The Treadmill

Since I started losing weight, the treadmill has been my best friend...but now I am starting to get bored with it.  I have found it hard to motivate myself to get on the treadmill because I get so bored with it now, so I need to find an exercise on the treadmill that will help motivate me again.  If anyone has suggestions I would love to hear them.  I am selling my elliptical in hopes of getting a stationary bicycle as I love working out on them, so I hope changing up my routine will help with my boredom.  Also, the weather has sucked so I haven't been able to exercise outside and that's been rather depressing...like today it's pouring out and cold which means I will be stuck on the treadmill...

Dining Out

How is it possible to dine out and still maintain your weight loss goals?  I've decided that it's impossible unless you check out the restaurants nutrition information before going.  Unfortunately, not all restaurants provide that information so that can make it tricky.  It's best to look at the entire menu at a restaurant to see if they have a "light" or "healthy" section, those usually have the least amount of calories and sodium.  But if you are unable to find a "healthy" section your best bet is to stick with a salad, grilled fish, or chicken.  It's tempting to get back into your old ways and order fried chicken with french fries, and then devour it all.....DON'T let temptations ruin your diet.  It's okay to "splurge" every once in a while, but don't go over board!

Power Up Your Yoga

If feeling strong, toned and confident is part of your mantra this month, spring into action and recharge your exercise routine with our muscle-defining, effective calorie-burning active yoga workout. If you still think of yoga as a relaxing, "stretchy-feely" discipline, you might want to consider joining the 15 million Americans (twice as many as five years ago) who have realized what an incredible workout it can be. Deep, energizing breaths combined with fluid movement and challenging poses train your heart and lungs, light up your muscles and make you feel amazing.

In this program, you'll move smoothly from one pose to the next (this progression, or flow, of poses is known as a vinyasa), rather than holding each position. In addition to the cardiovascular calorie burn this achieves, you'll tone and reshape your entire body, making you look longer, stronger and leaner. So if you've been "cocooning" all winter, it's time for a breath of fresh air ... literally. Get out of your shell and onto your yoga mat and experience the power of yoga.

The plan

Workout schedule Do these moves in the order shown at least 3 times a week. To make it a truly cardio-style yoga workout, move from one pose to the next without stopping (but also without getting breathless), giving yourself 4-6 counts to move into each pose before going on to the next. Repeat the sequence 6-8 times, alternating sides each time you perform the Warrior I, Warrior II and Side Plank poses.

Warm-up Begin by moving slowly through the first sequence of moves, giving yourself 6-8 counts for each pose.

Cool-down Complete this program by stretching all of your major muscle groups (to bring your heart rate down and elongate your muscles), holding each stretch for at least 30 seconds without bouncing.

Cardio clue While this workout will get your heart rate up and yield some cardiovascular benefits, it shouldn't be substituted for a regular aerobic program. Aim to do at least 30 minutes of cardio activity 3-5 times a week. For an in-depth cardio, click on strength and stretch program, and the walk/run program.

http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/stretch-flex-and-tone/yoga/power-up-your-yoga

Bad Foods that Are Good for Weight Loss

“Bad” Foods Can Help You Lose

Seductive foods seem to lurk at every turn, especially when you’re trying to lose weight. But many foods that have gotten a bad rap aren’t so terrible after all. Learn which tempting treats can actually help you lose weight and keep it off.

Eggs

When it comes to healthy eating, few foods have sparked as much debate as eggs. The latest research suggests an egg a day is safe and nutritious for most adults -- and if you eat that egg for breakfast, you’ll boost your odds of losing weight. The reason: Eggs are packed with protein, which takes time to digest. Eating protein in the morning keeps your stomach busy, so you eat less during the rest of the day.

Steak

For years, health experts have been admonishing us to eat less red meat. But steak is not always bad for the waistline. In fact, a lean cut of beef has barely more saturated fat than a similar size skinless chicken breast. Like eggs, steak is loaded with protein and can keep you feeling full longer. To get plenty of protein with less fat, choose T-bone, sirloin tip, or other extra-lean cuts -- and limit portions to the size of your fist.

Pork

Talk about a bad reputation -- the term “pork” is used to describe all kinds of excess, so it’s no wonder dieters often steer clear. Here’s a case where the meat itself is not what it used to be. Today’s cuts of pork tenderloin are 31% leaner than 20 years ago. That makes this white meat a lean source of protein with benefits similar to those of lean beef.

Pasta

Rather than avoiding pasta when you’re dieting, make the switch to whole grain. Research suggests people who eat several servings of whole-grain foods per day are more likely to slim down and maintain healthy weights. According to one study, eating whole grains rather than refined grains can also help burn belly fat.

Nuts

Nuts may be high in fat, but it’s the good kind. And they are also rich in protein and fiber, which can help stabilize blood sugar. Sure, you’ll get a few extra grams of fat from munching on a handful of nuts, but it’s worth it if it helps you avoid reaching for cookies or other sweets. Even peanut butter can be a dieter’s friend. Studies show small amounts of this favorite food can control hunger without causing weight gain.

Cheese

Dieters often try to cut calories by nixing calcium-rich dairy foods, but some studies suggest this is a mistake. One theory is that the body burns more fat when it gets enough calcium, so eating cheese, yogurt, and milk may actually contribute to weight loss. Calcium supplements don’t seem to yield the same benefits, so high-calcium diets may have other factors at work as well.

Coffee

Coffee only falls in the “bad” category when you mix in cream, sugar, or flavored syrups. If you drink it black, you get a metabolism boost without added fat and calories. One study indicates the caffeine in two cups of coffee may cause a 145-pound woman to burn 50 extra calories over four hours.

Bad Foods – Good Portions

Just about any “bad” food can be part of your weight loss plan if you stick to small enough portions. In fact, dietitians advise against banning your favorite treats. Depriving yourself of the foods you crave could set you up for failure. A better strategy is to set limits on quantity -- for example, one chocolate truffle a day -- and stick to them.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/slideshow-bad-foods-that-are-good-for-weight-loss?ecd=wnl_nal_wmh_051711

Finally Nice Weather!

After a bad start to Spring we are finally starting to see some nice weather in the Seattle area.  Hopefully this means we might have a warm Summer....I hope!  I have been looking forward to nicer weather because it will help me lose my last 20 lbs.  I get bored easily which means I am already bored with my usual routine which consists of the treadmill, workout videos, or yoga.  And although I love doing all three, it can get boring after doing them week after week.  I need a change, something that will help motivate me and allow me to workout.  Having nice weather means I can go for walks with my dogs or go on bicycles rides. 

Today is beautiful and although it isn't as warm as I would like I want to do something active outside.  I plan on going for a bicycle ride today after work with my fiance as we both need the exercise.  I will let you know how it goes, hopefully I can ride as well as I did last year....we shall see.

Goal #1 Complete!!

After eating healthy and working out for 4 months I finally reached my first weight loss goal and boy it feels good!  I would have reached it two or three weeks sooner, but instead I ate whatever I wanted and maintained my weight. :) Now it's time to get back on track as our Vegas vacation is only 2 months away; plus I am beyond ready to lose my final 20 pounds.  Along with reaching my goal I have also moved into the healthy category for BMI! 

When I talk to people about my weight loss and how I want to lose 20 more pounds they look at my like I am crazy and ask me where...sometimes I don't know what to say to them.  When I look in the mirror I see someone who is still heavy so maybe I am missing something.  I just want to feel comfortable with myself and that happens to be the weight I was when I joined the Air Force....back in 2003. 

Keeping Balance

I am now attempting to do yoga every Monday and Thursday...today was my first Monday class.  It was with a new teacher so I wasn't sure what to expect since all teachers seem to have their own style.  We started off with some simple stretches and then we went into some balancing poses and usually I have no issues with them, but today boy did I struggle.  It probably didn't help that I didn't get much sleep the night before and for some reason I just wasn't feeling good at all.  But I didn't want my illness to keep me from relaxing and enjoying yoga, but it did.  I had to do the "easy" version of a few poses and it really ticked me off.  All in all, yoga was success, the class was full of people and the teacher wasn't too bad. 

Thursday = Yoga

After a few months of only doing cardio, I've decided it's time to add yoga back into my exercise schedule.  I am now practicing yoga every Thursday and possible Monday's as well.  Last night at Yoga we started off with meditation, it was so relaxing and needed after a rough work week.  Last night was one of my favorite classes, we did different poses that helped my back feel 10 times better...we also did a few of my favorite poses.  I feel so powerful when doing the warrior poses that they have turned into one of my favorites, if you aren't sure what a warrior pose is I've provided a picture below. :)  You might be thinking, "well that doesn't look hard" but let me tell you it feels amazing! 





Benefits of Yoga

Top 10 Reasons to Try Yoga for Life… (courtesy of Yoga Alliance and Yoga Day USA)

The health and fitness benefits of yoga have long been reported by practitioners and are now being confirmed by scientific research. Give yoga a try and discover what it can do for your body, your mind, and your soul.

1. YOGA FOR … STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. YOGA FOR … PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.

3. YOGA FOR … BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. YOGA FOR … FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.

5. YOGA FOR … INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body, they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.

6. YOGA FOR … WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self esteem.

7. YOGA FOR … IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. YOGA FOR … CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardio-vascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. YOGA FOR … FOCUS ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

10. YOGA FOR … INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their daily lives.

The New Abs Diet for Women: Diet Review

By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD

WebMD Expert ReviewEveryone wants flat abs. Belly fat is not just an eyesore, but fat around the middle may be dangerous and is the target of the New Abs Diet for Women.

Author and editor-in-chief of Men's Health and Women's Health magazines, David Zinczenko claims to have the formula to burn belly fat and get washboard abs in just six weeks by changing the way you eat and exercise.

Updated with new research, a portion distortion decoder, and tips on using food to boost health, the New Abs Dietfor Women is easier to use and even more effective at melting belly fat than Zinczenko's 2007 book, Abs Diet for Women, he tells WebMD by email.

Diet and exercise work better together than alone. In order to get flat abs, you need both. Half of the book is devoted to strength and interval training exercise diagrams to guide your fitness plan of 20 minutes, three days a week during weeks three to six.

The plan promises up to 12 pounds of belly fat weight loss during the first two weeks of the plan, when exercise is optional, although walking is highly recommended.

Tips throughout the book provide solid and helpful dieting advice. But whether you'll get flat abs is less certain.

"While improvement in the appearance of stomach muscles is possible with a healthful diet and exercise, losing up to 12 pounds of belly fat in two weeks is unrealistic," says weight loss nutritionist Elisa Zied, MS, RD.

The New Abs Diet for Women: What You Can Eat

Front and center on the plan are the 12 power foods featured in the menu plans. These foods are highlighted because they are nutrient-rich, contain protein, calcium, and healthy fats. Portion sizes are prescribed to keep calories in check, even for power foods.

Within the 12 power foods, there are lots of options to add variety and satisfy a wide range of palates.

The New Abs Diet 12 Power Foods – (acronym spells abs diet power)

1. Almonds and Other Nuts eaten with skins intact.

2. Beans and Other Legumes

3. Spinach and Other Green Vegetables

4. Dairy: Fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese

5. Instant Oatmeal: Unsweetened, unflavored

6. Eggs

7. Turkey and other lean meats. Lean steak, chicken, fish

8. Peanut Butter – All-natural, sugar-free.

9. Olive Oil

10. Whole-Grain Breads and Cereals

11. Extra- Protein powder(Whey)

12. Raspberries and Other Berries

Eat six mini meals a day with an emphasis on protein, prescribed at every meal to keep you feeling satisfied and to repair muscles. Meals are centered on power foods showcased in three weeks of diet plans and recipes. Calories range from 1400-1600 daily.

Drink plenty of water, limit alcohol to 2-3 drinks per week, and once weekly you can splurge on a cheat meal and eat anything you like.

What's not on the menu are refined carbs, baked goods, sugar, white rice, pasta, high fructose corn syrup, fried foods, margarine, foods made with partially hydrogenated oils, whole-fat dairy, fatty meats, saturated fat, and trans fats.

The New Abs Diet for Women: How It Works

The No. 1 predictor of weight gain is dieting, Zinczenko says. He advocates six small meals daily to keep the body well fed with healthy food to encourage burning fat while retaining muscle.

Power foods, healthy proteins, and slow-burning carbs -- along with resistance exercise -- is the crucial mix for keeping muscle mass and accelerating fat loss, Zinczenko says.

Though The New Abs Diet for Women claims not to be a diet, it is indeed a diet with a detailed plan. It's not a short-term diet, though -- it's a healthy eating plan that Zinczenko wants women to use for life.

Designed to improve your appearance and your health, the plan can also lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and reduce risk of diabetes and certain forms of cancer, Zinczenko says.

The New Abs Diet for Women: Experts' Views

Eating six small meals per day (with protein at every meal and lots of healthy foods in controlled portions) and regular exercise are the strengths of The New Abs Diet for Women, says Christine Rosenbloom, PhD, RD, Georgia State University nutrition professor emeritus.

But Rosenbloom notes certain contradictions throughout the book. "It claims not to be a diet, yet there are menu plans for a diet averaging 1400 calories," she says.

Another contradiction is the promise of building muscle, which requires adequate calories, protein, and strength training. "This will be hard to achieve on menu plans [of] less than 1600 calories and during the first two weeks, when exercise is optional," Rosenbloom says.

Lots of studies are mentioned throughout the book but the lack of detailed references makes it hard to substantiate, Rosenbloom says.

"His promise of pure fat loss is hard to deliver because there is no such thing as a formula that guarantees pure fat loss. Rapid weight loss is more likely to be more water weight than fat loss," Rosenbloom says.

Developing six-pack abs requires very low levels of body fat and strength training. "You can't turn fat into muscle, what you can do is lose fat and build muscle," says Rosenbloom, editor of Sports Nutrition: A Practice Manual for Professionals (due out later this year),

And even if you follow the diet and exercise plan to the letter, there is no guarantee you will achieve flat abs. "Flat abs is dependent on multiple factors, including genetics, your body shape, activity level, and more," Zied says.

The New Abs Diet for Women: Food for Thought

Written in a clever and engaging style, The New Abs Diet for Women is a template for a healthier diet targeted to women who want to grow stronger and get rid of unwanted fat.

It is a sensible, realistic eating plan with an emphasis on nutrient-rich foods, calorie control, and regular fitness. And it's full of helpful tips.

Eating healthy foods six times a day can be a very effective way to manage hunger and cravings. But it is easy to overeat, so you need to carefully control your portions.

Follow the simple guide to strength training, good nutrition, and exercise and you will lose weight and improve muscle strength. But like many other diet books, some of the claims and promises may be exaggerated, overstated, or without research evidence.

Bloomsday Run

The bloomsday run turned into the bloomsday walk due to the massive amount of people who participated this year.  It was impossible to run with all of the people unless you were in one of the groups ahead of us, so next year I will be in one of those groups.  I participated in Bloomsday in 2009 and there were 30,000 people, this year we had 50,000 people participating...it was NUTS!  Although I didn't get the results I wanted I still had fun with the girls.  It was an awesome girls weekend which included a 12k walk, doesn't get better than that!