HELPFUL TIPS
Please note: The information in these pages are designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for personal medical attention, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are concerned about your health, please consult your licensed health provider.

These are just a few articles I've come across in magazines, like Prevention and dieting books that I thought might be helpful. -Deb
CHECK THIS OUT!! WOW!! Beautiful photo of FAT CELLS!!
Seven Ways to Break Up Exercise Boredom

  1. Change your venue.
    Bored to tears by your treadmill workout? Take a walk outside instead. Your afterwork routine has become too routine? Get up early. Changing where or when you exercise, even if you are doing the same thing, is a great way to change your outlook.
  2. Find fun exercise.
    Investigate sports and hobbies that enhance your activity level. Backpacking, mountain biking, kayaking, even bowling can all burn calories-but they don't feel like a workout.
  3. Act their age.
    Join the kids for a game of backyard touch football or tag. Capitalize on their infectious energy.
  4. Make a date.
    Treat exercise as a social time by pairing up with a friend or your spouse. By committing to someone else, you'll be less likely to skip your workout.
  5. Count backwards.
    Ever notice how your trip back from a great destination seems shorter than your trip there? Apply that principle to exercise by counting reps backwards-from 10 to 1, instead of 1 to 10.
  6. Lend a hand.Support causes such as breast cancer, AIDS, or multiple sclerosis by doing fund-raising walks, bike rides, or runs. Beyond the exercise, you will feel good about what you are doing, as well as fortunate to have a healthy body to do it.
  7. Gear up.
    Add a new twist to your routine with equipment such as a heart rate monitor or pedometer. Tracking your workouts with these types of devices keeps things interesting.

WINNING ATTITUDE:
“One slip-up won't stop me.” If you have fallen off the weight loss wagon, stop feeling like a failure; focus on the challenge ahead. The sooner you climb back on, the sooner you will see results!		 Don't Let Stress Make You Fat
Next time you've had a bad day at work or a fight with your spouse, or are just being pulled in too many directions, try one of these stress busters instead of raiding the kitchen.
  1. GET OUT IN NATURE
    The gentle swaying of windblown trees or the meandering of a stream can slow body rhythms that have built to a stress-induced peak.
  2. TAKE THE SLOW ROAD.
    Hopping in the car to run errands may seem practical, but traffic's another stressor. Bike or walk whenever you can. If you must drive, don't jockey for position. Chill out in the right hand lane.
  3. TURN ON THE STEREO.
    Soothing music has been shown to ease anxiety and lower blood pressure and heart rate, even under superstressful conditions.
  4. GET UP AND DANCE.
    Besides being great exercise, it releases endorphins, your body's mood-elevating chemicals that help erase stress.
  5. SAVOR SILENCE
    Even a total of 10 to 15 minutes of quiet time per day helps you eliminate the buzz in your brain and experience some serenity. Ahhh!!!
  6. LAUGH OUT LOUD.Humor can actually inoculate against anxiety. One study found that people who watched an episode of Seinfeld before tackling a stressful task didn't show the spikes in blood pressure and heart rate that their humorless study counterparts did.

WINNING ATTITUDE:
“There's no magic number.” Don't measure your success solely by the number on the scale. Your weight will naturally fluctuate by a couple pounds some days. Give yourself a weight range of 5 to 10 pounds to allow for these changes. Use other methods, such as your clothes or tape measure, to track your progress.
TEN HEART-HEALTHY FOODS

The foods listed here contain a variety of phyto-chemicals which boost heart health. Except for the salmon, all of them offer heart-healthy fiber.
  1. APPLES: packed with pectin, a soluble fiber that may reduce cholesterol.
  2. BEANS: good source of folic acid which may boost heart health by reducing homocysteine.
  3. BERRIES: loaded with vitamin C, pectin and catechins, flavonoids that may also help you reduce body fat.
  4. BROCCOLI: a nutritional all-star that features vitamin C and carotenoids, which protect arteries.
  5. GARLIC: contains flavonoids thought to lower cholesterol while its other natural substances may help heart health by stopping blood clots.
  6. NUTS: a great source of monounsaturated oils. Almonds, Brazil nut, peanuts and walnuts are especially beneficial; limit portions if you're trying to lose weight.
  7. OATMEAL: supplies plenty of a cholesterol-lowering fiber called beta-glucan.
  8. SALMON: contains omega-3 fatty acids which may lower heart disease risk.
  9. SOY: isoflavones in soy protein can reduce cholesterol.
  10. GRAPES: resveratrol, an antioxidant found in grapes, red wine and grape seed extract, may lower your risk of heart disease and cancer.

WINNING ATTITUDE: “Try nutritious foods every so often even though in the past you didn't like them.” You may surprise yourself. By testing veggies you thought you didn't like before, you'll find they aren't as bad as you remembered. Tastes change with age. Start slowly by mincing raw veggies and putting them in sauces and meatloaf. Then graduate to steaming small chunks. You just may love something that's actually good for you!! 		CHOCOLATE for less than 200 Calories
  1. M&Ms: (1 oz) A melt in your mouth favorite, with only 140 calories.
  2. Haagen-Daz Chocolate Sorbet: (1/2 cup) Intense flavor at only 120 calories (and no fat!)
  3. Hershey's chocolate syrup:(2 Tsp.) At 100 calories and not fat, it's a virtuous topping for fruit or angel food cake.
  4. Chocolate truffle:(1) Savoring the flavor of a small portion of the food you really crave can prevent your from pigging out on poor substitutions.
  5. Chocolate Mousse: (1/2 C.) Prepare instant chocolate pudding with 1% mile and fold in lowfat whipped topping.
  6. Hot Chocolate: (1 C.) Make it yourself with fat-free milk and chocolate syrup or add hot water to an envelope of low-cal instant.
  7. Chocolate Tortilla Rollup: (1) Spray a tortilla with butter-flavored cooking spray and sprinkle with ground cinnamon, sugar, and cocoa. Cut into quarters. Roll each quarter from the pointed end around a thick-handled kitchen utensil, seal the overlap with egg white, and bake seam-down at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool and fill with lowfat vanilla yogurt.
  8. Hershey's Kisses: (7) This handful of sweets has a combined 175 calories.
  9. Lowfat mocha latte: (1 C.) Use chocolate-flavored coffee topped with 1% milk that you have whisked into a froth. Dust with real cocoa powder.
  10. Lowfat chocolate chip cookies: Three of these traditional favorites are about 150 calories.

WINNING ATTITUDE:“There's always another way.” Accept substitutions. If the late hour won't allow you to work out at the guy, don't give up on exercise that day. Take a walk around the neighborhood, pop in an exercise video, or do lunges around the kitchen as you cook dinner.