Better health, better body.

Since Niv shared her progress not too long ago, I figured I'd share my story too.

Change is paramount. A lifestyle change for the better, even more so. The single, most important change I made in my life was to consciously work on my food habits and exercise regime, and 1.5 years later, I am ~20 pounds lighter, stronger, and infinitely more confident. While I am one of a million successful women, my journey and the end result are still something I am proud of. So bear with me while I brag away.

The lifestyle change was not easy, of course, and it was triggered by a flood that displaced me, a bad breakup I couldn't make sense of, and a new habitat with no friends and a new found desire to try and fit in, and be impressive. Whatever my reasons were, I got lucky, for I could have easily fallen down the abysmal pit called binge-eating-getting-fat-self-loathing, but I didn't. And here's what worked for me-

1. Setting small, achievable goals
My greatest objective was, in the grand scheme of things, somewhat trivial.
 All I ever wanted was to fit into pretty clothes and look good in them.
 A wellness challenge at work helped. It was 3 months long, and I lost my first 7 pounds by the end of the challenge.
So keep in mind.. while a vision is important to have, always make small goals. Tell yourself you'll work out for X number of hours a day or you will walk X miles a week. Do it.

2. Finding a trainer
A trainer will monitor your activity.
They will teach you how to do things right, help you set goals and more importantly,  support you when you're not doing particularly well.
Get a trainer. Don't worry about the cost. Because at the end of it all, you'd have made another friend.

3. Cardio
Targeted weight training didn't help me lose weight.
Starving didn't.
Getting my heart rate up did the trick, however.
It is true what they say about endogenous morphins. They make you happy. Walk, if you don't like running. Run, if you can do it. Biking is probably even better. Go swimming, go to the gym, but work incessantly, until you ache. Being sore from a good work out is a wonderful feeling.

4.  Controlling food intake
Being lazy worked in my favor. I just wouldn't cook carb filled gene food. I'd eat salads instead, or fruit or yogurt. For a good few months (and I still do this on occasion), I substituted rice with green gram or some other lentil. Of course I didn't give up on food we all love to eat. I just ate less of it.
Oh, also, eating right at 5 PM really helped... or atleast, not eating 3 hours before going to bed did.

Today, I am 2 dress sizes smaller, 4 pant sizes smaller (I had a bigger bottom, okay?) and its feel fantastic, especially when people take notice, and when I am able to pull off clothes I'd shy away from. My favorite part of the journey was being able to get rib stomach and back tattoos, and as far as I can tell, they've not expanded yet. So yay.

Once the weight starts coming off, you will be inspired to set bigger goals and you WILL set out to achieve them. When you finally lose weight and get healthy, you can work on strengthening your core, building muscles, getting leaner, more active and agile and continue to lead a healthy lifestyle.

If you need recipes that work, please holler.

Good luck.

Progress reports/Shameless plugs!

Hello All!

Our google document was a good way for us to be accountable to each long enough that a healthy exercise and eating regimen could be formed. They say it takes 3 weeks for anything to become a habit, and we are all way past that. I write to ask how each one of you is doing. For the effort we're each putting in to that flat belly, recognition and admiration is also important- that's why this group exists! Let me start off with the progress I've made; I hope to hear from you all and applaud you in advance for the great work you've done!

I am currently at 155 lbs, 7 lbs lighter than when I started. I have lost some inches as well which is evident in all my pants looking baggier and quite shabby looking- but I love it! I am fitting in to clothes that I couldn't wear before. I eat at least one fruit a day and eat home-cooked meals every day. I limit eating out to a few times a month-every now and then it is necessary for me to indulge in chocolate or pizza! :D I jog or walk about 3-5 times a week- it varies with the week. I have been hiking several times over the last three months which, I believe, has contributed significantly to losing inches. I do drink coffee every morning; initially I wanted to give up coffee but I have abandoned that goal.

My current goal is to continue this lifestyle and lose an additional 10 lbs in the next few months. I have found a walking/jogging buddy so I hope to remain consistent. I send my jog stats to nikeplus.com and have set goals there to keep me motivated. During the winter months when it will be difficult for me to run outside I plan to join a gym nearby so that I can continue jogging!

What have you been upto these past few months?? Brag away, ladies!

Protein requirements: livestrong.com

I grew up reading bodybuilding magazines. On page after page, they hammered home the importance of protein – how you need it to build muscle, how you should be consuming massive amounts of it, and how you should take X or Y supplement to make sure you’re getting enough of it. 
When I went on to earn a Ph.D. in nutrition, many of the textbooks I read stated just the opposite: Protein isn’t all that important. In fact, it can be downright dangerous. Eat too much of it and your kidneys might explode. 

This debate rages today. Fitness types often recommend megadoses of protein, sometimes as high as three to four grams per pound of bodyweight. On the other hand, the medical establishment argues that most of us take in more protein than we need. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, has a recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight. So if you weigh 160 pounds, your RDA for protein is 58 grams. Eat a 12-ounce sirloin steak, and bam, you’ve met your goal for the day. 

The problem with both of these estimates is that neither really describes a realistic need. The meathead bodybuilder protein portion might work if you want to look like Lou Ferrigno (although no one needs anywhere as much as three to four grams per pound of bodyweight). For the rest of us, it’s a touch much. And the USDA’s recommendation? The organization describes that as “The average daily dietary nutrient intake level sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all (97 to 98%) healthy individuals in a particular life stage.” Basically, it’s enough to make sure you won’t die. 

What we really need is a standard that tells us how much protein we should eat based on our own individual goals and aspirations. I prefer to call this the optimal intake level. And while that number might not be so high as the figures quoted in the pages of those magazines I used to read, it’s certainly greater than the recommendation from the USDA.

"The USDA's recommendations don't cut it. What we really need is a standard that tells us how much protein we should eat based on our own individual goals and aspirations."

Dr. Mike Roussell

PROTEIN: FINDING YOUR OPTIMAL LEVEL

Suppose you want to lose weight. That means you should probably follow some simple guidelines like eating less sugar. But research also indicates that eating more protein can help you towards this goal.

Scientists at the University of Illinois designed a weight-loss program in which one group ate the RDA for protein, while a matched group ate two times the RDA recommended amount. Both groups also exercised. The RDA group lost 12 pounds of fat in 16 weeks, while the higher-protein group lost nearly 20 pounds during the same time period. The RDA group also lost two pounds of muscle. This suggests that you need more protein during a weight-loss program, both to lose fat and to preserve your muscle.

“But wait,” protein naysayers will bark. “Won’t eating all of that protein jeopardize your cardiovascular system? It’s bound to clog your arteries.”

To put that concern to the test, researchers pooled together a group of subjects with high blood pressure and less-than-ideal cholesterol, and tested the impact of adding more protein to their diets. (The OmniHeart study) No one was allowed to gain or lose weight during the test, so any changes couldn’t be chalked up to the benefits of dropping a few pounds. Some subjects ate a diet with 18 percent of their total calories coming from protein, which is pretty close to the USDA’s recommended amount. A second group upped their protein intake to 28 percent.

What happened?

The higher-protein group showed better health across the board. People in that group had greater decreases in blood pressure, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. What’s more, their estimated 10-year risk of heart disease decreased compared to those on the lower protein track. Had these subjects been allowed to lose weight, the results may have been even more dramatic.

So what is optimal? If you go by science, about 30 percent of your calories should come from protein. At that level, you won’t have to worry about deficiencies, and you’ll know you’re getting enough of the nutrient to lose fat while also improving your heart health. Have some protein at each of your meals and snacks, and you’ll hit the target with ease.

PROTEIN AND ENERGY

Allow me to pause our protein discussion to talk about your blood sugar. When you eat a meal, your body breaks down carbohydrates into individual sugars and dumps them into your bloodstream. It doesn’t matter if those carbs come from broccoli or biscuits. Your body needs energy, and this is how it’s produced. The result is an increase in your blood-sugar levels.

Now, your body is very particular about blood sugar, just like Goldilocks was particular about her porridge – it wants your blood-sugar levels to be just right (70 to 99 milligrams per deciliter, for those of you interested in numbers).

When you eat a big meal, your blood sugar increases a lot. This makes your body freak out. Your pancreas responds by releasing the hormone insulin. Insulin’s job in this case is very simple: Get the excess sugar out of your blood. It does this by going “door to door” throughout your body, knocking on the entry points of muscle and fat cells to see if they’ll open and take in some sugar until blood levels return to just right.

If your body overreacts, your pancreas will release too much insulin. That insulin will knock on too many doors, pulling too much sugar out of your blood. Now you have a new problem: hypoglycemia (hypo = low; glycemia = sugar). You’ll start to feel tired, or hungry, or perhaps both. You get tired because your body’s most immediate energy source, the sugar in your blood, is suddenly depleted. You want to eat because low blood sugar is one of your body’s most powerful hunger signals. Your body will crave carb-rich foods to get your blood sugar back up again, even if you just ate.

Here’s how protein plays into the equation. Protein can help displace those carbs. The amino acids that form the building blocks of protein provoke a much-lower insulin response than the one triggered by a high-carb meal. So consuming more protein will have a less dramatic affect on your blood sugar.

Protein also triggers the release of a hormone called glucagon. Glucagon is the yin to insulin’s yang. While insulin takes sugar from your blood and pushes it into muscle and fat cells, glucagon gets your fat cells to release stored fat into your bloodstream, where it provides fuel for your muscles, brain, and everything else that uses energy. Meaning that of all the types of food you can eat, protein is the most efficient for your body: It controls insulin and helps incinerate fat.

A BETTER BURN

When we talk about about burning calories, we tend to focus on exercise. But our bodies are constantly using energy throughout the day and night. Even when we’re sleeping, we’re still breathing and pumping blood. Our brains are dreaming. We’re still digesting food and finding places to store it. And not all foods are digested equally.

The components of food—protein, carbohydrates, and fats —require different amounts of energy to digest and process, just as different types and intensities of exercise burn more or fewer calories. Scientists call this metabolic cost the thermic effect of food (TEF). Protein has a much higher TEF than carbs or fat. That is, simply eating more protein means your body is burning more calories during the process of digestion. In some cases, doubling your protein intake will bump up the number of calories you burn throughout the day. That’s one reason why protein, all by itself, helps you lose weight.

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF MUSCLE

During digestion, your body breaks down protein into individual amino acids. It uses them in many different ways, putting them together like a child combines Legos to build a castle. (Fortunately, your body does this in a more consistent way than your average elementary schooler.) These castles are your muscle tissue. To build them, you need an adequate supply of building blocks.

But imagine that the Legos did more than just stack on top of each other – they took part in your castle construction by telling you when to build your towers and walls. That’s what the amino acids in protein do. They aren’t just inert pieces of food waiting to be broken down. They actively signal your body to build muscle.

The most important amino acid in this process is leucine, which is found in just about every protein-containing food you’d ever eat. But in order for leucine to optimize and maximize your ability to turn protein into muscle there needs to be a certain amount present—a protein threshold, if you will. Scientists estimate that this threshold is about 30 grams of protein. You can build muscle with less than this amount or more, but this dosage is what research has found is ideal for optimal functioning.

Once built, muscle is metabolically active, meaning it burns more calories than fat even while you’re at rest. (It scorches through a lot more when you’re active.) And the more muscle you have, the more effective and efficient you become at every activity, which helps you burn more calories.

THE ALL-DAY PROTEIN DIET

I recommend consuming lean protein throughout the day. Here are some quick and easy ways to work this essential nutrient into every meal.

*BREAKFAST: eggs, egg whites, lean breakfast meats, Greek yogurt, smoothies with protein powder.

*LUNCH OR DINNER: salmon, chicken breasts, extra-lean ground turkey, extra-lean ground beef, turkey or chicken sausage, lean beef (top round, shoulder roast, skirt steak), tuna, cod, tilapia, shrimp, tofu.

*SNACKS: Nuts and seeds, roasted edamame beans, protein bars (pick bars with at least 10 grams of protein and no more than 30 grams of carbs), protein shakes.

Dr. Mike Roussell’s new book, “The 6 Pillars of Nutrition” is now available exclusively at Amazon.com.

Last updated on: Apr 2, 2012

http://www.livestrong.com/article/556322-how-much-protein-is-right-for-you/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=07312012

Nutrients...

For years scientists have searched for a magical ingredient that would help people shed fat. In 2008, Dr. Shalamar Sibley of the University of Minnesota put 38 obese people on an 11-week diet where they consumed 750 calories less than their estimated daily need. Study participants whose blood levels of D were higher at the study's start lost more weight than participants whose blood levels of D were lower. They actually lost a lot more—70 percent more, to be exact.

Based on the results of this study, by fueling your body with the D-rich nutrients it needs to stay out of a fat-storage state and in a fat-burning state, you can speed weight loss by 70 percent! Thousands of studies on vitamin D have been completed over a span of 40 years, and it's become clear that vitamin D is pretty incredible and effective. Still, it's not the only player on this fat-melting team. Turn up your metabolism and melt body fat adding vitamin D and these five fat-melters from The Vitamin D Diet:

Calcium
HOW IT MELTS FAT: Calcium is a mineral that works in tandem with D to help you shed fat. Calcium is stored in fat cells, and researchers think that the more calcium a fat cell has, the more fat that cell will release to be burned. Calcium also promotes weight loss by binding to fat in your GI tract, preventing some of it from getting absorbed into your bloodstream.

Protein
HOW IT MELTS FAT: In addition to keeping hunger in check, regular doses of protein help to keep body composition—the amount of fat relative to muscle—in better proportion. Along with calcium and D, protein helps you to preserve muscle mass as you drop pounds. A recent study out of the University of Illinois found that women who consumed protein twice daily lost 3.9 percent more weight than women who consumed less of it on a diet. They not only lost more weight, they also got stronger as they did so, with their thigh muscles alone ending up with 5.8 percent more protein at the end of the diet than before.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
HOW IT MELTS FAT: Omega-3s enable weight loss by switching on enzymes that trigger fat-burning in cells. They also help to boost mood, which may help reduce emotional eating. And omega 3s might improve leptin signaling in the brain, causing the brain to turn up fat burning and turn down appetite.

You almost can't consume D without consuming omega-3 fatty acids, and that's a good thing. Fatty fish like salmon (which are also high in D) are one of the richest sources of this fat. Other foods, such as some nuts and seeds, contain a type of fat that can be converted into omega-3s after ingestion.

Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFAs)
HOW THEY MELT FAT: MUFAs are a type of fat found in olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, peanut butter, and chocolate, and they have just one chemical bond (which is why they are called "mono" unsaturated). One Danish study of 26 men and women found that a diet that included 20 percent of its calories from MUFAs improved 24-hour calorie burning by 0.1 percent and fat burning by 0.04 percent after 6 months. Other research shows that MUFAs zero in on belly fat. Specific foods that are high in MUFAs—especially peanuts, tree nuts, and olive oil—have been shown to keep blood sugar steady and reduce appetite, too.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
HOW IT BURNS FAT: CLAs are potent fat burners that are found, along with D and calcium, in dairy products. They are fatty acids that are created when bacteria ferments the food in the first part of the stomach of cows, sheep, and other ruminant animals. The CLA that is created through fermentation then makes its way into the meat and milk of these animals.

When we consume these foods, the CLA helps blood glucose enter body cells, so CLA can be burned for energy and not stored as fat. CLA also helps to promote fat burning, especially in muscles, where the bulk of our calorie burning takes place.

THE WHOLE FAT-MELTING PICTURE
Now before you start superdosing yourself with all of these fat melters and waiting for the fat to magically melt away, let's be clear: D and other fat melters facilitate weight loss, but they are not magic pills. If you just took a bunch of supplements, you might see some effect—for instance, by swapping some fat for muscle. But to see serious weight loss, you'll need to combine these fat melters with portion control.

Read more at Women's Health: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/the-vitamin-d-diet#ixzz22GiVMZYS

Great website for tips etc

http://muffintop-less.tumblr.com/

Post-workout Food Cravings decoded: sourced from Fab Fit Fun.com  (www.fabfitfun.com)

"You’re on the hunt for anything salty, fatty, or sugary. Your eyes dart to every available potato chip bag, chocolate bar, and soda machine.

No, you’re not pregnant, you’re just walking through the gym lobby after your workout!

But seriously, craving these diet vices means that your diet may be missing necessary nutrients. 

“We can consider cravings after a workout to be a message from the brain that the body has depleted something that is essential for function, repair, and development/growth,” saidJoanne Casulli, a certified holistic health counselor based in Scottsdale, AZ.

A salt craving often indicates dehydration, and possibly a loss of sodium and trace minerals, Joanne said. The solution is simple: drinking water before, during, and after your workout. Electrolyte-enhanced water is a good option, but steer clear of sports drinks that are often loaded with sugar.

Craving fatty foods is often your brain’s alert that you need, well, fat. You could be lacking the good fats found in nuts and olive oil.

The trickiest craving is sugar, because it can mean you need either more lean protein or more carbohydrates. “The sugar craving is an alert from the brain to let us know one of our energy sources is depleting,” she said. The best way to prevent this craving is to eat brown rice or another whole grain that helps keep blood sugar levels even. Lean protein like fish, chicken, turkey, and egg whites are also good options to stave off this craving.

Bottom line? “Stay hydrated throughout the day, make sure you are eating enough calories — and in an appropriate ratio of protein, carbs, and ‘good fats’ throughout your day,” Joanne said, a ratio that varies depending on your metabolism, activity level, and lifestyle. And don't skip meals, especially on workout days."

Stress

has taken over all of us, and messed with our goals. At least mine. :-( i'm starting back up tomorrow. Not nearly close to my June 1st, goal, but achieving wellness calls for a lifestyle change, not just small goals, so I'll work on it and hope all of you do as well.