Hope you were successful

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I hope that you had a successful day.

But I find that the days following are almost harder than the actual day. The leftovers and the baking are way more tempting in the middle of the afternoon or late at night.

So the thing we should keep in mind is do we really need to eat that. Sometimes the answer will be no. And sometimes it will be yes.

Some tips to figure out the answer

1. Drink a glass of water first. Sometimes you think you are hungry when you are just thirsty.
2. How long has it been since you ate something substantial? If it has been a while, do not pick the left over pie. Go for some turkey or something else that your body can work with.
3. If you choose to eat the pie, think about portion size. Take a small piece. It will likely be just as satisfying.
4. If you want to indulge, fine. But do something to counter that. Do an extra workout to make up for it.

Good luck.

Help for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving can be a difficult holiday because it is more about the food than the rest. And most of those foods are not the best (i.e. gravy, potatoes, stuffing, pies). So here are a few hints to make it a holiday where you can at least stay the same if not lose.

1. Think about what you really want to eat before you get to dinner. This way you will be able to make some priorities about what you want to eat.
2. When you are dishing up your plate, do not let your food touch.
3. Eat slowly so that you know when you are full before you over eat.
4. Listen to your body. If it is telling you that you are full, listen to it.
5. Take a walk or two during the day.
   
6. Drink a lot of water. If you are thirsty you may think that you are hungry.
7. Do not drink much alcohol.
8. Bring a healthy snack and side dish to dinner. People will likely join you in eating it and it will help you stay on track.
   

It is still possilbe to have a fun and satisfiying Thanksgiving. You just need to make some good choices for it to be a successful one.

If you have any more to add, please do. Have a great holiday.

Lemon Chicken with Capers

Here is the first recipe of the challenge. The whole family likes it even the kids. And I love that it tastes a little naughty but is really pretty good for you.

Lemon Chicken with Capers

3-4 Chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
5 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp capers

Put the olive oil in a sauce pan and heat on medium heat. While it is heating, pound the chicken breast to 1/4 inch. Combine flour, paprika, and pepper on a plate and dredge the chicken in the combination. Once dredged, place chicken in the oil . Cook 3 mins per side or until cooked through with a golden brown. Watch your heat so that it is not too hot. When chicken is cooked, remove from pan to a serving plate. Add chicken broth to oil and stir to remove bits from the bottom of the pan. Then add the lemon juice and capers heat until it is heated through. Pour on top of chicken and serve.

**I serve with rice so that the sauce and be added to the rice as well.

Enjoy!!!

More Than Exercise

I had a week where I exercised a lot. I earned 20 exercise points which I feel pretty good about. But I gained a pound this week.

So I want to remind that it cannot be done by exercise alone. It is a GREAT idea to sweat or move for at least 30 mins a day. But what goes into your body is just as important. This week I gave in to French Fries, the impulse to snack on the wrong things and candy at the movie theater.

My goal this week is to make better food choices. I am going to journal my food so I really know what I am eating and those little bits are going to count. I would encourage you to join me in this. Do not get me wrong, exercise is key but so is food.

Comment on what your week was like and your goals for next week.

**Reminder: exercise is not just time in the gym or doing videos. Are you walking outside or at the mall for 10 mins at a time? Are you doing yard work? Did you really give your house a good clean? Let me know your ideas by posting a comment.

Water

When I lost weight last time, I found water to be my biggest ally. It was amazing what 6 8 oz glasses of water a day does. The old recommendation was 8 8oz glasses of water a day but that has been up for some debate. There are different answers to how much water but I settled on 6 because it seems to help me.

Regardless a human needs to drink a lot of fluids in a day. We are constantly losing the water that we have in our bodies through sweating, going to the bathroom, and even breathing. If we fall behind in our fluids, the things that need to get flushed out of our systems do not have any way to get out.

Some hints to know if you need more are:

• if you feel thirsty, you need more. You should never feel thirsty because that is a delayed reaction and if you feel thirsty then you are a little late.
• If you are exercising (and you should be for the challenge), drink some water both before you start and after you finish to stay hydrated
  
• Drink a glass of water when you feel hungry. You may just be thirsty and sometimes you body mistakes that for hunger.
• Caffeine and alcohol are dehydrating. So if you are drinking a beverage with these things in them then you need to also drink a glass of water.
• I was told once that if you are hydrated enough your urine will be clear by the end of the day. So keep drinking until that happens.
  

Some ways to help get more water:

• Drink a glass first thing in the morning. Keep a glass in the bathroom or your bedroom. It will get you on the right track for the day.
• Keep a reusable water bottle around so it is easy to do.
• Water alone can get boring so keep things around that make it more interesting like lemons, crystal light packets to mix in, teas (decaffeinated or herbal).
• Eat some foods that have a high water content like apples, watermelon, oranges etc.
• Alternate between iced, cool, or other temps of water. It will go down differently each time.

When you start drinking more water, you will have to go to the bathroom more. I noticed that after a couple of days your body seems to adapt. You will feel better and it will help you lose weight. Good luck.

Tracking

I found a way to track. I set up a spreadsheet on Google Documents (I sent an email with an invitation to get started and it is free).

We can all fill in our information. You should be able to put in your start weight but the rest of the blanks should be open. Now, no comments or judgments on our starting weights. Some of us may be embarrassed by them and that is why we are working on it.

Let's do it.

It Begins

Hello all

We are set to begin. The only change is that you now get 1 point for every 10 consecutive minutes of working out.

If you could all send you money ($15 per person) to Kris. He will be in charge of the money.

Also I have not found a great way to keep track of things online yet so keep track of it for yourself so when I do find a good way, you can post it.

Good Luck. More to come.

Changes this Weekend

For those of you who follow this, many of us will be getting together this weekend. I think that we may change the workout point requirement. I will keep you posted.