Your Future Figure

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Ah, Valentine’s Day is near.  Traditionally, a favorite holiday of many women, Valentine’s Day brings with it great anticipation and great expectations.  We women daydream about how our loves will bless us and, likewise, how we can bless them.  We strive to make our loved one’s heart overflow with love, romance, and sticky-icky sentiment.

But, have you taken time out to think about your own heart, lately?  No, not your romantic heart, but your real heart.  You know, your h-e-a-r-t; the organ responsible for pumping life through your body on a moment-by-moment, daily basis.  That heart.  Do you take time to love your heart?

Well, with all that Valentine’s Day brings with it, this holiday is also a good time to remind ourselves to be attentive to our own heart that does so much for us (did you know that February is also American Heart Month?).  In my opinion, one of the best things we can do for our heart is to be aware of our cholesterol consumption.  We need to know healthful recommendations, the effects of cholesterol on our heart, and how we can combat high cholesterol.

Honestly, as I write this post, I realize that knowing recommendations for cholesterol, its effects, and how to combat it is a lot to handle.  So, I will address the first two and leave the combat for a later post.

First, how much cholesterol should we be consuming on a daily basis?  Well, according to the USDA, it is 200-300 mg per day.  But, believe it or not, we actually don’t need to ingest any cholesterol—our liver creates what our body needs on its own.  Wow!  Isn’t that amazing? 

But, it is very realistic that somewhere, somehow, we will ingest some cholesterol in a meal.  So, in the likely event that some cholesterol is included in your meals (hamburger anyone?), the simplest way to assess how much you’re getting is to read your Nutrition Fact Labels.  It’s right there for us in black and white.  The USDA has helped us out by requiring all food manufacturers  to place Nutrition Fact Labels on their products.  All that is left for us to do is the math.

Next, let’s talk a bit about the effects of cholesterol on our hearts.  Umm, here’s where things get interesting.  I need a good analogy here…I’m going out on a limb and will assume that you have dealt with a clogged sink drain at least once in your life, right?  Well, you know how everything just gets backed up and won’t go down or drains very slowly?  That is a simple picture of what happens when we get too much cholesterol into the arteries that lead to our heart.  And, we all know how much hard work is involved with cleaning a clogged drain.  Can you imagine what is required to clear our clogged arteries?  You can consult your local cardiologist for the gory details.

In light of this information about cholesterol and our heart, you have my express permission to do something for yourself this Valentine’s Day.  Take the time to love your own heart.  You can start by taking a look at some of the posts in my “Healthy Eating” category like “Eating Lite & Early” or “…Healthy Fried Foods?”  Also, soy is a wonderful heart-health food. 

Some foods you definitely want to watch out for are cream-based or dairy-based condiments like mayo, cream dressings, tartar, cream cheese, etc.  These are huge sources of cholesterol that we may not even think about.  Do yourself and your heart a favor and just kick the condiments.  And, as for chocolate?  Well, girlfriend to girlfriend, a little nibble won’t hurt. 

I hope you and your heart have a wonderful Valentine’s day and I hope all you Future Figure girlfriends get diamonds.

P.S. – Hey Ladies, don’t forget to get your FREE “Weight Loss Success Secrets” Report, where I reveal how all the low-fat, low-cal, low-carb diets are literally sabotaging your weight loss efforts.  And, a great weight loss solution to achieve your future figure.  Click here to get the Report!  It’s FREE.

P.P.S – Oh, and just in case you weren’t sure…Yes, please post your comments here.  I’d love to hear from you.

Oatmeal is a wonderful, wholesome, hearty breakfast that can be low-calorie if we let it. 

As a kid, I remember being brought up eating Mom’s piping hot homemade oatmeal cooked in milk with added whole milk or even evaporated or condensed milk, lots of white sugar, butter, and maybe even a heaping helping of raisins and/or nuts.   Even I will admit that this was one tasty breakfast.  Mmmm, mmmm.  But, now that I am on the downslope toward 40,  it holds one huge problem for me–too many calories.  Do you know that eating oatmeal like this can run you a whopping 600 – 800 calories, depending on how you “dress it up?”  Believe it or not, that “healthy” oatmeal would have more calories than most fast-food breakfast sandwiches.  Are you totally shocked?  Good.  Let’s do something positive with that shock.

As you have heard, oatmeal CAN be a very healthy breakfast; even low-cal, if we do it right.  Here is an oatmeal recipe that puts this low-cholesterol, high fiber cereal on our Eating Lite and Early series at about 170 calories per serving.  And, it still tastes great.

1/2 cup serving of dry oatmeal (old-fashioned, quick, or steel cut (lower glycemic index), but no microwave oats).

1 tsp. brown sugar or turbinado sugar

1/4 cup non-fat milk or other (I use almond or lite soy milk)

Cook oatmeal in water according to package instructions.

Add milk and sugar.  Eat and enjoy.  This usually fills me until lunch time, so I’ll skip my mid-morning snack.

*Adding 1/2 serving of raisins adds 65 calories.

Do you have a healthful oatmeal recipe?  Maybe one with your favorite fresh fruit in it?  Send your recipe in a post comment.  I would love to hear it.

Did you know that lack of sleep can lead you to make bad eating decisions?  The University of Chicago has new research showing that a sleepless night can lead you to snack more than you would if you got a good night’s sleep, adding over 1,000 calories to your daily calorie intake.  The research defines lack of sleep as 5 1/2 hours or less a night.  So, cut over 500 calories and live healthier simply by getting adequate sleep.

Are you a lady who hates dressing rooms?  I certainly am.  I almost never try anything on and would rather take the extra time to return clothing that doesn’t fit, rather than try it on in the store. 

But, this particular day last week, I was trying on some clothes in my local department store, and, much to my surprise; I saw these thighs that didn’t even look like they were mine.  They looked twice as big with roadmaps all over them.  “Aaaargh” I said to myself.  “Do my thighs really look that bad?”  Alright, I need to stop and ask if you can relate at all to this trauma.  Something tells me that I’m not alone here. 

So, sadly I must say that after that dressing room incident, I was a little “down-in-the-dumps.”  Yup, that’s right, little Miss Your Future Figure herself was not very happy with my figure that day.  So I went home thinking that I needed to lose more weight, even though I have already reached and am maintaining a healthy weight.

I share that story with you to say this:  It is ABSOLUTELY important—even CRITICAL—that you always have more than one method to evaluate your fitness.  So many of us women use only the scale as THE measurement to tell us if we are doing well or not on our quest to lose weight.  Then when that scale doesn’t say what you want it to (and there will be days like that), you, like me, will be “down-in-the-dumps”, ready to throw in the towel and give up the fight for better health and fitness.  Please don’t let it be so.

There are a number of methods that you can use to measure your fitness and/or weight loss progress.  Using some or all of them together will certainly give you a much better “snap-shot” of your fitness than using only one.  Here is a short list of those methods:

Body Fat Measurements – I know it doesn’t sound good, but having your body fat measurements taken by a professional is a great way to see improvement and progress.  At a minimum, a trainer should measure an area on the back of your arm, waist, and thigh to give you an estimate of your percentage of body fat.

Circumference Measurements – again, this is something that should be done by a professional, however you can also have a family member or friend help you.  All you need is a tape measure.  You can take as many circumference measurements as you want, but at a minimum, the bust, waist, and hips can give you what you need.

Cardiovascular Fitness – another way that I can tell how I am doing in my fitness level is by simply going to exercise.  Things like endurance and loss of breath can give me a good idea of how my body is doing inside.  There have been many times that I have gone to work out thinking that I have lost a certain level of aerobic health or muscle strength, only to find that I could run just as long, I wasn’t out of breath, and I could lift as much or more weight than the previous workout.

Pay attention to your body – we all know when we don’t feel normal or when there may be something wrong with our body.  Simply paying attention to your body while doing activities like climbing stairs, lifting our children, or even standing for an extended period of time can give us clues to our overall health.  For instance: are you winded going up the stairs when you weren’t last week?  Does standing still for too long make your muscles ache?  These are good questions to ask yourself on a day-to-day basis.

Scale – your good old bathroom scale IS helpful in keeping an eye on your weight.  It is not inherently evil, but can’t always be trusted to give you an overall sense of how you are doing on your weight loss or weight management journey.  When you do measure weight by your scale, try to do it the same time of day and with the same amount of clothing.  I weigh myself every morning as soon as I wake up, but after my first bathroom visit.  You can do what works for you.

Lastly, just look in your own mirrors.:-)     Chances are that the mirrors in the clothing store were not quality glass.  They may have even been some form of plexi-glass, which can make a HUGE difference in how you look, and not necessarily for the better.

I’m glad to say that when I got home and used some of these other methods to get a second look at my overall fitness, my peace was restored.  I am not skinny (not that skinny is wrong), but I AM fit, healthy, and well.  Whew, am I glad that dressing room drama is over.

In the unfortunate event that you too have a dressing room incident like I did, please refer back to the list above to get a more accurate picture of your fitness and/or weight loss progress and to regain your peace about your body.

Note:  This is the first post of  the “Wellness Wisdom” category.  Wellness Wisdom is a weekly post for women on varied topics in the fitness, health, nutrition, and general wellness fields; all from my “girlfriend” point of view.  I want to say a special “Thank you” to Michelle of I Heart Publix/I Heart Saving Money for seeing value in my site and inviting me into her world of blogging buddies, giving me an opportunity to positively affect many women.  You’re the best Michelle.  Thanks!

O.k. ladies; I have a very simple food tip here that will not only save you calories, but will also save you $$. 

When using milk for cereals (or even certain recipes), I mix my milk 1/2 and 1/2 with water.  I know, I know, you are probably thinking “wow, she is so cheap.”  Well, you may be right, but I prefer to say frugal.

But in my dairy intolerant little family of four, who drink only soy or almond milk, that grocery bill really adds up.  You think $3 for a gallon of dairy milk is bad?  Try spending 2.50 – $3 for a 1/2 gallon of milk “alternative”. 

Anyway, all that to say, you would be surprised how many calories you save by splitting your milk with water.  Besides, I can’t  even taste the difference in a bowl of cereal or oatmeal. 

So, let’s put some numbers to this, so we can see where it will get us to try this.  Let’s say you use whole milk and eat a bowl of cereal every day for breakfast.   If you try this little tip, you will cut the 150 calorie cup of milk down to 75 calories.  If you make only this change in your daily food intake, you will decrease your caloric intake by 525 calories a week, a net weight loss of 8 pounds in a year.  That’s great weight loss for hardly trying.  Combine this with “How to Lose One Pound Per Week” and you are really making some major waves in your journey toward your Future Figure.  So, if your family likes the whole milk, but you can’t afford all those calories, you can either get the low-fat milk or try this little tip.  Give it a try, then come back and let me know how it worked for you.

Hey ladies.  A few of the many questions that I hear when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle and eating healthy are “What do I eat that is healthy AND filling?”  OR “I feel like I can’t get full when I’m trying to eat healthy.”  Do you ever ask yourself these questions?

Well, I have definitely asked myself the same questions in my life.  Throughout my journey for healthy weight, I have come up with many simple, healthy and TASTY recipes that I would like to share with you.  I’m going to start with breakfast meals that are 200 calories or less.  Check them out in the NEW “Eating Lite and Early” category. 

I know, you probably think that breakfast is optional.  Or maybe if you eat breakfast at all, it consists of a breakfast biscuit, bagel, or sandwich of some sort.  Truthfully, breakfast really shouldn’t be optional, nor should it sit in your belly like a brick. 

Having a lite, healthy, breakfast helps you to tell your body and metabolism “Wake up.  It’s time to get moving.” And, believe me; we all want our metabolism to GET MOOOOVING as early as possible.

So, what do you say to starting off your morning with a quick and easy breakfast of a yummy egg-white omelet and grits, a southern favorite?  That’s what I had this morning and my tummy was very satisfied.  Here are the details:

Ingredients

2 servings of egg whites

¼ cup chopped vegetables (e.g., bell peppers, green onions, tomatoes,   zucchini, etc.)

Cooking spray

1 serving grits (quick or old-fashioned) with no added butter.  Believe it or not, I had the bacon flavored grits – YUM, YUM

Directions

1. Spray your pan with cooking spray, then sauté your vegetables until slightly tender.
2. Add your egg whites, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder or other, and cook omelet to desired consistency
3. Cook grits according to package instructions
4. Drink a cup of unsweetened, decaf tea or glass of water with your meal
5. Eat and Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite meals for breakfast.  And can you believe that it has ONLY 170 calories, instead of the typical 400-550 calorie fast-food breakfast sandwich?  Also, this lite, healthy breakfast provides you with about ¼  serving of vegetables (get them at every meal), 0 cholesterol, 30g carbohydrates, only 75 mg sodium, and 8g protein (which will give you that full feeling for a longer period of time).  For more information on protein and protein diets, read “Too Much of a Good Thing.”

So, I hope you try this little recipe.  It’s one of my favorites.  If you try it, will you please post a comment and let me know what you think of it?  Let me know if it was easy to prepare, how it tasted, if it was filling, etc.  Also, I invite you to post your favorite simple, low-cal, TASTY recipe(s).

So, I just returned home from a visit to my local post office.  One of the ladies that frequently helps me out when I am there asked me “have you been losing weight?  You look good.  Everytime I see you, your face is getting smaller and smaller.“ 

Now, mind you, I began losing weight over 15 months ago and reached my goal weight over 6 months ago.  But, that question and statement is still good to hear “are you losing weight?” and “you look good“. 

All of this to say, that once you reach your weight loss goal it is important that you have a plan to keep it off.  While you are maintaining your healthy weight, your body will still be changing a bit.  You may still be losing some inches, gaining lean muscle, or simply sporting a healthier glow from shedding those unhealthy pounds and eating better.

Reaching your goal weight is NOT the end of the road.  In my eyes, it is only the beginning—the beginning of a lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle.  Granted, it is much easier to maintain weight, once you have lost it.  But, remember that it is also easy to regain weight if we are not careful.  There is a reason why more than 90% of dieters regain their weight.  In my opinion, the major reason is because they are “dieters.”  If they are people like you and me, who are trying to learn a new healthy lifestyle, then they may meet with more success at maintaining healthy weight.

So, if you are reading this and you have lost weight, but don’t know how to keep it off, please contact me.  I can put you in touch with Charles, a certified fitness professional that can help you with fitness and nutrition programming.

If you are reading this and you want to lose weight, then please visit my About page, then my Enzyme Diet page.

Maybe those words “you look good” will help to motivate you toward finding your future figure or maintaining it.

Blessings to you,

Sheril

Happy New Year to all you beautiful ladies.  I wonder what etiquette says about how long it is acceptable to say “Happy New Year.”  If anyone finds out, let me know .

Anyway, I have enjoyed my time off with my sweet family and I am back to help you out toward your futue figure.

Actually, as I write this post, I am still sweating and panting from my workout today.  It’s COOOOLD and a bit of snow where I am, so today’s workout was to an exercise video.  So, that is part of my encouragement to you today.  See #2 below.

A few fitness pointers for the beginning of the year:

1. If you made the same resolution that you made last year–to lose weight, let’s try to make it your last.  No, I don’t meant not to lose weight.  What I do mean is take it slow so that next year you will have maintained your weight loss and you won’t have to make a weight loss resolution.
2. If you haven’t been to a gym or exercising in a while, please, please, please, start slowly.  Sure, push yourself a little, but make sure you are relatively comfortable and definitely don’t hurt anything.  If you happen to be exercising at home like me, then a good workout video that I can recommend is “Walk Away the Pounds” by Leslie Sansone.  It’s very simple, very safe, but EFFECTIVE.  I used her video mostly after having my children.  But, believe it or not, I still use it on occasion.  If you find her video w/o the weighted balls that it comes with, you can simply use regular hand weights.  They are pretty cheap to buy or find at a yard sale.  I like using the hand weights b/c then I can increase my hand weights as I become more proficient with the workout, adding more resistance and making the “same old” workout still EFFECTIVE.
3. Lastly, but not least, you know that I advocate Balance, Variety, and Moderation as a life motto.  Mostly, I am referring to food when I say that, but it can be used when talking about exercise too. 
   1. Balance–remember to work the upper body as well as the lower body, top and bottom, front and rear.  Just think, about your body looking “balanced” when you look in the mirror. 
   2. Variety–if you try a variety of exercises and/or exercise programs, then you are less likely to get bored and more likely to stick with it.
   3. Moderation–again, slow and steady.  Don’t make your body go from 0 to 60 in one week.  Work your way up slowly.
4. Last, but not least, so many of us women have a hard time with knowing what to do after a week or two of exercising.  We don’t know how to require more of our body so that it will give us more.  It is hard to know how to maximize our regular workouts.  If that it you, I have a FREE membership program that can help with that.  Simply register to become a memer and you will be able to benefit from my regular email encouragements, articles, workout tips, and e-courses like “Maximize Your Metabolism”.  Remember, it’s all FREE.   Go register your first name and email address TODAY!
5.  I’ll also tell you a little secret:  for Members Only, there is an awesome offer (dirt cheap) for you to have your very own personalized, online food and exercise programming and support.  Be patient though, and look for that special email.  But, If you are like me and don’t like to wait, you can contact me and I can send you the offer right away.  But, you have to be a member first.

O.k., I’m starting to sneeze now b/c I have cooled off from my workout.  Keep working toward your goal of Your Future Figure.

TTYL.-Sheril

P.S. – If anyone has some other workout videos that you would like to recommend, I would love to hear them.  Place a post or shoot me an email.  Thanks.

P.P.S – Keep your eye out for my new exercise video tips.  I will be getting them out to you soon.

Did you know…

Walking burns about 100 calories per mile?

It’s True!

Depending on your weight, walking terrain, and speed, you could burn an average of 100 calories per mile.

To calculate calories burned during a walk:  Multiply .037 calories by your weight; then multiply the result by the number of minutes you walk.  Example: (160 lbs. x .037 = 5.9) x 30 minutes = 178 calories burned.

Walking briskly 30-60 minutes every day may delay and even prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and cancer.  Walking is one of the easiest ways to control weight, manage stress, and boost energy.

So, Start Walking Today!

If you are inactive, start slowly with 10-15 minutes, four or five days a week.  Gradually add minutes until you can walk at least a half-hour per day.  For weight loss, walk briskly at lease 60 minutes most days. 

Note:  Check with your health care provider before beginning an exercise routine if yo have a medical condition or other health concerns.

Walk whenever you can:

• Walk to lunch or to the store
• Walk while you talk on the phone
• Walk your dog or a friend’s dog
• Find a buddy and walk after dinner (or anytime)
• Make an extra loop around the mall

Tip: Walking different routes can keep it interesting and fun!

Do you love fried food as much as I do?  Let’s take fried chicken for example.  The crunchy, seasoned breading on the outside…the juicy meat on the inside, the greasy fingers.  It can all be so satisfying.   What a comfort food.

I confess that eating fried foods is one of my guilty little pleasures.  But, now that I have successfuly lost my weight and surpassed my weight loss goal, eating fried foods isn’t an activity that I can indulge in very frequently at all.

That’s why I’m so excited to share that we can both enjoy that fried food taste and not gain an ounce; probably lose weight.  This can all be done by simply changing the process with which we “fry.”

The process is called “un-frying”.  You may have heard it called oven frying.  I learned it from Rosie Daley’s cook book In the Kitchen with Rosie.  Rosie Daley is Oprah Winfrey’s cook and she specializes in low-fat, low-sugar, low-salt, yet full of flavor cooking. 

Un-frying allows you to enjoy the taste of fried food, while also benefitting from only 1/3 of the calories and 1/6 of the fat (on average) of the traditional version.

Here is the recipe for Un-fried Catfish

Light Vegetable oil spray

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp lemon pepper

4 tsp blackening seasoning

Four 4-oz. catfish fillets

1/2 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray the vegetable oil over the baking sheet 3 times to coat.  Put the cornmeal, thyme, and basil on a large plate and mix well. 

Sprinkle 1/8 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp lemon pepper, and 1 tsp blackening seasoning on each of the catfish fillets.  Coat the fillets throroughly with the cornmeal mixture and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet.  Dust each fillet with 1/8 tsp of the paprika.  Coat the catfish lightly with the cooking spray.

Place the baking sheet on the bottom shelf of the oven.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for about 5 minutes more, until the crust is golden and the fish flakes easily.

The texture and flavor of the catfish was far better than pan frying.  I couldn’t believe it, but then I tried the recipe for Un-fried chicken and I was convinced.  Un-frying is the way to go!  I can enjoy the taste of fried foods without all the calories or fat.  I will never go back to pan frying agian.  I Promise!

Note:  This is such an easy and flavorful recipe that I left out the blackening seasoning (didnt’ have it) and it was still VERY tasteful.  Also, you can use any fish–I used tilapia another time (tilapia is a thinner fish, so adjust your cook time).

Don’t forget, to spray your pan first and the top of the fish and the key is to place your food tray on the bottom shelf of the oven. 

Bon Appetite!