Greatness

Have you seen the new ad campaign from Nike? There's a whole slew of spots - just google Nike Greatness and enjoy.

You are what you eat

It seems the "eat less, move more" mantra is not quite as simple as that. This study found evidence for diet having more of an impact on weight loss than exercise. Specifically, making smarter choices, which involves consuming fewer processed foods, is what contributes the MOST to weight loss. That's not to say exercise isn't important (oh, you thought you would get out of going to the gym? Nope!) I have to say I think I agree with the study. Since I have been consuming mostly whole foods I have noticed differences in weight loss as well as hunger levels. Eating things that take my body more time to digest helps me stay fuller, longer. I thought I would share with you some of my favorite meals starting with my go to breakfast smoothie:
Mya's Breakfast Smoothie:
I really love McDonald's Mango/Pineapple fruit smoothie.

But at 220 calories for a 12oz cup (not to mention 49 grams of sugar) I think I'll have to save that for special occasions (Thanks McDonald's for having such complete nutrition info on your website). My substitution? I use my awesome Magic bullet to create a healthy, yet still tasty, alternative:

1) Fage 0% yogurt - 1/2 cup 2) NUTRIBIOTIC VEGAN RICE PROTEIN Vanilla - 1 heaping TBSP 3) Random assorted berries (whatever I've thrown in the freezer for the week: blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, snozberries...) 4) Crystal Light - 1/2 cup of whatever I've got mixed up in the pitcher Blend it all up for a breakfast that's good and yummers! For 3 WW PointsPlus it's a total winner (okay, maybe doesn't taste EXACTLY like McDonald's but it's cheaper and is much better for you - 35 grams of protein compared to McDonald's measly 3 is a total WIN). You could probably add Splenda or some other artificial sweetener to it but there's already some in the Crystal Light and I try to stay away from that as much as possible.

In my next post I'll talk about my other go to breakfast...Cheerios!

Obesity epidemic

This looks interesting. Too bad I don't get HBO.




An article by Liz Monte on Portion Size makes me think hummmm, could this have something to do with contributing to the epidemic?

And how about this article that says sitting (and lack of exercise) is just as deadly as smoking?

I just finished up the Red Rocks Fitness Challenge on Saturday (more on my pre/post assessment results in a later post) and on Wednesday, Aug 1st I'll start the Bonza Body 8 week challenge!

And I think I'll do the Step up for cancer event this weekend. How about you?

Swimming towards pie

This is why I online do Weight Watchers online now. I know "they" say that going to group meetings is helpful in weight loss but so many times the people there would just be so whiny and would complain about not being able to eat the whole pie or not being able to drink ALL the water (seriously people, 64 oz of water is NOT that much in a day. I down that before work). One complaint I will always remember is the woman who was so upset because she loved Arby's Market Fresh sandwiches but they were 18 POINTS (this was before the Points plus system but I'm sure they are still quite high. For those not familiar with WW, the points you can have per day depend on your weight but generally range from 18 to 32 - so you can see why an 18 point meal was not a good idea). The leader kept trying to help her figure out how she could have "some" of the sandwich (since the whole point of WW is to not deprive yourself and you can eat whatever you want within reason) but this woman didn't want to eat just half the sandwich or only eat the sandwich once a month...she wanted that whole freaking sandwich on what seemed like a daily basis. I really wanted to jump up and say "just eat the freaking sandwich, stop coming to WW and be fat the rest of your life because that's what's going to happen". Life is all about choices and this woman was choosing to eat the sandwich but didn't want to face the consequences. And she though if she made enough excuses as to WHY she couldn't just have half, or WHY she couldn't just eat it once in a while that would justify it (and she would lose weight). So I log my points online and I don't go to meetings. I read inspiration blogs like BitchCakes and WW's CEO. And I try not to swim towards pie.

Eat less, move more

It's always amazing to me how people can be so quick to follow crazy fads that have them eating strange foods in unusual combinations, or taking pills that can cause oily discharge but when faced with the idea of simply eating less and moving more they scoff. Yet another research study has been cited that says the people who are successful at weight loss are the ones who eat less (especially less fat) and move more.

So let's MOVE IT!

Rule #1: Cardio

Yet another reason to work out - we all saw what happened in Zombieland to the fatties!

Research has shown...

As someone who is trained in research methods and the importance of empirical evidence I'm always on the lookout for what current research says about weight loss, healthy eating, weight maintenance, etc.

I came across this article today that discusses a research study that found couch potatoes who get 1-2 hours of moderate exercise a day are just as bad off as those who don't exercise at all when it comes to longevity. Essentially the more hours you sit, the less likely you will live as long. And here's the shocking part: that's true even if you freaking exercise for 2 hours of the day - if you sit for the rest of the day you a goner (especially if you sit longer than 8 hours a day). In this study, exercise didn't decrease sitting time.

Of course, the researchers say that exercise has other benefits (blood pressure, weight maintenance, etc.) so they aren't saying you might as well just sit down. But what they are saying is that you shouldn't fool yourself into thinking if you run 5 miles in the morning you can sit on your butt the rest of the day.

Now I don't know about you but I have a desk job. It's really hard to work at a computer standing up. I know there are people who have "standing desks" but that just seems kind of strange to me (and I'm pretty sure my work isn't going to install those any time soon). So what's a girl to do? The message I took away was keep up the daily exercise but try to make sure I get up frequently throughout the day.

I do take a 30 minute walk at lunch. I try to get up and walk to coworker's offices to ask questions instead of emailing. And I drink enough water to have to make a trip to the bathroom every hour or so (I know, TMI). Hopefully it's this extra effort to keep moving as often as possible throughout the day that will help keep the grim reaper away, at least until the zombie apocalypse. But that's a whole different issue.