On Negative Self-Talk

We're a few months into the new year now, and for many people that means their motivation is starting to slip and they feel like they may never reach their goals or resolutions. Having negative thoughts about yourself or your goals will ultimately lead to negative behaviors toward yourself and your worth. These behaviors will then become your habits, becoming harder and harder to break as time goes on. 


Tapping into your motivation begins by tapping into your mind, change all begins with a simple thought. Instead of talking to yourself negatively, consider how you speak to those around you. Would you ever tell your closest friend that she would never achieve her goals? If you talk to yourself like you talk to those you love you can plant the seed for better behaviors and higher self-esteem. 


Just taking a few seconds to monitor your thoughts as you have them can have a major impact on the way you see yourself and your actions. Awareness is the first and most important step to establishing healthy behaviors and habits for yourself. Once you become more aware you will be more able to accurately assess where you're at with your goals instead of just talking down to yourself.


Once you've reached a point of assessment begin to think about your goals and what you want. When you think about your goals you have to ask yourself if they are attainable from where you are at right now. If it seems impossible, consider setting a slightly smaller goal somewhere in the middle between where you are now and your ultimate goal. Having a more easily attainable midpoint will help you stick with it and you will feel rewarded when you reach that midpoint and motivated to keep going. 

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Review: Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal

 

I am a member of the Starbucks Rewards program, if you frequent the store at all it is well worth signing up. I know they didn't really promote the program before, but I've seen some brochures popping up here and there. You get some nice perks and coupons in the mail. A coupon I recently received was for a free Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal. I decided to use that as a good excuse to get a coffee and have breakfast at my local store before running some errands.


I ordered the oatmeal and a tall nonfat latte, which is my favorite drink. The oatmeal came in a decent-sized container that was well packaged and did not feel flimsy or that it would fall apart easily if you had to transport it in your car. Starbucks describes the oatmeal as "100% whole grain goodness made-to-order with your choice of brown sugar, dried fruit, and nuts."

 The oatmeal has a nice thick consistency even before adding the toppings. But it is very obviously instant oatmeal, so the quality is not going to be as good as if you prepared it at home. I did wish the size of the container was a little more on par with how much oatmeal you actually received, that is a lot of empty space there!

You are given three individually packaged toppings, each with the nutritional information clearly labeled on the outside. I thought this was a nice touch and could make customization a little easier for those who are watching their calories. I chose to add the brown sugar and nuts, but not the dried fruit because I thought it seemed a little to much like candy when I did a small taste test. 


I mixed the toppings into the oatmeal and I loved that the brown sugar sort of melted throughout and made the oatmeal a bit gooey and sticky to eat. I thought it was at a perfect consistency and not too watery or too clumpy. The oatmeal had a pleasant taste, especially with the addition of the brown sugar. The nuts were crisp and did not taste like they had been in a package for who knows how long. You also got a pretty decent amount of the nuts, which included walnuts, pecans, and almonds. I liked that the serving did seem pretty decent with everything added in. I could definitely make a meal out of just the oatmeal and my latte. I was full for a good five hours after I ate this.

The individual add-ons.

I did not pay for the oatmeal, and I really don't know that I would on a normal day even though it was pretty good. It costs about $2.50 and you can get entire containers of oatmeal at the store for that price. However, if you are in a hurry it is probably a decent option when compared with what else is out there.

The nutrition information for the oatmeal by itself is 140 calories, the nuts add 100 calories, the brown sugar adds 50, and the dried fruit would also add 100 calories. The sodium is very low which I liked, especially for a fast food breakfast.

Check out this cutie who I got to spend some time with before breakfast! 

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Losing the Last Few Pounds

So you know all the rules about weight loss, calories in and calories out, eat healthfully, and live actively. But for some reason those last few pounds will not come off. This is because we often have an ideal weight that our body does not necessarily agree with. The last few pounds we want to lose can be referred to as vanity pounds, or weight that our bodies would be perfectly happy to keep around as a protection against possible famine or periods of starvation. It seems our bodies have not caught up with the fact that there is fast food around  every corner. 

Luckily, all it takes is a few simple tweaks to the good and healthy habits you've already established in order to fine tune your body and shed those last unwanted pounds!

1. Eat more. When you only have a  few pounds to lose you cannot create a huge calorie deficit, because that will send signals to your body that you are going through a period of famine and it will actually cling on to the weight you have. A calorie deficit of about 500 calories a day (max 700) is about all you need to gradually drop the last few pounds.
2. Interval Train. If you are currently focusing just on cardio or just on strength training during you workouts it may be a good idea to integrate them into circuits where you cycle through all your moves without resting in between. This form of training will help maximize your calorie burn and keep your body guessing.
3. Cut down on meat. Consider cutting meat down to just once or twice a week, particularly fatty meats that could be contributing to weight retention. Focusing on lean meats like turkey, chicken, and fish will help you get your nutrients while still allowing for some small caloric cuts.
4. Keep a food journal. This is essential, especially toward the end of any active weight loss. Diet is key to maintenance and understanding what your body needs. So as you approach your weight loss goal, you'll need to have a strong comprehension of what your body will need in order to maintain that. The food journal also keeps you accountable for what you're eating, making you less likely to graze throughout the day.
5. One extra hour. I've already talked about how important being active throughout the day is, but try incorporating just one extra hour of standing a day. The downside to exercise is it can make you feel a little more lazy than you might normally be, focus on counteracting that by standing instead of sitting. 

Do you have any tips for losing the last few pounds?

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Recipe: Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients:

4-5 cups spinach

15 oz package of low-fat or fat-free ricotta cheese

4 oz package of soft goat cheese

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp roasted red pepper flakes

2 cups tomato sauce

6 whole-wheat lasagna noodles, cooked and ready

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp olive oil

Recipe:

If the noodles are not already cooked, cook them first. Drain the water and lay them out so that they're not touching or they could stick together. Then bring a large pot of water to a boil, put the spinach in and let it cook for two minutes. Make sure that all the spinach is cooked before draining into a colander.

Combine the ricotta and goat cheese into a small bowl, making sure they have mixed together evenly.

In a saucepan put the teaspoon of olive oil and garlic over medium heat. Let it cook for a little less than a minute before adding the red pepper flakes and tomato sauce, let this cook until bubbly for about five minutes.

While the sauce is cooking you need to preheat the oven to 400 degrees and wring out the spinach and make sure as much of the water is out of it as possible. You can tear it up into smaller pieces as you do this to make it easier to spread and eat. 

Coat a baking pan with oil (my pan was about 9x9.) Layer a small amount of the tomato sauce on the bottom (only about 1/4 cup), then place two noodles on the bottom of the pan. Next layer half the amount of cheese on top of the noodles, then half the spinach on top of that. Follow the spinach with 1/3 cup of the tomato sauce and another layer of two noodles, the remaining cheese and spinach, and another 1/3 cup tomato sauce. Finally, top with the last two noodles, the remainder of the tomato sauce and sprinkle the 1/4 cup of Parmesan on top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the lasagna is bubbling and the Parmesan has melted.

Nutrition Information: (Per 1 Cup)

Calories: about 200

Fat: 5g

Carbs: 21g
Protein: 14g

Fiber: 2g
Sodium: 450mg

Ready to eat!

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The 80/20 Rule

To maintain weight or lose weight successfully, you have to be mindful of what you put in your body just as much as the energy you put out. A good way to pay attention to what you eat is to follow the 80/20 rule. This is when 80% of what you eat is clean, whole, and unprocessed. The other 20% can be the foods you crave, treat foods, or anything else that might fall outside the "healthy" idiom. This rule promotes healthy eating as something that is sustainable over the long-term, as opposed to extreme diets that can do damage to your metabolism and cause you to actually gain more weight when you go off them.


Part of the rule is listening to your body and your mind when it comes to food. Take a second to think through your decision before grabbing for the cookie without a second thought. If you know you're going out to eat for a not-so-healthy meal later, make it a point to eat clean and healthily earlier in the day. Or if you have a few meals in a row that aren't so great, just focus on making better decisions for the rest of the week instead of dwelling on any slip ups that have already happened and are in the past. 


The 80/20 rule is all about moderation and sustainability, because living healthily is something that we need to able to do for our entire lives. If our diets are too restrictive, there will be no success because we will feel deprived and eventually succumb to temptation. Living somewhere in that gray area in the middle between two black and white extremes can be difficult, but finding balance and being mindful are two keys to living moderately and sustainably. 

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Making a Morning Workout Easier

Most days, I prefer to get my workout done nice and early so that I can have the rest of the day to do all those other things that could potentially disrupt me getting my exercise in if I waited until later in the day. But getting up early in order to fit in some serious sweating does not always sound so appealing when I'm laying in bed listening to my alarm go off. Here are a few tricks I use to help myself get out of bed and get to work.

1. Prep and plan. I always make sure that I know exactly which exercise I will be doing in the morning, that my clothes are ready to go, that the living room is cleaned up, my lunch is packed and anything else that needs to be done early is ready to go. That way you don't waste any time or have to get up any earlier. 
2. Tell someone. Most often I just tell my boyfriend, and he honestly probably wouldn't care if I just rolled over and went back to sleep. But for me, telling someone makes the commitment much more real and I feel like I have to come through on it. Letting someone know about your plans, or posting it on something like Facebook, can be a good motivational tool.
3. Give yourself time to adjust. I did not become a morning exerciser overnight, the first few times are tough. It may be best to do your simpler routines the first week or so you're exercising earlier so that your body can get acclimated to a new routine. You will get used to it though, I definitely did and now I feel amazing when I can do plyometrics at 5am!
4. Eat something small. When I first began working out in the early morning I did not eat. I slowly began to notice that I could not push myself as hard as I would want to, or I would become out of breath and tired more easily. Having a small 100-calorie snack can really help you push yourself in the morning. I usually eat a small handful of almonds or a banana. 
5. Reward yourself. My reward is usually a breakfast that I really enjoy, or getting coffee out instead of making it at home. Little things that you can do for yourself will really help motivate you to keep going!

Do you workout in the morning? What works best for you?

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All About Calories

Most people have heard the familiar saying "calories in, calories out" but what does that really mean? A 2010 study by the Food Information Council Foundation found that only 12% if Americans were able to accurately estimate how many calories they should be eating on a day to day basis in order to lose or maintain weight. Here is some simple information for understanding calories and how they effect your waistline.

A calories is simply a unit of energy, and if you take in more energy then you expend, you will gain weight. It is a fairly simple idea, but one that becomes more complicated when you introduce things like nutrients, macronutrients, sugars, sodium and all the other additives we have in our foods today.

Your body is constantly burning calories, even if you just sit around all day. The lowest amount of calories your body burns is called your Basal Metabolic Rate, (BMR) which is what your body would burn if you laid in bed all day. Your Active Metabolic Rate (AMR) is what you r body burns when you factor in your average amount of activity (not including exercise, which is added on top of that.) Take me for example, I am 21, 5'3" and 115 pounds. My BMR is about 1350, but since I move around during the day at work or at home my AMR is about 1600-1700. Then, if I also exercise that day and burned around 300 calories, I add that to my AMR and I get about 2000 calories that I would need to eat that day in order to maintain my weight. If I wanted to lose weight, I could eat about 1500 a day and count on having a deficit of about 500 calories a day, or a pound of weight loss a week. 

That is the basic idea of calculating calories. Now in addition to understanding what your body burns, you also have to understand what you put into your body. There are many free calorie counting websites available, and most food has nutrition information clearly labeled on it. However, you have to make sure that you pay attention to the serving size indicated on the label, as that can drastically effect how much you should be eating. 

Another important aspect about calories is that they are not all created equally. If I ate 1500 calories a day of cupcakes and Twinkies, I might still lose weight, but I would be nutritionally deficient and my body would not lose weight like it would if I ate a diet that incorporated fruits, vegetables, and lean protein. 

So although counting calories is an important component of weight loss and maintenance, you also have to pay attention to what it is you are putting into your body and not just the number on the label. Thinking carefully about what the food you eat does to fuel your body effectively and efficiently is important for creating a sustainable healthy lifestyle.

Do you count calories? Or do you have another method for keeping track of how you eat?

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