The Ultimate at Home Weight Loss Program: Unicity Transformation, Make Life Better

I have looked into countless diet programs, wonder pills and magic in a bottle... dare I go on... that many people are easily lured into when they just don't feel good on the inside and out. I find that most of the enticement comes from the fast and quick results that are promised. 

"Drink this for 14 days and lose 10 pounds"

"Take 3 of these pills before each meal and lose as much as 5 inches from your waistline"

The problem with these types of  claims isn't that they won't in fact deliver, it is much worse. If you do anything drastic to your diet you will see a great shift regardless if it is good for you or not. The real questions to ask yourself are:

Is this a realistic change to my diet and lifestyle?

Will I keep the weight off? For how long? If the answer is less than a year, it's junk.

Will I learn how to make better choices with food?

Do I have anyone I can talk to for guidance?

What are your goals and will this product/program help you get where you want to be? Do you want to make a change or do you just want a quick fix?
And most importantly, what am I actually taking? Caffeine, loads of sugar, excessive amounts of protein and so on.

If you need or want to lose weight, you need: a personalized meal plan, personalized exercise goals and a support system. The worst thing you can do is to try and do it alone. Everyone needs a team, people who support you. 

The Unicity Transformation program has it all! You get a specialized program and a health coach! Yes, real live people to talk to you from the privacy & comfort of your own home. 

Individuals who wish to join Transformation must go through a pre-screening process and provide a detailed social and medical history and identify their goals. So, if you are serious and ready to make a change, give Unicity Transformation a chance! Visit HERE to learn more. 

*An affiliation with Unicity does exist. I support the transformation program as a whole and will provide product reviews based on personal experience. Reviews will be honest. As always, contact your healthcare provider as you feel necessary.

Before Your Brain Knows What You have Done!

Kids running wild, daily disasters still pending and my brain not yet up to speed, this is the only way I can stay committed!  

#thatshowiroll #makeitahabit

For the Heart of It, Life's Simple 7

You only have one heart, take care of it. 

These are the current recommendations from the American Heart Association, Life's Simple Seven, to maintain a healthy heart and lifestyle. Following these simple steps can make a huge impact on your overall health and more specifically your heart. 

• Don't smoke: If you don't smoke, perfect. If you do, make a plan to STOP. I haven't heard a health claim yet that has convinced me that smoking is good for your health in any way. #badisbad
• Maintain a healthy weight: This does not mean you need to make a goal to look like a super model or hope for a frail stick figure. This means you need to focus on a size that make YOU feel good. #saynotohollywoodsideaofpretty
• Engage in regular physical activity: Get moving! Don't be idle. If you like to shop become a mall walker and window shop. If you like to watch TV series, do it while on a treadmill. If you like the outdoors, ride a bike. If you hate to exercise, find something you do enjoy and add some activity to it. Start small and when your goal becomes easy or second nature, change it up!
• Eat a healthy diet: Keep a food journal and start to identify your problem areas. Make better choices and choose wisely but still enjoy life. 
• Manage blood pressure: Check it! Numerous pharmacy's offer free blood pressure checks. Find out your numbers. If they are in a healthy range, periodically check it (every 3 months). If they are off: go to your doctor, clean up your diet and start exercising (don't try to run a marathon, start small and simple). Keep track of your numbers and how you feel. Knowing how you physically feel will help to identify when your blood pressure may quickly change. Know your body and listen.
• Take charge of your cholesterol: Get it checked! Know your number. If it is >200 you need help. Cholesterol comes from two sources: your body naturally makes it (we need it for several body processes) and from animal products we consume. So, every time you eat dairy products, meats, cheese or anything from an animal you are eating a cholesterol food. Plant based foods do NOT contain cholesterol. So how do you lower the cholesterol in your diet? Eat less animal products and MORE fruits and vegetables.
• Keep your blood sugar at a healthy range: Simple, check it. Either check it with a home glucose monitor (2 hours after a meal) or at a well visit with your doctor (they will check your glucose level when running basic blood tests). Visit HERE for healthy blood sugar ranges and to learn about your Diabetes Report Card.

I Heart Pumpkins

Fall Giveaway!

Caption this photo for a chance to win this fun shirt! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Ends 10/10 (US only).

*FYI: Lettuce Turnip the Beet = Let Us Turn Up the Beat!

Fluid Needs for the Young Athlete

Currently, the recommendations for children ages 6 to 17 is 1 hour of active play per day.  For the young athlete this recommendation is easily met each week. What becomes next important after physical activity is fluid needs. It is important to remember that children are NOT young adults and that they can dehydrate very quickly. Thirst is a poor indicator of fluid need in children because they are typically to busy to recognize the need for water.

General Rule of Thumb:

• Drink every 15 minutes during activity
• Drink even if your not thirsty
• Parents job to remind/enforce/monitor (especially younger children)

Signs your child needs more water:

• Headache
• Tired, muscle weakness/cramps
• Dry mouth
• Urine color & smell
• Weather (heat, humidity, time of day)
• Skin tone (very flush)

Daily Fluid Recommendations for an Average, Healthy Child who actively plays one hour a day:

4-8 yrs: 5 1/2 cups
9-13 yrs, girl: 9 cups
9-13 yrs, boys: 10 cups
14-18 yrs, girls: 10 cups
14-18 yrs, boy: 14 cups or 1 gallon

If your child consumes the recommended amount of fruit and vegetable servings each day, their fluid needs are between 6 to 8 cups a day. Raw fruits & vegetables have a high water content, are rich in vitamins and are low in calories.

During Activity & After
It is VERY important that a young athlete stay hydrated during physical activity (practice, games, tournaments, etc). Every 15 minutes they should gulp down water, ideally, a cup or more at a time. Once activity is over it is important that the child eat OR drink a carbohydrate rich food within 15 to 20 minutes. For example, any fresh fruit (bananas, grapes, apples, peaches, pears, oranges) and/or a sports drink.

I referred to fluid as water throughout this post. Water is the best fluid replacement, however, there may be times when it is necessary to use sports drinks. Our rule for our kids: if they are excessively sweating during activity or will be active for multiple hours, then we pull out the sports drinks.

It is NEVER appropriate to give a child an energy drinks.

Protein, Protein, We Need More Protein!

One of the most common concerns I hear from clients is "I'm not getting enough protein?!" And there is usually a genuine concern and worry about their protein intake but not a thought about the source of protein or any of the other macronutrients they might be lacking. 

Most Americans are OVER-CONSUMING protein at an alarming rate. There are hundreds of protein powder supplements that can pack as much as 60 grams of protein per scoop, which might be more than an individual needs in an entire day. The first question you need to ask yourself is "How many grams of protein do I need daily?" and "What are the best sources?"

How to Figure Your Protein Needs

Adults generally require .8 grams per kilogram of body weight. 
A safe protein range would be .8gms-1.0gms per kilogram of weight. 

For example, I weigh 120 lbs. 

First, I need to figure out my weight in kilograms. 
1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds.
120/2.2 = ~55 kilograms

Next, you multiply the weight in kilograms by .8

55 x .8 = 44 grams of protein daily

*Determining the protein needs for children is very different from the above mentioned formula. Do not use .8 gms/kg to determine the protein needs of infants though age fourteen.*

So, my daily protein needs are 44 gms. I exercise most days of the week and am very active and my protein needs do NOT get a raise for activity. A very common misconception is that when you exercise you need to really amp up your protein needs... WRONG. Unless you are training like an Olympian (extreme levels of training), you do not need to drastically increase your protein. I know most personal trainers will read this and say Oh yes you do need more protein and it's because of X Y and Z... Blah, blah, blah. What you need is a really great pre- and post-snack, lots of fluids and a good nights sleep (more on sports nutrition coming soon).

Remember, too much of a good thing doesn't make it best. Excess protein consumed that your body doesn't need is stored as fat and puts a lot of extra work on your kidneys when breaking it down to store.

Now, there are certain diseases that have very specialized protein requirements which may require a much lower or much higher need each day. For example: renal failure, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, liver failure and burns (stage I, II, & III) all require different protein needs. Individuals suffering from any of these conditions should be regularly monitored by their healthcare team. 

#nutritionwithnat

National Running Day 2013

Summer Legs

It's always about this time of year when the nagging realization hits... it's going to be bathing suit weather in a few weeks... Ugh. I immediately look for my fake tanning lotion and am a firm believer that tan fat = pretty fat.

But I also work out at home and prepare myself for the inevitable... daily trips to the pool with my kids and the display of my body insecurities.

This is my leg workout that I do 5 days a week. When I first started I couldn't do a full set and that's okay! Start out doing as many of each workout that feels comfortable and write down what you do each day. Make a goal to increase the amount each week until you can complete the full, two sets.

Each Day We Are...

You Are One Amazing Lemon!

March is National Nutrition Month and a great reminder of our   Healthy Goals for 2013! 

Project for the month:

1. Commit to three healthy lifestyle changes
2. Write them down
3. Tell your "someone" what you are working on
4. BEGIN! The hardest part is starting
5. If you really work on these changes for this month, then by the end of March they will have become a HABIT and a new part of your daily routine.

     COMMIT, COMMIT, COMMIT and then TAKE ACTION!

Here are some examples of healthy lifestyle changes:

• Quit smoking/drinking
• Drink "X" amount of water each day
• Walk for 30 minutes 3 days a week
• Eat fast food only twice a week
• Eliminate the soda
• Eat one raw food a day
• Eat one meal at home and at the table
• Try new foods
• No eating/drinking while on the computer or watching TV
• Only eat at the table

Now, Prepare to be AMAZED!

It's a NEW Year!

It's a NEW Year and time to make goals! When setting goals for yourself you might find that some are private and others are open for discussion. Sometimes our health goals are set on "private" mode and they get locked away and possibly un-achieved by the time December rolls around. 

It is important to keep in mind that a BIG part of success has to do with accountability... to yourself and/or others. So when making your health & fitness goals for the year, find your somebody and tell them your goals and plans to achieve them.

It has taken me two weeks to finally lock down my fitness goals for this year. I told them to my husband (aka Sweet Stuff) and then started the task of writing them down.......... WRITE DOWN your goals! Write them down and then place them somewhere that you will see on a daily basis. This might be on the refrigerator, in the bathroom (my personal favorite), in your car, purse, etc. You get the idea.

And lastly, plan for failure. Yes, you read that right... you are going to drop the ball, forget, or want to give up (maybe you will for a day or even a week) and THAT'S OKAY! These are goals and they might need to be modified or even replaced. Don't be too hard on yourself and DON'T Quit. This is when you might want to call your person and have them talk you off the ledge or maybe talk you out of the cookie, cake, pie, soda, fried chicken or any other weakness. They may have to raise their voice and say "Hey You, PUT THE COOKIE DOWN".

I've decided to list some of my fitness goals for the year... not all of them but just a snap shot. Will I achieve all of them, probably not. Will I press forward? You bet! And I will still eat a cookie and chocolate Cadbury eggs this Easter :)

• Exercise daily (any form I can manage... even if I have a kid crawling on my head)
• include my kids as much as possible
• Lose 8# by my 30th birthday (it's a touchy topic)
• Lose 4" in my waist by March
• Eat 2 servings of raw fruits/vegetables daily
• Multi-vitamins daily (for myself and my kids)
• NO SODA!
• Run 1/2 marathon 
• and after that still have a desire to run a full marathon (bucket list)

So these are a few of my fitness goals for 2013... 

What are your plans?