March 2010 Blog Posts

SPOILER ALERT: If you read to the end you will know who went home on this week's episode. I got home 9 minutes after this episode began, and unfortunately I missed the beginning of this special live edition. I came in right as the old contestants came back and were hopping on the scale and begging to be put back on the show and back on the ranch. Of all the pleas, Victoria and her mother gave perhaps the most compelling argument for Victoria to get her first chance on the show. In the end, the contestants voted for Victoria to be back...

First, happy holidays to those who celebrate Passover. Be good! I wanted to take a moment to talk about celebrating weight loss. Whenever I'm happy about something, I feel the urge to celebrate. Unfortunately, celebrations in our society often revolve around food. A piece of cake sounds like one of the best celebration treats when I feel like I've done something right, but I know it's not the right kind of celebration. I'm looking for a new way to celebrate weight loss and the proud occassion when I do lose it. Any suggestions? How do you celebrate your weight loss?

This is a good one for me this weekend because I plan to travel. And whenever I'm in the car for a long time, I want to snack. So, we pull over at a gas station, and I pretty much grab the cheapest snack available. Nine times out of ten that cheap snack is insanely unhealthy. And I'm sure I'm not alone. Well, to help you out a little bit, here's an article from MSN.com about the MOST unhealthy foods you can eat when you stop at a gas station. Word to the wise-stay away from these foods: http://health.msn.com/nutrition/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100255921   What you can do (and what...

SPOILER ALERT: If you read to the end, you will know who went home this week. I'm going to try to keep this one short because I realize that sometimes my recaps are lengthy and maybe you guys just want the quick and dirty. This week was the week the contestants went home. Going home, on the BL, means being faced with infinite temptations and a lack of a Jillian and a Bob to set them straight (I often say I wish I had a little Jillian Michaels I could stick in my back pocket that would come out and scream at...

We all have those days when we feel super good about ourselves-when we look in the mirror and think, "Na, I don't need to lose weight. I look pretty good." Those days are great and make us feel so good, like we could do/wear anything! But unfortunately, with those days come the other days. The days when we look in the mirror and think, "I look absolutely disgusting. I don't want to leave my house. Why would anyone love me." These days are the ones that really take a toll on us, wearing down our emotions and making us feel worthless. I'm having one of...

I haven't seen one in a long time, but I remember how I felt when Dove roled out its advertisements with the plus-size models. These women were undoubtedly beautiful, but as opposed to the models we are used to seeing, they had curves, rolls, and patches of cellulite-qualities that some might not want to see. The idea of the advertisements was not to gross America out-it was to tell America that real women do have curves, cellulite and rolls, and that we should get used to seeing it. How did I feel when I saw these commercials. Well, part of me thought "YES!...

I'm sure many of you have seen the article this week about the woman who is aiming to become the fattest woman in the world, and I'm hoping some of you have the same opinion as me that this is absolutely ludicrous and offensive. As many of us try like crazy to LOSE weight, this crazy is trying to GAIN weight JUST TO BE IN A BOOK!?!? Here is the gist of the story: Donna Simpson currently weighs 600 lbs. She's trying to gain as much as possible to be in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 2008, she gave birth to...

SPOILER ALERT: If you read to the end, you will know who went home on this week's BL. It took me a while to get into this season's Biggest Loser. But after last night's episode, I'm pumped! Last night's episode was awesome! It was also a hugeeee tearfest for me haha. So, the first challenge was much like a game of Jeopardy. The players had to answer questions about what food qualities and the components of healthy eating. I have to say, I didn't know a single answer. The next challenge was a little more my style. Guest chef Curtis Stone was on and...

On this week's Biggest Loser, Jillian conducts one of her usual blatant advertisements, this time for fat-free milk. While Jillian is describing all the reasons someone who is working out should drink milk she says the calcium and protein are the building blocks to a leaner body. I've always thought that drinking milk would work against my weight loss efforts, as I've always been told that dairy can add unecessary calories and carbs to my diet. So, I did a little investigating, and here is what I found: According to this article from e How, the dairy industry has published reports that say...

We are extra sensitive when we are trying to lose weight, as far as our feelings. The wrong words can sometimes make us want to lose weight in the first place (certain words like "big" or "thick" might make us want to lose weight). Other words, like "slim" and "fit" would suit us more. According to the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, there are certain words we should stop using when we are trying to lose weight, and other words we should start using. WORDS NOT TO USE will power compliance should, must limit, restrict prescribe expectations good/bad diet exercise regimen ideal weight WORDS TO USE commitment exploration consider choose/experience negotiate self-esteem discoveries eating style healthy BMI                         What words keep you motivated?

It is long disputed whether coffee is a good or bad thing for your body. This will probably continue to be disputed for many years to come. However, in an article posted on MSN "8 Foods to Keep you Healthy," the author suggests that coffee is healthy for you. The article says that coffee can reduce the risk of diabetes, heart attack, kidney stones, Parkinson's disease and gallstones, among many other effects. I know I've read other places that drinking one cup of coffee black before a workout can be a great way to accelerate your body and jump up your heart rate. Other sources...

It always seems to me that when I'm trying to lose weight in a certain area, my body chooses another area. For instance, if I'm trying to lose fat in my arm and legs, first it comes off of my tummy and behind. Unfortunately, we can't choose where we will lose weight from, but we can learn more about our own bodies and where we gained the weight in the first place. According to Dr. Marticia Heaner, not everyone gains and loses weight in the same places and where you do gain and lose weight, it is mostly dependent on your genes...

I tend to get over excited about things before their time. I don't know what the weather is like across the country, but here in Albany it has been BEAUTIFUL this week. So naturally, I'm beginning to get very excited about Spring! I've never been one to exercise outside much more than a jog or walk in the park, but I know some people are very into hiking, swimming, and other outside exercises. In honor of Spring, let's talk about some ideas for outdoors fitness. What is your favorite exercise outside? Do you think you get as good of a workout outside as...

I don't know how it started but I'm in to this new thing where I like to keep my sweatshirt on at the gym. The more I sweat, the more I feel like I'm working and the more I feel like I'm working, the harder I continue to work. This can be dangerous if you get too hot, but I make sure to drink extra water while I'm wearing my sweatshirt. I've debated with people in the past the meaning of sweat: when you sweat at the gym, does it mean that you're getting a good work out? Well, it turns out...

One of the most common weight loss tricks we are told to try when attempting to lose weight is to portion out our food. By portioning our food, we are fuller faster and able (if we have enough self control) to stop ourselves from eating more when we are already full. But what happens when you are still hungry later and the hunger calls you? Well, you are not alone if this happens to you! One MSN reader contacted Karen Collins, M.D., from the American Institute for Cancer Research answered questions from one reader that was concerned about their hunger post-portioning. In her advice...

I've never understood how some people can make it an entire day only eating three meals. I eat breakfast, and then an hour later I'm hungry again when lunch isn't for another two hours. So, I snack. Depending on what I snack on, I feel that I am either aiding or hurting my weight loss efforts. Well, I'm not the only one who snacks. According to a new study by the NPD Group, snacking is on the rise in Canada and snacking can aid in weight loss efforts. The study of 5,000 men and women showed that the individuals who lost...

Diets are rough. They're hard to stick with and take a long time to work-even though they do a lot of times work in the end. So, for those of you who hate dieting, I'd like to share 6 tips for losing weight without dieting. Some of them are fairly obvious, for example, "Don't eat heavily before bed." Others I know I had never thought of before, for exampe, "Eat hot soup before a meal." According to this article, eating hot soup before a meal can help with weight loss because the hot soup helps curb your appetite, forcing you to eat less. For all...

I could write an entire post about the first challenge on tonight's Biggest Loser because it was just that ridiculous in my mind. So I think I will. For anyone who does not watch the Biggest Loser, I will try my best to explain the challenge. On every Biggest Loser season, there comes a time when the individual teams of couples split up into two larger teams. Tonight's episode was the one in which the teams split, but that only happened after a grueling challenge in which contestants had to decide if they were willing to consume some massive calories in...