Cutting Fast Food

Good Morning.....

So one of my dear Sorority Sister's passed me this article this morning pertaining to fixing healthy food for your children..so I am going to share!!

The website the article was taken from is: www.raisingheartyboys.com

Raising hearty boys amidst our fast food culture is not as easy as a mom would hope. Our schedule often become monopolized with school programs, sports, church functions, and other extra-curricular activities. It’s just too easy to default to fast-food and other convenience foods. On top of all of that, the “nutrition advice” our government has purported that we learned from childhood has resulted in a nation of fat and sick people living a less than optimal life.

The rates of ADHD, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune diseases in children are rising. Your sons are more likely than ever to become afflicted with one of these problems while they are still a child. On top of that, it appears that the life expectancy rates are now declining. But there are things you can do to give your son an optimal start to life, lower his risk of disease, and help his body heal from any existing maladies.

What’s a Mom to Do?

Making family dietary changes can impact the health of your family more than just about anything. Don’t go out and do a total overhaul of your diet today, though.

Make one small, manageable change at a time. Stick with it. Baby steps.

If you try to do a complete overhaul, chances are you’ll get burned out and won’t stick with it. There are many people who look in on my life and wonder how we’ve moved from a diet with a decent share of convenience foods, pasta, and sugary treats to a nourishing nutrient-rich whole foods diet. It didn’t happen overnight.

Where Should I Start?

There are any number of places you can start. Start with with changes that are easy to implement. Stick with it for at least a month —make it a habit. Then, move on to the next change. Here are some ideas for small changes you can start with.

1. Find a source of farm-fresh eggs and begin using them on a regular basis. Your family won’t even miss the anemic eggs you’ve been purchasing from the store. Along with having a more robust flavor eggs from happy hens allowed access to pasture are more nutrient-dense. Your eggs purchased from a local farmer contain:

• twice as many omega-3 fatty acids
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
• 4-6 time more vitamin D

2. Increase consumption of healthy fats. Yes, increase fat consumption! It’s a myth that fat makes you fat. Fat is an excellent source of fuel. Fat nourishes the body as well as the mind. Be sure you are using natural, real fats.

When your sons don’t get enough fat it will rob their brains of the raw materials they need to function.Diets high in saturated fat have been found to be effective treatment for epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and prevention of stroke.

3. Cut the sugar! I mean, really cut the sugar. Sugar is difficult to get away from, but extremely detrimental to your health.

You may even need to decrease or eliminate natural sugars from fruits for a time. Many kids (and adults) are addicted to sugar and it can be difficult to break the addiction while eating even natural sugars. You may want to begin cutting sugar back a bit at a time.

Stop buying cereal, pop tarts, and other sugary breakfast items. Replace these with eggs cooked in grass-fed butter or coconut oil, bacon, and sausage. This is great brain food and a fantastic way to start day.

When I began feeding my boys a high protein breakfast with plenty of fat they stayed full for much longer. They used to complain that they were hungry constantly and snack throughout the entire day (no wonder—their blood sugar levels were like a roller coaster). Now, my boys are satisfied with their meals and ask for snacks much less frequently.

After you tackle the sugary breakfast, work on cutting sugar throughout the rest of your boys’ day. If you are able to tackle the sugar issue, your boys will be much better for it!

Thank You

This has been a rough time for me but I just have to thank EVERYONE who has sent a prayer in regards to my mom has she battles lung cancer. I really appreciate the phone calls, texts, FB messages and just emails of prayers.

A new post will be done tomorrow...remember to stay focused and motivated.

I love you all ♥♥♥♥♥♥

Wendy

Common Mistakes Concerning Weight Loss

Sometimes, exercises with the best intentions lose the least amount of weight. What's worse is that they often seen their friends slim down just weeks after starting a new workout program. It can be frustrating and confusing. So what makes one weight loss workout plan effective and another one fail? There could be a number of factors involved. But in many cases, the cause can be traced to one of these blunders. If you've been struggling to shed a few pounds and your exercise plan isn't yielding any results, see if you are making one of these common workout mistakes.

1. Doing the same workout day after day. It's not a bad thing to exercise every day, and it's not necessarily a bad to do the same workout everyday to maintain heart health. But if you want to lose weight, repeating the same workout mode, intensity, or duration day after day won't work. Why? Your body adjusts to the daily workload and you hit a dreadful plateau.

To fix this try and develop a workout schedule that involves different activities, different intensity levels and different sessions lengths. Try taking classes and since the weather is warming up try outdoor training. Switching up is better anyway because you don't get bored with the same routines!!

2. Compensating by eating more. When you add exercise to your daily routine, you are likely to become more hungry than usual and want to eat more. Dealing with that hunger can be a uphill battle, because there is often a little voice inside your head that says, " I can eat whatever I want because I exercised today."

That rationale makes sense. But if you are trying to lose weight with exercise, you need to achieve a calorie deficit at the end of the day. If you satisfy your post-exercise hunger with high calorie foods or with too much food, you'll end up replacing all of the calories you burned. 

3. Decreasing non-exercise physical activity. It's great if you go to the gym every day and complete a killer workout- unless the payoff is that you spend the rest of the day on the couch. If you compensate for your workout by decreasing the amount of non-exercise physical activity that you do during the day, your total daily caloric expenditure may end up being the same as if you hadn't gone to the gym. 

4. Using supplements/sports drinks. Do you refuel during your workout with sports drinks or bars? Do you grab a high calorie , high sugar supplement drink or bar after the workout is complete? If so, you're probably erasing the calorie deficit that you just earned. For more people that exercise, WATER is the best choice for hydration. Remember there are hundreds of products on the market and, sadly most of them do nothing but make empty promises and drain your wallet. 


~Wendy

The Skinny on Milk

So I went and purchased the new Self magazine with Beyonce on the cover. While reading I noticed they had a great breakdown on the pros and cons of various types of milk that I thought was interesting. So I am going to share a little bit of what they talked about.

Cow's Milk (skim)

Pros: Loaded with calcium, protein, and potassisum, lowfat milk offers, for many people, the most nutritional bang for their buck.

Cons: This type of milk is off limits for vegans and those who are lactose-intolerant. To make matters worse there is some concern about the use of growth hormones or antibiotics in cow's feed. (Yuck!!)


Soy Milk (light)

Pros: Made from a mixture of heart-healthy soybeans and water, this nondairy vegan pick contains almost as much protein as soy milk.

Cons: Some studies have linked high soy intake to health conditions ranging from digestive ailments to reproductive disroders.

Almond Milk

Pros: This low-calorie drink boasts a whole milk-like texture and a big dose of antidoxidant vitamin E. It's sweet, nutty flavor is a excellent complement to coffee and breakfast cereal.

Cons: Though typically enriched wih calcium and vitamin D, almond milk loses fiber and protein during production.

Goat's Milk

Pros: The new non-vegan kid in the dairy aisle is easier to digest than cow's milk because it lacks a protein that can trigger allergies.

Cons: Goat's milk has more saturated fat than any of the other milk alternatives and a tangy taste that can take some getting used too.

Coconut Milk

Pros: This fresh blend of coconut pulp and water is fortified with vitamin B12 which promotes a healthy nervous system.

Cons: All 5 grams of fat in a serving are saturated (that's a third of the daiy limit for women on a 1,600-calories-per0day diet.) So take baby sips!!1

Rice Milk

Pros: Combine partially milled rice with water and you get the ultimate cholesterol-free hypoallergenic beverage, a savior for those avoiding soy, nuts, or dairy.

Cons: Rice milk has minimal amounts of protein and fiber and lots of carbs, 23 grams in one cup!!!

I am Determined

Patience is a virtue many do not possess. We have very little difficulty identifying what we want and need. The difficulty comes in waiting for it to manifest. We become nervous, doubtful, even fearful when we don't see our good coming as quickly as we think it should. Sometimes we even allow ourselves to believe someone or something can hold us back or stop our good from coming. We worry, we complain and sometimes we give up hope. We cannot see how we get in our own way. We forget about universal timing and divine order. We may not realize how our negative thoughts, doubts  and fears uproot the positive seeds we plant. We just don't understand that we would not have the desire unless the supply were ready to come forward. We must learn the virtue of patience because every time we open the oven door, we run the risk of making a good cake fall.

I shared this positive message this morning to say that even if you have been working out and eating right, results don't come overnight. You can not keep pressuring yourself when you don't see the weight dropping off as quickly as you would like. If you still attend happy hours and drink a lot of alcohol more than likely you won't get the results you want. Remember this takes time and a lot of dedication to get the results you want.

Continue to have positive thoughts and stay focused.....you will thank me later!!!!

Wendy

Great Website

Good Morning...I hope everyone had a great weekend. I have came across this amazing website that I want to pass on to my readers...Please check it out, you will thank me later..

Blackgirlsworkouttoo.com

Wendy

Yes, I Can Lose Weight!

It's hard to feel good if you don't look good, and it's hard to stick to your diet if your self-confidence is in the gutter. But how do you boost your confidence if you feel bad about your body? Many dieters wait until they are the perfect size to invest any time or effort into their appearance. But they've got it backwards. You need to invest in yourself everyday, starting at the beginning of your diet, so that you look fabulous., feel empowered and believe that you are capable of doing everything you set out to do.

Self-efficacy is your belief that you can successfully carry out a specific task. if you start your weight loss journal with the words, " I can lose weight!", your self-efficacy with regards to weight loss is probably high. Self-efficacy generally relates to a specific goal. For example, you may have strong beliefs that you are capable of skipping a high-calorie late-night snack. That means your self-efficacy regarding late-night snacking is high, but you might have doubts about whether you're going to get up early the next morning to work out. Your self-efficacy regarding the morning workout is low.

Ways to Improve Self-Efficacy to Lose Weight

1. Set and reach goals. Always start with small goals that will act as stepping stones to larger accomplishments. The completion of each small task will build your level of self-efficacy for completing larger tasks in the future.

2.  Surround yourself with positive messages. If the people that surround you are successfully completing the goal that you want to achieve, you're more likely to believe that you can do it, too. Find friends that have some habits that you admire. Instead of going to happy hour with your friends, find some new friends that want to hit the gym and exercise.

3. Social persuasion. Talk to your family and friends. Let them know that their encouragement  and positive messages make a difference. If your family or friends are not supportive, this is another area where social media can help. Get connected with me. Visit my blog for your motivational support!!!

4. Learn to Relax. If you have intense emotional reactions to situations, your self-efficacy with regards to your ability to handle that situation will probably be low. Take some time to identify the situations that cause you to react strongly. Then, learn relaxation techniques that will help you to manage them with a calm demeanor.