Using Your Hands for Easy Portion Control!

You hear it all the time. Watch your portion size when looking to eat healthier and manage weight. It seems so simple, but like most "easy" things, is easier said than done for most. To make portion control work, I feel its best to get to the most elementary level possible. How much more elementary can you get than your hands? My hands you ask? Yes your hands, and this time it really is as easy as it looks.

Check out this hand portion control chart to learn more. For instance the chart states one "cupped" hand is equivalent to half a cup of cooked vegetables, pastas, icecream, pudding etc. This tool is not about using your hands as utensils, but it's certainly an easy place to start. It's really all about having a visual in your head of everyday portion sizes so that it becomes second nature. Then you can truly become portion savvy.


To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-Free Food Experiences,

A Case For Taking Small Steps in Your Weight Management Efforts

Often many types of changes associated with weight management and nutrition are expected to be extreme in order to bring about any meaningful results. This can make any efforts to achieve and maintain these changes quite stressful and daunting.

However, recently I was reminded how uncomplicated weight management can be if we just allow ourselves to just start with small steps. When a woman from Australia who lost 150 pounds after deciding to walk around the clothes line in her backyard, she proved how simple fitness can be.

It just shows that any exercise plan is only as good as the internal drive and motivation you have to get results. Many factors off course can impact the latter, but the important thing is that you begin somewhere, and a small first step is often a good place to start.

Find out about how the woman I spoke of earlier made long-term weight loss a reality for her.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-Free Food Experiences

10 Regular Food Habits of The Savvy Non-Dieter™

The Savvy Non-Dieter™ concept is all about redefining the relationship you have with food by transforming the diet mentality which governs so many of our eating experiences. I've found that dieting principles of deprivation, starvation, guilt-driven eating and restrictive meal planning have found their way into our general perception of the way we eat.

So many are using these principles even when not on a diet plan to lose a set amount of pounds. Whether we are aware of it or not, much of our thoughts of food are dictated by a society where there is ongoing and growing food phobia that has been fueled by a dieting culture.

To be a Savvy Non-Dieter™ is to not only question this food culture, but practice regularly a lifestyle which follows a healthier way of eating and cultivates many wonderful food habits. Ten of these are:

1. Often considering Quality and wholesomeness when making food choices.

2. Having no 'cheat' days. All foods are allowed, meaning that there are also less cravings.

3. Enjoying dessert with enthusiasm, appreciation and full engagement.

4. Practicing portion size savviness in a healthy and effective way.

5. Eating without feeling attacked or punished by food.

6. Enjoying ethnic cuisine whenever possible.

7. Having at least one recipe book with lots of colorful pictures on the book shelf (even though you may not cook much). Food is nice to look at!

8. Getting out to eat with family, friends, loved ones without needing to rationalize or justify this indulgence to yourself.

9. Knowing when to take a doggy bag and enjoy the leftovers later.

10. Having a food pantry and fridge with little or no "diet" items. The Savvy Non-Dieter™ (aka you) know that "diet" and other fake, altered foods, which are in the least resemblance to their original wholesome form, are less desirable.

Off course there are many more regular food habits of The Savvy Non-Dieter™, and you can come up with the regular practices most suited to you. The question is how open minded are you willing to be?


To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-Free Food Experiences,

Festive Rice and Vegetable Salad

Adding a little variety to the plain lettuce and tomato salad only takes some inventiveness and a few more items commonly found in the kitchen pantry. Try this simple and colorful salad:




Ingredients:
3/4 C long grain rice, uncooked
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen peas, thawed
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
3/4 C green onions, chopped
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/2 C canola oil
1/3 C white wine vinegar
3 T of sugar
1/2 t dill weed
1/4 t salt
1/4 t ground mustard
1/8 t pepper

Instructions:

Cook the rice according to the package directions, cool and place in a large serving bowl.
Add the peas, red pepper, onions and cranberries to the rice and toss to combine.
Pour the canola oil and vinegar into a small mixing bowl.
Add the sugar, dill weed, salt, mustard and pepper.
Whisk until completely combined and the sugar completely dissolves.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until the salad ingredients are completely coated.
Cover the salad and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 servings

This festive rice salad brings color and taste to your Memorial Day feast. To add a little more color use 1/2 of the red pepper and 1/2 of a yellow pepper. Finely shredded carrots may be added as well.

I hope you will enjoy this salad recipe. Even with salads it is possible to have variety each day of the year. Simple salad recipes are off course healthy and quick to put together, so eating your veggies doesn't have to be boring. To start you off, try these 365 Salad Recipes!



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences

4 Simple Approaches to Getting Off the Yoyo Dieting Ride

Yoyo dieting is often a lifelong issue and generally does not end unless a decision has been made that diets are not an option anymore. Breaking free from the yoyo dieting roller coaster ride is more challenging than just the intention to do so. Giving diets the boot can only be accomplished when we totally open ourselves to do things completely different as far as our weight loss goals are concerned. It certainly requires an open mind.


Four initial approaches to consider are:


1. You are more likely to succeed in both improving your health and attaining permanent weight loss if you recognize that there are no quick fixes and any diet which promises this is deceiving. The main reason why there is the tendency to go from one diet to the next is because the weight loss desired was not achieved or the weight that was loss was regained. Long term weight management requires patience.

2. Distinguish between psychological hunger vs. physical hunger. Psychological hunger is really not hunger at all, but cravings originating from emotions and stress. True hunger stems from our bodies natural hunger cues in response to it’s physiological and definite need for nourishment. It is important to be able to distinguish the two and become fully intuned to when you’re really hunger vs. when you are seeking pacification from food.

3. Stop fighting hunger. Despite what you’ve heard, hunger is not the enemy. It’s your body’s way of communicating with you a basic and primal need-food. Once you fully understand the difference between true hunger and cravings, you know that your hunger is a kind friend rather than a foe. Therefore, honor it and for goodness sake eat something! Ignoring hunger and putting off eating to cut calories will bring about an insistent response from your body that it needs nourishment for its survival. This response could come as cravings and overeating.

4. Open yourself to and find non-diet approaches to weight management. If you were told that you don't have options, then you won't told the whole story. Like everything in life, their are always choices out there. If there weren't there would be no need for advertising. The non-diet weight management options available fill in crucial elements which most diets leave out.

Remember that its never too late to do something differently. Just because you've always done weight loss the dieting way, that doesn't mean you need to continue doing so. Chances are that, like most, you probably haven't been seeing much success anyway. So perhaps it's time to explore your options.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

Eight Non-Diet Tips You Can Apply Right Now

When it comes to weight management, so many people get overwhelmed and stressed. It just seems so complicated. When you put diets into the mix, successful weight management may almost seem impossible. So before you even consider yet another diet, consider rethinking this option. Instead, begin with these simple Non-Diet tips which you can utilize right now to help free you from the dieting roller coaster.


When it comes to weight management:

1. Be in it for the long haul. Do not be discouraged by minor shifts of weight in an undesired direction. Be patient.

2. Be Fiber Conscious. Fiber adds bulk and that’s a good thing, because that fills you up faster and longer. Vegetables, fruits, beans etc.

3. Watch your Liquid Calories especially soda calories and some "energy drinks". These really add up because they are so quickly consumed.

4. Avoid Diets which promise Quick Weight Loss

5. Eat several small meals daily because your body will only metabolize a certain amount of food based on it’s needs and the rest is stored as fat. A smaller meal means that more of the food is likely to be burned out and less stored as fat.

6. Take on a daily relaxation practice. Eg. Meditation, going for a walk, reading a good book, playing with a pet, meeting friends etc. or whatever makes you feel uplifted and less stressed.

7. Set your scale to your desired weight and step on it as minimally as possible after that. Place a note on the scale with your desired weight and make that your motivator. Avoid being a prisoner to it daily.

8. Have a support network. Being amongst like-minded people is one of the fastest ways to achieve a goal.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

8 Ways to Cut the Fat Without The “Low Fat” Label

Low fat foods have been the rave for quite some time and for many concerned with weight management, including such foods in their daily meal plan has become essential. Whilst fat reduced or low fat substitutes for regular foods such as milk and cheese and normally decadent treats like cakes and cookies, may do the trick, this doesn’t come without a price.

Besides the obvious upside to low fat eating-losing weight -there are 2 main down sides.

1. There is the perception that eating low fat foods overrides the impact of other foods in the diet. We often feel that because a food is low fat, that is an automatic free pass to eat more of it than its regular counterpart. We forget that fats are not the only calorie contributors in our diet and that we have to look at the total carbohydrate, fat, and protein component of the food, not just the fat.

2. The taste of food can often be compromised with having less of its flavor enhancing fat component present


Although purchasing foods with the “low fat” label is valuable, there are some ways to cut the fat without necessitating this “label”. That means there is the sense of controlling the fat content without needing to mostly zap it out. There are several subtle ways you can manage the fat without needing the physical “low fat” label. Some useful food substitutions include:

1. Cheddar Cheese: Substitute with half the amount called for using Extra Sharp cheese and ½ tsp dry mustard for flavor.

2. Whipped Cream: Substitute with evaporated skimmed milk, chilled until almost frozen, then whip

3. ½ cup oil for baking: Substitute with ¼ oil plus 1/4 cup applesauce or ¼ cup oil + 1/8 cup applesauce and 1/8 cup buttermilk

4. Bacon: Substitute with turkey bacon

5. 1 Whole egg: Substitute with 2 egg whites

6. 1 cup Chocolate chips: Substitute with 2/3 cups chocolate chips

7. Nuts: Reduce amount by substituting with ½ or 1/3 of what is called for

8. Fudge sauce: Substitute with chocolate syrup

Substitution Tips adapted from Kingley Health



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

5 Tips To Make Everyday Gratitude Easy

Having gratitude can often feel like a cliche to many. The first inclination may be to say, "Off course I know that I should be grateful for what I have"-food, clothes, shelter etc. But often times most of us forget to be grateful. Gratitude is much more than a phrase of thanks giving, it is a powerful, easy tool to reduce stress and keep a focus on the things you want to achieve like weight management and other food related goals and other life goals.

It is said that "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others" Cicero.


Five ways to bring in gratitude more often in your daily living include:

1. Be in the moment always. Remember that the only time that you are truly physically living is now, and therefore it is only there that your power lies. Find one thing in that moment to be grateful for. It could as simple as being able to watch your favorite sitcom on TV or use your fingers.

2. Look around you. Often times we walk through our daily routines blindly, engrossed with our own thoughts, worries, and mental To Do Lists etc. It therefore becomes easy to ignore the things of simple beauty around us. For example instead of jogging with debilitating thoughts of the number of miles you need to run today to burn those doughnut calories from the previous day, notice a tree or pond or flowers,a bright sky, your good health etc.

3. Say "Thank You" often. These simple two words have much power, and when we use them often in our interactions with others, our children, our family, etc, that regular act can change our perspective. "Thank You" is the ultimate gratitude proclamation.

4. Write it down. If you feel remembering to be grateful throughout the day is not something you may be able to keep up with, then a good idea is to put it on paper ( at least 5 things). You can do this either in the morning to start your day off good or in the evening before bed. A good way to simplify this process is to choose things to be grateful for in one category in your life at a time eg. five things to be grateful about my home, my family, my city, my wife/husband, my body etc.

5. Say it either mentally or out loud just before going to sleep. Saying a few things you're grateful for just before going to sleep is a good substitute for the usual worry thoughts that may be part of your normal bedtime ritual. It can also set you up for more relaxed sleep and comforting dreams.

Here are two great videos on gratitude. One is from the Gratidudes presenting a great way to show gratitude through the quirky "Gratitude Dance". The other is set to the song "Thankful" by Josh Groban. Enjoy!












To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

Seven Non-Diet Tips to Apply to Any Buffet Table

A party, restaurant, or cruise buffet can be a wonderful event for some and for others on some kind of weight management plan, quite anxiety producing. However, there are ways to be ensure that a buffet is always a positive experience, with no guilt-ridden side effects.


Seven useful tips to consider:

1. Don’t come to the buffet starved or hungry. If the buffet event is in the evening don’t skip lunch and/or breakfast. Even though you don’t have to wait the whole day for the buffet, eat something light anyway. You don’t want to be full, but ‘saving your calories” may not be a good idea either. If you are too hungry, you may be more likely to loose sight of your intake.

2. Don’t station yourself at the buffet table (ie. sit too close to it for most of the time). If you have the food in front of you for most of the time, then that becomes your “entertainment” and you naturally pick at more stuff than you would otherwise. Especially with the bit-size, finger foods, it’s easy to overdo it as it is likely that you will have no idea how much you’re actually consuming.

3. Walk around and scan the buffet area before you pick up a plate and begin making food choices. This helps you to know before hand what you really would like to have and it also shortens the time you will spend making decisions once you are on the line.

4. Give yourself permission to not have to try everything and to try the things you really want. While on the line, if you are not certain about a food, take a little on your plate and try it right there to make sure it is something you want.That way you avoid later having a full serving of a food on your plate that you may find that you do not even like that much, but still end up more than just tasting simply because it's on your plate already.

5. Get some water in between cocktails, and other drinks to manage liquid calories.

6. You don't have to eat everything on your plate. A buffet, with all of its choices, can make people quite anxious especially when they are on the line and have seconds instead of minutes to make a decision on what to take. You may feel pressured to rush and may put things into your plate that you may not really like, then later feel that you have to eat whatever is on your plate.

7. Be sure to only allow yourself one plate per course or buffet station-appetizer, entree, dessert etc., if you can. A buffet is often separated into many different stations with many different choices and it helps to be mindful when navigating each section. That way you don't overdo it in one section before you get to the other food courses offered.


These tips will help you make the buffet experience one that is exciting and less overwhelming as far as making choices that leave you satisfied and free of guilt. Since a buffet is an ideal opportunity to try a variety of foods all in one place, the number one thing is to savor and enjoy the food fully in order make it a good eating occasion for you.


To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

Change the Way You Look at New Years Resolutions and Dieting

The New Years Resolutions and Dieting ritual relies greatly on willpower and pumped up drive. We are encouraged to approach our resolutions full force, and make them as big and extreme as possible.

Therefore, New Years Diet Resolutions create much passion and enthusiasm in the beginning, both of which usually burn out way before the end goal is achieved. The need to get to our desired end weight is so great that we dive right in often time with little preparation.

In the following article, Pavel G. Somov, Ph.D., author of Eating Moments, proposes that we set no dieting resolutions at all. After briefly explaining the real meaning of the word “resolution”, he goes on to explain in detail why dieting does not work.

You can read the article entitled New Year: No More Resolutions.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

The Top Self-Improvement Books to Kick Start Your Goals for The New Year

As a new year and a new decade begins, many of us have new goals and resolutions in place, and we need all the help we can get to keep motivated and inspired to experience the positive results we are working towards. There are so many personal development books out there that it can be challenging to filter out the best ones. And even though you already have even 20 books on your wish list that you’ve either had recommended to you or you’ve researched, each could take you hours to get through. Philosopher’s Notes has addressed this by offering the opportunity for you to read or listen to 100 of the top Self-Development, Success, and Self-Improvement books available.

The books depict top authors in the field like Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle, Jack Canefield, Louise Hay and more. The cool thing about it is that each book entry is a shortened version either in a 6-page report or a 20 minute audio with the major points, ideas, core lessons and principles conveyed in each book. Think of it as Cliff Notes for Self-Help books.

In short, you get the take home message and teaching principles of the book, so you can get what it is that you need to learn from it in the easiest way. This format allows you to get right to the life changing part of the book without needing to get through the entire book first. Plus it costs a lot less than buying 100 books. And if you do decide to purchase some of the books on your own, they are likely to be the books you really resonate with. Often times, we can delay reading a book because we figure we don’t have the time to read through it. But the desire for success, increased happiness, fulfillment, and overall wellness still remains even though we procrastinate. The Philosophers Notes are like bite-size jolts of wellness.


To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

What the Weight Watchers Hungry Monster Does Not Teach Us About Hunger and Cravings

This is the time of year when people begin holding the intention of a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight or get more fit. At this point it has become a tradition, one which half of the world is initially fired up at the beginning of the year to fulfill. Weight Watchers, like most other weight loss programs, is now happily feeding this enthusiasm with an all out inundation of commercials, some of which depict the infamous “Hungry Monster”. This is a fuzzy, orange, big-eyed character who is suppose to represent the pesky rambling in our tummy called hunger which causes us to eat cookies, ice cream and similar foods, totally sabotaging our weight loss goals.

Upon conducting a quick online research of Mr. Hungry Monster, I found him to be quite popular. The first three pages of Google were filled only with raves and praises for this unique puppet. Most people were asking questions of where they could purchase him. One blog post referred to Hungry Monster as representing a "beast inside of them that was controlling what they eat” and that they need to retrain it so that they can eat healthier. The bottom line is that people love this orange, fur ball monster, and most seem to want to take him home as well.

So any criticism of the Hungry Monster concept would seem quite out of place, and could probably be grounds for an all out barrage of insults. But here goes. Although Hungry Monster is marketed as a playful symbol of hunger, he is portrayed as a mischievous and trouble making character which we certainly need to tame. Therefore hunger is something we need to tame. What is sad is that people actually do believe that something as natural as hunger, real physical hunger, is a bad thing.

The body has devised hunger to indicate to us when it is in a real physiological need for food. However when we make hunger the enemy, what we are really doing is confusing hunger with cravings. Cravings most often have nothing to do with physical hunger and are always focused on a specific food. Two types of cravings are emotional cravings and physical cravings.

Emotional cravings or “psychological hunger” occurs when food is used to escape from an undesired feeling, to deal with stress or provide comfort and ‘good feelings”. Physical cravings are often associated with some sort of deficiency the body is experiencing as often happens with structured diets where there is the tendency to exempt many foods. This lack of balanced eating can lead to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals. The body may crave foods containing the missing carbs and nutrients it is short of.

Dieting is often a major cause of food cravings. When you can’t eat a food, you will want it more. The moment you get the chance "to cheat" and taste that forbidden fruit, you are likely to overdo it, because you know that it may be a long time before you can have that food again.

Other potential sources of food cravings include:

1. Low serotonin levels which may cause cravings for carbohydrates (mostly high sugar choices). Carbohydrates help ensure the body has sufficient tryptophan to allow the brain to produce desirable serotonin levels. Serotonin is a hormone essential for relaxation and sleep.

2. Environmental cues: A fast food commercial on TV or passing near the actual building like McDonald's, Wendy’s etc. could create a craving for fast food items. Certain activities strongly associated with a specific food can trigger a craving for that food, eg. traditional holiday foods during the Christmas season, candy or popcorn and other snack foods while watching television at home.

So if you intend on embarking on a weight management plan for the New Year, a good initial move would be to better understand hunger and cravings, so you can identify them easily when they occur. Ignoring true hunger, as the Weight Watcher’s “Hungry Monster” campaign would suggest, is not necessarily the angle to take.

It is important to take in enough calories and nutrition. It is equally wise to not skip meals or to exempt as many foods as possible as part of a restrictive eating plan, since these practices can cause unnecessary cravings which are the real source of overeating.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,



P.S: To assist you in managing food cravings you might want to take a look at Am I Hungry, a comprehensive, non-diet alternative program consisting of books, workshops, coaching etc.

Overcoming Emotional Eating-Your Main Weight Management Strategy

Diets inevitably lead to weight regain. This is a truth that can be explained not only by physiological factors (ie slowed metabolism), but by the fact that conventional diets do not address the underlying issues behind unwanted weight gain. One of these issues which many who find themselves constantly on diets face is emotional eating. Emotional eating is fueled by psychological hunger over physical hunger.

That is emotional eating is normally brought on by such things as emotional cues,stress, social situations, specific settings, smells, etc. These have nothing to do with a roaring stomach which is signally that you body is ready for food, which constitutes our inate ability to regulate our eating internally without any need for a diet plan. Emotional eating however causes us to no longer be attuned to these signals.

There are two instances of excessive consumption which can arise from emotional factors. The first is when we literally ignore hunger cues, not eating when we really should be or hardly eating enough (aka starvation or deprivation) and then later binging when we are overwhelmed with an insatiable yearning for food. Emotions of guilt and shame from binging will likely cause another such episode in the near future.

The second instance of emotional eating occurs when food is mainly used as a pacifier to make us feel better or allow us to think less about a problem or troubling issue. The ability to sense fullness suffers greatly as no attention is paid to when we've had enough. In both situations it is easy to get lost in eating for as long as we need the food to cope with the emotions.

To begin combating this cycle of emotional eating it is important to do several things:

1. Acknowledge and become aware if you are using food as a pacifier. True freedom begins with awareness. The hold emotional eating can have on you exists through mindless eating; it is almost as if you are in trance. To break the trance you will need to snap yourself out of it by becoming alert and totally conscious.

2. Find non-food related activities to deal with stress and negative emotions. Food is wonderful and should be enjoyed, but there are so many more enjoyable things in life as well. Many other things can relieve stress in the moment it comes about, meaning that you don’t have to leave your house or go through a long preparation to access non-food related pacifiers.

Examples of instant relievers are
• playing with a pet,
• turning the TV to a funny sitcom or uplifting program,
• playing your favorite CD
• or turning on you favorite radio station,
• playing a board game
• connecting with someone online through a social network, IM etc
• doing something else with your hands –whether it involves taking up something to read or observe, completing a task around the house or an errand, engaging in a hobby or opening the door to take a walk down the block if you feel able to.
• Have a cup of herbal tea. Yogi tea is one of the best brands, offering many flavors. And what is also great about the brand is that each box comes with an exercise to help you relax and refocus.

3. Slow down your life a bit. The more we rush, the less time we seem to have and the more exhausted we may feel. If you are an emotional eater, you may not realize it, but food has probably just become another chore on the "to do list" of your multi-tasked life. You may eat while on the phone, while driving to work, while shopping, while doing paperwork at work or at home etc.

Taking a pause during your hectic day and at meal time can go a long way to helping you become more aware.

4. Don’t skip physical activity. Exercise need not feel like a chore. There is such a thing as easy and effortless exercise when it is an element of everyday physical activity. Not only does daily physical engagement keep you fit, it also gives you something else to put your focus on besides food and it relieves stress.


To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,


Next time I will providing a short list of resources which can help you to identify and combat emotional eating.

Effortless Physical Activity and Weight Loss-Dance

Here's a wonderful article from Daily Om on rediscovering dance as a natural source of effortless movement:

Rediscovering Dance: Healing with Movement


To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

What is Your Approach to Permanent Weight Loss?

We've already discussed at length some key principles of the having a Non-diet mindset. However here's a quick and fun way to get a general assessment of your approach to eating and weight management. It only takes a couple minutes and is quite revealing. You need not put in your name, just simply begin with the "start quiz" button.

What is Your Approach to Permanent Weight Los… » Quiz Question Maker

Hope this assessment tool gave you some greater insight.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

Non-Diet Weight Loss with Effortless Physical Activity

In the previous article we spoke of differentiating between physical activity as a product of everyday natural activities vs. exercise which is much more regimented and planned. Now the question is how does that translate into your real everyday life? How can you make exercise effortless so that it fits into your lifestyle? Well here are a few suggestions to begin. Pick the ones most applicable to you.

• Have regular at-home dance parties. Put on the radio and according to the words of Lady Gaga "Just Dance". Involve the whole family or who ever you live with, or do it yourself. Dance as much as possible. Rhythm is not required. Dance while you are washing the dishes, if you are in front the bedroom mirror, etc. Use this most natural form of movement to your advantage. You could even try the new Just Dance game from Nintendo Wii if you need something more interactive.

• Take up a specific dance like salsa, belly dance, hip hop or any aerobic dance. The thing I like about dance is that it brings the element of good feelings and connection into the physical activity, and you are less likely to feel stressed by something which you have an emotional bond with. So other activities which can work include yoga, karate or kickboxing, tai chi, and alternative dances like the “journey dance”

• Pick up a sports activity or if you’re not so inclined, buy a Wii Activity system which simulates many fun activities including hula hooping, without requiring you to leave your home.

• Get a trampoline in the back yard or a mini-one in the bedroom and get on it as often as possible.

• Enjoy an outdoor swing (make sure it can accommodate you)

• Get a ping pong table or a “ice hockey” table in the game room, family room or in an extra room if you can.

• Roller blade in the backyard, in the park or at the skating ring.

• Go swimming-Water activities make for a wonderful fitness alternative

• Take a trip to a water park

• Walk in the neighborhood

• You’ve heard this one before, but take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. It really is fulfilling.

• If you’ve been thinking about it, adopt a dog. In some places, you can even foster a dog, so that you don't get into an unwanted long-term commitment if you are not ready.

I say a dog, because dogs are very high energy pets who force us to engage physically. We either play with them in the backyard or need to take them out on a walk. Either way both sides are enjoying physical activity.

• Take on a hobby. Although it would be good to adapt a hobby which allows for some physical exertion, it is absolutely not necessary. It could be anything from pottery making to painting. You're more concerned with the mental focus and stress reduction which hobbies often provide. This helps reduce stress-induced emotional eating and unwanted weight gain. If you are looking to lose weight, you won’t need to exercise as much. Also, a hobby is a wonderful way to combat emotional eating.

Often times, the activities we consider to be “child’s play” like the hula hooping and riding on a swing, roller blading and the trampoline, are often the most physically rewarding. Just think about it. Children who play often enjoy natural physically fitness. A sense of playfulness can go a long way towards us being able to naturally fit physical activity into our daily lives, aiding in our non-diet weight loss efforts as well as long-term weight management.

Free your physical health and weight management from restriction and strict, regimented control. Making physical activity more about what you already do than what you need to plan for, causes it be a more fun and sustained part of you life.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,