Hold the Salt!

 

Do you eating too much salt? I do, and when I eat anything salty I feel awful the next day. I really am being conscious of salt because I have to take high blood pressure medicine. I am working to lose weight and to reduce my sodium intake in order to lower the dosage of my blood pressure medicine or to get off the medicine all together.  

Salt causes so many problems health wise. It contributes to hypertension, kidney disease along with dehydration and swelling, and that is only a few of the side effects. Medical experts are finding that salt is causing many other problems as well. According to Harvard experts, too much sodium can make you prone to osteoporosis.

One day a few years back I ordered large fries at a fast food restaurant. When I got up to the window to get my food the lady handed me my food, and I saw that there wasn’t any salt in my bag. I ask the fast food worker if I could have a couple of packets of salt. She replied to me “Ma’am do you know how unhealthy eating all that salt is for you?” I’m not even kidding; she actually said that to me. I drove off, and I was shocked that someone would say that to a customer, but sometimes in life we have to hear something that we think is negative that we do not want to hear at the moment in order to learn from that moment. When I think about it now, that lady really was right about the salt. I really do not think that she should have said that to a customer, but it sure was a wakeup call.

Another thing that I have learned is that the saltier the dish the more you want seconds; and you know what seconds helpings of food causes – weight gain.

You should also to read labels in grocery stores before you purchase an item. You might be surprised at some of the food items that have added sodium. A lot of companies add salt to food to heighten the flavor without adding any calories. Most of the sodium that we consume comes from processed foods. So even if we use lite salt or sodium free salt, we could still be going over the recommended daily allowance of sodium just from eating food that does not even taste salty. Try to find low-sodium alternatives or stick to unprocessed food, which is healthier anyways.

A couple of months ago, I started using “lite” salt. Lite salt has half of the sodium of regular salt, and you can purchase this at most grocery stores. I mixed half regular salt to half-lite salt. I started liking the lite salt, and now I only eat lite salt. I did not like it at first, but now I am used to it. I try not to salt things as much, but I do like my salt. I am now mixing lite salt and sodium free salt. We will see if I can kick the salt habit all together.  If you sprinkle on too much salt, try lite salt and cut down on your salt to feel better today!

Julie

GOT SPINACH?

I think there needs to be a spinach mustache movement like the dairy industry did for milk, or maybe green teeth smiles! Why? Because Popeye was right, spinach is good for you!

Spinach is one of the most nutritious vegetables that exists due to the variety and amounts of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients it contains. Spinach contains iron, fiber, protein, vitamin A, B, C, K, omega 3, and trace minerals such as copper and manganese. For a specific list and quantities, check out the USDA food nutrient database. These vitamins and minerals are necessary to combat a host of nutritional deficiencies and diseases such as anemia, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases and cancers of colon and prostate.This list of benefits goes on!

I eat spinach almost every day. My favorite way to consume spinach is in my smoothie that I usually have for breakfast. Some people think it looks "yucky" but the spinach does not change the flavor of the smoothie. Try Drew Manning's Spinach Shake recipe and tell me if you agree. It's my favorite smoothie recipe. I substitute vegan protein powder instead of using whey (dairy). It's also delicious with chocolate protein powder or with no protein powder in it at all.

Spinach Shake Recipe
Handful of spinach
1/2 a banana (I use a whole banana)
1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk (I use a cup of almond milk)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (chocolate is good too)
3 handfuls of ice (I use about 6 ice cubes)

Blend in blender. Put in dark or non-see-through container if the green color bothers you. Enjoy!

Accountability

Everything that I have accomplished had some accountability involved. Even writing this blog post every day for 12 weeks is me being accountable to the promise that I made to you dear reader, Julie my Journey to Health partner, and Stan at the Chronicle-Tribune who had the brilliant idea to have the Great Weight Off Community Challenge. Would you miss it if I skipped a day? Probably not. If I didn't say I was going to blog and only promised it to myself, would I blog when I didn't feel like it? No! I know I would't because I told myself I wanted to blog at least once a week on my other blog. I didn't say it to anyone else, and I see it has already been two weeks since I wrote anything there. I want to. I intend to, but I haven't because there was no accountability.

The same thing applies when we make a promise to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and lose weight. Did we tell someone else? Is someone waiting for us at the gym and we feel we will let them down if we don't show up? Do you have a coach that is expecting your weekly weight and measurements? It makes a difference! According to a Brigham Young achievement study, those who commit to someone else and commit to sharing their progress at regular intervals increase their chance of reaching their goal 95%!

A common theme in many of the Challenges I have participated in is accountability. We have a Facebook group where we check in daily and let our fellow challengers know that we worked out, that we are on track with our diet and achieving our goals. The more engaged you are in the Challenge, the more accountability you will feel which will help you achieve your weight loss and wellness goals.

If you can find an accountability partner that's even better. You can workout together and/or call each other to make sure you are staying on track or when you feel that you are about to give in to a craving. I've done it before and it works! Even the process of calling or texting breaks the focus on the food. It really helps to know someone is supporting you too.

Do you want this to be the last time you "start over'? Do you really want to reach your weight and wellness goals? Make massive accountability part of your strategy!

Kathy 

Picky Eater

Are you a picky eater? I am not as bad as I was when I was little, but I still am picky when it comes to food. I used to sit at the table for what seemed like hours. I hated coming in and eating supper every night because I knew my mom would make something that I did not like to eat. Then my dad would make me sit at the table until I ate the food. My three sisters also had to sit at the table just like me when there was something that they did not like.

I was very stubborn, and I thought that I would win and dad would let me get up from the table. Unfortunately I never did win. I always had to sit there until I ate every last bite of food on my plate.  

Now I will at least try new foods. I have been surprised at how I end up liking certain foods now, that I hated when I was younger. I am still a little apprehensive on some things, but I have grown out of that stage. I have allowed my taste buds to experience a whole new world of different foods.

Today Kathy and I had lunch with some women from the Great Weight Off, and Kathy brought in lunch for everyone, (email us at juliehkathyg@gmail.com to receive group updates about future outings). She had us prepare raw tacos. I looked around the table for the taco shells, but I did not see any shells. She had us use romaine lettuce leaves instead of a taco shell. I have to admit that I was a little skeptic about trying this raw taco, but I decided that I was going to be a good sport and at least try it.

I was amazed; I really liked this raw taco, and I did not even have to sit at the table for a long time, like when I was little. I also tried different kinds of hummus dips. This was also something else that I would have never tried before. I left lunch today all excited that I had found something that I liked, and the best thing of all……..It was healthy! Kudos to you Kathy!

I encourage everyone to get out there and try something new. Sometimes you just have to prepare a food in a different way, like I did with kale when I made kale chips, in order to like something new. I do not like eating kale raw, but when I decided to try kale chips I loved them. I took something healthy that I did not really enjoy eating, and found a way to prepare it so that I did. So put your taste buds out there and discover something new and healthy today.

Julie

 

Cat Nap

My cat, Lucky

 

Do you ever take a power nap during in the day? I call them cat naps. I came home today after work, and I needed a nap. I have been going to bed around midnight this whole week and getting up at 6:00 a.m. I am simply worn out. I am a person who needs 8 hours of sleep, and when I do not have eight hours I do not function like I should.

I have felt sluggish all day. I can tell when I get too tired, because I start getting a sore throat.  My body is telling me to get some sleep or at least take a small power nap.

The National Sleep Foundation recommends a short nap, between 20-30 minutes a day if you are feeling tired. If you are tired it helps with alertness, and it may help you catch up on the sleep that you missed. Try not to take too long of a nap because it could mess up your sleep schedule, which could cause you not to be able to sleep at night.

My blog is not going to be too long tonight because I am tired, so I am going to take a quick power (cat) nap and I know I will be a lot better tomorrow!

Make sure you get a lot of sleep tonight! Remember, we need to take care of our health!

Julie

juliehkathyg@gmail.com

ACTION

Yesterday, we talked about a positive mindset, which is very important, but nothing changes without action, and I would like to add "consistent" action. I don't know how many times I have gotten hyped up to start a new weight loss program, just to fizzle out after a couple months. I was one of the "new year resolution crowds" the gym regulars complain about. I have a different spin on the new year resolution crowds though. I am proud of them because they are taking action, they (we) keep trying. I think eventually if you don't give up, your actions will become habit. We're not perfect, but every time we get back up again and take action, we are proving to ourselves that we care about ourselves enough to take care of our health so we can have abundant energy, a quality life, and be around for our family, to be active in our community, be a positive role model, pursue our dreams, and do other things that are important to us. I say bring on the New Year Resolution crowds because who knows how many of them (us) will make exercise and our well-being a daily habit.

Do you think exercise is too hard for you? Do your feet, knees, back, and/or other body parts hurt when you workout? I know the feeling too, but we can't use it as an excuse to stop being active. We need to check with our doctor and find out what kind of exercise is safe to do. Maybe it's chair exercise, maybe a swim in the pool where there is no impact on the body. I am learning that if I want to be healthy, I have to move my body. There is no way around it.

Have you seen the video about Arthur? He is a disabled vet who turned his life around by taking action, doing what he could do and the determination to never give up. He is proof that a little bit of action every day goes a long way to helping us transform our life!

I wish you a healthy ACTION filled day!

Kathy

Journaling

 

Do you like to journal? If my house burned down to the ground I would grab my kids and animals first, but the next item I would grab would be my journals. I have journaled for many years. I really enjoy looking back at my journals from years ago to see the changes in my life throughout the years. I have also found answers to my problems through journaling. I have made major decisions in my life by going back and re-reading my journals. I have a journal about the blessings that I have received in my life and journals about my children and different events that have happened in my life.

I have started several journals on weight since 1997. I have went back and re-read some entries that I had written. Some say the same thing over and over. Every journal that I have ever started states that I want to lose weight. Some of my journals were written when I was at a lower weight than I am at today, but even back then I still wanted to be skinnier. It was always about being skinnier, but not necessarily healthier.

As I go back to read my journals I realize that I have never solved my weight issue. I would start a new year and write for about two weeks, and I would never go back. Being in this “Great Weight Off,” spending time with others who are participating in the 12 week program, along with blogging and journaling is helping me discover a pattern in myself, and the road that I have been on most of my life has only lead to weight gain and disappointment. The stories that I have heard lately from participants in this program have motivated and inspired me. You are finding answers that I never discovered throughout the years. You all are making a difference in my life, and I am so thankful for the “Great Weight Off.” I am making sure that I journal about this part of my life, and someday I will go back to re-read these pages. In doing so, I know that I will read about overcoming challenges in order to become the best me that I can be.

I think that everyone should journal. It is easy to do. Write down your feelings at that time, on that day.

Just go buy a journal or use a notebook you already have at home. You never know you might find the answers to what you have been looking for all along.

I’ll be thinking and journaling about all of you.

 

Julie