Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Hi Everyone! 

Today's focus is going to be on WATER! We all know that we are supposed to be drinking a substantial amount of water each day, but it can sometimes be hard. Here are some great reasons to keep drinking water: 

1. Curb your appetite! Drinking a full glass of water before a meal can help you feel full faster. And at zero calories, it's a great way to reduce calorie intake. 

2. Improve your skin! The amount of water you drink is directly related to having great skin. 

3. Drinking a good amount of water could lower your risks of a heart attack. A six-year study published in the May 1, 2002 American Journal of Epidemiology found that those who drink more than 5 glasses of water a day were 41% less likely to die from a heart attack during the study period than those who drank less than two glasses.

4. Get an energy boost! Not getting enough water can cause fatigue. If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated! 

5. Boost your digestion.  Often water can help cure stomach acid problems, and water along with fiber can cure constipation (often a result of dehydration). 

What are your tips for drinking more water? What benefits have you noticed?

Monday Weigh-In

Hi Everyone!

Did everyone stay committed over the weekend? If you had a rough week or weekend, today is a new day, and a new chance to reach your goals. Do not fall off the wagon!

This week lets challenge those excuses! We will always be too tired, too busy, dealing with challenges, and surrounded by temptation, but WE CAN DO IT! Make it happen this week.

This week I am down .6 lbs. This puts me at 3.8 total. It's a bit behind where I want to be at the halfway point so I have some making up to do the next three weeks!

Good luck everyone! Make this week count! Don't forget to comment with your weeks weight loss.

Heidi

In-Home Workouts

It is snowing today. When it snows it means I really don't want to get the kids bundled up. I really don't want to trudge around in the snow and I REALLY don't want to deal with all the slippery snowy roads.

Even though I know you all don't live in snowy climates, I'm sure we all have days where we just don't want to go anywhere. So today I am going to focus my post great in-home workouts.

1. Youtube: my favorite go to source for working out at home. I have some pilates video favorites, but youtube has anything! Zumba, kickboxing, yoga, circuit training...whatever! It may take a few tries to find videos you like and feel comfortable with but it definitely mixes it up when working at home seems boring.

2. Jump Rope: Find an open space and go for it! One of the most effective cardio workouts, jumping rope can burn anywhere from 11-20 calories per minute! And as a bonus you can watch TV while doing it!

3. Run (or walk) Stairs: We don't all have them, but if you do it can be a great workout. This burns 100-239 calories in just ten minutes (depending on your weight and if you are running or walking them). Throw on your favorite music and you might even enjoy yourself!

4. Video games: I know this sounds juvenile, but doing a dance game with the kids or hula hooping can burn a surprising number of calories. A bonus is that my kids think I'm cool (they don't have a good gauge yet for what "cool" is)

5. Labor Intensive Housework: Ditch the mop and wipe the floor on hands and knees. Shovel the snow (for us cold people) mow the lawn (for all you warm people) reorganize the garage, carry laundry up and down the stairs, paint a wall, or do some serious scrubbing. Did you know cleaning is in myfitnesspal? If you just have to much housework to go to the gym, combine to two. Throw on some music and dance while you sweep!

Just one other item of business before heading into the weekend. I am sad to see so few people commenting. The main purpose of this challenge is to help eachother, share ideas, and be accountable. But the process will fail if there is no participation. Please please please make your comments. How are things going? What works for you? WHat are your plans to stay committed going into this weekend?

Good luck and I'll see you on Monday at Check-in!

Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Wednesday is my favorite day of this challenge because I love to get great ideas of what to eat! If you aren't eating healthy food you LOVE, you likely won't continue a healthy lifestyle!

So I am asking each one of you to post one (or more) recipes or food ideas that are helping you make it through!

Here are a few that have been helping me this week:

Loaded Baked Sweet Potato
This dinner fills all my meal criteria: fast, healthy, cheap, and tasty! It is quite filling at at only 230 
calories it's a huge bang for your buck! A twist on the traditional baked potato. Great for a quick lunch.

Ingredients:1 sweet potato1/4 cup black beans
1/4 cup salsa
1 tsp light sour cream
1/2 tsp cumin

Directions:
Poke sweet potato and microwave on high for 5
minutes (or bake in oven until soft: 350 for 1 hour or
so)

Cut potato in half lengthwise. Smash and sprinkle with cumin and top with the rest of ingredients.
















Salsa Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients: 
4 chicken breasts
1 cup salsa (any kind)
8 flour tortillas
I can green chile Enchilada Sauce
1/2 c. Cheddar or Pepper Jack Cheese

Put frozen chicken breasts in crock pot and cover with salsa. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4. Shred chicken in crock pot 3/4 of the way through. Fill tortillas with shredded chicken/salsa combo and roll and place in casserole dish. Top with enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. 

Monday Weigh-in

Another Monday is here again! How did everyone do? My eating was not as stellar this week, but my workouts were more intense.

I am happy to say I am down 1.6 pounds this week!

Just a little tidbit of information: it takes 3,500 calories burned to lose a pound. 3,500! So be excited about every pound you lose because 3,500 is a lot of calories to burn!

Don't forget to write your weight lost in the comments section.

You guys are doing great!

Exercise to boost your brain

Hi all!

How did everyone fare this Valentine's Day? Our festivities are this weekend so I still have some temptation ahead of me. I will say that I only gave myself one piece of chocolate this whole week. Quite the feat for a chocolate love like myself!

Well this week I am going to focus on exercise and the brain. I recently read a book called "Spark: the Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain" by John J. Ratey. I was fascinating (and really science heavy just as a warning). We are always told about the benefits of exercise on the body, but this book focused on the link between the exercise and the brain. I will some up the basic points that relate to us and our exercise:

1. Exercising in the morning boosts brain activity, attention span and focus for the rest of your day. (Students had better tests scores when doing a rigorous workout before school, than those who exercised during the day- in fact, it put these kids first in the world in regard to science scores)

2. Exercise is a mood changer and can help make you happier. This is beyond jus the "runners high" or endorphin release originally thought.

3. Exercise is a major player in coping with depression, anxiety, ADD and increases your stress threshold. A 35 minute workout each day can drastically reduce the effects of these problems and some patients even weaned themselves off of medication as a result of pure exercise.

4. Exercise helps increase the repair of damage to your brain, delaying the effects of memory loss and reduces your risk of dementia.

I am hoping to make morning exercise a regular routine to get my day going, because heaven knows I could use a little extra brain power in the day.

What exercise have you been doing this week? I am going to try to do some "outdoor" running tomorrow (at a local fieldhouse) to mix it up a bit from the treadmill I've been doing this week.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Eating out

Hey all you Ten in Sixers! We halfway through week two and with a special holiday coming up I wanted to talk about eating out! 

I will first start off by saying that eating out is hard. You lose a bit of control over what goes in your body when you don't prepare it yourself. We went out to dinner on Saturday and did okay. I filled up on a healthy soup and salad ahead of time and boxed up most of my entree for later. Here are a few tips we can all use to make the best choices when you are eating out. 

1. If you know you are going to be eating out, get a good workout in before hand, so those extra calories won't hurt as much. 

2. Check the menu ahead of time. Greg says he types the restaurant into myfitnesspal to see what comes up and what meals would work. Or look at the menu online to find something that would be healthy. Most chain restaurants post their nutrition online as well. 

2. Eat something to fill you up a bit before you go like a fiber bar, or a protein bar before getting to the restaurant so your hunger doesn't drive your food decisions. Ever gone to the grocery store hungry? Same idea. 

3. Ask them to box up half immediately so you aren't tempted to eat the entire oversized portion. This is especially true of places that are notorious for oversized meals.  

4. Order salad dressing on the side and "fork" your salad (dip fork into dressing with each bite of lettuce). You still get the flavor without all the fat. 

5. Only order water. The fastest way to burn through your calories is with sugary sodas and drinks. Water is better on your wallet too! 

And since we are on the subject of food, what is everyone eating that is helping them stay healthy? A few meals we have eaten this week are a pumpkin french toast bake (made even lighter by substituting two of the eggs for greek yogurt), delicious ham and potato soup, and White Bean Chicken Chili with cornbread. Here is the recipe: 

White Bean Chicken Chili
(you can also substitute 1 1/4 cup dry great northern beans, but you will need to add an additional 2 cups of water)

2 cans Great Northern beans
- 1 can green chiles, diced
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast (fresh or frozen)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cups chicken broth (or 2 cups water with 2 tsps. of chicken bouillon)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 package corn, frozen
- 1 tablespoon cumin
-1 tsp salt

Put all ingredients in the slow cooker for 4 hours on high and shred the chicken in the pot after 3 hours. 

What are you eating? And what is your plan for eating out this week? What restaurants do you prefer? 

PS. One of my favorite restaurants for eating out is Noodles and Company. They have a great healthy option menu, is reasonable priced (and delicious) and as a bonus my kids don't bug the other customers because it's a really casual place. Win all around. 

Monday Weigh-In

Hi everyone!

Congratulations on surviving the first and hardest week of 10 in 6! It only gets easier from here!

Make sure you weigh in by commenting on the comments section of this post. If you are reading this from your email, make sure to go to 10in6.blogspot.com.

Even if you did not lose weight or even gained this week make sure to weigh in and say what you are going to do differently this week. Every week is a new week!

I am down 1.2 pounds this week!

Happy Monday!

Heidi

Interval Training

Hi Everyone! 

I know this post was supposed to be on Friday, but that's how it goes sometimes right? 

How is everyone doing? As we enter the weekend, be sure to make some plans on how you will stick to your goals even though your routine might be a little different. Keep that Monday weigh-in at the forefront of your mind! 

How is everyone exercising? This week I did some running, pilates, and even shoveled the driveway (living in heavy snow does have it's advantages!)

Interval training is our focus today. Interval training is essentially alternating bursts of intense activity with intervals of lighter activity. 

For example, if you like jogging, occasionally add a sprint for short periods. If you walk, add some jogging, or even power walking intermittently. Here is what the Mayo Clinic website says about the benefits of interval training: 

• You'll burn more calories. The more vigorously you exercise, the more calories you'll burn — even if you increase intensity for just a few minutes at a time.
• You'll improve your aerobic capacity. As your cardiovascular fitness improves, you'll be able to exercise longer or with more intensity. Imagine finishing your 60-minute walk in 45 minutes — or the additional calories you'll burn by keeping up the pace for the full 60 minutes.
• You'll keep boredom at bay. Turning up your intensity in short intervals can add variety to your exercise routine.
• You don't need special equipment. You can simply modify your current routine.

Keep it up people! Don't forget to weigh in on Monday by putting your weekly weight lost in the comments section of Monday's post. Also, Don't forget to comment throughout the week. We are all here to help and boost each other through this process, and commenting can do just that. 

Good luck! 

Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Good Morning! How is everyone doing so far? 

This morning I wanted to talk about breakfast- The most important meal of the day! 

Breakfast is a vital key to a healthy lifestyle. According to the USDA only 44% of the population eats breakfast every day! 

I thought we could share some of our best healthy breakfast ideas that get you going and keep you feeling full. 

I try to have some kind of protein and some kind of fiber in my breakfast each day. It is no secret that I LOVE to have a smoothie for breakfast (even when it's below zero outside!) It's a great way to get a huge serving of fruits and vegetables, so add a little flax, or oats for some fiber, and some greek yogurt for protein, and voila! a perfectly balanced breakfast I can make and eat in about 5 minutes. My only problem is making enough for the kids who invariably ask for some :)

Here are a few smoothie basics for all you smoothie novices out there: 

1. Most of our smoothies are a concoction of only a few ingredients: frozen fruit, sugar/honey (optional), skim milk and lowfat vanilla yogurt. This is a winner every time. 

2. If frozen fruit isn't something you have on hand, 6-8 ice cubes can be thrown in the blender. 

3. The key to a perfect smoothie is adaptation. If you have don't have frozen strawberries but still want it cold, mix with frozen orange juice concentrate. Want more fiber? Add some ground flax or grind up some oats first. If you don't have fresh fruit, try canned. Some unlikely things I have put in smoothies are: pineapple juice (saved from when I drain canned pineapple), coconut milk, applesauce, white grape juice, powdered milk, ground flax seed, nutella, and peanut butter. 

4. Frozen fruit can sometimes be expensive. Freezing bananas about to go bad is a great way to have smoothies inexpensively. Our local store sells old bananas super cheap, I just chunk them and put them in a freezer bag in the freezer. Also the Dollar tree sells small bags of frozen peaches. A great deal! Costco is always a great place for berries and strawberries. 

Here are some of our favorite recipes: 

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
2 bananas
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
1-2 tablespoons honey (depending on sweetness preference)
6-8 ice cubes
Blend until smooth. Ice can be omitted if bananas are frozen. 
Serves 4

Strawberry Orange Banana Smoothie
1 1/2 cup orange juice
2 cups strawberries
1 banana
6-8 ice cubes
Serves 4

Peach Orange Banana Smoothie
3/4 cup orange juice
2 cups frozen peaches
1 cup skim milk
1 banana
Serves 4

Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie
1 cup frozen strawberries
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
2 tablespoons white sugar
6 ice cubes
Serves 2


Also, all of these smoothies can be made "green" by adding spinach, broccoli, or carrots! I promise you won't even notice the difference. Even my kids chug green smoothies like they are milkshakes. 

What are you eating for breakfast? 

Motivation!

Hey Everyone!

I am super excited to start this Ten in Six Challenge! I have loved to see the variety of people that have come together to make this happen. We all come from across the country, and all from different backgrounds and are at different places in our lives, and yet we are all joined together in one common goal!

Now my biggest barrier in starting any exercise or weight loss regimen is motivation. Obviously we all feel some level of motivation or we wouldn't be doing this program, but what are your best tips for keeping the motivation going?

Here are a couple ideas I've found to be helpful, but please chime in to help us maintain the enthusiasm we feel now to the end!

Tips to Stay Motivated:

1. Keep a record of how well you are doing. Myfitnesspal has a button that says reports. it will show you a graph of how the weight loss has been going over the past few weeks and months. It's a great visual to see the weight loss progress over time!

2. Keep your eye on the goal. Post motivational notes to yourself on the mirror, or even on your fridge! Keep the chatter in your head positive while you exercise. Exercise with someone who will encourage you! I don't mean to talk about myfitnesspal again, but there is a button that says "complete this entry" once you've logged all your food for the day. Then it will display something that says "if every day were like today, in 5 weeks you would weigh..." I LOVE using this because it keeps me energized to keep going.

3. Keep things interesting. Sometimes the monotony of trying to lose weight can bog us down. Eating the same food or doing the same exercise routine can get boring. Find several exercises you love and rotate them. Run stairs at a local school. Pull up a workout video on Youtube. Try a new type of food. I like to make smoothies for breakfast or for a treat, and I find when I use the same ingredients over and over I get tired of them. But the last time I went to the store I bought frozen mango, and I found myself getting excited again about a new recipe.

What ideas do you have?
Did everyone weigh in?

Heidi