Rev your natural fat burn by 30%!

Are you eating too many white carbs? White bread, white flour, white rice, grits, pasta, corn tortillas, pretzels, crackers? Then you may not be getting enough fiber. Fiber can rev your natural fat burn by 30%! You need to go for whole grain foods and get at least 25g/day.
Whole grains can also reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers, The vitamins, minerals & fiber have great health benefits, including the control of Diabetes.
White carbs/refined grains have been milled to remove the bran and germ layer, leaving just the endosperm. The grain is stripped of most of its iron content, fiber, and B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, and folate). This process improves the shelf life and gives products a finer texture. Manufacturers later "enrich" products by adding synthetic B vitamins and iron back into their products but in lesser quantities. Fiber is not added as part of the enrichment process.
"Wheat flour" is not necessarily a whole grain. Many baked goods are colored brown, often with molasses, and made to look like whole grain. Try to purchase bread that has the words "whole wheat flour" on the label and in the ingredients. If a serving provides more than 3 grams of fiber it most likely contains whole grains.
Examples of whole grains are: whole wheat, whole oats, whole grain corn, popcorn, wild rice, whole rye, whole grain barley, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, & bulgur.

Want more energy, better moods, more stamina? How about answers to your problems…?

Then let’s get movin’! Who’s groaning and saying to themselves ‘oh that!’? I know it’s difficult to find/make the time and effort to exercise…but the benefits for your mind, body and soul must shift it up in your list of priorities! It positively ignites and powers everything, and, therefore, the rest of your day – how you are, your mood and spirit, how much you get done, and how people respond to you.
It can easily be just moving – 10mins walking – taking the stairs – getting a stationary bike trainer – a skipping rope/hoop or a step you step up and down on whilst on the phone/watching TV. It doesn’t have to be all at once – little movements throughout the day add up. Just 30mins a day – split throughout the day - has been shown to reduce the risk of premature death by half!! AND if you increase your body temperature by just 1% it increases your metabolism by 14%!
Walking and running have been shown not increase appetite. Using Google maps you can plan a route by distance for walking/cycling, or use http://www.walkjogrun.net/; or count your steps/calories http://walking.about.com/library/cal/uccalc3.htm
Get your heart pumping the blood around your body; get more oxygen deep into your lungs; and help your digestion. Breaking out a sweat helps your body eliminate toxins. The beneficial ripple effects to your health are irreplaceable! (incl. depression, diabetes, heart disease, lung/uterine/colon cancer)
Escape into exercise and a funny thing can happen with your brain. It’ll often pour out answers you’ve been seeking, give you new ideas, write out emails /documents for you – without you even trying – it’s great! So what you think is time away from your work/life duties actually ends up being the best brainstorm and energizer for yourself. You come back invigorated – ready to address those challenges with energy and a more positive frame of mind.
Let alone all that, if you exercise outside there is no replacement for fresh air and sunlight (Vit D – which a lot of us are lacking in). You can simple take in nature – i.e., on the trails - the abundance of greenery, the smell of wild flowers, beautiful birds, even families of turtles. With the summer here make it a family affair – walking, on bikes, throwing a ball. Make it a nature trail / adventure tour...even a good old game of ‘eye-spy’! Get your children started how you want them to go on.
And at the end of the day – you’ll zzz..sleep better.
So, make moving/exercise a ‘must’ instead of a ‘maybe’ and boost the quality of your life. In the words of Nike – ‘Just do it!’

Can you give up one unhealthy food?

Being creatures of habit change is hard – especially when it comes to our favorite food/drink. But small changes can have a huge impact on your healthy.
Try this: Pick one item in your kitchen that you know is not so healthy for you…high in cals, unhealthy fats, highly processed etc, that you really know you shouldn’t be eating, and do not buy it/replace it when you next go shopping. Think of something healthier you already have or can buy to replace it. It won’t necessarily be easy, but get though those few minutes and just do it. Focus on the replacement item. If you miss it too much a shop will always be selling it! And hopefully even the extra effort then will put you off.

Try it and let me know what happens……

When you were little..were you ever told to….

..sit or stand up straight? I was… at meal time when eating with my family– along with a sharp poke in my ribs. Don’t know what was worse for my digestion – slumping or the sudden jolt to sit-up straight! As a little girl I also remember taking horse-riding lessons, and my instructor teaching me about ‘deportment’, or posture, on a horse. You’ve probably seen the old movie with the girls walking with plates on their heads; and the ‘act as if a string is pulling you up from your head’.

It turns out that there is a lot to be said for posture – for standing or sitting upright – for gentle pushing our shoulders back and relaxing them down, for standing tall. You will appear slimmer – you will look better, your clothes will hang better on you. You will feel better, your breathing will improve, prevent you putting pressure on your internal organs, and you will look and be more confident and people will react better to you.

Do the words – ‘head up – shoulders back - breathe in’ sound familiar? Try it – it feels good!

Do you have anecdotes/memories from childhood that actually make sense for our health and well-being?

Have YOU had all your check-ups?

This week is Women’s National Health Week! Every woman is being encouraged to get informed about all her CHECK-UP’S she should be having. So I have compiled a list here as guidance. Start all listed in the years suggested; continue, and add on the others, as you age.

20’s - Start having your Blood Pressure checked - every 2yrs
- Start having your Cholesterol checked –(LDL, HDL, triglycerides)- every 5yrs
- PAP – annually
30’s - If you have 3 consecutive clear PAP’s – can start to have them every 3yrs
- Mole check – annually
- Tetanus – every 10yrs
35 - Thyroid - every 2yrs
40’s - Mammogram – every 1-2yrs (controversial I know)
- Eyes for glaucoma – every 2uyrs
45 - Diabetes – every 3yrs
50’s - Mammogram annually
- Colonoscopy – every 10yrs
- Hearing
60’s - Eye health
- Flu vaccine annually
- Pneumonia
65 - Osteoporosis – every 3yrs

If in doubt call your Doctor and ask, and/or, take this list with your on your next visit. If anyone wants to embellish on this please feel free and share here. Let’s all get more informed! Prevention is key!

Have you had a ‘ah-ha’ moment?

I always dread buying shorts and jeans – I suppose because the fit has to be just right to accentuate and ‘de-accentuate’ all the right bits in all the right places! So to go for a quick walk today I grabbed pair of old black denim shorts, as my cloth ones had gone all baggy around the butt from sitting in them..very attractive look!!! As I was walking I became aware of the waistband around my waist (those ‘out of date’ high-rise ones) under my t-shirt, and thought… Waistbands are a good gentle reminder or benchmark for each of us to how we are doing weight wise…are we gaining/losing? It took me back to my ‘ah-ha’ moment, before I lost weight, 9yrs ago…

It was just another day in my favorite pair of old baggy jeans. I sat down …and… oh my god! My jeans were so tight around my waist that it was painful, and my stomach was bursting over in a roll over the top! Nice visual hey? I was there – believe me – I saw it and felt it! That was the moment for me when I knew something had to give in my lifestyle and eating pattern …before my jeans did!

A lot of us have had those ‘ah-ha’ moments – did you? What was it and what happened?

Think Global – Act Local! You CAN make a difference…(with an addendum – useful reminder!)

I went to buy dessert for an event and was surprised by my findings. The ingredients were few in number, pronounceable, recognizable, and no additives, preservatives, chemicals etc. How great to have foods in shops that are made out of simple natural ingredients.
- Large Gingerbread cake – 16oz – sugar, molasses, soy bean oil, eggs, flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, $5.99
- Oh, and a free giant chocolate chip cookie - flour, unsalted butter, sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, chocolate chips
I have to shout out to Marvelous Market in the DC metro area http://www.marvelousmarket.com/locations. Support local and all natural foods! Make a stand with what you buy. It WILL make a difference!
THE ADDENDUM!
Hmmm – so the operative word is ‘free’!.Free food is usually not healthy food. So ‘that’ cookie- the free one – well yes it made it into my house and my cookie jar (full of very plain cookies) = bad move, especially for someone with a sweet tooth! So when I got the sweet munchies today I decided to eat the chocolate chips out of the cookie. That’s sort of my way of treating myself, and not eating the whole thing. Well - the chocolate chips were so entwined with the cookie dough that it was more just chunks of cookie I was eating. Throughout the day it kept beckoning me. After dinner I returned again to THAT COOKIE (just because it was there!). OMG! It was all gone – I had eaten that giant cookie in one day!! I couldn’t believe it!
So, it was a good reminder that, if you are going to treat yourself – cut/break off a portion. By breaking anything into bits and nibbling away, you will be surprised (or shocked!) how much you end up eating! The other reminder is if this happens and you feel really bad about it – hey its done – just move on and maybe say ‘no’ to the next treat that comes along. It’s about balance!

The significance of French Fries

So after a great day out at the Gold Cup in The Plains, VA I am nibbling into the odd French fry from my friends plate…and she jokes saying ’Hey shall I take a photo of you eating French fries for Naked Health!!’ I wish she had!

This encompasses my whole message:- there isn’t a list of ‘forbidden’ foods. As long as your main core food-plan is healthy, you are conscious of what you are eating, and don’t gorge out or regularly indulge in such foods - then enjoy the choice of the culinary smorgasbord that life offers and the temptations you’ll come across. As the old wives tale goes ‘a little bit of what you fancy does you good!’. Deprive yourself and you’ll probably crave it more, end up eating lots of other things to try and satisfy that taste, and then go and get the thing you wanted in the first place! Its real life, and that’s why you need the ‘food mindset’ for life …and for living!