Memorial Day Weekend

Wow, it is that time again! Do the years keep going faster or what? Here is to hoping that you all have a wonderful holiday weekend full of family and friends. This said as my husband just departed for a weekend away with his fishing buddies! I rate! Seriously, I hope to have some big girl play dates with friends! Maybe see a movie. I am forcing this on myself because I would prefer and could choose to spend the weekend slaving away on my website and making it so pretty. Life is short and we all need play! So I will play!

This morning I intended to finish up a few lose ends but I started reading twitter posts. Hours later, I am so confused. I have read many new things and lots of contradictory information. How can we begin to know where to start on weight control when even experts are torn. So sorry to all of you. My goal is always to make information meaningful and clear and to use balance! Please always correct me if I am off base ever! Here are some of the interesting and confusing things that I read:

• From the government, I read that we are burning 150 less calories per day than in 1960. This corresponds to our countries' weight gain. (No mention of increased intake of processed foods and that we do not eat and buy real foods anymore)  Think of 150 calories a day, times 50 years worth of days, and that is tons of extra calories and weight gain. They say it is all about calories. If you put in more than you burn,you will gain weight and we have. That is it and they solved the obesity problem. The government is amazing! You need 150 minutes of exercise per week and 3 out of 4 of you are not doing this! You might be in the 2/3 of people who are overweight or obese. Lack of exercise is where it is at! Weight control is hardly that simple, even though exercise definitely plays a part.
• There is a new Food Pyramid from the USDA that is due out on June 2 and it is supposedly super simple. It will benefit all of us. It must be the half plate rule, which is simple. I can't wait to see what the government says I should eat. It can only be an improvement because the current food pyramid is very confusing and hard to understand. Do you guys even look at the food pyramid to make your choices? Do we even have nutrition education at most schools? I sure hope this will change because the obesity crisis is really a crisis of worldwide concern!
• There is a new group of Diet Bully's in our nation! You know those people who do not what you to eat what you love but change everything you eat and follow their diet! They must bully because people are wising up that diets do not work long term! But making a new diet is one of the quickest ways to become a millionaire. So they resort to bullying! Do not buy new diet books. Learn to eat for health and learn to eat what you love sensibly!
• Health writers should track the money behind medical studies! Do not even get me started on this one or I might rant and I promised I would not! I lied! Funding done for studies often has strings attached. If a study is funded by a pharmaceutical company, it will more likely have outcomes that favor the sponsor. If they do not favor the funder, the money will dry up. Health writers are lulled in and quote the results and we all buy them hook, line, and sinker (Fishing on my mind from my husband tying flies all week.) 

Weight Loss is not Easy. New amazing studies will not make it easier. A new food pyramid will not make it easier. Adding more exercise will help but is not the total answer. No one is going to bully you into weight loss. You must become the expert and find what works for you! We are all different and one size does not fit all! Healthy Diet Habits and Lifestyle Solutions to correct your problem areas and habits works!

Great article on Yahoo!

I read a great article on Yahoo today written by Deborah Kotz and it's a great review of simple ideas to keep your weight off. Her article is about the tie between weight gain and breast cancer. She lets us know that most of us gain a pound or two each year after age 20 so by the time we are 50, 2/3's of us are overweight and more prone to heart disease, pre-diabetes and breast cancer. SCARY! What can we do?

1. Cut back on Calories. Each decade after age 30 our metabolism slows down by 5 to 7% so by the time we are fifty we need to be eating 300 to 500 less calories than we could at age 20. NOT FAIR! Ladies this is not many calories. There are so many small ways that we can cut this amount of food out of your diets that you will never notice. The fix could be as simple as substituting an Americano for your Latte. Look for ways to make small changes that you will never notice. These small changes will add up to a big payoff. For every 500 calories that you delete daily, you will lose 10 pounds in a year. That is huge!!!! You do not need to go on an all or nothing diet. Just eat what you love and clean up your diet by adding more veggies.

2. Sweat, sweat,sweat! She says that those that work out an hour a day remain thin. This can be walking also. I recently joined a line dance class at the senior center even though I am technically not old enough to be there (haha). In our class of 20 to 30 women hardly anyone is overweight. Why is this? Simple. If you stay active you will keep your weight off. This does not mean you need to sweat at the gym. Join some fun active classes. I have met so many nice ladies and line dancing is a total blast and a pretty good workout! Have fun!!!

3. Lift weights. We all know that muscle burns more calories than fat. So either get some weights and work at home or join a gym and get started.

4. Get enough sleep. Most of us fail here but it is super important. When you do not sleep enough you mess up your bodies ability to regulate your hunger hormones. Take note next time you have a difficult time sleeping and you will notice you are starving the next day no matter how much you eat! This is more difficult as we age but work to keep your sleep under control. Visit your doctor if you can't do it as there are many helps that do not require medication. The better you sleep the less hungry you will be!

5. Eat mini meals. She recommends eating 6 mini meals at 250 to 300 calories per meal. This is hard for us as we like to eat such a large dinner but do your best to eat smaller meals more often. This will help boost your metabolism, stop hunger pains and also an opportunity to eat is always very near! Yeah!

6. Weigh yourself often! I believe you should weigh yourself daily and not freak out if you are a couple of pounds higher one day. Adding or losing weight does not happen overnight but eating a lot of salt one day will make you gain water weight. If you eat a giant meal it will not show up on the scale for 3 or 4 days so you have plenty of time to offset the overeating by proper eating and not gain the weight. Just plot your weight and make sure it averages the same weight. When you are consistently 3 pounds over your ideal weight cut back 500 calories per day till the three pounds are off consistently.

Well ladies, best wishes for keeping the weight down and losing! Simple changes can bring huge rewards!