Scored a 7.

I think there must be a full moon. Clients were changing times. I was trying to keep on schedule and a couple of things fell through the cracks or were reorganized.  I had 2 hectic days, back to back! So I guess I should be glad I scored a 7. I’m either doing really well or my actions are too easy. What do you think?

Update details

Walked my dog Monk farther for the 3rd day in a row. Schedule of drinking water is working and I got my 7+ hours of sleep straight.  I’m drinking 20 oz by 9:00am, another by noon, and another by 4:00 and the last before bed. Took my blood sugar twice.

Spent time decluttering my exercise and wellness room. Did beauty time. I had a wonderful massage from my son! Had 4 meals. All this pampering got my meals pushed back. If you are in the Philadelphia, PA vicinity, he is offering free introductory massages to launch his practice. You can reach him at skintoxication@gmail.com.

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

I scored a 6.

It is time to evaluate my actions. There are 2 actions that I haven’t earned any points at –visualization and a 2nd exercise. I’m not worried about the extra exercise since I am trying to walk farther with Monk, my puppy.

The visualization threw me for a loop. I had to ask myself why was I not doing this quick and easy action. I decided that I needed to do some homework.

I looked up several articles. The first step that everyone agrees on is to create a dream that is so big that it will keep you excited. I would venture to say that none of my 4 goals fit into that category. So that is my homework for today.

Would you like more information on visualization? I will post a separate blog on steps to get started. Check out this article. It might help:
“Thirty Seconds to Successful Visualization Techniques”

http://www.truestarhealth.com/members/cm_archives10ML3P1A8.html

Update details

I had a good but hectic day. I’m still feeling the discomfort of the Neutral Zone that comes with change.  I turned an unexpected eating (some party leftovers) into a balanced meal, so I did my 5 meals. Got the pedometer to work and walked the dog farther. So you know I got my 7+ hours of sleep. Did you see the link to walking calculators in yesterday’s post?  Give myself a schedule of drinking water so it won’t keep me up all night. Took my blood sugar twice. Did beauty time. I did weight and measure a meal but it wasn’t a new one, so no points.

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

I found a site that might be helpful to increasing your exercise:                               http://walking.about.com/cs/howtoloseweight/a/calcalculators.htm
I always walk farther when I am using my pedometer.

A pedometer can be tricky if you have a mushy middle. It will jiggle and count steps incorrectly. You have two options: 1) Keep it on your waist and know that the inaccuracy will be the same for a while or find a different place to clip it. My trainer had me clip mine to my sneakers. This has worked well for me for walking. I have not found a place to clip it so I can wear it all day.  Anybody got a suggestion?

Update details

I feel better but a little anxious or rushed.  Since it has been awhile since I have put myself on a Super Highway Plan, I am not use to thinking about eating or drinking water all the time.

This feeling is the Neutral Zone of change – shifting from the old way to the new way. And with change comes unexpected results. I weighed my chicken for dinner and discovered that 6ozs is much small than I remembered! Memory Creep is alive and well! This is one reason to check the weight and measurements of your food at regularly.  So I now have chicken to put on my salad today!

I had 5 meals but it felt like I was eating all day. At least I wasn’t hungry. I adjusted my water bottle system for drinking water and made the 88 ozs, but my 7+ hours of sleep was interrupted by bathroom trips.  Walked the dog farther and have a step count to compare with. Took my blood sugar. Did 2 things for beauty time (still just 1 point).

I got so busy yesterday; I forgot to take my medications. I still have not done my visualization (I’ll talk about that tomorrow), a 2nd exercise and I didn’t declutter. I have set aside a chunk of time to work on my exercise space today.  Again, I have proved that if you don’t schedule exercise, chances are you won’t do it! Tomorrow, I plan on swimming so I can get that point.

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

My first day went well. I scored a 6.

I learned again, it takes time and planning to make changes. I realized some of my Goals and Actions need clarification. For example, Goal 3 to redesign/improve meals is a little vague. What I really want to do is increase fiber. Thirty-five grams a day is good. And I want to have 60 grams of protein a day, spread evenly through out the day.

As for my actions, I didn’t get a point for drinking water.  I discovered last night that the bottle I was using only held 20 oz. not 24. I still drank more water than I normally do and  got it in earlier. I will calculate correctly for today.

I didn’t give myself a point for walking the dog. This is not a stretch goal as stated. I have to walk the puppy everyday. So I should get  a point for more steps/distance or more time. The pedometer I tried didn’t work and I took the same route. Today I’ll try another pedometer and add some distance.

I didn’t exercise a second time or visualize because I was tired. Cleaning will do that to you! So that’s the 4 points I didn’t earn and yet I am still doing better than I was.

Getting back to eating  4 meals a day is easy. Five meals is somewhat harder for me. I want to try and figure out what the challenge is for me. Maybe if I called it 3 meals and 2 snacks it would work better.

One of the places I am decluttering, I want to turn into an exercise space. I think that would make exercising the second time easier if I’m not swimming. I enjoyed the beauty time.  And I feel good this morning.

What can you do today to improve your health? I’ll keep you posted.

Today is day 1 of my 14 day Super Highway Plan. The purpose of this plan is to increase my weight loss accountability by tracking health actions.  I have listed my 4 Goals & 10 Actions below. If I do each thing, I will score a point for a high of 10 points. More importantly, I am reinforcing healthy habits.

So far I had my 7+ hours of sleep. I’ve had 5 of 11 glasses of water and 2 of 5 meals.  Measured the protein in my first meal and added more to the second meal. Dried milk is an easy way to do this. I added it to my coffee and my oatmeal. Took my blood sugar. Decluttered for 30 mins. in my bedroom.

I will be counting steps as I walk Monk, my new puppy and will give myself a beauty treatment tonight.  Still have to do another exercise and visualize.

And the Eagles look like they are going to win. What more can a girl ask for?  What can you still do today to improve your health today?

For more information on the 3 types of weight loss plans you should have for long term consistency and much, much more. Join us in I’m Ready 4 Me!

My 4 goals are:

1. Lose 6 lbs to break the next 10lb mark.

2. Lower my blood sugar

3. Redesign or improve some favorite meals

4. Walk more than a mile every day

Here are my 10 actions:

1. Increase water intake to 88oz. – 16 oz when I first get up.

2. Eat 4-5 small meals a day.  First meal within 1 hour of getting up. Snacks about 200 calories/ meals less than 500

3. Weigh & measure at least 1 meal a day. Check protein.

4. Measure Blood sugar daily. Twice if not dropping.

5. Walk the new puppy.  Increasing distance each day

6. 1 additional exercise

7. Sleep at least 7 hours

8. Some me time (beauty,etc.)

9. Declutter 30-45 mins/day

10. Visualize success – think up some juicy goals.

What can you do today to improve your health?

Metabolism Makeover Quiz

Answer yes or no to these top metabolism questions. For every yes award yourself 10 points. For every no you get zero points. Add up your points then see where you stand and get tips on how to improve.

1. Do you eat breakfast within one hour after getting up in the morning (drinks except for smoothies don’t count)?

2. Do you eat 5-6 balanced mini-meals each day?

3. Do all your meals have more than 10g of protein?

4. Do you drink at least 64 oz. of water per day?

5. Are most of your meals in the 250-350 calorie range?

6. Is dinner the lightest meal of the day?

7. Do you eat a majority of your starchy carbs before 3 p.m.?

8. Do you eat slightly less on less active days and slightly more on more active days?

9. Are you strength training at least 3 times a week?

10. Are you getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night?

11. Bonus points: Do you eat mostly unprocesssed foods?

A score of 100-110 means you are doing everything in your power to boost metabolism. If you want to boost fat burning further try having green tea in the morning and doing a monthly detox for a more effective digestive system. You may also want to try a boot camp style circuit to build more fat burning muscle.

A score of 70-90 means you are doing great but could use some improvement. Try increasing protein by a few grams at each meal. Eat most of your starchy carbs and heavy meals earlier in the day and cycle your calories to match your activity level. You may also try getting a bit more sleep.

A score of 40-60 means you are doing the bare minimum so you’ll hardly get results and the process will be frustrating. If you want to get your body in fat burning mode then never skip breakfast and aim for balanced meals of 250-350 calories (250 for the less active and 350 for the more active). You may also want to add resistance training to your plan and drink lots of water every day.

A score of 10-30 means you are not doing what is necessary to lose weight and burn fat. Perhaps you need to re-consider whether this is the right time to start a diet and fitness plan. If the answer is no then try again later. If the answer is yes then look at your zero score questions and see if you can work on turning 3 of those no answer into daily yes answers.

A score of 0 means you are not ready to lose weight. It may be the wrong time, too stressful, or too painful for you to make changes. Think about the reasons why you would benefit from turning some of those no answers into yes answers then see if you can try to make one positive change over the next month. Hint: Eating breakfast every morning would be a great place to start.

From Monica Neave at  http://www.bellaonline.com

There are lots of gauges as to how much you should drink. Some suggest that you drink at least 64 ounces of water every day. Another guide is to drink 1 oz for every 2 lbs. of your body weight. If you weight 200lbs, divide by 2. You should drink 100 ounces or 12.5 cups. So, the real goal is to drink more than you are drinking now.

What are the benefits of drinking water? For starters, it will:

A.    Increase efficiency of every chemical reaction inside of your body. You need it to live!
B.    Satisfy you and help you eat less. It will also decrease empty calories from sodas and other sugared drinks.
C.     Help detoxify your body.
D.    Boost metabolism – Water makes your metabolism burn calories 3% faster.
E.    And so much more…

How do you increase your water intake? Start slowly if you don’t want to spend your day in the bathroom. I think having a nice cup or water bottle makes drinking water more inviting. It might be thermal cup or a crystal glass or both.

Here are ways to increase your water intake:

1. Start the day off right by drinking a glass of water. You are slightly dehydrated from sleeping. Then have your cup of coffee or tea with breakfast.
2. Drink water whenever you think you are hungry. Many times you are thirsty, not hungry.
3. Drink water when you feel sluggish or fuzzy. You may be wilting from dehydration. Add a flavor to make it more inviting.
4. Swap your soda or fruit juices for water or unsweetened beverages like green tea. Or add seltzer water to fruit juice for a spritzer.
5. Drink water at timed intervals. For example, drink a few ounces at the top of the hour.
6. Eat more vegetables with a higher water content. Water is water! An added benefit is that you will be increasing your fiber intake.

Boy, just writing this is making me thirsty! So just increase the amount of water you are drinking. Your body will start to crave it.  Which one of these ideas are you going to try?