Many people think that eating nutritious foods is very time consuming, which makes them stick to their old ways of unhealthy eating.  While there is some truth to that, (let’s face it – it’s easier to open a bag of Doritos than washing, cutting and storing celery sticks), there are many simple things you can do to slightly adjust the foods you eat, making your diet much healthier.  And eating healthier on a consistent basis means less body fat, more energy and a happier body and mind.

Here are two quick and easy fixes that will improve your diet tremendously.

1. Whole grain products: This is probably the easiest switch that makes a so-so diet turn into a healthful and nutritious diet. Rather than eating white bread, white pasta, white tortilla shells, white rolls, white rice etc. simply purchase the whole-grain version of these products instead. Whole grains have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease by decreasing cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Whole grains have also been found to reduce the risks of many types of cancer. They may also help regulate blood glucose in people living with diabetes. Other studies have also shown that people who consume more whole grains consistently weigh less than those who consumed less whole grain products. (Note: It is important to check labels carefully when shopping for whole-wheat products. If the label reads, “Enriched Whole Wheat” that means that approximately 60% of the valuable nutrients, have been stripped out of the wheat making it much less beneficial.)

2. Fiber, Fiber, Fiber: You’ve most likely heard that fiber is an important part of a healthy diet, which keeps you regular and feeling good. However, studies have shown that high-fiber foods are more satisfying, making you feel full longer decreasing the amount of food you eat. High-fiber diets also tend to be less “energy dense,” which means they have fewer calories for the same volume of food.

A simple way to increase the amount of fiber in your diet is to choose high fiber breakfast cereals such as All-Bran, Shredded Wheat and Steel-Cut Oatmeal.

Another quick way to make sure you get more fiber is to eat more fruits and veggies, preferably with their skin on. Rather than peeling foods such as apples, peaches, potatoes and cucumbers, wash them well and eat everything – skin and all. (Most of the nutrition in fruits and veggies are found in the skin.)

And last but not least, eat more beans. Beans are bursting with fiber and are easy to add to many dishes. Anytime you make a stew, soup or casserole, you can throw in a can or two of pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans, etc. and reap many wonderful benefits.

We all know that in order to lose weight or maintain our current weight, we need to exercise regularly and eat right. That sounds simple enough, but if you’ve ever tried to lose weight – even if it was just five pounds – you know how challenging this can be. One of the major reasons why losing weight can be so frustrating is because many people focus the majority of their efforts on exercising rather than what goes into their mouths. While exercise IS important, it’s not the cure all. Being aware of what you are eating and especially WHY you are eating is valuable information that can aid you in your weight loss and health related goals.

Think about it. How many times a day do you find yourself eating when you’re not hungry? How often do you eat something simply because it is sitting right in front of your face? We all do it. At some time or another, we all eat foods due to boredom, stress, loneliness or because the taste of something is so darn good, we can’t seem to stop ourselves. The first step to overcoming mindless eating is to become aware of why we are eating. Each time you go to shove a little something into your mouth, ask yourself, “am I hungry?” Pay attention to what your stomach feels like – and no, I don’t mean patting it on the outside to see how flat or fluffy it is. I mean focus your thoughts on what your insides are telling you. If you’re hungry, go ahead and eat. If you’re not hungry, save what you were going to eat for later or simply walk away. Most likely, in a few minutes, you’ll completely forget about your desire to eat that little something and save yourself a few hundred calories.

Doing this simple, but very effective technique, will definitely help your waistline shrink overtime. You can lift weights, run marathons, swim 20 laps a day – but if you don’t change your eating habits and you continually add pointless calories into your body, you won’t shed the weight you are hoping to get rid of. I once had a personal trainer tell me that “achieving or maintaining your desired weight is 90% about what goes into your mouth and 10% how hard you exercise.”

While I’m not aware of any scientific studies on those numbers, I do know that when I have paid close attention to the mindless eating I am sometimes guilty of, and if I will stop eating for reasons other than hunger, I can easily lose those few stubborn pounds that haven’t wanted to budge with regular exercise alone. 

I realized it had become a real problem, when after working furiously to get down to a “below average” weight for my body frame, I was still unhappy and obsessing over things I didn’t like about my body. What would it take to make me finally satisfied with my body I wondered?

If you ask anybody who knows me well, they can attest to the fact that I have hated my hips ever since I hit puberty and matured into a “curvy” girl. In my opinion, my hips were too curvy…too wide…too embarrassing. I hated my curves and felt like I had to apologize to others for my imperfections. It’s embarrassing to even admit this, but at one very low point in my “body image obsessing years” (and at a time when I was still very naïve), I actually emailed a plastic surgeon and asked if you could elect to have hip replacement surgery…with smaller hips as the replacements. Needless to say, I never received a reply.

 A few years back, I was complaining to a friend about all the many things I didn’t like about my body.  In a thoughtful and compassionate way, she asked me a very simple question that somehow sparked a huge change in me. She asked me to name three things that I loved about my physical body. That’s it. Not a very difficult task is it? Well, for me it was nearly impossible. I thought long and hard about that question and could only come up with two things that I honestly loved about my body: My earlobes and my fingers.

It was that defining moment that made me realize how pathetic I had become in my mindset about my body. Here I was, a girl who had never been overweight, who exercised faithfully, who was a complete health nut, who had working limbs and senses… and yet, I had somehow allowed myself to believe that my body was majorly defective.

Since that time, I have worked extremely hard to change my mindset about how I view my body. I have read countless books, listened to numerous audio cd’s, and even attended classes to help me overcome this self destructive behavior. And finally, after several years of dedicated effort, I feel like I have come to a peaceful place where I can honestly say that I love my body… Not in a conceited way, but in a grateful and accepting way.

I have decided that instead of picking apart every little thing about my body, I will continually work toward improving the things I can change, and that I will accept and be at peace with those things that I can’t change… (for example: my hip bones).

I know that I am not alone in this “lack of love” for one’s body. Each time I start working with a new client, I send home a two-page homework assignment. One of the questions included in this worksheet is the same question that moved me to change my ways a few years back. I ask them to simply write down three things they love about their physical body. And wouldn’t you know it? Many of their answers are similar to the type that I gave: fingernails, toes, eyebrows. Now, whenever I read responses like that, it makes me feel sad that our society has come to a point where most of us despise our physical body and it makes me even more determined to help my clients not only change the shape of their body, but to help them change their thinking as well.

We are all meant to have joy in this life! We are meant to accept ourselves and love the bodies that we have been given. I am so eager to help other women improve their physical physiques through exercise and nutrition, but more importantly, I am determined to help women everywhere find a little more love and acceptance for the amazing body that is theirs!

I want you to think for a minute about how much water you drink each day. Are you getting enough? Do you even know how much “enough” is? Research shows that a healthy adult should be consuming 3 liters of water per day. Now, before you think I’ve gone nuts and start to question how you would manage to drink this much water a day, keep reading. I will give you some tips and ideas that will help you accomplish this very important task.

The first think you need to do is go out to the store and buy you a reusable water bottle, preferably one liter in size. (That way, you only need to fill your bottle up 3 times per day!) This water bottle needs to go EVERYWHERE you go. It needs to be on your nightstand when you go to bed, with you during your workout, next to you on your desk, in your car when you drive, in your hand at swimming lessons…in fact, if you dare, you can even sneak it in your bag when you go to church! (Yes, I’ll admit I do this on occasion and my husband makes complete fun of me.) I know that if you are a mother, you already feel like you are carrying around 8 million things, but carrying around your water bottle is now going to be right up there in the same category as carrying your cell phone…you would NEVER leave home with out that now would you? That’s exactly how you should feel about your water bottle!

Every single day, you should be drinking 3 liters of water. An easy way to make sure this happens is to spread it out evenly throughout the day. When you first wake up in the morning, your body is famished…drink 8 ounces of water. When you work up a sweat during exercise, your body needs replenishing…drink another 8 ounces. When you sit down for breakfast, lunch and dinner, drink 8 ounces during each and every meal. If you add all of that up with the frequent sips here and there throughout the day, (since it will be conveniently next to you all of the time), before you know it you have filled that water bottle up three times and may even be filling it up a fourth.

Some people have a hard time with the “no-flavor” flavor of water. If this keeps you from drinking 3 liters of water per day, add a little lemon or lime to it. Over time, you will become accustomed to the taste of water and actually start to crave it. Drinking water will help you feel more full and will relieve water retention. It will flush out toxins in your body and help you feel more energized and clean.

So – go out to the store, find a one-liter water bottle and meet your new best friend! Your body and your health will thank you! Drink up!

As you work toward losing fat and gaining muscle, fruits and veggies should be a huge part of your daily diet. For most of us however, we don’t get near the amounts of fruits and veggies that we need, because there are so many other “convenient” foods that make it to our mouths first. Well, it’s time to change that. 

Here are some tips and ideas that will make getting more fruits and veggies into your diet much easier:

1.     When you get home from the grocery store, BEFORE you even put your veggies in the fridge, put them in your sink to soak. Once they are clean, cut them into smaller convenient sized pieces. Put them in CLEAR containers in your fridge so you will see them and notice them every time you open up the door, looking for a snack. (This way, they will not be forgotten and end up spoiling.) Some of the most flavorful raw veggies in my opinion are red, yellow and green peppers. And best of all, they are PACKED with nutrients!  Whatever veggies you choose to eat though, try to consciously notice the clean, simple flavor of it and appreciate what it does for your body both inside and out.

2.     Fruits are naturally sweet and refreshing so when you are really in the mood for a sugary treat, try eating fruit instead. Adding some raspberries, strawberries or cut up apples to some low-fat vanilla yogurt is a great way to get a serving of fruit along with some calcium and protein. Plus, it will satisfy your craving for something sweet and tasty!

3.     Apples, oranges, bananas, peaches, etc. are all conveniently grown in perfect portion sizes. They don’t require utensils to be eaten, and can be toted around very easily. Get in the habit of taking a fruit with you when you’ll be out for a few hours. Whether your going out shopping, running a billion errands or heading to the park with your kids…take some fruit along with you. This will be a great cure for those little hunger pangs that might creep up on you and will satisfy your body nutritiously as well.

Do your best to get more fruits and veggies into your diet! Doing so will help you in numerous ways – including reaching your physical fitness goals and helping you feel more energetic in your daily activities.

Many people are unsure of how much cardio they need to perform each week in order to lose weight. I have talked to some people who think they need to run on the treadmill for an hour every day – which, let’s face it, sounds extremely boring. The good news is, in order to meet your fitness goals, you should be performing no less than 30 minutes of cardio exercise three times per week. This can be done on an elliptical, a bike, treadmill, stair stepper or even done by swimming laps. (Ellipticals and bikes are my favorite forms of cardio exercise because they are easy on your joints.)

The MOST important thing however, when performing your cardio exercise is the INTENSITY at which you do it. If you are on the elliptical for example, and could carry on a conversation with someone pretty easily, you are not working hard enough. If you are 15 minutes into your cardio session and you don’t have sweat beads on your forehead, you are not working hard enough. If you are not huffing and puffing during your cardio session, you need to bump up your intensity – because you are still not working hard enough.  

Sure – any amount of cardio exercise you do is good for your body and you are still burning calories – even if it is just a 30-minute walk around your neighborhood. But to really shed the pounds and help those beautifully defined muscles start to appear, you need to shock your body during your cardio routines and perform what is called INTERVAL training.

INTERVAL training is defined as exercise that involves a series of “runs” that are performed at a certain speed, followed by a period of recovery or low intensity exercise. So, a basic cardio routine, interval style, would look something like this:

30 minute workout on Elliptical machine:

5 minutes warm up: This is done at a comfortable pace. You are preparing your body to work hard. You are increasing your heart rate and starting to feel energized.

1 minute intensity boost: After you have warmed your body up, you will increase your speed, incline or resistance (depending on which machine you are on) and will push yourself hard for ONE minute.

1 minute intensity peak: After your one minute intensity boost, bump your intensity up another notch. (Faster speed, higher incline or more resistance.) This entire minute should be hard to get through. You should be pushing yourself hard enough that you can’t wait for the minute to be finished. During this one minute peak, think to yourself, “I can do ANYTHING for one minute!” Really, it’s only 60 seconds. You can do it! Don’t cheat yourself of this high intensity peak! Work hard! Push yourself to your outer limits!

3 minute recovery: This is the part of the cardio routine, that you will fall in love with! This is the recovery period. Take your intensity down to a moderate level. Don’t take it down too far. You should still be working and pushing yourself. You should still be working up a sweat, but this stage is much more manageable than the last two stages. You will bring your heart rate down just a little bit, catch your breath and gear it up for another high intensity boost.

1 minute intensity boost: Now it’s time to repeat the one minute intensity boost.

1 minute intensity peak: It’s back! This one minute of pure JOY is back! (hee hee!) This high intensity peak really IS joy, because it shocks your body, does not allow you to plateau and it will shed fat much quicker than just keeping a regular, moderate pace during your cardio routine!

3 minute recovery: Repeat and enjoy this wonderful three minutes of recovery.

Repeat the intensity boost and intensity peak one more time, with a three minute recovery. (Remember – the recovery is NOT taking it easy! It’s simply working hard at a “do-able” pace.) THEN, when the three minute recovery is over for the third time, you can start to slow down your pace for the remaining five minutes. That’s it! You’re done!

As long as your intensity is HIGH and you are working HARD for 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week, you are doing AMAZING and you WILL see results!