack our meals and we ration meals out and have minimal snacks? Are we reminded that we eat too much when we have to pay/pack every meal?

Are we relaxed and intuitively know that we need to take care of ourselves and our bodies?

Is there nothing else to do but enjoy the physical activity and often outdoors? Are we too stuck inside our houses during the year and need to enjoy ourselves outdoors?

We don't often see physical activity as a chore on vacation, why is that?

Perhaps we need to incorporate some of the vacation habits during the year too.

Enjoy your vacation and make the most of physical activity.

If you find the answer to why we workout more during vacation, please let me know so I can incorporate during the year too.

@myHFjourney.blogspot.com

Copyright images 2015

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My Favourite 6 Fitness & Health Apps | Eat well / Move well / Live well

A great guest post from Holly Brownlie of www.eatmovelivewell.com! 

I personally love using technology to help me with my fitness goals. These apps provide me with motivation, organisation, education and save me time. Here is a list of my must-have free health and fitness apps:

1) My Fitness Pal

What it does: This app tells you the calorie, macronutrient and micronutrient information of just about every food you can think of. This calorie counting app is useful for eating a specific amount of calories so you can reach your goal, whether for muscle gain or fat loss.
What I use it for: I use it when applying the flexible dieting approach for fat loss. I find it very easy to use once I’ve persisted with it for 2 weeks. My clients have also given similar feedback. I also use it to work out the calorie content and macronutrient amounts for the recipes I create.

2) Pocket

What it does: You use it to save videos, articles and recipes to view later.
What I use it for: I’m really loving this at the moment! If I come across an article or video while scrolling on Facebook and don’t have time to read/watch it right away, I save it in Pocket for later. If I come across a recipe while using my phone, I also ‘Pocket it’ so I can look it up later and screenshot it to store permanently in Evernote (see below). I don’t like to screenshot recipes from my phone because I get much better quality on my iPad. Does anyone else do this, or am I just a OCD perfectionist?

3) Evernote

What it does: Evernote stores and organises all your notes and images in one place. It’s wonderful because once you’ve stored on it, it is there for you forever! Also, you can access it from any device – iPad, iPhone, laptop, desktop or computer. I guess it’s a little like Pinterest except it’s totally private and you can add notes below your stored images. After being told by Evernote enthusiasts for years that I should try it, I have finally gotten into it and LOVE IT! It took me a while to learn how to use it, so I plan on doing a blog in the future to help you get started so you don’t get frustrated and impatient (and almost give up on it) like I did.
What I use it for: At the moment I store all my recipes here and tag them as either ‘savoury’, ‘sweet’ or ‘drink’. It’s really easy to find what I’m looking for. In the interests of de-cluttering a little, I am going to start storing all receipts and business cards in Evernote too. I find de-cluttering is great for your mental health.

4) Clue

What it does: It is a period tracking app (guys you can skip reading about this one!). You record the signs and symptoms you experience throughout your menstrual cycle. It helps you understand your body more such as how your moods and energy levels are affected by your cycle. It also lets you know if your hormones and reproductive system are a little ‘out of whack’; for example, if you have a much longer period than usual that month. It can be used to help you to learn when you are fertile too, which is essential if you are aiming to fall (or not to fall) pregnant.
What I use it for: I use it to track my signs and symptoms. If your cycle is not ‘normal’, it is good to be aware so you can consider the things that affect it such as stress, sleep, exercise and nutrition. It is also nice to know approximately what day you are going to be experiencing PMS and getting your period on. I also use it as part of my contraception technique, the natural fertility awareness method (FAM).

5) Gymboss Interval Timer

What it does: Allows you to set up timers for interval training.
What I use it for: I have a gymboss interval timer (a small battery operated timer you clip to your clothing) which I use for interval training. However, if I am on holiday and don’t have it with me, then the free phone app version is very handy. I highly recommend it for interval training. It means you don’t have to keep looking at your watch and can just focus on your music and mindset to push you through your workout.

6) Fitstar Yoga

What it does: It teaches you yoga. It is literally like being a in yoga class. You start off with choosing your level and then doing an initial 19 minute session. Then they ask you to rate how difficult you found the exercises so they can customise the next workout for you. Every week you get one free indivualised yoga session. (There are also a number of ‘freestyle’ sessions you can do which are just generic workouts but are still great!)
What I use it for: I like to do a recovery session once a week. This free at-home yoga class is a great way of doing that. It is very relaxing and time effective. I love how my body moves much more freely after yoga (or a stretching session). It loosens all the joints and muscles very nicely. Tip – light a candle and do this in the evening. It’s a great way to wind down for bed.

Do you have any health and fitness apps you love?

Holly x

Thanks Holly, how did you like the apps post folks? Go ahead and check out her great blog.

 

Must get fit!

Dieting alone won't work long term, or at all, a fitness plan is required too. You may have gained weight because of overeating, but also probably because you aren't burning off as much as you eat.

You need to increase your activity, I've noticed that I clock 5,000 steps a day doing what I do every day. That isn't enough, and apparently is in the sedentary category. I had no idea that 5,000 steps is sedentary, I thought it was good. The goal is 10,000 steps and often more. But even 7,000 steps has marked improvement on your health.

How do you increase your activity? Well I'm sure you've read the ways to increase steps, park further from the store, walk to nearby stores, walk your pets or bike ride with your kids, etc. But you will also need to do a strenuous activity a few times a week as well as doing your steps. Perhaps a light jog/walk, or an exercise or yoga class in town, go to a gym, or bike ride around town. There are tons of different options for beginners and you can choose your favorite activity. Don't limit yourself, perhaps you like dancing, enroll in a class or two.

You can also do a workout from home by doing a DVD or you tube routine. There are literally tons of options these days. From on demand exercise classes, online website classes, videos/DVD's and more. Don't get stuck on only one option either as you may get bored or want a change of pace. If you change your workouts you will vary the muscle groups used and be fitter than if you only did one activity.

See if you can encourage your friends to do an activity with you, you get to enjoy their company and this will keep you active too. Perhaps see if your next friends get together can be a fitness activity instead of a restaurant or drinks.

You may also need someone to keep you honest and improving, if you are looking for a specific goal. Perhaps a doctor can monitor your progress. Go to weight watchers they have weigh ins, or find a weight loss buddy online or nearby.

Keep at it, every increase in activity is important and necessary. You will start to feel better, especially if you are also watching your meal plan/diet.

Any other ideas or comments on an easy way to incorporate fitness in your life?

@myHFjourney

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How to focus on your health but not obsess, is this possible?

People are getting bigger and less fit and lifestyle accounts for many of today’s ailments. We know it is important to focus on your health. But health advisers suggest not obsessing over your health as too much focus on diet and weight may propel you to a binge or other eating disorder. If you focus on food all the time you may be hungry all the time too if you get hungry when you think about food.

What is the balance between focusing on health, and not obsessing over food? It seems to be a very fine line, which is why health professionals suggest making small lifestyle changes in the long term instead of short-term diets.  Do what ever you used to do but eat a little less or skip a snack (if blood sugar is balanced), eat lots of vegetables and some fruit, eat dessert only on the weekends or special occasions etc.  If you try to do all the suggestions all at once you risk failing and that failure and the obsession may make you less likely to want to try changes in the future.

In Stop the Insanity Susan Powter says that the obsession over food is the reason for the obesity and that if we stop forbidding foods that we can go back to our natural hunger pattern and be content with our shape and body.

Is it possible to calorie count and not obsess? I am not so sure. If you have to count calories then you are slightly preoccupied with your diet and it focuses on the calories you can’t eat.

In Scarcity:Why Having Too Little Means So Much, Eldar Shafir goes in to depth about how restriction focuses on the loss in a negative way. It claims that the best way to lose weight is to increase the frequency of meals to allow the feeling of abundance. How cans this work with initiating a weight loss? I have yet to find out but it is worth examining given that most diets fail over the long term.

Perhaps the focus could be on stopping binge dieting and emotional eating? I.e. we won’t abuse our bodies when we feel bad and eat too much ice cream. We won’t give in to a binge when we have overeaten a little, i.e. “throw the baby out with the bath water” just because we slipped up a little.  There are lots of resources out there for binge eating and overeating addiction, including overeater’s anonymous, online forums and more.

Of course we all know we should move more and often. Perhaps we could focus more on fitness, since fitness addictions are more rare than eating disorders. But yes there is a small minority that will overdo fitness too. 

@myHFjourney

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Tools to help with fitness

You don't need a lot of equipment to get fit, but there are tools out there to help you lose weight. Here's a review of some useful and popular ones recommended by me. Check with your doctor before changing your routine.

Pedometers are useful as they track how many steps you take. Doctors suggest you get to 10,000 steps a day to get fit. It will be surprising to see how few steps you take in a day and inspire you to walk more. The one I use is the Fitbit One Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker. It has add on products such as the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale and more.

I love reading and my favorite health books right now are anything by Michael Pollan, he is the leader, and very few people will dispute any of his suggestions or ideas. He advocates natural foods, slow cooking, whole foods and more. Nothing to hate there.

Also because of my current health requirements I love anything by Mark Hyman and Daniel Amen (in particular the Daniel Plan ). Both are well regarded leader in their field and their ideas are well thought out and convincing. If you hate shopping and cooking try some subscription services, there are lots out there Medifast has a lot of options and does all the work for you!

As for fitness tools, as suggested in my previous post Here's step one! Get moving I love the mini rebounder trampolines. There are also workout routines at Muscle and Fitness tips.

You could also use sneakers for walking outdoors. I love champion c9 sneakers, they are a consumer reports best buy and available at Target and you can't beat the price!

For weight management you can't go wrong with Weight Watchers any of their programs are top notch and work. They are also approved my the medical community and gimmick free.

An other tool to help if you aren't using a food plan such as Medifast or Weight Watchers is SparkPeople. It is more than just a food plan or fitness tracker, there is a lot of information and peer reviewed articles on the site. There are communities to help you with your journey and fitness challenges for a whole lot of conditions.

Again, you don't need a lot of tools and equipment to get started. But some of the above tools will make your life a lot easier as it takes a long time to get fit and maintain your fitness.

Good luck with your journey. Please comment below on your favorite tools for health and fitness, I'd love to hear about them.

@myHFjourney

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New Alzheimers study now recruiting for cutting edge treatment.

In the past year or so it was discovered that there might be a connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Apparently Alzheimer’s is affected by insulin and there is a significant correlation between high blood sugar levels and Alzheimer’s. Just one more thing you need to know if you are pre-diabetic, right? But all knowledge is a good thing, and it is good to know that ANY attempt you make to lower your blood sugar can help protect your brain as well. A good diet and exercise may ultimately help prevent cognitive delays, including Alzheimer’s.

In fact, the correlation between diabetes and Alzheimer’s is so high, that doctors are now referring to Alzheimer’s as a Type 3 diabetes. In an article published in November 2008 by the National Institute of Health, authors Suzanne M. de la Monte, M.D., M.P.H. and Jack R. Wands, M.D. conclude that "Altogether, the results from these studies provide strong evidence in support of the hypothesis that AD represents a form of diabetes mellitus that selectively afflicts the brain." (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769828/)

Another article, by Edward R. Rosick, DO, MPH, DABHM, published in the November 2006 issue of Life Extension Magazine states that "The emerging connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's is yet another compelling reason for those who value their health to address issues of impaired insulin sensitivity before it is too late. Although diabetes is an emerging epidemic, it is also wholly preventable and reversible through strategies that incorporate dietary changes, lifestyle modifications, and nutritional supplementation."  (http://www.lef.org/magazine/2006/12/report_alzheimer/page-01)

Alzheimer’s is a topic very close to my heart as my Grandmother suffered from Alzheimer’s for many years. In the later stages of the disease, it became very difficult to care for her. She didn't recognize the friends and family who were taking care of her and was terrified of what they were doing to her and why they were there. She forgot how to execute basic functions like eating, going to the bathroom and other self-care skills. Sometimes she would get frustrated, violent or forceful in her attempt to understand what was going on around her.

Research has already determined that there may be a link between blood sugars and Alzheimer’s and currently there is a cutting edge study researching treatment for Alzheimer’s patients (http://alzheimersstudy.com/). The website states that "Currently three studies are underway to investigate whether a research drug called idalopirdine, given in addition to the Alzheimer’s medicine, donepezil, rivastigmine or galantamine, improves brain functioning in areas such as memory, thinking and reasoning." If you have someone currently taking Alzheimer’s medication, please forward information on this important research and treatment to his or her caretakers. There is even an online prescreener available to see if you might qualify. (https://alzheimersstudy.com/screener/ )

If you have trouble with high blood sugar, you now know how important this study might be to you. Please forward this post to anyone you know with friends or loved ones that suffer from Alzheimer’s. This may provide benefits to help the patient and patient costs are covered (even if you don't have insurance). Participation in the study will help progress this research through FDA approval and ultimately allow for the findings to be released for the benefit of the general public in managing this disastrous disease.

@myHFjourney 

It is so much harder to lose weight when you are older or overweight

When I was a teen I could skip a meal and lose a pound or two. Now in my middle age it is almost impossible to lose weight purposely and for long term weight loss. Lots of things are against you in middle age. I tell my kids that they should work on weight loss before they get very overweight.

Apparently a thrifty metabolism is against me. I read a news article that determined that some people have a thrifty metabolism that works against weight loss. Great, just what I needed, right? Thousands of years of evolution have worked so that I can retain weight, so I don't perish. Just what we need these days, right? These days where we almost never miss a meal and eat like we are celebrating every day.

Another recent news article says that exercise isn't to blame, of course I kind of guessed that. I've had bouts of major activity and develop muscle but don't necessarily lose weight long term. Or perhaps I am not keeping up the activity long term. The article suggests that simple carbohydrates are more of a problem. I am beginning to believe that they are right, that glucose and insulin are the problem for the metabolic conditions and the inability to lose weight when you are overweight long term. I've discovered that blood sugar is a major factor in the inability to lose weight.

I've heard of people who have weight loss surgeries but unless they keep working on weight loss you could get the weight back on. Even surgery isn't a guarantee for permanent weight loss.

Right now I am focusing on balancing my blood sugar, some days are better than others. And watching my refined carbs.

What do you think?

@myHFjourney

Back to Basics, again!

One thing I have noted these past few months is that setbacks will happen. I've been trying to follow a healthy diet (for pre diabetes) and need to prep mostly every meal. Once in a while I don't feel like cooking or prepping anything and inevitably end up eating junk (cookies, crackers etc). Once this happens it is too easy to give in and go back to eating junk. Then I need to remember the basics of healthy eating and for me this is:

1. Eating unprocessed foods, foods from the ground and from animals.
2. Whole grain products, ie no white flour or white rice or other processed grains.
3. Eating only until I am 80% full 
4. Eating a raw food for every meal (salad or fruit etc)
5. Having cooked vegetables for every meal (prepping and cooking get tiresome but necessary and delicious)
6. Thinking ahead about meals and not leaving it till last minute, tiring and boring but necessary
7. Avoiding even home made baked goods as they are very likely to be processed or baking infrequently
8. Making use of a slow cooker or foods that are not quick fried
9. Choosing organic and natural foods where possible, reduces your toxicity levels
10. Choosing different colors of foods for my meals (looks nice and diversifies the nutrients)

Those are my main general rules which are sometimes difficult to follow if you are in a bad mood and want to gorge on cookies. It is almost impossible to gorge on vegetables in the same way and perhaps we shouldn't be using food in that way. But yes oh so tempting. My snacks need to be fruit, veg and nuts/seeds.

For special occasions we can and should have a treat but as a society we have too many of those celebrations every week. Kids go to a lot of birthday parties, communities have town days and fairs and you could conceivably have lots of these special occasions. So perhaps stray only on the most important days or the days that mean the most to you. It won't feel like a celebration if you have too many of them or too often.

Ugh, so hard sometimes and almost goes against the grain, remember 2/3 rds of us are overweight or obese so everyone else is eating like this too. Lets inspire each other with how to deal with setbacks and refocus. Suggestions welcome!

@myHFjourney