Already sick this year, on antibiotics, going to be a long year! (Since I can’t breathe- can’t exercise…)

As even small amounts of excess body fat (especially if deposited in the belly) can boost your risk of a laundry list of deadly diseases – awareness of simple strategies to power up your metabolism can be very healthful. Simply stated – your metabolism is how many calories you burn for the production of energy necessary to keep your body functioning properly. Whether you are trying to lose a few pounds or keep the scale steady – here are some super-easy steps for priming your fat burning machinery and revving up metabolism.

• Have a cup of green tea. This is the only indulgence I know of that can boost your immunity, reduce your cardiovascular risk, and bump up your metabolism all for zero calories! For best results, drink regularly and often.
• Eat. Commit to 3 meals a day with healthy snacks between as necessary to keep ravenous hunger at bay. Believe it or not, every time you eat your metabolism jumps up a bit. Skipping meals, especially breakfast, is a known drain for your metabolism and will sabotage your weight loss efforts.
• Eat your omega 3s. Omega 3 fats play a crucial role in a maintaining optimal fat-burning potential. Include oily fish (salmon, tuna, sardines), omega 3 fortified eggs, walnuts, dark leafy greens, and whole soy foods in your diet regularly. Give your metabolic machinery an oil change.
• Avoid saturated fats (fatty red meat, butter, whole dairy products) and trans fats (hydrogenated oils, shortening, stick margarine). Both tend to slow down your fat-burning engine. Choose the make-me-healthier and leaner monounsaturated fats instead (olive oil, avocados, nuts and canola oil). These fats keep your metabolic machinery optimally lubed and humming.
• Steer clear of the Great White Hazards. (white flour products, white rice, white potatoes, and sugar) These foods lead to rapid surges in blood glucose that completely stresses out and overwhelms your metabolic engine. Over time these foods basically wear things out. They also increase your appetite, providing a real double-whammy.
• Get hot! Super-hot foods like chili peppers, hot mustards, and Tabasco have been shown to provide a temporary burst in metabolism, along with a subtle mental lift.
• Move. Moving, especially via exercise, helps maintain and can even build (if you put in the effort) lean body mass. The more lean body mass (muscle) you have, the faster your metabolism. In fact, about 70% of the calories you burn are largely determined by the amount of muscle mass you have. Get your beauty rest! Sleep deprivation revs up your appetite-stimulating hormones and leads to a sluggish metabolism. It also zaps your energy which means you are less likely to move.

As you putter through the day tackling your to-do list, do you ever stop and wonder whether you do the little things right? You know basic life functions like drink, pee and breathe. (Come on. No one really stops to consider if they’re peeing correctly.) Here’s the scoop on whether you’re bungling the basics:

Your first mistake: Not peeing enough

Health fallout: The bladder is an extremely adaptable organ. Cells in the bladder actually have elastic properties and are stretchable and forgiving so periodically holding urine like when you’re on a road trip waiting for the next rest stop, or in the middle of an episode of “30 Rock,” shouldn’t cause significant problems. “But repeatedly or chronically holding it might increase your risk for urinary tract infections or even incontinence,” says Dr. Doug Hansen, medical director at Altitude Family and Internal Medicine in Denver and assistant professor of family medicine at University of Colorado. The bladder is like a rubber band. If you keep stretching it out by “holding it,” at some point it won’t spring back by emptying fully. The remaining urine gets trapped leading to infection and incontinence issues.

The fix: Hit the restroom six to seven times per day when you have the “got-to-go” feeling, no matter what. When you have to go, go!

Your second mistake: Forgetting to daydream

What you’re doing wrong: “We spend most of our time in this brain state called the beta brain wave, which is associated with our logical thinking but it’s not a very inspirational state,” says Hansen. Daydreaming puts you into an alpha state where you are much more capable of creativity and inspiration. This is the feel-good state you’re in when you just wake up or fall asleep. It’s the same state a person reaches during meditation.

Health fallout: If you never daydream, zone out or chill long enough to enjoy this state, you never fully recharge, become inspired or have creative ideas. The alpha state can not only improve your emotions, but it can also improve your physical health. There are studies in the works that show reaching the alpha state through meditation specifically might lower the risk of both heart attack and cancer.

The fix: How much do you need to daydream? Experts say it’s hard to gauge but try to make time for a little alpha- recharging several times a day. Take 10 minutes to zone out and reflect on nothing in particular, focus on a fantasy like you won the lottery or landed your dream job, or try a mini-meditation.

Your third mistake: Eating too fast

What you’re doing wrong: Wolfing down meals at the kitchen counter, your desk or in front of the tube.

Health fallout: In addition to heartburn, gas and indigestion, there’s good evidence that mindless gobbling sets the stage for obesity and eating disorders. Plus, it takes the brain 20 minutes to register the feeling of fullness, so if you blow past that by stuffing yourself silly, you tend to bypass satiety. When you eat too fast, it’s less enjoyable and more stressful and you probably don’t make the proper food choices either. A lot of food that’s designed to be quick isn’t designed to be healthy.

The fix: “I like mindful eating in that it makes the experience more about the food and all factors that went into it (where it comes from, how it tastes, how it makes one feel), which are lost with mindless eating,” says Dr. Robert Bonakdar, director of pain management for Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine in La Jolla, Calif. Start with smaller portions so it takes more time to pack away the chow. Eat before you’re ravenous (six on a 10 hunger scale) and spend 20 to 30 minutes on a meal. This is long enough to receive that satiety signal but not long enough to pile on seconds.

Your fourth mistake: Holding your breath

What you’re doing wrong: Shallow breathing can be the sign of an underlying medical condition like asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, anxiety or neurological disorders. Most of the time, however, it’s just become habit: You’re too busy for deep cleansing breaths.

Health fallout: The problem with shallow breathing is it causes a buildup of carbon dioxide, which can put you at greater risks for pulmonary infections and other lung complications. Plus, you never fully relax without taking deep breaths from the diaphragm.

The fix: First, rule out any worrisome health conditions by seeing your doctor. Then focus on good posture: chest out, shoulders back. Take full deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth several times throughout the day. Allow the abdomen to expand. Finally, take up exercise that engages the respiratory system like walking, swimming or biking. Hansen explains if you fully work out your cardiorespiratory system, deeper breaths will become the norm.

Your fifth mistake: Not drinking enough water

Health fallout: About 60 percent of your body by weight is water and every cell requires water to function properly. “The typical person loses 10 to 12 cups of water daily through urine, sweating, bowel movements and breathing,” Hansen explains. That number could be higher or lower depending on activity level. Food intake accounts for about 20 percent of daily fluid intake. What’s more, it takes a while for your brain to recognize you’re thirsty, so by the time you realize it, you’ve probably waited too long.

The fix: Most people need about 8 to 10 cups of fluid a day to adequately replace losses. “If we are well-hydrated we should probably produce about 6 to 6 1/2  cups of clear to slightly yellow urine daily. And if we produce less or more concentrated urine, then we aren’t getting enough water,” says Hansen. If you drink water all day, which is the way the body tends to use fluids best, you won’t feel thirsty.

Weight Watchers have overhauled their points system and come up with a completely new program – called Points Plus.

The previous Points formula (started in 1997) took into account Calories, Fiber grams and Fat grams. The PointsPlus formula uses Protein, Carbohydrate, Fiber, and Fat grams.

Weight Watchers have spent a number of years testing the new program (at the Medical University of South Carolina among other places). According to Weight Watchers the trials resulted in “an improvement in behaviors that help people maintain weight loss and a reduction in the desire to eat when there’s no physical hunger or need for food.”

Critics of the previous Points formula claimed that it did not accurately differentiate between more nutritionally dense foods, and “empty calories”. This is due to the heavy weighting of Calories over other nutrient measures.

You can download a ww app on your phone for free to calculate your points. I get 41 a day plus 49 a week to use extra plus what I earn from exercise.

A foolproof plan to keep hunger from gnawing away at your weight-loss goals.

Isn’t it fascinating (and frustrating) how the “I have to eat now!” feeling can hit even if you’ve been making good nutrition a top priority? Experts are discovering that when you eat, what your food tastes like, and even how much you drink can have a major impact on how often hunger pangs strike.

We asked leading nutritionists to share with us the five most common reasons you’re frequently famished, as well as their top tips for maximizing satisfaction and keeping hunger at bay.

1. You eat the right foods at the wrong times.
Eating at different times every day can make it difficult for you to tune in to your body’s hunger signals, says Cindy Moore, MS, RD, director of Nutrition Therapy at the Cleveland Clinic. Haphazard eating can hurt your metabolism as well. When British researchers asked women to eat meals at either the same time or at different times each day, those who followed a predictable pattern ate less and burned more calories than those who ate at a different time every day.

The Fix: Plan ahead.
If you’ve been journaling, review your food diary to zero in on when you’re most likely to fall prey to eating at erratic times. (If you haven’t been keeping a food diary, try doing so for a few days.) Then, says Moore, write out a schedule that focuses on eating within 2 hours of waking up and every 3 to 5 hours after that for the rest of the day. If you tend to lose track of time, set your watch or digital organizer to beep when you should eat.

2. You eat breakfast, just not the right kind.
Although any breakfast is better than none, the foods you choose can have a major impact on how satisfied you feel for the rest of the day. Take that convenient cereal bar: It might appear to be a healthy choice when you don’t have time for a sit-down meal, but its mega-dose of simple sugars may have you rummaging through the fridge well before lunch.

The Fix: Build a better mix of nutrients.
The key to making your breakfast hold your appetite at bay until lunch is building a morning meal that contains both protein and carbs. “It’s important to combine some protein along with some complex carbohydrates to provide sustained energy throughout the morning,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, MA, RD, a Long Island–based dietitian in private practice. Opt for no-fuss choices like a slice of cheese on whole-wheat bread, egg whites on toast, whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk, even half a turkey sandwich .

3. Your diet is flawless but flavorless.
If ho-hum, diet-conscious standbys like grilled chicken and steamed veggies are staples on your dinner plate, you could be headed for trouble. “You’re going to get bored and eventually have difficulty sticking with your weight-loss plan,” says Lona Sandon, MEd, RD, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

The Fix: Spice it up.
Getting creative in the kitchen will give your stand-by recipes new life—and keep you more satisfied in the long run. “Experiment with fresh, flavorful herbs, like basil, gingerroot, oregano, and mint,” suggests Moore. Also, adding acidity (a dash of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar) and sweetness (a teaspoon of honey or brown sugar) can make your staple dishes more complex in taste—and more satisfying. Texture is also key: Aim for combinations of creamy, crunchy, and chewy. Try tossing chopped nuts on your greens or mixing granola into your yogurt.

4. You stockpile your calories.
Do you often eat so sparingly during the day that by the time dinner rolls around you’re famished? That strategy can backfire, leading to uncontrollable overeating in the evening. “When you skip meals it’s harder to think straight, so you’re less concerned with the implications of what you eat,” says Taub-Dix.

The Fix: Frontload those calories.
Eating earlier in the day is a must to head off disaster later on. Limit the size of your evening meal so that you wake up eager for breakfast. Even if you’re not hungry, be sure to eat something—even a small bite. “Treat yourself the way you’d treat your kids—you wouldn’t let them skip meals,” says Taub-Dix.

5. You drink your meals.
With the ever-increasing popularity of lattes for breakfast and smoothies for lunch, many of us are drinking our calories away. But drinking too many caloric beverages can ultimately leave you feeling unsatisfied. When researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, gave study participants 450 extra calories daily in the form of either fluid or solid food, those who ate the extra solids ate less later in the day whereas those who drank the extra fluids did not. The reasoning: Chewing causes the release of hormones that signal fullness, and solid food is digested more slowly than liquids.

The Fix: Rethink convenience.
Slurping down a meal might seem fast and easy, but in the time it takes to drive to the coffee shop, stand on line, and pay for that latte, you could have had something just as quick—and far more satisfying. “Try a slice of toast with peanut butter or a cup of yogurt with some fruit,” says Lona Sandon. If it’s the comfort of a hot drink you crave, go ahead and have that latte—just order it with fat-free milk. And instead of sipping it solo, enjoy it with a few whole-grain crackers or a banana. In other words, focus on food combinations that will get you through to your next meal—no starving required.

Get up off your butt…MOVE MORE

(We know this works because the person in the picture, Kris, has shown us all how it is done)

I started a new class at work called-” Weigh to Go”. It is put on by a nutritionist for 8 weeks and looks very interesting. Thought I’d share in case someone else could use the information.

First week is “Charting Your Plan for Success.” Looked at the Pyramid food groups and serving sizes. On the pyramid- the bigger base of each category- the more we need of that. The pyramid assigns individuals a calorie level based on sex, age and activity level.

Then we take that level and look at a food intake pattern.

Helps you figure out what to eat each day and how much. Then we picked a partner and we chart each day what we eat, exercise and see how we do.

Did you know:

• You determine how much fluid intake by  taking your weight- divide by 2 and that number in ounces is what you should drink. However- any liquid going in counts for fluid intake (except maybe alcohol).
• Fat is not the only thing that makes you fat- anything you eat can. Our bodies need 15-20 grams of protein- anything more is burned (if you are active) or stored as fat if you are not.
• You need 25-30 grams of fiber a day- makes you fill full and moves all the yucky stuff out (cholesterol, free radicals).
• Diet soda NOT GOOD- makes you hungry. A real soda now and then is better.

I got this from Martha and wanted to share… we did this and it makes a difference. We put the healthy snacks and veggies that need using up at eye level and we don’t waste much anymore…

Here are my newest shoes- Sketcher Shape Ups:

Three clinical studies in the US and Japan show that Shape-ups significantly increase muscle activity and energy consumption over standard fitness shoes!

Doctors and researchers have confirmed that walking in Shape-ups can have major benefits on our health, including:

• More toned and strengthened leg, back, buttock and abdominal muscles
• Reduced body fat
• Improved circulation, aerobic conditioning and exercise tolerance
• Improved posture, relieving muscle tension and back/joint problems

If I’m going to walk- I want the higgest results possibe. Walking………………….

Edit: They didn’t fit! When I returned them to the store the cleark said they “ran small”- not good for people with big feet. I have other sneakers…

According to the Nutrition Research Center, this is what happens to your body within 1 hour of drinking a can of soda:

-10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system, which is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake. You’d normally vomit from such an intake, but the phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.

-20 minutes: Your blood sugar skyrockets. Your liver attempts to maximize insulin production in order to turn high levels of sugar into fat.

-40 minutes: As your body finishes absorbing the caffeine, your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your liver pumps more sugar into the bloodstream. Adenosine receptors in your brain are blocked preventing you from feeling how tired you may actually be.

-45 minutes: Your body increases dopamine production, tricking you into feeling pleasure and adding to the addictiveness of the beverage. This physical neuro response works the same way as it would if we were consuming heroin.

-60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, which boosts your metabolism a bit further. High doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners compound this effect, increasing the urinary excretion of calcium. The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (You have to GO!) Your body will eliminate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was otherwise heading to your bones. And you will also flush out the sodium, electrolytes and water. Your body has eliminated the water that was in the soda. And in the process it was infused with nutrients and minerals your body would have otherwise used to hydrate your system or build body cells, bones, teeth.

-60 minutes: The sugar crash begins. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You start feeling like crap. Time to grab another?

Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood. They are a major source of energy and the most common type of fat in your body.

When you eat, your body uses the calories it needs for quick energy. Any extra calories are turned into triglycerides and stored in fat cells to be used later. The excess calories are stored as fat regardless of what kind of food you eat-fat, carbohydrate, or protein. If you regularly eat more calories than you burn, you may have high triglycerides.

In normal amounts, triglycerides are important to good health. When triglyceride levels are high, it is not clear whether these high levels directly increase your risk for heart disease. But high triglycerides are often part of a group of conditions called metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is the combination of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, too much fat around the waist, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and high triglycerides. This syndrome does increase your risk for heart disease as well as for diabetes and stroke.

Triglycerides are measured as part of a blood test that measures your cholesterol. Normal triglyceride levels are below 150. High levels are 200 or above.

What causes high triglycerides?

Conditions that may cause high triglycerides include:

* Obesity.
* Poorly controlled diabetes.
* An underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).
* Kidney disease.
* Regularly eating more calories than you burn.
* Drinking a lot of alcohol.

Certain medicines may also raise triglycerides. These medicines include:

* Tamoxifen.
* Steroids.
* Beta-blockers.
* Diuretics.
* Estrogen.
* Birth control pills.

Certain types of high cholesterol and high triglycerides are caused by genetics.
How can you lower your high triglycerides?

If you are overweight, losing weight may be the best way to lower triglycerides. You may be able to lower your triglycerides by eating fewer calories and increasing your activity. Other diet changes that might help include limiting fats and sugars, and limiting or not drinking alcohol.

If increasing your activity and watching calories do not work, you may also need medicine. Medicines called statins are commonly used to lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. But drugs called nicotinic acid (or niacin) and fibrates seem to work better for lowering triglycerides. If you have high triglycerides, high LDL cholesterol, and low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, you may take more than one type of medicine that lowers cholesterol.

On the side bar is a new entry- FAMLY FITNESS (a work still in progress). I hope we can encourage each other to get fit and healthy. We can post goals- long term like Karen or short term like Kim. If we blog once a week on a given day we can report our progress- it might be 5 pounds lost or 45 minutes exercised. We can provide information to help us reach our goal. I hope Kris will provide exercise tips and Erin recipes.
Input welcome- let me know if you want to participate with us- come on- let’s get fit together!