Thursday, September 29, 2011

Just Lose It Challenge: Add more vegetables to your day

1. Discover fast ways to cook. Cook fresh or frozen vegetables in the microwave for a quick-and-easy dish to add to any meal. Steam green beans, carrots, or broccoli in a bowl with a small amount of water in the microwave for a quick side dish.

2. Be ahead of the game. Cut up a batch if bell peppers, carrots, or broccoli. Pre-package them to use when the time is limited. You can enjoy them on a salad, with hummus, or in a veggie wrap.

3. Choose vegetables rich in color. Brighten your plate with vegetables that are red, orange and dark green. They are full of vitamins and minerals. Try acorn squash, cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, or collard greens. They not only taste great but are also good for you, too.

4. Check the freezer aisle. Frozen vegetables are quick and easy to use and are just as nutritious as fresh veggies. Try adding frozen peas, corn, green beans, spinach, or sugar snap peas to some of your favorite dishes or eat as a side dish.

5. Stock up on veggies. Canned vegetables are a great addition to any meal, so keep in hand canned tomatoes, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, mushrooms, and beets. Select those labeled as “reduced sodium,” “low sodium,” or “no salt added.”

6. Make your garden salad glow with color. Brighten your salad by using colorful vegetables such as kidney beans, sliced red bell peppers, shredded radishes. Chopped re cabbage, or watercress. Your salad will not only look good but taste good too.

7. Sip on some vegetable soup. Heat it and eat it. Try tomato, butternut squash, or garden vegetable soup. Look for reduced- or low-sodium soups.

8. While you’re out. If dinner is away from home, no need to worry. When ordering, ask for an extra side of vegetables or a side salad instead of your typical fried side dish.

9. Savor the flavor of seasonal vegetables. Buy vegetables that are in season for maximum flavor at a lower cost. Check your local supermarket specials for the best in-season buys. Or visit your local farmer’s market.

10. Try something new. You never know what you may like. Choose a new vegetable-add it to your recipe or look up how to fix it online.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Just Lose It Challenge: Sneak in Exercise

1. Walk to your destination if it takes fewer than 30 minutes to get there.

2. Do bicep curls with any heavy bags you haul to and from work. They’re as unwieldy as kettlebells, so balancing them forces more muscles to fire.

3. Dance with your kids. Even if it’s to nursery rhyme songs!

4. Clench your butt muscles while climbing the stairs

5. See if you can hold a plank pose for three consecutive minutes every day.

6. Eke out crunches during commercial breaks.

7. Bike to meet pals on the weekend.

8. Wear a watch that monitors calorie burn. Or a pedometers that monitors your steps

9. Perform leg lifts and bridges while you talk on the phone.

10. Set your clock 30 minutes ahead so you have time to run before work.

Taken from Self magazine September 2011

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Just Lose It Challenge: Still Holding Strong

My standing as of last week’s weigh-in is me still holding strong in THIRD place!


That’s awesome when you look at about 400 that signed up (though I am sure many have dropped out). What’s really great is I don’t have as much to lose, but I am pushing very, very hard to lose what I can each week and stay in contention. It’s getting harder and harder!

I had sushi and Tempura last Monday! I had a foot-long sub another day. It didn’t seem to mess up this week’s weigh-in, but could I have done better?

There’s always that question, and I say YES! No one is, nor should be perfect at this healthy lifestyle. You stumble along the way. You take a nibble here or there of the forbidden food, you skip a workout (never me, just saying), or you know you did not push yourself to really do more, you just went through the motion. I always think, if I am going to workout, I better sweat buckets and burn like 1,000 calories each time. You can do the same workout and burn 500, but if I know how to amp it up and burn more, then I’m going for it.
But the workouts are never my stumbling point….it’s the eating. I like food. I like a LOT of food!! I like good tasty food. But for this challenge, I am trying to stay as strict as I possibly can. To lose the most weight in 12 weeks and to WIN, you gotta do what you gotta do. So that said….no, my eating is far from perfect. I could do way better and my results would be even better.
Each week I try and do better. I’ve been doing just enough to keep me in top 10, but now I need to gun for the #1 spot!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Just Lose It Challenge: What Does It Take To Be #1

So results are in! After 3 weeks, I am number THREE out of 400 in the Just Lose It weight-loss challenge. I say that is a pretty big deal.

I keep hearing my fave Nelly Song in my head “#1.”

“What does it take to be #1

‘Cuz 2 is not a winner

And 3 nobody remembers.”

RIGHT! Sooooo, I have to really, really buckle down! So the audacity of those at work bringing in a cake for my birthday that I won’t enjoy. Little cheats, little bites, add up to BAD numbers. Staying focus is the name of the game.

I do have a cheat planned for tonight, at a sushi restaurant only because I have been wanting to go since like forever and my Groupon expires soon. My birthday was last Thursday, yet I waited to treat myself till after my Monday morning weigh-in. This gives me all week to burn that off. Plus, I was told by the trainer who weighs me in, it’s time to step it up and switch things up. More inclines/sprints on the treadmill, using the elliptical (I haven’t really used this the last few weeks), and simply doing MORE!

I mean, I do a LOT now, but I have to go all out now. I just ran my second 5K but that’s flippin not enough! I scheduled another in two weeks. I am increasing my weight training. The trainer said go lighter and do more reps. I will be running more! I still have yet to run a 5K without stopping to walk.

My eating, is darn near perfect so I can’t change much with that.

So beyond everything else I do, it’s who else is doing better than me. Maybe they are going hard like me. On the Biggest Loser, you see it all the time, somebody just sneaks up behind you and wins it all. So I actually don’t want to stay #3 the distance, I want it to fluctuate and then really kill it at the end so they don’t see me coming.

I’ll try and post more tips later this week.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Just Lose It: Weight Loss Tips

• Eat at least three times a day


• Pay attention to your body. When you feel like you have had enough to eat, stop. Quit before you feel full, stuffed, or sick from eating. You can have more if you really are hungry.

• If you still feel hungry are unsatisfied after a meal or a snack, wait at least 10 minutes before you have more food. Often, the cravings will go away.

• Drink plenty of calorie-free drinks (water, tea, coffee). You may be thirsty, not hungry.

• Pick lean meats, low-fat or nonfat cheese and skim (nonfat) or 1% milk instead of higher-fat/higher-calorie choices.

• Get plenty of fiber. Vegetables, fruits and whole grains are good sources. Have a high-fiber cereal every day.

• Cut back on sugar. For example, drink less fruit juice and soda.

• Limit the amount of alcohol (beer, wine, and liquor) you drink.

• Keep all the food in the kitchen. Eat only in a chosen place, such as the table. Don’t eat in the car or the bedroom or in front of the TV.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Just Lose It Challenge: How am I doing so far?

Well, the results were posted today for the first weigh-in (after initial week). 

1. Chris R. 5.569%
2. Krisi S.  5.213%
3. Teresa Y  4.554%
4. Donovan L. 4.032%
5. KIMBERLY W  3.797%

That's me by the way, Kimberly W, in bold all caps, in case you couldn't tell! I am in 5th place out of 400 participating! Well, 400 is the number that the Challenge had room for...and I am sure many have dropped out or will soon.

So little, bitty me pulled a big enough number to land in top 5.  Yes, I was very excited to see this. It made today's weigh-in feel better.  No loss (although it should have been half a pound, their scale is screwy).  I may drop out of top 10 (they only post top 10) but trust me I will earn my way back in top 10 in the next couple of weeks.

I need to eat better. And when I say better, I mean MORE FOOD! I don't eat enough and that is jacking up my metabolism. Everything I have been eating is good, clean foods, but I am under my calories range nearly every day. Either I am too full to eat more, or half eat some of the food.  This week goal is to eat in my range.

As far as the exercises goes, I don't know if it can get any better. Last night I KILLED 45 minutes of Turbo Jam Cardio Party workout, with weighted gloves on mind you, and then followed that with 30 minutes of Hip Hop Hustle.  Tonight I hit the Y for a little elliptical followed by an hour long Kettlebells class. My home workout will be Turbo Kick, because that burns like crazy calories.