Commitment leads to Results!

Diet Books

April 18, 2009

Hello!

It’s been awhile since my last post-my apologies! The past month has been busy, but you’ll be glad to know I haven’t disappeared (I’m here to stay and badger you all until you get my message). 🙂

I came across an article in a popular magazine that promoted a new diet book-one that is supposed to cure one of his or her belly fat. The author, a highly acclaimed health and fitness expert, is one I believe is a talented guru but his book seems to be a bit…interesting. He has created what is termed the S/C Value, a food value system that is a bit hard to follow.

Although his diet plan may work (any plan that restricts sugar/carbs/calories will work), I don’t understand why fitness gurus are making up foolish terms and systems that haven’t been backed up by any science at all.

In the article, a woman who lost 13 pounds in one week (although not impossible, unhealthy), claimed “The best thing is…I got to eat things I never thought I could eat, like chocolate, Doritos, and ice cream”.

Wow! That’s one hell of a diet. Where can I sign up? Let’s be real folks. You certainly CAN eat these things (in moderation), but what the majority of the population will get from this is “oh, I can eat anything I want and lose my belly fat!”.

Yes, people are gullible and searching for the easiest route to weight loss, when in fact, there is no easy route unless you are genetically blessed with a metabolism which will allow you to eat anything you desire.

My advice is to ditch the diet books, and don’t believe the hype. I DO believe in reading material which is sound and which has been backed up by valid evidence. I feel you should spend those dollars getting to understand why you may be emotionally attached to food or why you cannot break certain habits. If you don’t get to the root of your problem, it can never be “fixed”.

I’m tired of the plethora of books filled with information which is confusing and perplexing. Please do your homework first before choosing a health and fitness book. There are plenty of good ones out there, you just have to be careful!

Happy April! Summer is on its way! Are you ready?? 😀

~Jeannette

Love yourself!

March 17, 2009

tags: beat yourself up, body, disappointed, dislike, energy, flaw, focus, happiness, health, living a long life, Louis Hay, loving, Motivational Speaker, not happy, peace, perfect body, trivial things, unhappy

Hello!!!

Do you beat yourself up over the number on the scale? Or maybe a certain “flaw” that you are not happy with? Or is there anything about your body that your dislike?

Well, stop beating yourself up about it and start loving yourself! As corny as that sounds, how can you expect peace and happiness in this life if you are constantly beating yourself up over such trivial things?

Focus on health, having energy, and living a long life—not on such things as the “perfect” body, or you will end up constantly unhappy and at the end of the day, disappointed (because we all know you cannot win over Time).

I loved this video. I hope you will take a few minutes to watch. It’s Louis Hay, motivational speaker and inspirational teacher. She talks about loving yourself-simple yet profound (this day in age).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltJJbYvMagE

Cutting calories

March 11, 2009

In a previous blog, I mentioned the conversation that a few friends and I had in regard to diets, fads, cutting calories, etc. I have been thinking about something that came up in conversation—drastically cutting calories to lose weight.

I feel that many people, when embarking on a weight loss journey, go about it in the wrong fashion. Calories are slashed too dramatically or the person overexercises, which in the short term creates a rapid weight loss, but in the long term, sets one up for failure and possibly do damage to one’s metabolism.

My friend (with whom I had the conversation) has lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time, but there are days when he is not eating very much. For example, one day looked like this:

Breakfast: banana

Lunch: Power Bar

Dinner: Subway 12 inch sub

This is not a lot of food for a man who is close to 6’6 in his early 30’s. And no, I am not one to play mother or personal trainer and tell him he shouldn’t be eating this way (that’s a quick way to lose friends!).

Garlic!!!

March 11, 2009

I’ve been eating a lot of garlic these days (mostly at night!). And I want you to incorporate garlic into your diet as well! Here’s a great article about garlic (found on mercola.com).

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Garlic is one of nature’s most impressive foods, and one that has been treasured for its medicinal properties for centuries. In ancient times, Greek and Roman soldiers ate garlic before going off to war, and it was reportedly given to the slaves who built the Egyptian pyramids in order to enhance their strength and endurance.

The first thing that comes to many people’s minds when thinking about garlic is, of course, the smell. That’s why this herb is affectionately known as “the stinking rose.” But the sulfur-containing compounds that make garlic smelly also impart many of the health benefits.

Power Plate and other fads

March 9, 2009

Happy March! 😀

How is everyone doing? I hope you are all well and having a good start to the month.

A couple of days ago, a few friends and I were talking about diets, dieting, eating, all of that good stuff. After a lot of ideas and words were exchanged, I realized that there are so, so many fads and different “diets” on the market today.

No one knows what to do anymore!

For example, my friend mentioned that he heard that many vegetarians don’t believe it’s good to consume any food except fruit and fruit juice before noon. This may be true—who knows—but my common sense is telling me it’s not true.

No, I don’t believe that we need to consume a big breakfast that includes eggs and bacon, waffles and the like, but I do think starting one’s day on the right note is necessary for good health and a healthy metabolism.