Young women & weight gain

Did you happen to see this article in Yahoo Health that was published today?
http://news.yahoo.com/weight-gain-often-unrecognized-young-women-170314151.html

I find this to be an incredibly sad trend. Growing up in the 70's, as a young child & a teenager, I WAS VERY aware of my weight issues and how it made me vastly different from my peers. I totally stood out from everyone else because of my size, but I had NO idea of the health risks that were associated with being obese into adulthood. Back in "the good ole days" most kids were a healthy weight (unlike yours truly).

The startling fact is that now we do know more about the health risks associated with being overweight or obese, yet our kids (and adults for that matter) are getting heavier by the day. I am passionate in my belief that, as parents, we must help our kids adopt a healthier lifestyle to avoid becoming overweight in the first place. One-third of Americans are already classified as overweight or obese; at this rate, I expect within the next 5-10 years over half of Americans will be struggling with their weight issues.

It's up to us as parents & role models to demonstrate healthy behaviors, which include incorporating more fruits & vegetables into our diets, as well as daily exercise, to SHOW our children how to live a healthier lifestyle. After all, aren't we ALL worth it?

Our kids are depending on us! Let's not let them down!

Changes in the tide...

I just got home a few minutes ago from a very exciting event...details to follow soon. Anyway, as I walked in the door, I wanted to do something special to celebrate. I walked into my office and selected a stick of my very favorite incense and lit it, and savored the aroma. Ah.

As I sit here, with my stomach complaining big time from hunger, it dawns on me how much my lifestyle has changed. The old me, the 244+ pound Jill, would have immediately scoured the kitchen for something to eat to celebrate my good news, most likely leading to a feeding frenzy binge, most likely with no conscious thought of what I was even eating. Now, I have replaced that desire by rewarding myself in other ways. That is the KEY to long term success for me.

So, on this journey called LIFE, I shall continue to find non-food ways to reward myself and celebrate my victories with. As we venture into a brand new year, I challenge YOU to do the same.

Eat to live, don't live to eat. Trust me, I know how true this sentiment is.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Lower calorie deelish Christmas cookie recipe to try!

I know some of you are probably at the start line of a cookie baking marathon.....so I wanted to share a yummy healthier option recipe, courtesy of Richard Simmons. Meringue cookies are very crispy and can really satisfy a sweet tooth, without sabatoging your caloric intake for the day, plus the red & green appearance makes them very festive for Christmas. So give them a try & hope you enjoy!

Red And Green Christmas Meringue Cookies

 (Serves  12)

  

2 Egg whites
1/8 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cream of tarter
1 tsp Vanilla
3/4 Cup confectioner's sugar
Red and green food coloring

 

Preheat oven to 250.

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites on medium until foamy. Add salt, cream of tarter and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Add sugar a little at a time until it is all incorporated.
4. Separate meringue in half and add 1 drop of red food coloring to ½ recipe and 1 drop of green to other batch and mix to combine.
5. Place meringue in piping bag and pipe cookies onto parchment paper. You can use a little meringue in the corner of each sheet to hold it in place.
6. Bake for about 1 hour, rotating and turning baking sheets throughout cooking. They are done when they can be lifted from the baking sheet easily.
7. Test by removing one and cooling a little see if it breaks apart easily and is crisp and dry (it is done). It won't hurt the others to let them cook while you are checking.

Additional Tips

Other extracts work well in this recipe as well, experiment with different colors and tips on the piping bag, as you like. It is very important when you are beating egg whites that there is no yellow and the bowl you are mixing in is very clean and dry. Mixing should be done at room temperature.

Nutritional Information:
32 Calories, .6 gm Protein, 7.5 gm Carbohydrate, 0 gm Fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 34 mg Sodium

For the Garlic lovers out there!

Do you love garlic, not only for it's taste but also for the wonderful health benefits? I do too, but I find I cannot tolerate raw or lightly cooked garlic anymore. Here's a great simple recipe that is absolutely tasty and low fat, and as a bonus, doesn't leave you with garlic breath!

Take one full head of garlic, and slice off the top, just exposing a small bit of the cloves within. Drizzle a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Wrap the entire head in aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour.

Once cooled, simply squeeze the yummy roasted garlic out of the cloves and into a serving dish. I also like to add some additional kosher salt and mush it all together. This garlic spread is incredibly tasty and can be used on bread, bagels, or mixed into mashed potatoes or anything for that matter. This stuff is so yummy it would be good on ice cream!!! 

A new weight loss technique! ;-)

I know we are all looking for the newest greatest trend in appetite suppression and weight loss.......well, hang on friends because I have found it, and it only costs a mere $1.99!!!

When a craving hits for something sweet, I want you to have a couple of the newest Jelly Belly jellybeans before your snack. Sounds simple & tasty, right? The only stipulation is that you must have one of the "Beanboozled" flavors. The brown one could be chocolate pudding (yum!) or DOG FOOD.
The yellowish ones could be buttered popcorn or ROTTEN EGG.

I guarantee you that after one or two of these luscious flavors, your appetite (and most likely your lunch too!) will disappear, and you won't be hungry for HOURS.

I'm not a paid endorser of this product, but sampled them earlier today with my daughter, and I am still completely disgusted. ;-)

High calorie dining out, kicked up a notch

This past week I have seen advertising for 2 new high calorie contenders in the dining out arena, and I feel compelled to share my findings with you.

Golden Corral has added a Chocolate Fountain to it's already beefy dessert lineup, and KFC (that's Kentucky Fried Chicken to non-locals) has now added BACON to it's already hefty mashed-potato-fried-chicken-strips-corn-gravy-cheese mess thrown into a bowl. To be fair, here is how KFC describes this concoction on it's website:

"We start with a generous serving of our creamy mashed potatoes, layered with sweet corn and loaded with bite-sized pieces of crispy chicken. Then we drizzle it all with our signature home-style gravy and top it off with a shredded three-cheese blend. It's all your favorite flavors coming together."

All I can say is ICK. And, as of this writing, their website is not yet updated to reflect the addition of BACON to this bowl in their nutrition facts. Hmmmmmm.

Golden Corral at least does have their nutrition facts listed for the glorious Chocolate Fountain. Are you ready for this?
Serving size is 2 Tablespoons. TWO TABLESPOONS. Did you get that? 2 Tablespoons, that's it folks.....not much.

Calories:210. Fat grams: 15 grams, 9 of which are saturated.

Now, you must take into consideration that for diners who happen to be supping at Golden Corral, these calories & fat grams are IN ADDITION to a meal that surely exceeds the recommended caloric intake for one day. Most of the folks who dine at Golden Corral are not filling up on salad, I can assure you -- and believe me when I say that from experience. I used to dine with the best of them, loading up on every fried fatty concoction I could get my hands upon. I felt ripped off if I didn't have at least 2 trips to the entree bar and then sample at least 3 desserts.....after all, it's all you can eat, right?? Get your money's worth, and if you don't roll out of there, well then you didn't stuff yourself quite enough.

I mean no disrespect to either KFC or Golden Corral -- they serve this type of food because we as consumers demand it. Remember the lower calorie hamburger "The McLean" McDonald's sold? It was a complete dud and pulled from the market. And now they are reporting that despite adding apple slices to their menu as an substitute for french fries in happy meals, the majority of parents are still ordering the fries for their children.

As long as we demand and consume unhealthy foods, restaurants will continue producing them. We have to make smarter choices when it comes to food, to be accountable for our own choices, and educate our children on ways to eat healthier.

If we don't do something now, our children are going to be the ones who suffer -- and future generations as well. Let's break the cycle while there is still time.

The Importance of Positive Self Talk

Have you ever caught yourself saying things like "I'm not good enough" or "I'm too fat to wear that" or any other negative self talk? Our bodies really do physically hear those words, and in turn this has a huge impact on our self esteem.

We all have bad days where we doubt our abilities, talents, and even obsess about our bodies and everything wrong with them. "Why can't I lose 10 pounds and look like her? I don't have near the talents that she does....." etc. etc. etc.

When we find ourselves parroting these negative statements to ourselves, put on the brakes and STOP. Negative affirmations are just as powerful as positive ones, possibly even more so. If you say something to yourself enough times, sooner or later you are going to believe it.

My wish is that every single day everyone says at least one positive affirmation to themselves, and sincerely mean it. I've begun a journal just for affirmations of that sort, and when I am having a tough day, it really boosts my spirits to reflect on some of my positive attributes.

Give it a try! I promise you won't regret it. Believe in yourself, because you can do anything you set your mind to ~  don't forget to tell yourself that!