As we design our healthier lifestyles, we sometimes get stuck on the minutia like counting, weighting and measuring.  When this happens, it is a good idea to take a step back and look at the big picture. Let’s start with the ingredients we use.

Start with the ingredients

You can count and measure each meal all you want. It will be a lot easier if the individual ingredients you use meet your criteria for healthy. For example, how much fat, protein, carbohydrate, fiber, and etc do you want in your diet?  If your goal is to have less than 30% fat, using products that have close to 30% makes good sense.  Reading the labels can help you make healthier choices. If you want to increase your fiber, make your next selection have a higher fiber content that the last.

This will not work on all ingredients or some of our must-have favorites. But this can be fixed when you put the meal together. You can balance the fat by using low fat carbs like vegetables or lower salt intake by increasing spices. So use ingredients that meet your larger criteria, then balance each meal. Take one more step back and balance your day.

What healthy choice will you make today? Let me know.

Generally speaking, I say go for quality every time. But sometimes you need quantity to feel satisfied!

How can you do accomplish both?

•    Find the highest quality at the lowest price.  Shop at wholesale discount stores for the expensive items.
•    Add lots of low calorie extras like high fiber foods, liquids and spices. It’s like adding accessories to an expensive outfit.
•    Trick your mind. Use smaller plates and bowls. Chew longer and make it last longer.

So this is good and short! What healthy choice will you make today? Let me know.

Meal planning

First what do you consider a healthy meal? For me it would be a balance of proteins, high water carbohydrates and good fats. Then a meal would have 500 or fewer calories and a snack 200 or fewer calories. In addition, I want to feel good after I eat – not tired or hungry right away.

Next you have to decide if you want to plan by the meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) or if you want to design by categories of food (carbohydrates, fats and proteins.) Or you could do both at the same time.  You may be surprised that you eat the same types of foods in a meal. As you redesign and plan a meal, some of the ingredients will be used in other meals.

Here is an example of this.  I want my breakfast to include toast. I  select a high fiber multigrain bread. If this is the only type of bread,  I buy, my lunch sandwiches just got healthier. If I pick a healthier alternative to butter, my dinner vegetables just got healthier. What about some healthy turkey breast slices. I can have a sandwich or a salad. You get the idea.

What healthy choice will you make today? Let me know.

I had a taste for a bagel with lox’s and cream cheese.  I have avoided buying them at BJ’s because you have to buy so much. So I treated myself to 2 bagels with the fixing’s at the grocery store. Besides I hadn’t had one for several months.

So what worked?

I limited myself to two bagels total, instead of a package. I had one each day. I measured the cream cheese so the fat was less than before. I added extra tomatoes and it was very filling. I ate it early in the day, so I could burn it off. Most importantly, I really enjoyed it! Over all, I saw an improvement in my past eating pattern. I felt empowered. I did it my way -healthier than in the past.

But what could I have done better? I looked up the calories after the fact. They were somewhere between 500 and 600 calories – too many for a meal. As a meal, it had too much salt because I added it. I did have a salad for dinner to add fiber and cut the carbs. I could have had a smaller bagel.  Or had only half, but that does feel like an easy solution.

Meal planning is key.

This is where meal planning is so important. Look for a healthier version of foods you love. This is something you have to do ahead of time, because you won’t do it when you are reaching for it. I feel like I came out better than I would have in the past. I can still make improvements by planning. I’ll be talking about meal planning this week.

Anybody know where I can find a smaller, whole wheat, everything bagel? What healthy choice can you make today? Let me know!

The results are in…

I thought it only fair to share the results of my 14-Day Super Highway Plan. Here are the goals and what I learned:

1. Lose lbs 6 – I lost 3.75lbs which is in the healthy 1 to 2 lbs a week range. Remember this is the net loss –weight loss-muscle gain. I lost an inch off my waist. My rings are loose and some items of  my clothes fit better. Drinking my 88oz. of water helped. I did this by drinking 3 glasses first thing in the morning. I will continue with this.

2. Lower blood sugar – This is still not where I want it to be. I have started taking my readings daily so that is a big improvement.  I have to continue with this.

3. Redesign/improve meals –This was the biggest success. I got back into the habit of having 4-5 smaller meals. I resigned many meals so the proportions are more balanced with protein, carbs and fat. I have added more fiber.  I stopped using loose Splenda and went back to the packets. It readjusted my sweet taste in other foods. I will definitely keep doing this.

4. Walk more than a mile – I am at ¾ of a mile and enjoying it. I was pushing to make the 1-mile mark with Monk and making both of us crazy. He was more interested in stopping or playing and I had time constraints. Now we are both getting what we want everyday and increasing our distance. I sleep great.

5) Two other things that I noticed:
a) My skin looks great thanks to the water and beauty treatments. I feel great!
b) I had trouble visualizing. I just wasn’t thinking big enough. I thought about it a lot and on day 12 I finally got it – the big WHY! This was the reason I decide to do the 90+1 Day Challenge.

I want you to have the same Ahhh that I had. You are invited to join me in the  90+1-Day Challenge. The days between now and October 1 will be used to set 3 big goals to fuel your dream life.

What can you do today to improve your health? Let me know. Join us at www.ImReady4Me.com.

Scored a 6.

I had a really slow start yesterday and had to work late to catch up.  Did I mention, besides walking Monk, I also have a coaching business to run?

It is harder to count grams of fiber than I thought. The fresher and more natural the food is, the less labeling it has. I had a fresh baked whole-wheat roll that I have no idea how many grams of fiber it has. I had to guesstimate.  I did end the day with a half cantaloupe  (4grams) and blueberries (2grams). Had to look that up as well.

A healthy diet should contain 25 grams of fiber. Upping that to 35 grams daily will increase your weight loss. It makes you feel fuller longer and it cleans your insides out. The easiest way to do this is to increase foods like fruits, grains, cereals, pasta, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and vegetables.

How many grams of fiber are you eating a day? This can be a little tricky if you want to factor in carbs and the glycemic index of food. You can learn more about designing a healthy eating plan by joining the www.ImReady4Me.com membership.

I am still looking for a good resource to count grams of fiber. Here are some sites that I am trying:

http://caloriecount.about.com/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582

http://www.slrhc.org/healthinfo/dietaryfiber/fibercontentchart.html

http://www.md-phc.com/fiber/food.htm

What can you do today to improve your health? Let me know.