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Showing posts with the label Good Health

June: My Goal Month

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I told myself "I am back" in my last post but it would be one month in a few days and I am still not back, lol. Sitting to write with a lot on your plate is actually impossible or rather not doable. I have embark on journeys one too many within the past month that I feel like a stranger among my folks these days. I mean the trips and all the learning attached with it had given me new orientation and fresh insight for life, living and my weight loss journey too. On one of my trips, I caught a glimpse of a way of eating (WOE) called KETOGENIC. I have heard a lot about it since last year but I hated the whole idea of removing a whole food group just for the sake of loosing weight. I want to be healthy at any weight so fad diets don't appeal to me for any reason. Another reason ketogenic was having a bad rap with me was the fact I felt it's too expensive to maintain (I still feel it is). For the time of my life I hate any form of inconvenience, I am not a food addi

Week 47 Weigh-in: S.M.A.R.T Goal Diggers

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I have been AWOL and I have been busy too. Too busy to even get anything done about the blog or exercise. Since it's the beginning of the month, I wish we will emphasize goal setting again and how to do it right. I am sharing a coach's article on SMART goals and I hope you gain a thing that will help you through February. Happy reading As the year comes to it’s end and we are welcoming by new beginnings and are allowed the time to reset, we begin to think about how we would like to improve our bodies, minds and overall beings.  Since I am a personal training, and a virtual trainer, I will focus on the physical goals. We have an acronym for goal setting and it’s – you guessed it – S.M.A.R.T. That stands for:  S – Specific  M – Measureable  A – Attainable  R – Realistic  T – Timely  SMARTgoals 

Nutrition

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Better late than never. I was not feeling too good posting anything on Wednesday after the weigh in because I was up not just a bit, I was up a lot at 168lbs [It's a number I had not seen in a while] as against the last weigh in of 164.6lbs . I think it's stress which of course led to some episodes of overeating and lack of exercise. I did travel out on a road trip to an event last weekend and of course sitting for long hours of inactivity and the mental stress of the rough roads too (Naija for you). The mental stress contributed to my inability to even lift a finger in my exercise room. Nutrition is very important in every weight loss journey, as good as it could be when done right it could jeopardize all good intentioned efforts when done badly. No wonder someone did say "abs are made in the kitchen and not in the gym" , this is a true statement because I saw better results when I paid closer attention to my meals. Do I dare to ask this question today, what

Week 34 Weigh-in: REFOCUS

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Weight loss journey can be as interesting and as boring, it can be as inspiring as it can be frustrating. It is the desire to keep moving no matter what, that brings the most success. I had been on this for the past 6 years and it is funny how many times I had to lose and regain those tiny pounds but somehow I am nearer to my goal weight now than ever before. Sometimes I lose weight rapidly, other times they come in tiny bits and some days it's like I woke up to gain 5lbs that will refuse to go away irrespective of what is done. In this long journey to great health, I have learnt to keep on keeping on even when the surrounding conditions doesn't permit it.

Do it right!

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One of the tasks for this weekend on the Biggest Loser Challenge is to blog about what I have been doing right for the past one month. I started this challenge in the first week of last month and I will like to reflect on my weigh-ins for the past 5 weeks and then we can conclude if what I am doing is working and either right or wrong First Week: 166.2lbs Second Week: 166.2lbs Third Week: 165.6lbs Fourth Week: 167lbs Fifth Week: 167.8lbs (sighs) Well, the above is never a lie because whatever choices I make on this weight loss journey will most definitely reflect on the scale. Except you want to start deceiving yourself on this, when you don't do it right it will definitely be evident and the best is to be accountable for it, make changes and move on.

SMART Goals

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SMART Goals pinterest A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for: S - Specific (or Significant). M - Measurable (or Meaningful). A - Attainable (or Action-Oriented). R - Relevant (or Rewarding). T - Time-bound (or Trackable). For example, instead of having "To sail around the world" as a goal, it's more powerful to say "To have completed my trip around the world by December 31, 2015." Obviously, this will only be attainable if a lot of preparation has been completed beforehand! Further Goal Setting Tips:  The following broad guidelines will help you to set effective, achievable goals: State each goal as a positive statement - Express your goals positively – "Execute this technique well" is a much better goal than "Don't make this s

Week 21 Weigh-in: Overeating

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Overeating is the process of eating excess food in relation to the energy expended by a person. There are a thousand and one scientific explanations that is given to what happens before, during and after overeating. I want to explain overeating as it relates to me. I mostly have this experience when I think I am too hungry or when I enjoy the meal or when the food is my favorite. I think as much as it is easy to explain overeating, it starts from the mind then the mouth and the most effect is felt in the stomach then the waist in that order.

Week 19 Weigh-in: 166.2lbs

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I have been weighing myself and blogging about it for almost 20 weeks consecutively. I feel proud of myself because I know that consistency is very important in a weight loss journey and I am doing just that. For the past 3 weeks I had been posting on eating, hunger and other things in-between. I posted about CRAVINGS , DESIRE TO EAT and HUNGER , today and I am going to make my inference from the past posts and how it could affect me as a person (one of the purpose of this blog is for readers to learn from me and succeed). My conclusions goes thus : 1. I now know what true hunger means, which according to Dr. Fuhrman is felt at the throat and at the back of the mouth (refer to the last week's post)

Week 18 Weigh-in: True Hunger

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It's a new week and I am a little excited today for some reasons: 1. I had my first workout Wednesday morning after more than 3 whole weeks of inactivity. 2. I just got clue to a new challenge and I am really excited that I may not bored out of this. 3. Intermittent Fasting is working and I am not worn out. It's more spiritual than physical and that keeps me going. 4. This is my 200th post on this blog, a wonderful milestone for me. I am proud of myself The post on true hunger is not really mine but a fact as researched by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D.  Happy Reading. Hunger is good to experience on a daily basis. Hunger is important to aid in our enjoyment of food and get the precise signals from our body to know the amount of calories we need to maintain our lean body mass. When we eat when we are hungry food tastes much better and we are physiologically primed for proper digestion. Hunger, in the true sense of the word, indicates to us that it is time to e

Desire to Eat

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Unlike cravings, the desire to eat or appetite is more physiological than psychological. An appetite is not a bad thing, in fact when we feel true hunger the desire to eat must rise before we can eat to satiety. A desire to eat is an appeal to consume food either because of hunger caused by true hunger or some emotional or hormonal imbalances in the body. In a desire to eat, there is a physiological stimulation which is being controlled from the brain to other parts within the process. This desire could be stimulated by some factors including but not limited to: 1. Pictures of food (Sight) 2. Seeing other people eat (Sight & Smell) 3. Time to eat (for those who have specific timings) (Biological clock) 4. Attempt to suppress a negative emotion e.g. boredom, anger, depression etc (Psychological) 5. Cravings 6. True Hunger These attitude to food are all controlled in the brain which is not the subject of today's post, but the main focus is to know what

Cravings

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It started yesterday and I have decided to make it a post. I started craving these foods yesterday, and I feel like sharing in a post today. and of course this:   How do you handle your cravings? Why do we crave only the not-so-healthy foods? Can you eat the above without overeating them? I need help.

Week 13 Weigh-in: Emotional Eating

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I love cooking.  I love learning new cooking tips. I love trying new recipes. I think it could be responsible for my tendency to overeat. I love the food I cook or let me just say I love eating food, good foods, delicious food. Can I say I lack self control? Or all these episodes of overeating even after intermittent fasting is emotional in nature? I have tried 5-6 meals a day and I ended up overweight and now I am doing intermittent fasting still I tend to overeat at my non-fasting window or days. The question I am asking myself today is this: AM I AN EMOTIONAL EATER? Whenever you eat outside hunger it can be defined as emotional eating. Anytime you eat to soothe yourself or suppress a negative emotion e.g. anger, sadness, or even boredom you are emotionally eating.  I am aware of this but I seem not to be able to help myself when the eating starts but I try that it doesn't spin out of control, at least I am sure to get it curbed within 24 hours,

Week 11 Weigh-in: Planning

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It is two weeks and two days today that I had been planning and journaling. In these few weeks I can call myself a planner , woohoo! Planning also called forethought  " is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve a desired goal" . I love this definition because of the these words ' thinking ' ' organizing ' and 'goal',  since that's what I have been doing, although not the deep kind of thinking but the just-do-it type. I mean all I do each night is just know what my workout plan for tomorrow is and I get everything ready including Plans A, B and everything to Z. I wake up each day not planning to finish the whole exercise in my journal but as much as I am satisfied with while there is still time. I write the meal plan for the next day including my snacks in my journal and for the past 16 days, it's been worth it. Every night I end the day completing my workout or writing how the day had been food-

Plyometrics

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Plyometrics also called "Jump Training" is a type of exercise that involves a quick and explosive movement. I personally love strength training than cardio workouts, I just dislike that chest thumping that happens after the cardio exercises. But I am at ease with plyometrics and I love the fact that more energy is burned because it high impact exercise at a short time frame. This week has seen me with a lot of this jumping around and I feel the endorphin rush after each session. I am posting this so that you can give this a try sometimes, below are my favorites:

Weight loss Success Story

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As I sat down on my chair today and in a brief moment I was thinking of when my weight loss journey started some 6 years ago. I was a field worker for my organization and trust me I was not enjoying my job then, I felt cheated everyday when I got to work because of some "discrepancies" in posting of staff members and my assumed lopsidedness in the treatment field workers were getting. Also, I was not really a happy person because of some challenges I faced as a newly-wed and trying to even understand the relationship that I was really working hard to be the best at. One day I was on the field and I came face to face with my most dreadful equipment then "a scale". Before then I never wanted to know what my weight was because I was really scared I might have to face some realities of a pending health issue or something close. Well, that day my colleague on the field persuaded me (he has a really small structure) to check since it wouldn't hurt to know. 

Personal Retreat

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I have been AWOL for a week, I went on a retreat. The Nigerian Baptist Convention (which I proudly belong) had it's Convention in session between Saturday 16th April, 2016 to 21st April, 2016. It was mandatory to be in attendance because of some important roles myself and DH were playing. That aside it was a very rear opportunity to be alone with God and learn at His feet. It was a good time to retreat and pray to God almighty who can do every impossible. The theme for this year's Annual Convention is Moving Forward: Working Out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling , it was a program filled with teachings, sermons, prayers of intercession, petitions etc. I was richly blessed and I would not have forgiven myself if I did not put my all into this. The essence of today's post is the benefits that accrues from having a personal retreat. Retreat in a simple term is "withdrawal or a draw back" it is mostly used in the army. A retreat is often carried

Secret to Flat Abs

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I have experimented it severally and that is why I am here. I love the mantra that says " abs are not made in the gym, they are made in the kitchen ", and on your plate. Let us start from the anatomy of abs and then move on to what happens to either create the 'bulge' or the 'packs' we get at a time or the other. The abdominal is made up of different muscles on the front, side and middle of the abdominal area. When we think of the abs, most of us are focused on the flat muscle that travels down the front of the belly, from just below the chest to the pelvic area. This muscle, called the rectus abdominis , is often called the " six-pack ," because there are three tendinous creases there that separate the muscle, giving it that washboard look. The rectus abdominis is responsible for spine flexion , which involves bringing the shoulders toward the hips, as in a crunch, and is involved in most abdominal exercises like crunches. Which

Week 3 Weigh in: 169.8lbs

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It's another weigh in today and I am happy with the results - 169.8lbs. I overate over the weekend but IF helped me and here I am back to my pre-TOM weight and a little more. I usually mindfully measure my body before climbing the scale, what I means is this, there is a feel of lightness and when I weigh in I find that the scale is down and the same happens when the scale will go up. This is an indication that I am in charge on this matter, nobody will do this for me. I need just a little discipline and I will surely get it right and anybody can too. Last year , I was down to 162.8lbs, I could almost not believe my eyes that day but it was there and I am making a determination today (3/23/2016) that nothing will stop me again till I get back to this number between now and the 13th of April, 2016. Some things worked last year and it will work again, I was under some discipline last year and it worked. Here they are: Bread is a bane to my weight loss success and therefore,

Chicken Roast

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I always dreamed about it and now I have done it. Chicken Roast Recipe 1 dressed chicken 1 Tsp Curry Powder 1 Tsp Thyme 5-8 pieces of dry Basil leaves 1 tbs cayenne pepper (powder) 1 stock cube Salt to taste Directions 1. Mix all the spices in a bowl 2. Rinse the chicken and pat both in and out dry 3. Rub the spice on the chicken and some to go under the skin. Let the spice go round. 4. You can stuff with cooked rice or half boiled potatoes. 5. Tie the legs together and put in the pre-heated oven. Reduce the heat after 20 minutes and cook till done on a low heat. 6. Check the thighs, when it's done leave for 10 more minutes. 7. It is ready to be explored, lol. Here's mine

Product Review: I5 Smart Bracelet

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I had a Fitbit activity tracker two years ago and it got lost never to be found again. I got a new tracker but not a Fitbit this time, it is called I5 Smart Bracelet . I realized there are hundreds of such activity trackers with no popular brand names that are out now for our use. I ordered my own tracker from AliExpress at a cheap rate of about $20 (N6,000.00) approximately. When it arrived in the mail, I sincerely did not know what to expect considering the cheapness of the product, I was preparing my mind for the worst ranging from a hyper-counting of my steps, to a faulty band, low battery etc. But with over two weeks of consistent use, I had really been surprised and impressed. Surprises : 1. Not different from the Fitbit I had 2 years back 2. Steps counting are almost near accurate (fitbit was not exact either) 3. It was not ambiguous 4. Battery life is quite reasonable (chargeable) 5. The color was just perfect for my skin. 6. There is a buzz feature t