Health & Wellness Tips For Weight Maintenance

I’m very excited about running in the Bastille Day 5K in Chicago this Thursday.  It’ll be my 2nd straight year participating in this event.  It has a rare 7:30pm start; and on a Thursday.  As well, they’ll be a live concert at the end of the finish line.  By the time the runners were finishing in this event last year, it was pouring rain and the concert  had to be canceled.

Okay, as you can see, I’m excited.  Through my continued quest to very good fitness, I’ve discovered that I actually don’t mind running as part of my exercising.  I think that the one thing that has helped is my participation in run events such as 5k and 10k race events.  On average these events will cost $25-$30.  In my opinion, it’s well worth it.  For one, part of the proceeds usually go towards some charitable organization or cause.  Also, you get a free run event t-shirt.  Some of the popular run events are hosted by shoe companies.  So, your free t-shirt might be a Nike or Adidas shirt.

Last summer is when I first started registering for these run events.  I haven’t made as much progress progressing to 10k runs, but the motivation is still within me.  I did run a 10k event last summer (The Nike Human Race), and did fairly well for never have running such a distance being timed.  I entered 4 run events last summer.

Run events can be looked upon as a way of being competitive with our workout routines and weight maintenance program.  They also help keep you focused over a longer period of time.  You’ll always want to do better than your last run.  And that may lead to you staying focused on eating healthy and working out and burning calories.

I challenge you to find an upcoming run event in your residing area!  Register for the event!  And start your training of running and/or walking.  Many of these events offer walkers as well.  So if running isn’t able to be in your plans, no worries.  You’re sure to find an event!  Try and find an event that’s no more than 3 weeks from now.  A 5k is roughly 3.1 miles long.  I currently run a reasonably slow 29 total minutes for a 5k on average, which is about a 9 minute mile.   Your finish time isn’t as important as your participation and being around many folk who are excited about fitness and running.
Don’t be afraid of these 5k’s.  I’ve done many, and there are people of all shapes and fitness levels out there.  Everyone encourages the other.  And it’s all about you and what your goals are.

Again, go register for a run event, NOW.  And you’ll be a very happy camper.  And it’s something to talk about with your coworkers.

Good luck to ya.  Always remember that running and walking is free.  No gym membership is needed.  And you can even run on the holidays and late nights, as the outdoors never close its doors.

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All of us suffer from overeating during those “eatery” holidays, such as the 4th of July.   What better way to celebrate America’s history than an American cookout….bbq’ing to be exact.   I should take my own advice here, but I’d challenge you(and myself, lol) to eat slower while feasting at the next buffet style social gathering.  The brain’s signals are a bit slow in telling us that we’re full…done eating….the hunger is satisfied….there’s no more room in the trunk area.   It is said that it takes the brain 20 minutes to tell us that we’re full.  So, if you eat slower, you’ll give your body and brain enough time to suggest to you that you may have eaten enough.  If you’re eating too fast, by the time you get that signal, you’ve already eaten over what your body wanted…hence, that fullness feeling or having to unloosen the belt-buckle.

There’s nothing wrong with tasting all that’s offered.  But remember to take smaller portions so that you don’t stretch out your stomach lining.  That thing takes extra long to get back its shape(perhaps less roundness).   One way to slow the rate at which you eat, is to chew each mouthful about 20-30 times before swallowing.  Your digestive system will love it as well.  It may also help to drink more fluids before and during eating to help curve overeating during cookouts.

Here’s to helping us to be better equipped to deal with the hopeless feeling of overeating during the holidays because our eyes become bigger than our stomach.

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As this day dawned upon me, I couldn’t help but remind myself of how just being outside when the weather is nice and warm and how any activity we do will burn calories at a higher rate.  Of course, hydration IS key in warm, hot, and humid temperatures.   What I want to stress is how simply going for a walk outdoors can help you feel better about burning calories.  Per hour of walking at a moderate pace for a person around 150lbs will burn about 250 calories.  That’s excellent, especially considering that you’re simply going for a walk.  The more weight you have, the more calories you’ll burn.  A person 40lbs heavier will probably burn an additional 50 calories.  That’s because the body is working harder.

Every 1 pound of weight(fat) is equal to 3500! This is something that we all must know and remember!  More importantly, when you’re being active (walking), you’re further working on increasing your metabolism (metabolic rate).  There can be a focus on burning calories, but the bigger positive with that is the fact that you’re also increasing your bodies ability to burn fat and calories at a faster rate…something we all would love to attain.  An increased metabolism is generally defined as your bodies ability to burn calories.   Look at it as the bodies internal diet pill.

So getting back to using walking as a means to burn a few calories, overtime, if walking becomes a constant for you, over a period of time, you’ll be able to see the result of how just walking helps in maintaining your current weight.  We want to lose weight, and we also want to maintain our current weight…thus not going backwards.

Lets take your lunch break at work where most  of us have an hour to eat.  And lets say that you work 5 times a week.  Can you make the commitment to walk 4 of those times?  And with that 4 times, you can include the hour walks here and there that you’ll do while not at work.  Or perhaps, eat for the first 15 minutes of your break, then go for a walk for 45 minutes, give and take a few minutes to freshen back up a bit.   Again, walking is something that’s easy that you can do and incorporate into your ‘daily’ life.  Go at your own pace, but always try and improve your pace.   As a rule of thumb to myself, I always take the opportunity to park the farthest away in the parking lot to the grocery.  Every calorie burnt counts. Especially after every meal, it’s encouraged to go for a walk for like 30 minutes.  It’s said that being straight up and walking allows for food to past through us faster which doesn’t allow for as much time for all the bad and unwanted ingredients to release and attack to us.

Any information provided here has been borrowed from memory and the content found at websites such as caloriecouter and nutristrategy.  Always consult with professional for precise nutrional facts and stats.  I am not responsible for any content of this blog.  I try and prescribe to the reader a dummied down version of health and wellness and weight loss.

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White Chicken Chili

Recipe

Serves 5-6

-2 Cans (15 ounces each) of Great Northern Beans

• -Very high in dietary fibers(++)

• -High in sodium levels(-)

-2-3 Boneless/Skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded

• -High in protein, vitamin B6(++)

• -Very high in niacin and selenium(++)

• -No sugar(+)

-2-4 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese (shredded)

• -Very high in saturated fats(-)

• -High in calcium(+)

- 1 cans (roughly 10oz. each) of chicken broth, or chicken base bouillon

-2 tablespoon Virgin Olive Oil(+)
-1 medium onion, or 1/3 of large sweet onion, diced
-garlic cloves, or 3-5 teaspoons of minced garlic
-1/2 cup of green onions, chopped
-7 ounce can of green chiles, chopped. Located within Hispanic food sections of the grocery.
-2-3 teaspoons ground cumin spice
-2 teaspoons oregano
-1 5 ounce can water chestnuts, diced small. (I only use half the content of this can). Located near tuna cans.
-a dash of black pepper, to your preference
-a dash of cayenne pepper(optional), to your preference

*[Optional: Some may want to top theirs with sour cream, and additional cheese. Also, I like to put red/green/yellow bell peppers in for color.]

I made this dish for the first time at my last BBQ this past weekend. It was a hit. I served it in small portions(4 oz. cups).

Directions: Heat olive oil in wok or deep stainless skillet; saute onions. Add to that, garlic, chiles, cumin, oregano, pepper and cayenne spices; sauteing for a few more minutes. Add beans with liquid, chicken broth, green onions, and diced water chestnuts. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, and to a lower simmer for 30 minutes. You can add 1/4 stick of butter(no salt) for extra flavoring. May simmer longer at lower heat.

Add shredded chicken(cooked) and shredded cheese. Stirring til cheese is melted.

Nutrition: Per serving, this meal has good calorie numbers. It’s high in protein and dietary fibers. But, be careful with the sodium content. You can always substitute ingredients with more healthier choices such as low sodium, no fat, or low cholesterol brands.

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I just wanted to quickly blog about how I was able to switch to drinking skim milk, from drinking regular and low-fat milk most of my life.

I only buy skim milk.  Is skim milk nasty?  Well, it’s not as tasty as whole/regular milk, that’s for sure.  But, someone gave me a hint on how to make this dreaded switch from whole and 2% milk, to skim milk.   What you have to do is…….for a week or two, simply combine 50/50 skim to whole milk together, and drink together, whether you’re just drinking it or mixing in cereal.  After this amount of time has past, go cold turkey to skim milk.  It will almost taste as if you’re still drinking whole milk.  Well, it definitely worked for me.

There is a huge benefit to drinking skim milk over whole milk.  The chart below will show just how much of a nutritional benefit skim milk is over whole milk.

*Based on 8oz. serving

What’s interesting is that there is more calcium in skim milk than there is in whole milk.  Calcium is a mineral that mostly functions by making your bones and teeth hard.  It also helps your muscles contract, and helps your nervous system work properly.

As for calories per serving, there is a wide margin between skim and whole milk, which should be suffice in propelling you to make the switch.  Remember, every calorie counts over a period of time!

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We have become a calorie focused society.

This is evident in the number of food and beverage products we purchase which have visible wordings that advertise how it is a reduced calorie product per servings.  Heck, to take this phenomena future, some beer companies have come out with reduced calorie beer. And for those that are concerned with their weight, we have been increasingly educated via various mediums on how fluid intake, over time, in how this can have an effect on pounds gained and pounds lost.

Drinks such as soda/pop and fruit juices (orange juice, apple juice, etc.)  and other beverages are considered ‘empty calories’….calories that you can do without, and have little to no nutritional advantages.  These drinks are loaded with sugars which directly add up the calories and carbs(carbohydrates) over time.  In a can of pop, there are roughly 10 packs of sugar.  Yikes.  Many high schools have taken soda vending machines out of the schools because of the weight gain caused by consuming many calories from soft drinks and fruit juices.   If you drink a can of pop each day for a year, you’ll gain roughly 16 pounds.  That’s a lot of pounds just from drinking pop!  I rarely buy cartoons of orange juice and jars of apple juice because I’ve discovered that I can live without those unproductive calories the majority of the times.  If it’s vitamin C that you want, get yourself a fresh orange.

I’m not a fish!  I want to drink more than just water daily!

I’d be lying if I said I only drink water on a daily basis.  There’s more to life than just water. There are many beverages that can be consumed on a daily basis that are of nutritional value, such as green tea.  I list green tea in another one of my blogs [here] as one thing that we all can do to help in weight maintenance because it serves to help increase your metabolism over time, if you’re drinking at least 3 cups/day.

Myself, I also like Glaceau Vitamin Water and low calorie brands of Gatorade.  I rarely drink Gatorade, and I tend to like the Vitamin Waters.  Triple X and Energy are my favorite Vitamin Waters.  If you’re not keen on reading labels and actually understanding how important this is, I’d suggest you do some research on how to read labels on the foods and drinks we buy. I say this because once you compare a bottle of Vitamin Water to a can of Coca-Cola, the Vitamin Water only has slightly less calories and sugar.  This doesn’t bother me as much because if you’re working out at least 2 to 3 times a week, you’ll be able to burn those calories off.  As said, I drink these beverages sparingly, maybe 1 or 2 times every two weeks.  I’ve read elsewhere that these drinks only provide energy to the body, and nothing much else.  That’s fine by me as well.  Fyi, Vitamin Water has now come out with a line of reduced calories/bottle.  I haven’t quite gotten used to the change in taste, but for those that want to be extra careful with their calorie intake, these new low cal drinks can be an option for you.

There are some people who try to live and eat healthy, but simply cannot drink plain water.  As a suggestion here, try to add fruit pieces to your glass of water.  I slice of lime or lemons are the more popular additives to spruce up a glass of water.

Caffeine is a must to start my day off, and that won’t change!

I’d say, not a problem if the above statement sounds like you.  I’d only hope that you’re not as stubborn when it comes to soft drinks!  If it’s caffeine you’re looking for, go with coffee instead of the cola or diet soft drinks, in my opinion.  Your kidneys may thank you later on.  The artificial sugars that are put in those diet pops are well documented as not being good for the body.  You can cut off a TON OF CALORIES by simply cutting out all of these types of ‘empty’ calories.  Just remember to be patient, but consistent as this process should be viewed over a long period of time to see its effectiveness.  Trust me, ya can do without these drinks!  With coffee, a cup of black coffee with no added sugar is easily less than 10 calories.  Not bad at all.  Try to limit or abstain from adding creamers and regular milk(use skim milk).  Always look for fat-free creamer and milk.  One teaspoon of regular creamer is equal to 10 calories, fyi. Some people use about 2-3 scoops of creamer per a cup of coffee.  If just drinking 1 cup of coffee/day, that’s about 210 calories/week.  It’ll take you 1.5 hours of brisk walking to burn that many calories off. But don’t look at it that way.  You’d rather want to walk to have a focus on increasing your metabolism as opposed to burning off calories.  Better to be productive rather than making up for lost time.

Lastly, I think that cutting these empty calories such be one of the most obtainable weight loss and weight maintenance goals that we can shoot to achieve!   I wouldn’t suggest going cold turkey from drinking soda/pops.  If these types of drinks have been a mainstay for you, going cold turkey can cause some physical withdrawals with a headache being one of the main symptoms.  You should taper off over a short period of time.   I’m not saying to totally reframe from drinking anything but water, especially if you’re consistent with a exercise routine and/or you’re an active person each day.

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I’ve just moved here from my initial blogsite.  I’ve imported some of its files here.  I will began posting new blogs very shortly!  

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I’ve discovered how valuable weight training has been for me in my continued journey of losing weight, and especially with keeping the pounds off in the long haul.  What weight training has done for me is to allow me to continue with my calorie counting and not having to be so stringent with my diet.  Weight training is one of the better exercise methods one can do to increase their metabolism.  The faster your metabolic rate, the easier it is be at your ideal weight!  HOWEVER, weight loss/gain and weight management has a direct correlation with the balance of total calories consumed, versus calories burned.    Your metabolism is just the engine that burns calories, which varies from person to person.

See my post about Understanding Calories & Weight Loss for additional info regarding calculating your bodies metabolic rate to see how many calories your body needs daily to function.

The Mayo Clinic writes about metabolism:

Stated simply, metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy. During this complex biochemical process, calories — from carbohydrates, fats and proteins — are combined with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function.

The number of calories your body burns each day is called your total energy expenditure. The following three factors make up your total energy expenditure:

• Basic needs. Even when your body is at rest, it requires energy for the basics, such as fuel for organs, breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, plus growing and repairing cells. Calories expended to cover these basic functions are your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Typically, a person’s BMR is the largest portion of energy use, representing two-thirds to three-quarters of the calories used each day. Energy needs for these basic functions stay fairly consistent and aren’t easily changed.
• Food processing. Digesting, absorbing, transporting and storing the food you consume also takes calories. This accounts for about 10 percent of the calories used each day. For the most part, your body’s energy requirement to process food stays relatively steady and isn’t easily changed.
• Physical activity. Physical activity — such as playing tennis, walking to the store, chasing after the dog and any other movement — accounts for the remainder of calories used. You control the number of calories burned depending on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities.

The general consensus from women is that, ‘I don’t want to get bulky.’  Or, ‘I want to have that feminine look and not too much muscle.’ On the contrary to these beliefs, fitness expert Jim Karas states that, weight and strength training makes you smaller.”  In addition, Karas believes that “walking, running, and spin classes do not burn up nearly as many calories as we’ve been led to believe,” which is why strength conditioning should warrant more attention from women.

Elizabeth Quinn, an exercise physiologist, says that you will gain muscle tone and definition, particularly for women when including weight lifting in their program.  Researchers state that ‘women typically don’t gain size from strength training, because compared to men, women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy.’  Quinn says, “this is a bonus[particularly for women].”

I can’t express to both women and men just how much weight training  plays a part with me keeping off the pounds, even when taking a few weeks off of healthy eating.  I’ve used a combination of cardio and strength training.  I wish I could say that I’ve been consistent with my workout routine.  But over time, the close to 90 pounds I have lost, has been fueled by some weight lifting. The bottom line is muscle develop, which also increases your metabolism and allows more oxygen(water) to flow easier through the body, which in turn helps your body burn more calories per day! Generally speaking, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn 35 to 50 more calories each day.

So what are the ladies thinking at this point?  Again, the key to weight management, in my opinion, is a combination of cardio and weight training.  People who do both are better equipped to control their weight and not worry about whether that hamburger or small french fry order will put on pounds!  Most women only do cardio.  This is evident when I go to the fitness center.  If there are, say 12 women in the gym, I’d only see about 2 of them doing any weight training.  Women love the treadmills and stairmasters and elliptical machines.  That’s great.   But, don’t forget to lift some weights.  With my weight training, I’m allowed to eat foods other than veggies and other healthy choices here and there, and not gain a pound….because of my increased metabolism.

Ladies, do not be afraid to visit the weights section of the fitness center! That area belongs to you just as much as it does the fellas!  I’d encourage you to do some research on finding good weight training exercises to do and how you carry them out.  If you’re doing only 3 weight training exercises each time in the gym, you’ll be fine.  Start out with the lowest weight possible, and gradually increase in small increments over a period of time.  And never hesitate to ask any of the patrons or staff at your fitness center for help and guidance while lifting weights.  Everyone is willing to help; never forget this!

And remember, the easiest way to improve your metabolism(metabolic rate) is to alter what you eat and increasing routine activities.  I list 25 non-exercising ways to help increase your metabolism in another one of my blogs here.

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P90X: A Home Fitness Workout System

This is in search of opinions regarding the P90X system! I saw the infomercial one late night recently, and was intrigued by this health and fitness exercise system that’s built around exercise and nutrition, from your own home.

Here’s what they have to say about their product, P90X(Trademark):

“P90X is a revolutionary system of 12 sweat-inducing, muscle-pumping workouts, designed to transform your body from regular to ripped in just 90 days. You’ll also receive a comprehensive 3-phase nutrition plan, specially designed supplement options, a detailed fitness guide, a calendar to track your progress, online peer support, and much more. Your personal trainer, Tony Horton, will keep you engaged every step of the way, and you won’t believe your results!”

“The secret behind the P90X system is an advanced training technique called “Muscle Confusion,” which accelerates the results process by constantly introducing new moves and routines so your body never plateaus, and you never get bored! Whether you want to get lean, bulk up, or just plain get ripped, there’s an endless variety of ways to mix and match the routines to keep you motivated the full 90 days and beyond!”

If anyone has any experience using this P90X system, please offer your opinion here. Perhaps, you’ve used the program yourself. Or, you may be interested in it and want to hear others’ opinions. Post your comments! Thanks much!

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I hope this day finds you in a peaceful and resting state of mind. If not, why? Are you wanting to be doing something else? Are you multitasking, and at the same time feeling like you’re not doing much or that there is too much to do? Have you had a good day at work? Was it a busy work day/week? Are you not looking forward to work tomorrow? Did you sleep well last night? Did rush hour traffic bother ya? Did some person give you a wonderful compliment today? Have you complimented someone today? Did you have to stand in line for an hour while trying to accomplish some form of transaction? Did you hit up the gym or go for a walk or jog recently? Did you participate in some sensual healing last night? Or, are you frustrated that you didn’t?

What does all of this mean? Well, who knows, lol. However, many of these activities have weight control and weight lose implications! The human body as we know it, is a vastly complex and self regulating phenomena. When I hear someone say that the body is a temple, I take that literally. Many high level scientist cannot phantom that One Man could create such machinery mostly because of all of the intricacies and co-dependent functionings’ of the body. Hey, I digress.

This post is to shed light on just how many calories we’re burning on any given day. The human body burns between 1400-2500 calories per day, simply without doing much at all. To find out what your body burns per day, you’d want to use a bmr(Basal Metabolic Rate) calculator. Your score is the amount of calories you need per day to sustain itself.

Your Metabolic Rate(metabolism) is the rate at which the body burns up calories in your body without doing anything. Its results tells you how many calories it takes to maintain your weigh daily. [BMR Calculator<<<click] In other words, if you intake 2500 calories a day, you’d have to burn less calories than that in order to lose weight. So, a body that consumes 2500 calories a day, and burns 2500 calories a day will stay at the same weight. A body consuming 2500 calories daily and burning 3000 calories will lose weight at the rate of about 1 pound a week. Sounds simple right? No? Well peeps, I’ll tell ya.

One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. <<<Understand this fact right there for the rest of your life! Whether your goal is to maintain a good weight or lose weight, knowing that fundamental truth is your first step toward your goal! So, if you’re burning 500 calories less than your overall intake daily, in 7 days, you will have burned 3500 calories and 1 pound. Eating 500 less calories daily is not a difficult task at all!!! Remember, the way I just explained in how to lose 1 pound a week and totally WITHOUT doing any physical exercises. For a healthy person, you shouldn’t be losing more than 7 pounds in one week, which is supported by many nutritionist! And again, it’s very important to know how many calories your body needs daily to maintain itself at a normal baseline of functioning.

Katherine Goodwin[TheDietChannel.com] states, “when you lose weight rapidly, your body is typically only losing glycogen (carbohydrate) and water weight, not fat. Your body thinks that it’s starving and reduces its metabolic rate, which makes it harder for your body to burn each calorie (they burn at a slower pace than they normally would). Then when you start eating normally again, your body stores as much food as it can into your fat cells in case of another “famine.” If you’re not losing more than 7 pounds a week, you’re doing just fine!

Some people, myself included, believe that counting calories is dumb and monotonous and hard to follow. What I do here to compensate for this is that I  started studying how many calories are in specific and popular food items, particularly restaurant bought items. Also, look up the calorie content of random items. You can’t count [estimated] calories if you don’t know how many calories are in that cheeseburger or apple or steak soft taco or soup or veggies or chicken breast sandwich. Note: with calorie counting, in my opinion, you can eat not-so-good things as a cheeseburger(minus cheese) or a hotdog here and there. However, you must know how many each carries in calories so that, one, at the end of the day you can have a “rough estimate” of knowing how many calories you ate…and how much harder you should work the next day to burn off a few more calories.  And two, you can calculate in my head whether you burned more calories than you consumed on that particular day.

Right off the top, I know that a regular sized chicken breast(boneless/skinless) is roughly 250 calories. If I put myself on a daily calorie intake(bmr) of 2200 calories, that means that I have roughly over 1950 calories to intake for that day.

How many calories did I burn today? This is your next reference point to losing and maintaining weight. After you have learned how many calories that are in some foods, you’ll want to know how many calories you’re burning with certain activities. A key to losing weight is to increase your physical activities!  And you should know of roughly how many calories certain exercises and non-exercises are  burning.  For example, walking for an hour burns around 250-350 calories.  Or, how one hour of playing basketball can burn up as many as 600-800 calories.  Or simply, standing for an hour burns 150 calories.  What I don’t do is this:  on a given day, I do not exercise(calories burned) to subtract(calories consumed) from what I ate that day.  These two entities, I keep separate.   Calories consumed is for me to not overeat.  And calories burned is for me to help gauge my weight maintanence/loss.

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