Hidden Fat Traps

You noticed that your pants were getting a little snug, but didn't think much of it. When you could barely button your favorite skirt, you forced yourself onto a scale and discovered you'd gained eight pounds. But why? You haven't changed your eating or exercise habits.

Chances are you overlooked some of the most common weight-gain culprits. Frequent dining out, nighttime snacks in front of the television and even your fondness for coffee can all cause a slow-but-steady weight gain. Once you identify and combat these "hidden" fat traps, you'll find it easier to shed pounds and maintain a healthy weight.

Loss of Muscle: Getting older is one of the most frequently overlooked reasons for gaining weight, says Sheah Rarback, R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association based in Miami. "You're more susceptible to weight gain with every passing decade because your metabolism slows and you lose muscle mass," says Rarback. "What that means is you can't eat the same way you did when you were twenty. If you do, you'll gain weight."

The solution: Strength training helps build muscle mass and combat this effect of aging, says personal trainer Brad Schoenfeld, author of Look Great at Any Age. "Generally speaking, a pound of muscle burns about fifty calories a day," he says. "So if you add a pound of muscle, you'll increase your metabolic rate by about that much." Adding muscle keeps your bones strong as well.

Late-Night Snacking: If you spend most evenings curled up on the couch watching TV, chances are you snack, too. And those snacks can add up to hundreds or even thousands of calories. Eating in front of the set distracts you from how much you're consuming, causing you to eat even more. Studies also show that women eat less when they concentrate on their food. "If you sit in front of the TV every night and eat, then every time the TV comes on you'll have the urge to eat," warns Jackie Berning, R.D., an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

The solution: Women tend to undereat during the day, so they overeat at night, says Berning. Make sure you eat enough at mealtimes so you're not hungry for a snack after dinner. Most importantly, turn off the TV whenever you eat.

Plentiful Portions: Americans' waistlines have been growing along with portion sizes. Even snack foods are growing increasingly larger. But the battle can be won. Leah Ingram of New Hope, Pennsylvania, has kept 17 pounds off for more than a year and a half just by controlling her portions. "I have peanut butter on toast every morning for breakfast. Before I lost weight, I slopped peanut butter on the toast," says Leah. "But now I measure out a tablespoon and make it last. Eyeballing doesn't work because it's too easy to add more, and suddenly your pants are tight."

The solution: "Have the treat but control the portion," says Rarback. "Even if it's a snack food, such as chips or peanuts, put a small portion on a plate. If you're reaching into the bag, you don't realize how much you're eating." You can also buy individual snack bags at the grocery store or make your own portion-size snacks using sandwich bags.

Keeping the Weight Off

There is nothing more discouraging to someone on a weight-loss plan than the oft-cited statistic that 95 percent of people who lose weight will regain it within a few years. The difficulty in sticking with a long-term weight-maintenance plan is one of the main reasons that weight-loss programs fail. In an effort to uncover clues to successful weight loss, researchers have been collecting information on people who have lost weight and successfully kept it off for many years. This project, known as the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), records what these people did to achieve their goals. Currently, the NWCR is tracking more than 5,000 people, who receive detailed questionnaires and annual follow-up surveys to examine their behavioral and psychological characteristics, as well as the strategies they use to keep weight off. Note, however, that these people are self-selected (that is, they chose to participate) and therefore represent only successful "losers," not the entire population of people who have tried to lose weight. There is no evidence that the techniques and approaches these people use are the key to success, because many other people have used similar approaches without success. Nonetheless, their stories may prove helpful or inspirational for some people.

Is There An Anti-Aging Diet?

Can the food you eat help extend your life and improve your health?

Plenty of research suggests that it can. Studies reveal that a healthy diet can help you sidestep ailments that plague people more as they age, including heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and cataracts. But information gleaned from news flashes, best-selling diet books, and even government sources is often contradictory. And occasionally scientific studies blown out of proportion in the news or in popular diet books make dietary divas or pariahs of certain foods.

Will tripling your intake of olive oil or banishing carbohydrate-laden breads from your menu ward off illness? Taken alone, these steps simply can’t do enough to help. To reap dietary benefits, you gradually must work in more sweeping changes, such as cutting down on red meat; eating more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains; and striking a healthy balance between calories in and calories out.

Perhaps the easiest way to understand what changes you should be making in your diet is to review the healthy eating recommendations made by Professor Walter C. Willett in Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating (see Healthy Eating Recommendations). As you may notice, these recommendations share a good deal with new government dietary guidelines for Americans issued in January 2005, a vast improvement on the seriously outdated USDA food pyramid that had held sway since 1992. There are, however, key differences, such as Willett’s recommendations for choosing healthy fats and his more marked emphasis on a diet built largely around plants and whole grains. In addition, the healthy eating guidelines described in this section encourage a more limited intake of dairy products, as well as a combination of poultry, fish, beans, or nuts rather than red meat.

Walking As Fun Exercise!

Walking is some of the best exercise you can get, but it can become a bit monotonous. Whether you need a nudge out the door, training inspiration, or a reason to keep going, here are some enthusiasm boosters.

Make it a game. Walk as long as it takes to spot, say, three red cars. Then set a new game objective, and keep on walking.

Follow a new leader.Let your dog set the pace.

Entertain a party.Plan a progressive dinner where each course is a walk away from the next. Start with healthy appetizers at one house, the main course at the next stop a couple of miles away, and dessert at the third.

Travel an unmapped course. Don't plan your route. Instead, make decisions at every turn based on what looks interesting. Follow a curious-looking winding street to its end, or a hill to its top view.

Dust 'em.Pick a walker on your path who seems a bit more fit and faster than you. Then try to pass her.

Enjoy a mini-getaway.Plan an itinerary that takes you and a friend on a brisk, hour-long walk ending at a coffee shop. Or have breakfast before heading off for your favorite antique store, then browse awhile before starting for home.

Feed the birds.Bring along bread crumbs or maybe the Sunday paper to read on a stop in the park.

Play it by ear.For an interval workout, bring your MP3 player. Speed up whenever you hear a fast song.

Trying to lose weight? Try our Lean & Fit Whey Protein! Learn More Here: http://www.allthewhey.com/weightloss.html

Know Your Chocolate

Some kinds of chocolate, rich in antioxidants called flavonoids, have been shown to benefit heart health. But all types of chocolate aren't the same, and too much chocolate can negate any benefits, the Cleveland Clinic says. The clinic offers this additional information:
-Dark chocolate is richest in flavonoids, so choose dark chocolate over milk chocolate.
-Chocolate does contain fat, but it contains both saturated (unhealthy) and unsaturated (healthy) fats. Chocolate should still only be consumed in small amounts.
-Processed chocolate is higher in fat and lower in flavonoids, so avoid candy bars loaded with caramel, peanuts, nougat and other fattening fillings.

Say Goodbye To Your Love Handles!

It is an unfortunate fact of life that as we age, fat seems to make itself at home in our bodies. One of its favorite places to reside is in the area of the waist just above our hips, called the love handle region. But what is to love, exactly? Those additional rolls of fat are the guilty culprits in making many articles of clothing fit a little snugger, and in keeping many of us from showing up on the beach in bathing suits. There are no if’s, and’s or but’s about it; love handles have got to go! The good news is that with the proper combination of diet, cardiovascular exercise and muscle toning, you can say goodbye to those unsightly love handles.

Targeting Fat
Here’s the bad news: there is no way to target specific areas of fat on our bodies for effective reduction. Instead, we must focus on reducing fat in the body overall, and the best way to do this is through diet and cardiovascular exercise. A general rule of thumb is that once a woman hits a body composition that is around 20% body fat, the love handles will begin to disappear. It is doubtful that anyone needs to be preached at about the proper way to eat these days, with so much information available on diet and nutrition. Keep in mind that no matter how much you exercise, you will continue to gain weight if your calories consumed are higher than the calories burned each day. This is why it is so important to cut out fats and sugar from the diet as much as possible while you are exercising daily, to increase your odds of dropping the pounds and inches on a consistent basis.

Cardiovascular exercise should be done four to six times each week, and can be as simple as taking the dog for a walk around the block, to sweating it out on the treadmill at the gym. Any type of cardio exercise will effectively burn the calories – and the additional fat – but the harder you workout, the quicker you will see results. Before you begin any type of exercise program, make sure that you talk to your doctor about the safest choices for you. Once you have a cardio workout established into your daily routine, you can begin adding specific exercises that will tone the muscles on either side of your abdomen, called the obliques. The best types of movements that will work this area include twisting and bending motions that will stretch and tone those muscles. The toning will succeed in reducing the inches around your waistline, and give you the definition and firmness that your image is craving.

While additional fat storage in the body may be a fact of life as we age, there are things that we can do to keep those storage areas under control. Once you get a handle on those love handles, you will be able to sport that bikini with confidence. Bye bye, love handles!

Exercises: Get a Handle on Your Love Handles
Basic crunch: Works the rectus abdominis, the wide flat muscle that runs from your breastbone to the top of your pelvis.

Lie on the floor with your feet hip-width apart. Cradle your head in your hands without lacing your fingers together and with your elbows rounded slightly inward. Tilt your chin a small way towards your chest and pull your abdominal muscles in.
Exhale through your mouth as you curl your head, neck, and shoulders up off the floor. Hold at the top of the movement for a moment, then inhale as you slowly lower down.

Twist crunch: This exercise works your rectus abdominis as well as your internal and external obliques, two muscle groups that wrap around your waist.

Exhale through your mouth and curl your head, neck, and shoulders up and towards the left. Hold at the top of the movement, then lower to the start. Twist to the right on the next rep, and continue alternating until you complete the set. Note: Don't just twist your elbows from side to side. Really concentrate on twisting from your middle.

Anchoring: This exercise uses all of your abdominal muscles, including the deep, underlying transverse abdominis. Your lower back also gets a workout.

Lie on your back with your left foot on the floor. Lift up your right leg and bend your knee so that your thigh is perpendicular to the floor and directly in line with your hip; flex your heel. Raise your arms up over your chest and clasp your fingers together.
Slowly lower your heel and your arms towards the floor. As you do so, concentrate on keeping your abs pulled inward, and don't allow your lower back to pop up off the floor. This becomes harder the closer your heel and hands move towards the floor. When your heel has almost touched the floor, slowly return your arms and leg to the start. Repeat this exercise four times with your right leg, then four times with your left.

In Case of a Snack Emergency

If you really want to snack -- and nothing else will do -- it may be possible to trick yourself into eating less.

People tend to eat the same number of food portions, no matter what the portion size, according to a study published in Psychological Science. Researchers offered participants a snack in two sizes: one small or one large Tootsie Roll, one small or one large scoop of M&M's, or one whole or one half-sized pretzel.

Regardless of which serving size subjects chose, they ate the same number of portions -- so the smaller-portion eaters ate less overall. To make this work for you, just choose smaller snack sizes and pay attention to the number of servings per container.

Go Green!

Enjoy coffee or tea?

Why don’t you switch your usual morning wake-up for a refreshing cup of green tea? Recent research has shown that green tea can help increase your metabolism and could help you burn an extra 78 calories a day. It tastes delicious and is an easy addition to your day.

Celebrity Fitness: Katherine Heigl

Before filming her new movie, Knocked Up, Katherine Heigl hated working out. But since meeting Hollywood trainer Harley Pasternak, the actress raves, "I'm in the best shape I've ever been in."

Still, Heigl, one of PEOPLE's 100 Most Beautiful in 2007, didn't get there without putting up a fight. "I hate dieting. I hate the whole thing!" she tells PEOPLE in its new issue. A revealing love scene in Knocked Up gave her the motivation to hit the gym with L.A. trainer Pasternak, who is known for his intense, time-efficient workouts. "Katherine had a beautiful body, but it had never been toned," says Pasternak, who has worked with Halle Berry, Jessica Simpson and Sheryl Crow.

Heigl, 28, met with him for cardio and circuit-training sessions of 25 to 50 minutes, up to five times a week for six weeks prior to shooting. On-set, she'd jump rope or lift dumbbells outside her trailer. All the while, she ate Pasternak's 5-Factor Diet, which delivered five high-protein, high-fiber meals a day. Even with a scheduled weekly "cheat day," says Pasternak, Heigl soon looked "tighter and more toned."

Typical Workout for Heigl:
• 5 minutes of jump-roping, jogging, or stair-climbing for a cardio warm-up.

A circuit of 4 sets each of the following:
• 25 dumbbell flies
• 25 lunges
• 25 low-body crunches

Followed by:
• 5-25 minutes of cardio running, elliptical training, stair-climbing or biking, with the last five minutes working as a cool-down period.

Sample Day's Meals:
Breakfast: French toast with ricotta pillows
Mid-morning snack: A mixed-berry shake
Lunch: TexMex salad with chicken and black beans
Afternoon snack: Hummus crudite
Dinner: Sea Bass with brown rice and edamame

Flaxseeds For Your Health

Loaded with alpha-linolenic acid, an essential fatty acid that helps reduce inflammation, flaxseed has been used for centuries for medicinal and health reasons.

Gandhi himself proclaimed, "Wherever flaxseed becomes a regular food item among the people, there will be better health." Bauman adds, "The seed itself has terrific nutritional value, very usable protein, tremendous fatty acids, and minerals like magnesium, potassium, and zinc." Additionally, they're a great source of fiber.

Buy Flaxseed Oil Here: http://www.allthewhey.com/fso120.html

Using Flax Seed Oil

-Don't use flax oil for cooking - heat can turn the essential fatty acids into harmful fats. Add flax oil to foods after cooking and just before serving.
- Flax has many virtues, but it also has a vice: it turns rancid quickly. To prevent spoilage, follow these tips. Keep the flax oil refrigerated with the lid on tight. Minimize exposure to heat, light and air and try to buy it in smaller containers.
- Flax oil taken with a meal can actually increase the nutritional value of other foods! Research shows that adding flax oil to foods rich in sulfated amino acids such as cultured dairy products, vegetables in the cabbage family, and animal, seafood, and soy proteins helps the essential fatty acids become incorporated into cell membranes. Mixing it with yogurt improves its digestion and metabolism by the body.
- Flax oil works best in the body when its taken with antioxidants, such as vitamins E, carotene, vitamin B6 and magnesium.

While a tablespoon of flax oil a day may not keep the doctor entirely away, its bound to help!

How to Avoid Overeating

Food nourishes us. But it also satisfies us, soothes us and helps us celebrate. Put that together with the fact that food is just about everywhere, and often in lavish amounts, and you have a perfect recipe for overeating. But just as we are hard-wired and conditioned to associate food with comfort and relief from anxiety, nervousness, depression, anger and loneliness, we can undo that conditioning -- or at least eliminate the most destructive aspects of it. It’s not easy, but it’s also not nearly as hard as you might think. And, like most new habits, it generally takes no more than 21 days if practiced on a regular basis.

1. Change your surroundings. A shift in setting has the power to change your mood—and keeps you away from the refrigerator.

2. Take five. A five-minute break, whether it’s a walk around the block, a sprint up-and-down the stair or a deep-breathing pause, has a similar effect.

3. Fake out your mouth. If you're craving something sweet, try a pickle, hot pepper or any other completely different taste sensation. And if salty snacks are your weakness, go for something spicy.

4. Reward yourself.Treat yourself to a relaxing activity you normally wouldn't do: a warm bath, a surprise call to your college roommate in London or uninterrupted reading of gossip magazines!

5. Get physical.Go for a stroll, run or do any physical activity at all.The endorphins released will often balance the chemistry of a "craving brain").

6. Sit with your feelings. Rather than stuffing negative or uncomfortable emotions like fear and anger by stuffing your mouth, try "being" with those feelings for five to ten minutes. Can you locate it (in your stomach, your chest) and describe it (a hot pellet, ball of ice)? Write it down. You’ll discover it’s less frightening than you think.

The interesting part of the whole exercise is that most overeating triggers only last 15 minutes. If you can outwait them -- or outwit them -- you can beat them. You'll be amazed (and happily surprised) at how differently you’ll feel a quarter hour later.

Evil Foods that Ruin Your Diet

Cocktails
Joining friends for happy hour? Consider this: An eight-ounce gin and tonic has 160 calories versus an eight-ounce daiquiri, which has 430. If you know you'll be enjoying cocktails later, cut calories elsewhere that day. Then stick to one drink, preferably a glass of champagne or wine spritzer, which are much lower in calories.

Specialty Coffee
Drinking a cup of black coffee (sans sugar) is no problem. But a coffee filled with sugar, whole milk and whipped cream could easily cost you hundreds of calories. It's OK to indulge occasionally but don't make it a daily habit. If you do indulge, order the smallest size, ask for low-fat milk and replace sugar with an artificial sweetener.

Bagels
Although quick and convenient, these enormous rings of dough could wind up on your backside. Why? A four-ounce bagel is equal to four slices of bread. So eat just half a bagel, preferably one made of filling whole grains, and replace the butter or cream cheese with one tablespoon of protein-rich peanut butter.

Granola Bars
They sound like the ultimate health food, but granola bars are often no better than candy bars. Some contain more than 200 calories and may be loaded with sugar. If you can't give them up, at least choose a low-fat, one-ounce granola bar that contains whole grains.

Applesauce
Applesauce seems like such a healthy food. And it can be, as long as you're eating natural, unsweetened applesauce. Otherwise, you'll get a huge dose of sugar and calories -- 100 calories in four ounces of regular applesauce versus 50 in four ounces of the natural, unsweetened version.

Mayonnaise
It tastes delicious on sandwiches but beware: Just one tablespoon of mayo has 12 grams of fat and 110 calories, so use only a teaspoon at a time. Even better? Switch to low-fat or use hummus instead, which has only about 30 calories and 1.5 grams of fat per tablespoon.

Sports Drinks
Unless you're exercising for more than an hour, you don't need a sports drink. Sure, they might taste better than water, but down a 32-ounce bottle and you'll be 240 calories richer. If you can't stand plain water, add orange or lemon slices for a splash of citrus, or try a no-calorie flavored water.

Baked Chips
Although healthier than regular chips, baked chips are still loaded with calories. One ounce of baked chips (about 15 chips) contains 110 calories and packs no nutritional value. Instead, get a crunchy, salty fix by snacking on whole-wheat crackers, celery with peanut butter or low-fat popcorn.

Regular Soda
One 12-ounce can of regular soda contains about 150 calories, not to mention a slew of sugar. Drink a can a day without changing anything else in your diet, and you could gain 15 pounds by year's end, according to one study. Switch to diet soda, and limit yourself to two cans a day.

Salad Dressing
Salad is a dieter's best friend, right? Not when it's swimming in dressing. Top those greens with one tablespoon of dressing -- full-fat dressings have about 50 calories per tablespoon -- or switch to low-calorie alternatives like salsa or balsamic vinegar.

Orange Dreamsicle Shake

Orange Dreamsicle (32 grams protein)

-1 scoop French Vanilla All the Whey Bariatric Protein Isolate (24 grams protein
-1 scoop (individual serving) sugar-free Sunrise Orange Crystal Light powder

-8 ounces skim milk

Alternatives: substitute 4 ounces orange juice for 4 ounces milk; substitute 4 ounces yogurt for 4 ounces milk; add 1/2 tsp. orange zest to shake.

Celery...who knew!?

Celery is a dieter's dream food, especially those that have problems with snacking. It is
extremely low in calories, yet it provides many health benefits - plus its an easy, tasty, and crunchy snack.

Celery contains vitamin C and several other active compounds that promote health, including phalides, which may help lower cholesterol, and coumarins, that may be useful in cancer prevention. To boost flavor but still keep the calorie count to a minimum, you can dip celery in your favorite low fat & low sugar dressing.

Keep a stock pile in the fridge so next time you feel those cravings coming on just grab some and munch away!

Protein Sized for you

The size of a protein portion – meat, poultry, fish, eggs, soy or beans - that we HOPE to get to over time - is the size of a standard tape cassette.

If you’re eating more than a CD’S worth of protein at a meal right now, you need to GRADUALLY move towards a healthier volume. Sooooo either serve yourself a little less than you’re used to, OR take a little bit off your plate before you start to eat.

Keep the smaller protein portion size steady for about a week, and then begin to size it down once again for another week, if you’re ready.

Do this, little by little, in the same way each week, finding your own rhythm. Reducing gradually – step by step - until you get to cassette sized protein portions at each meal is sound advice!!!!!.

Quick Tip

Using mustard instead of mayonnaise on your sandwich is an easy way to boost flavor and nutrition while keeping fat to a minimum. Mustard even contains protein and is low in calories.

The Romans most likely developed the prepared mustards we know today. They mixed unfermented grape juice, known as "must," with ground seeds (called sinapis) to form mustum ardens, or "burning must."

So, do as the Romans do and eat your mustard!

Carbohydrate Basics

Just a couple of decades ago, carbs were the dietary rage. Athletes filled up on pasta before events and high-carb (low-fat) diets were thought to be the answer to everything from weight loss to the prevention of heart disease. Then came the Atkins diet and a spate of other spinoffs. With the advent of these carb-counting weight-loss plans, people mistakenly got the message that all carbs were bad. Recently, a more moderate view on carbs has taken hold which differentiates between them, categorizing them as bad, better and best. To understand the difference, however, we need to understand that the term carbohydrates really means.

The Good, the Bad and the Not-So Bad

Carbs encompass a large range of foods that vary from a teaspoon of white sugar to a cup of cauliflower to a loaf of bread. But there are huge differences in how our body reacts to different kinds of carbohydrates namely because of two factors: the carb’s effect on our blood sugar and its nutrient density (how much fiber, and how many vitamins and minerals it delivers).

The best carbs contain fiber, such as vegetables and fruits. They're loaded with vitamins, minerals and hundreds of important phytochemicals like cancer-fighting indoles (found in the cabbage family), lutein and zeaxanthin, which are the superstars of eye nutrition (found in watermelon and spinach), and quercitin, a natural anti-inflammatory (found in apples). To avoid these carbs makes no sense.

On the other hand, there are carbs that deliver sugar and little else (think soda). Most of the carbs you want to avoid come with a bar-code: They’re highly processed and offer little in the way of nutrition. Unfortunately many of the carbs we routinely eat fall into this category, including refined breads, cereals, pastas and most desserts. These are the carbs we’d be much better off without, especially if we’re trying to control our blood sugar or weight.

Whole Grains

Many foods cannot just be picked from a tree like an apple and eaten. Wheat for example, has to be processed before it's edible. You don’t have to eliminate foods like pasta and rice altogether; instead, the goal should be to eat the least processed form of these foods. White rice, for example, has been far more processed than whole grain brown rice (it's had the bran and outer shell removed, along with much of the nutrients). Same goes for white bread versus whole wheat. So how do you know how processed a food is? A good indication is fiber, which is usually lost when a carbohydrate is highly processed. When shopping, read food labels and use the five and five rule: Look for five or fewer grams of sugar, and five or more grams of fiber per serving. If a grain-based food meets that criteria, it's probably worth eating.

Check back soon to learn about portion control!

Grabbing the controls

We posted that a good diet is a healthy eating plan you can follow for the rest of your life. Getting an eating mix that’s just right for you is like finding the greatest pair of jeans. It’s no good too loose or too tight; it’s gotta be styled just right. Finding that balance is the key to getting it off and keeping it off. Sooooo if you find yourself grabbing for food too often or you’re restricting yourself so much that you’re ready to scream, think of Goldilocks, or finding great jeans; not too loose, not too tight, but just right to make you want to stay. Here’s some things to think about:

-Are you getting enough sleep? (check older post-‘ snooze to lose’)
-Are you watching too much TV? (check older posts – ‘TV’s are getting slimmer, we are not;’ ‘no more couch potatoes;’ ‘A good diet means less TV’)
-Are you drinking lots of calories ( check older post – ‘so-duh’)
-Are you taking in lots of salt ( check older post – ‘can’t shake it’)
-Was your last meal full of carbs? ( sweets, chips, pasta, white bread)
-Are you eating to calm yourself down or fill an emotional emptiness?

Some To-Do’s:
1) Cut out pairs of pictures of thin women and large ones. Tape a set to your mirror, refrigerator door, your pantry door or anyplace you need to remind yourself that you want to downsize, not fill up with food. Look at them when you’re grabbing and force yourself to go for something healthier.
2) Stock up on gum, water, fruit , easy-grab veggies and use them to satisfy the craving to chew or fill-up.
3) Think out of the box:
Some things are just too tempting. We keep eating them like we’re in a crazed mania. To avoid trouble, put portions on a plate in a glass or in a plastic zip bag BEFORE tasting. If you can keep snacks to about 100 calories – you get the gold star.....

11 Things to dish out, or you can’t take it.
Portion control is key, especially with these foods:
candy
soda
cheese
chips
cereal
pretzels
deli meats
popcorn
nuts
cookies
ice cream

if there are more IRRESISTIBLES, add them to the list. Make sure you portion it out before you let yourself eat.

4) Start a daily food diary. Keep it as simple as - writing down what you ate during the day.... both meals and snacks - do it before you go to bed if you can't find time before that .... you can check your progress, set goals for yourself , and see what times and foods are the hardest. Then you can make up strategies to help yourself thru the rough spots.... we'll post lots more about that. If you're into it, write down what your mood was like before you ate and after..... This is all about getting to know your triggers so you can find ways to disarm them!!!!!!

Girl talk

We want to hear from you. ...... sooooooo....... just double click on "comment" ----- give us your thoughts, and let's get rolling here.


Who doesn't need a little girl talk? Especially when it's almost time for the dreaded bathing suit !!!!!!

What makes you roll your eyes when you're looking at yourself in the mirror??????

Makeup Tips for the '5 Minute Face'

Fed up with your tired beauty routine? Wish you could follow a simple yet effective set of steps that actually work for you? Well now you can with these techniques by Carmandy from the TLC show “How Do I Look?” These techniques are practical and all about enhancing your natural beauty without spending hours trying to look polished and pulled together.

Five Minutes to Beauty
1. Start with a tinted moisturizer or foundation, spot conceal any redness and apply under eye concealer.

2. Next, dust on a light translucent powder.

3. Highlight is key to this look so applying a shimmering light shadow under the brows, on the inside corner of the eyes and on top of the cheekbones will showcase your face.

4. Next swirl on blush for a fresh lively look.

5. Line the upper lash line with an eyeliner pencil and smudge with a Q-tip. This will give you the subtle definition you need.

6. Sweep on mascara to the top lashes only. Skipping the lower lashes will save time and potential cleanup.

7. Now slick on lip color and you're ready to go.

Fast, easy and effective!

How whey, and other foods, act as natural appetite suppressants!

1. Apples An apple a day keeps cravings at bay. High-fiber foods like apples generally require more chewing time, giving your body extra time to register the fact that you're no longer hungry. Therefore, you're less likely to overeat.
One study in Brazil found that women who ate the equivalent of three small apples a day as part of a healthy diet lost significantly more weight than those who didn't eat apples. And apples are also a natural anti-inflammatory.

2. Pine Nuts

Pine nuts contain the highest amount of protein of any nut or seed. In Siberia, a handful of pine nuts are traditionally taken with a meal to create a feeling of fullness. What's the secret ingredient?
Pine nuts contain pinolenic acid, a naturally occurring polyunsaturated fat that actually stimulates two powerful hunger suppressing hormones. Both hormones play a major role in signaling to the brain that you're no longer hungry. In one study, participants consuming an extract of pinoleic acid reduced their food intake by 36 percent.

3. Flax Seeds

Flaxseed oil is the best known plant source of omega-3 fats but raw flaxseeds are even better, especially for appetite control. In addition to the omega-3, one ounce of flaxseeds provides the added benefit of 8 grams of fiber. The more fiber you eat at any meal or snack, the slower the rise in your blood sugar, helping to keep the hunger hormones at bay.
Flaxseeds can be tossed onto salads, thrown into smoothies or sprinkled over vegetables. Studies at the National Cancer Institute show that flaxseeds have cancer preventive properties and lowers cholesterol. Purchase Flax Seed Oil at http://www.allthewhey.com/fso120.html .

4. Oatmeal

Real oatmeal -- not instant -- is one of the healthiest carbohydrates. It's low on the glycemic load scale and has a high fiber content, so it enters your bloodstream slowly and keeps you full for a long time.
One bowl of oatmeal consumed daily can reduce cholesterol 8 to 23 percent. For breakfast or as a snack, a small bowl makes an excellent hunger reducer.
We suggest adding a little butter or a handful of pine nuts for longer-lasting fullness. Or how about sprinkling on some ground flaxseed or cinnamon?

5. Soup

Soup is one of the best kept secrets to appetite control and weight loss. Research at Pennsylvania State University shows that men and women consuming two servings of low-calorie soup daily lost a whopping 50 percent more weight than those consuming the exact same number of calories with snack foods.
The secret is soup's combination of high water and low calories. Make sure to choose broths or vegetable soups, not their creamy-rich cousins.

6. Whey Protein Powder

Whey protein powder can help you lose weight and build muscle. New studies suggest that whey may have an impact on food intake through its effect on hormones that influence a feeling of fullness. In one study, participants consumed a liquid meal consisting of either whey or casein and 90 minutes later were allowed to eat freely at a buffet table. The whey group consumed significantly less calories.
Whey also supports the immune system and can lower your blood pressure. Purchase whey at http://www.allthewhey.com/ !

How to Look Thinner In Pictures

It's spring. And if you're like us, the results of your swimsuit diet aren't quite showing yet. If you've got any graduations or weddings coming up in the warmer months ahead, you're likely to get your picture taken. If the thought of a photographer makes you want to run, relax: We've found a few tips -- online, in books, from experts -- on looking thinner in pictures.

1. Use flashes in sunlight. According to "Geek Sugar", it's all about the lighting. Flashes are good because they override the shadows that overhead sunlight might cast on your face, making for pronounced under-eye and chin shadows.

2. Lean in towards the camera. Digital Camera Tracker says leaning slightly towards the camera is helpful: "Think of having a long neck like a gazelle, and tilt your chin down just a bit to avoid the appearance of a double chin," the site suggests.

3. Stand like a ballerina. No, we're not kidding. While it stops short of recommending you wear a tutu, the 'Rocky Mountain News' says you need to pose like a ballet dancer: "The most flattering (read slimming) pose: Face front and cross one leg in front of the other, then turn your body at a 45-degree angle away from the camera and turn head and shoulders toward the camera. Place feet in ballet third position (one foot angled in front of the other)."

4. Put your hands on your hips. The 'Rocky Mountain News' says your soldiers might look less rounded this way.

5. Get a shot from below, as if you were on the runway. In Camilla Morton's new advice book for women, 'How To Walk In High Heels,' model Giselle Bundchen is interviewed about how to look good, both in front of and away from the camera. For pictures, the runway-veteran agrees that lighting is crucial, but she adds a few tips on angles and poses: "For long legs, point one leg into the center of the frame and get the photographer to shoot looking up your body," says Bundchen. We just hope it's not up your nose, Giselle!

6. Get a shot from above. The best way to hide that double chin is to have someone shoot your face from a few inches above your head. Just find someone who's taller than you. Either you'll look up at them, which makes double chins disappear, or the area below your chin will be in shadow, and won't show up in the picture at all. For a group picture where you want everyone to look good, stand on a chair and have everyone look up at you: We've been using this technique at parties for years. It works!

7. Forget about looking thin and just relax. Not all experts agree with the stand-up-straight, pose-like-a-movie-star advice. We spoke to Edward Keating, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning photographer for the 'New York Times,' who was the principal photographer for the newspaper's 'Vows' column for seven years. He says that the best thing a subject can do to look good in photographs is to be relaxed and happy. "Look at the photographer, not at the camera," says Keating. "If they're connected with me, they're not thinking about the camera and the lens."

Fare Well at The Food Court: Find Healthy Fast Food!

If you adopt some healthy shopping strategies, you can brunch and lunch at the mall with impunity, according to Joseph Piscatella, president of the Institute for Fitness and Health in Tacoma, Wash., and author of 'The Fat-Gram Guide to Restaurant Food' (Workman Publishing, 1998).

But too few people, it seems, think before they order -- or even have time to. These "impulse buys" can have major health implications, especially when you look at the statistics. According to a study by the American Dietetic Association, 52 percent of mall shoppers aren't just going for that killer sale on Nine West pumps but also to appear in "court" to chow down.
You're probably thinking you need to enter a 12-step program to wean yourself off the greasy spoon. Not really, but because we've dispatched a cadre of nutritionists to the food court to gather intelligence on fast-food strategies that won't crimp your taste buds. Here's what they turned up.

Know thy weakness. Research shows that most people will dutifully survey a fast-food menu with seeming objectivity, only to order their old favorites. "If you know you are a burger man or a salad woman, then aim for the leanest offering in the category," says North Carolina nutrition consultant Connie Frey, M.P.H., R.D. A plain single burger at Wendy's, for example, contains approximately 360 calories and 16 grams of fat; McDonald's standard burger has around 280 calories and 10 grams of fat. A salad with chicken has on average from 3 to 9 grams of fat (go light on the dressing, though -- a packet of ranch can add as much as 37 fat grams).

Mix 'n' match. Don't put your fate in the greasy hands of one fast-food restaurant. Order a Chili Cheese from Taco Bell, a garden salad from McDonald's with fat-free dressing, and a 6-ounce orange juice for a meal that won't send your cholesterol through the roof. Sure, you'll have to wait in two lines, but your heart and waistline will thank you for your patience.

Make it a meal instead of a snack. Calories from snacks can easily equal a meal but without any nutritional benefits. The proof is in the pie: One slab of Dutch Apple Pie at Burger King and a medium Coke will cost you around 570 calories and 14 fat grams. Two Chocolate Chunk cookies from Subway and a medium Sprite add up to approximately 630 calories and 20 grams of fat. You'd do better nutritionally with that regular burger from McDonald's and 8 ounces of 1 percent milk.

Go small. Although the fast-food industry hinges on the philosophy that bigger is indubitably better, resist the Super Size urge and order the junior or small size across the board, Piscatella suggests.

Go for the extras. But be picky. Naturally low-fat veggies and condiments like mustard, ketchup and salsa can add both flavor and nutrition to sandwiches, burritos and pizza.

Learn to share. Splitting your Big Mac or box of Chicken Tenders and small fries with a willing friend will cut the damage to your waistline in half.

Strike a balance. If you occasionally give in to your weakness, whether it be a Big Mac, KFC, or a slice of meat-topped pizza, don't then splurge on a milk shake and chili-cheese fries. Balance your high-fat item with a salad or fruit parfait.

Most of all, don't feel guilty about the odd lapse. "You don't wake up one day and find yourself overweight because you had a Whopper the previous day," Piscatella

7 Ways to Jump Start Your Weight Loss!

When you're trying to lose weight, the question isn't whether or not you'll hit a plateau, it's when. Plateaus are like bad weather on a long hike: it's inevitable that you'll run into it, but knowing that in advance won't make it one bit less frustrating or annoying when it happens. Cheer up! Since plateaus are as common as rain, we have a pretty good idea what to do about them. At least one of the following techniques should help you break through a plateau and start losing again.

1. Be a Calorie Detective

When clients tell me they've stopped losing weight, the first thing I ask is this: how many calories a day are you eating? Calories have a way of creeping up while we're not paying attention. Be brutally honest with yourself: how much are you eating? Using a food diary for a while is a great way to monitor this. And yes, sodas and alcoholic beverages count! A good calorie goal for dieters is your target weight times 10.

2. Change It Up

When you're not making gains in an exercise program you change your routine. Same holds true with your eating plan. Low-carbers could go higher carb for a few days, high-carbers might switch to a plan like Atkins or South Beach. Varying calorie intake may have a positive effect: If you're averaging 1,500 calories daily, try dropping to 1,200, going up to 2,000 and then dropping back to 1,500. You get the idea. Your body's gotten comfortable, so it's time to shake things up.

3. Try a Temporary Ban

Food sensitivities can cause weight gain and bloat, and the frustrating thing is that most of us don't always know which foods are the culprits. So play the odds. Highest on the list of "usual suspects" are grains (wheat in particular), and sugar. Temporarily ban all these and see what happens.

4. Take Your Workout Up a Notch

Forget the "fat burning zone." High intensity intervals -- 30 to 60 seconds -- are the wave of the future. If you're accustomed to level three on your cardio machine, ramp it up to level 6 for a minute then slow down, catch your breath and repeat. Ever see a sprinter with love handles? Training like a sprinter will lower your body fat faster than any technique I know of, plus it'll boost your metabolism and lower your weight.

5. Strength Training

If you're not, start now. And if you are, ramp it up a notch. Muscle is your greatest ally in breaking a plateau. Unfortunately many women train with weights too light to produce the metabolic boost they need. Don't be afraid of heavier weights. They should be heavy enough that you can only do between 8 and 12 reps.

6. Up Your Protein!

Studies show that higher protein diets make it easier to lose fat. Protein boosts the metabolism (in one study as much as 100 percent for 24 hours), and increases satiety, making it more likely that you won't overeat. A higher protein diet could be just what you need to break that plateau. Try one of our whey protein products, like great-tasting Lean and Fit or our purest Whey Protein Isolate. http://www.allthewhey.com/allproteins.html

7. Try a Detox

Unsupervised fasting is a really bad idea, but the idea of giving your system a rest makes sense. Try a "smart fast" of nothing but fruits and vegetables for a couple of days. The added fiber is always helpful, and the massive amount of nutrients and phytochemicals is like "spring cleaning" for your metabolism 8. Take InventoryOther things besides diet and exercise could be stalling your weight loss, such as stress, lack of sleep or medication. Take a look at what else is going on in your life that might need attention. Sometimes when you clean up the problems in one area of your life, problems in other areas just naturally take care of themselves.

Good-For-You Fats!

Saturated fat and trans fat increase your risk of heart disease by raising blood cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol, the type that promotes heart disease. Saturated and trans fats in the diet also boost the levels of triglycerides (another type of fat) in your blood. And even worse, trans fat lowers your levels of HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol that helps protect against heart disease. But don’t switch back to butter if you’ve been using margarine. Instead, choose a heart-healthy margarine made with little or no trans fat or saturated fat. This research shows that it’s healthier to replace bad fats with good fats (poly- and monounsaturated fats and fish oil) than it is to cut back on all fats in your diet. That’s because simply reducing fats across the board lowers your healthy HDL cholesterol as well as the damaging LDL cholesterol. It’s like cutting down the whole tree just to get rid of some bad apples.

Ideally, you want to keep LDLs low and HDLs high, and that’s what the good fats help do. When you replace unhealthy saturated and trans fats with healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, LDLs drop more than beneficial HDLs.

Other positive effects come specifically from omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, found in fish, many vegetable oils, and some nuts and seeds. These fats reduce triglycerides, prevent arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats), lower blood pressure, and help prevent atherosclerosis. Omega-3s and omega-6s both reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Fish, in particular, appears to offer potent protection against the most common type of stroke — ischemic stroke, which is caused by blockages in the arteries to the brain. In 2002, the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study found that men who ate seafood as little as once a month were 43% less likely to have ischemic strokes than men who ate seafood less often. Women in the Nurses’ Health Study who ate fish were also less likely to get strokes than those who didn’t. Monounsaturated fats have not been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, but they do lower LDLs, which means that they’re good for the heart. The liberal use of olive oil in Mediterranean countries contributes to the very low rates of heart disease there.

What does all this mean for you? To reduce your risk of heart disease, replace dangerous saturated fats and trans fats with beneficial polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.

Why You Should Exercise...Even Though You Don't Want To

The benefits of exercise may sound too good to be true, but decades of solid science confirm that exercise improves health and can extend your life. Adding as little as half an hour of moderately intense physical activity to your day can help you avoid a host of serious ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, depression, and several types of cancer, in particular breast and colon cancers.

In addition to the disease-fighting properties of exercise, regular activity can improve the quality of your life and your general well-being in many other ways, such as helping you sleep better, reduce stress, control your weight, brighten your mood, sharpen your mental functioning, and improve your sex life.

Exercise at a Glance

In a nutshell, exercise can:
-Reduce your chances of getting heart disease.

-Lower your risk of developing hypertension and diabetes.
-Reduce your risk for colon cancer and some other forms of cancer.
-Improve your mood and mental functioning.
-Keep your bones strong and joints healthy.
-Help you maintain a healthy weight.
-Help you maintain your independence well into your later years.

6 Ways to Stay Sharp

Challenge your mind. Staying mentally active appears to help ward off memory loss. Engaging in challenging board games, reading, working crossword puzzles, playing a musical instrument, and acquiring new skills keep your mind fit. Such activities seem to expand the web of neuronal connections in the brain and help keep neurons nimble and alive.

Challenge your body. Just like cells anywhere else in the body, brain cells crave a steady diet of oxygen. Physically active people are more likely to stay mentally active, too. Two Journal of the American Medical Association studies published in 2004 underscore this notion. After testing nearly 19,000 women ages 70–81 enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study, researchers found that those who engaged in regular physical activity scored higher on tests of attention, recall, and other markers of cognitive function and exhibited less mental decline than more sedentary peers. Vigorous exercise wasn't necessary — walking at an easy pace for at least 1.5 hours a week was nearly as effective as more active pursuits. Similarly, walking reduced the likelihood of dementia in a study of more than 2,000 men ages 71–93. Compared with those who walked over 2 miles a day, men who walked less than one-quarter mile a day had a 1.8-fold higher risk for developing dementia.

Get your rest. Too little sleep can affect memory. Six hours may be the minimum needed, although researchers testing college students found those who had eight hours were better able to learn new skills. Interestingly, some experts believe sleep inhibits stress hormones.

Limit stress. Researchers speculate that consistently high levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol, may impair nerve cells in the hippocampus, which oversees certain types of learning and recall. In a randomized study, healthy adults were given a daily dose of cortisol for four days — either a low dose that mimicked the amount released under everyday stress or a high dose. Those who had higher doses recalled fewer details of texts read to them each day. Their memory impairment was reversible once the cortisol wore off. Meditating, performing yoga or tai chi, or using other stress-reduction techniques regularly helps ease stress.

Watch your weight. Staying within a normal weight range lowers your risk for illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, and stroke, which can compromise memory to varying degrees.

Check with your doctor. Are you getting annual checkups for hearing and sight? Are there any factors — such as medications, vitamin deficiencies, or chronic conditions — that could be better managed to help you stay as mentally sharp as possible? Discuss these issues with your doctor.

Chocolate: A Sweet Deal

Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables. These benefits are from flavonoids, which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries). Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body.

Heart Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate:
Dark chocolate is good for your heart. A small bar of it everyday can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well. Two heart health benefits of dark chocolate are:

Lower Blood Pressure: Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.
Lower Cholesterol: Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.

Other Benefits of Dark Chocolate:
Chocolate also holds benefits apart from protecting your heart:
-it tastes good! (duh.)
-it stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure
-it contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant
-it contains theobromine, caffeine and other substances which are stimulants

Doesn't Chocolate Have a lot of Fat?:
Here is some more good news -- some of the fats in chocolate do not impact your cholesterol. The fats in chocolate are 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid:
Oleic Acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is also found in olive oil.
Steari Acid is a saturated fat but one which research is shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol.
Palmitic Acid is also a saturated fat, one which raises cholesterol and heart disease risk.
That means only 1/3 of the fat in dark chocolate is bad for you.

Chocolate Tip 1 - Balance the Calories:
This information doesn't mean that you should eat a pound of chocolate a day. Chocolate is still a high-calorie, high-fat food. Most of the studies done used no more than 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate a day to get the benefits.
One bar of dark chocolate has around 400 calories. If you eat half a bar of chocolate a day, you must balance those 200 calories by eating less of something else. Cut out other sweets or snacks and replace them with chocolate to keep your total calories the same.

Chocolate Tip 2 - Taste the Chocolate:
Chocolate is a complex food with over 300 compounds and chemicals in each bite. To really enjoy and appreciate chocolate, take the time to taste it. Professional chocolate tasters have developed a system for tasting chocolate that include assessing the appearance, smell, feel and taste of each piece.

Chocolate Tip 3 - Go for Dark Chocolate:
Dark chocolate has far more antioxidants than milk or white chocolate. These other two chocolates cannot make any health claims. Dark chocolate has 65 percent or higher cocoa content.

Chocolate Tip 4 - Skip the Nougat:
You should look for pure dark chocolate or dark chocolate with nuts, orange peel or other flavorings. Avoid anything with caramel, nougat or other fillings. These fillings are just adding sugar and fat which erase many of the benefits you get from eating the chocolate.

The Positive Side of Stress

As many people have noted, the stress response can be enormously helpful. Surging adrenaline enables people to perform Herculean feats. Fight-or-flight responses are appropriate and essential in such overwhelming situations. When appropriately invoked, the stress response helps us rise to many challenges. These challenges may be external forces, such as a fire or an earthquake, or internal threats, such as your circulatory system teetering on the brink of a deadly collapse. The fight-or-flight response can prove beneficial under far less dangerous circumstances, too.

Physiologist Hans Selye, whose work helped shape modern stress theory, advanced the idea that physical and psychosocial stressors trigger the same physiological response. Selye explored the line between short-term stress that stimulates people to summon the resources to hurdle obstacles (so-called "good" stress) and chronic or overabundant stress, which wears down the ability to adapt and cope ("bad" stress or distress).

Two Harvard researchers, Robert M. Yerkes and John D. Dodson, likewise demonstrated that a jolt of stress isn't necessarily bad. They noted that as stress or anxiety levels rose, so did performance and efficiency — up to a point. At this turning point, further stress and anxiety led to significant decreases in performance and ability.

Where that line is drawn or where that turning point falls seems to differ from person to person. For while the stress response is hard-wired into humans and other animals, the events and perceptions that set it off vary widely. What you perceive as a threatening situation, your neighbor may easily brush aside or even relish.

Who knew stress could be a good thing!?

The Perfect Frame

Long drop earrings are the perfect slimming accessory. With the two vertical stripes framing your face, the opticals are there for a thinner look in-between!!!!!!!

A hair styling tip for a slimmer look

For girls with full faces, a side part can be slimming. Try parting your hair so that the part lines up with the pupil of one eye, and sweep the hair over to rest on the other side of your face. It’s an ultra slimming 'do!!!!!!

visit www.allthewhey.com for a great selection of yummy bariatric drinks - for all our 'bari beauties!!!!!!!'

Mirror image

Getting a diamond to shimmer takes polishing. If we’re dressing by coordinating tops and bottoms, we need info about flattering tops to keep our slimmer line going from head to toe. Soooo, a wide collared shirt or a simple ruffle near the face will draw the eye to your neck, head, and face, for a polished, slenderized look!!!!!!

Setting personal goals..

IDOL CHATTER:
Put your sunglasses on, and let’s get ready to look into that Hollywood glare, and see just how all the media to-do about starlets affects you, your body image and goals you set for yourself. We can all imagine those glamorama lives, waking up when your hair stylist and make up artist arrive to "work on" you, and tell you how amazing you are; your dietitian feeds you the perfect combination of energy and ego boost; your personal trainer shares fitness and encouragement; you’re stylist finds the perfect outfit; the masseuse kneads knots; manicurist fixes nails; brow master shapes the ultra brow; wax artist scours both bikini lines and upper lips, and there’s still time for that routine facial before designers arrive with fabulous dresses and jewelry that spotlight their work . How bad could a day be with all of that????????.
If all that doesn’t work, then the plastic surgeon can nip, tuck or suck out whatever’s not working. Waist too big, take out a rib bone, breast too small, add a few saline sizes, gravity pulling things down, get lifted. There’s collagen for bigger lips, lasers for fresher skin, botox or fillers for line freedom. Still not perfect? Make sure only the best photo angles are used, and get out those air brushes. Hollywood packages only ideals.


SWEET MORNING DO:
Who wouldn't look so much better with all that attention to grooming and ego? Can you imagine going to school or work after your hair, make up, and outfit have been styled by professionals, all the time sucking up; paid to make you feel good? How ‘bout only being seen airbrushed, at our most perfect angle, after a staff of 10 have worked their magic??? Sweeeeeet, isn’t it?????. How can we compete with that?


INSIDE OUT:
Don't we all want to be dreamy looking, eyed by the hottest boys and men, envied by the A-list girls and women, even ‘tho we’ve all been told that beauty comes from the inside, and being a good person is what’s really important. Honestly, if we had a choice between being stunningly beautiful or honored as a saint, which would we choose? ?????? And it doesn't matter how old we are!!!!!!!!.

How we look affects how we feel; how we look compared to others is key. Ever know any female who can really focus when she's having a bad hair day? Let’s face it, no one cares about inner beauty if there’s a huge pimple growing on their chin!!!!!!!!.

* Whey word for today: We all care about our looks, and want to look better. Sooooo – let’s set some goals for our personal best. We're gonna stop comparing ourselves to everyone else, and work it with what we've got, until we get that glow. .... a radiant style that's all our own.!!!!!!!

They'll be exercise, diet, healthy living and styling tips every day. So set some goals - make them reasonable - and let's go after it. If I'm not talking about something and you want to know about it - just ask. If you know something and want to share it - please do.




Women's Multi-Vitamin on SALE this week - 120 capsules ONLY $9.98
Our Women's Food Based Multi is a multi-vitamin, mineral and herbal formula that provides all the essential nutrients necessary for radiant health. These vitamins and minerals are food based for increased absorption.

Six Pack ABS

If you admire all those 6 pack abs, just remember that nothing is fair or equal. Men and boys have it much easier when it comes to six packs. Females have an extra fat layer that males don’t, so men and boys don’t have to work as hard as women and girls to develop packed ab muscles . Yale University researchers found that teen girls smile more than teen boys, according to ‘Prevention Magazine.’ With all the extra ab and face muscle work, girls should be the grumpier ones. Grrrrrrr.

Russian Twists:• Start in seated position with knees bent and feet on the ground.• Lean back at a 45 degree angle• Rotate your upper body as far as you can from side to side, keeping your hips and legs stationary.• Keep you hands – or a medicine ball if you’re more advanced – at shoulder height and arms length as you rotate them• Do 4 sets of 20 twists with a 30 second rest between each set.

Ab Work

When you’re doing ab work, inhale through your nose, bringing oxygen in to prepare for the push; breathe out in puffs through your mouth when you exert, as you pull in your abs. That’s Inhale when you’re going Into it; Exhale when you Exert the most effort and are Exiting from the power move. You’ll feel the exercise much more dramatically!!!

Performance counts

When you’re doing aerobics, it’s important to monitor your breathing as it speeds up. An easy way to check is to listen to yourself sing. If you can get out a melody while working out, you’re doing just fine. If your voice is tooooo breathy, then slow down a bit.

Cheek to cheek

Efficient running means using your arms properly. Arms should be bent at a 45 degree angle at the elbows, with fingers extended AT ALL TIMES. Keep your arms firm and your elbows held close to your body – not flapping around or flying up or out. Push up one bent arm as you pull down the other, alternating them like a robot.Create an arc so your hands go cheek to cheek. That is, first swing your elbow forward and up, with your arm bent, so your extended fingers are near the cheek on you face, then pull your elbow down and back, in an arc, keeping your arm firm and bent, so that your elbow ends up raised behind you, and your extended fingers are near your butt cheek. Doing this is critical to lung efficiently, so you’ll have more air and endurance; and a faster pace, with less effort.

Relaxed running

When you’re running, either on a track or on a treadmill, and you’ve had it, simple corrections will help your speed and breathing, so you’ll find energy to keep going.: 1) Make sure you’re hands are moving cheek to cheek with fingers extended and elbows in close to your body. (see "cheek to cheek" 2) relax your shoulders, and then any other muscles you’re tensing. 3) Make sure those hands are unclenched, fingers are extended.

Form vs content

If you’re a woman just starting to exercise, you need to do it away from the mirror. An Ontario study, reported in ‘Elle,’ showed that the impact of mirror reflections was different, depending on the exerciser’s level. “While active women focus on their form, sedentary women pick themselves apart.”

First things first

If you feel pokey when you’re walking or running, and you want to speed- up, use your arms !!!! First make sure your arms are positioned correctly – see "cheek to cheek" – and get used to how that feels. Skilled walkers and runners pump their arms faster when they want to speed up, because they know their legs will follow!!!!

Against the trend

When you diet, your metabolism slows down. An efficient way “to reverse that trend is to perform strength and resistance moves,” according to studies in Good Housekeeping. So get out the weights, all you dieters, here we go!!! Strength training - anerobics - working out with weights, - builds stronger muscles. Stronger muscles burn more calories than weaker ones. Sooooo, lifting those weights is all about boosting your metabolism, FYI!!!!!

Whatever works

Everybody’s access is different, so you have to be a designer, and build your own fitness mix.

You need to slowly work up to more than 20 minutes of aerobic exercise; and/or more than 10 minutes of weight training 4 – 5 days a week; with an ab add –on component when you’re ready.

Seem overwhelming and impossible? You start burning fat after 20 minutes of aerobics, so get going slowly, and gradually work up to what’s realistic, and makes you feel fit and good. Mix it up so it isn’t boring, and it’s easier on your body.

Props for trying

No matter how much exercise you do, give yourself props. Don’t go off on what you didn’t’ do. If you do 5 minutes one day, it’s 5 minutes more than nothing, so hoorays are all for you!!!!!!.

Chemical Reaction

When you’re stressing big time, your body releases adrenaline to give you energy to get through it. By exercising, you’re switching stress’ adrenaline overload , to inner peace from endorphins. Can you think of a more positive power switch, even if it’s things floating in your blood?

Ten ways a serious work out can help you

1) Energize you
2) Strengthen your muscles and bones
3) Strengthen your heart and lungs
4) Reduce stress
5) Improve your skin
6) Reshape your body
7) Keep your eyes healthier
8) Pump your metabolism
9) Burn calories
10) Give you attitude!!!!!

What else gives you so much bang for your buck?

Butcher block

After twenty minutes of breathing aerobically, you have oxygen galore. The oxygen hunts for stored fat and burns it up. We know the only good stores for fat are delis or butcher shops, so let’s do aerobics for more than 20 minutes, use oxygen to clear out our fat storage lockers, and shop only at stores that are fun!!!!!!!!!.

Calcium in food

“600 milligrams of calcium in food each day suppress the body’s creation of calcitrol, a hormone that signals fat cells to make more fat and burn less of it according to Vogue Magazine. No more calcitrol for us if it’s gonna act that way. The calcium in whey protein can help stop calcitrol, and that’s good weight management. We want less fat and more burn. Calcium rules!!!!!!!.

Go to www.allthewhey.com for calcium tablets or use any of the protein powders for your calcium needs especially our Complete Whey for Women!!!!!!

TV’s are getting slimmer, we are not

If you want to lose weight, cut down on how much TV you watch.

The Harvard School of public Health’s Nurses’ Health Study concluded that, “Watching TV is more likely to lead to obesity and diabetes than sewing, playing board games, reading, sitting at a desk or driving..... because TV watching is associated with a lower energy expenditure than other sedentary activities.

No more couch potatoes

Television writers only fill 42 minutes of every hour network show, saving the other 18 minutes for commercials. The food industry spends billions of dollars every year to push their products at target “optimized” markets. With each commercial reminding us there’s food out there that’s gonna taste and feel good, we’re being pounded by the minute.

We need All the Whey hoodia ½ hour before meals, but maybe we need it ½ hour before watching TV to keep our cravings down!!!!!!! Find it at www.allthewhey.com

A Good Diet means less TV

According to the Wall Street Journal: “Studies support the notion that we ingest more calories when eating in front of the TV or at the movies, probably because the distraction makes us less aware of what we’re eating... studies suggest that TV food ads influence the types of snacks we choose.”

What aren’t they telling us

A healthy diet means eating when we’re hungry, not to fix a bad mood or boredom. TV food commercials are full of thin, carefree actors pushing food to feel good and be happy. Since they want us to think of food as fun, the ads never connect eating and hunger – a must for healthy living- and they never talk about the heath risks of eating what they’re pushing.

Can’t shake it

Salt is like a water plug that makes you hold onto liquids, and the last thing we need to be is a retaining pool!!!!!! Watch labels for high “sodium” content, and leave the salt for someone else’s swell. Besides, lots of salt can cause hypertension, another name for high blood pressure, and since we need to reduce all our tensions, let’s just start today with the hyper ones!!!!!.

Snooze to lose

It’s logical that when you’re tired, you’re body wants energy, so you’ll feel hungrier and eat more, but it’s also scientific and hormonal: 1) Less sleep means less serotonin which means you’ll be wanting more sugary foods. 2) Less sleep means less leptin telling you that you’re full. 3) Less sleep means more ghrelin pumping up your appetite. Soooooo, after years of seeing a connection between sleepy and weighty, the Canyon Ranch advises us to get our z’s to avoid the munchies.