Making healthy behaviors knee-jerk reactions takes time, dedication and practice. And that is just what the people over at Habitwise are helping you do: Supporting you to make better decisions today for a healthier tomorrow.

Habitwise is a line of easy-to-wear products that make healthy a habit. What first began as a simple weight loss tool named A-Wrist-A-Trac, which was discovered by a team of clinicians at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, has now grown to a line of products for women, men and kids.

The weight loss Get Loss bracelets are worn every day by women and kids and the Get Loss coins are slipped in a man’s pocket as a daily reminder to eat better, watch portions or keep track of calories.

Habitwise currently has three different products: Get Loss bracelets or coins for men and women, Get Tracking bracelets for kids, and Get Wet bracelets or coins for adults. The latter is to inspire drinking enough water throughout the day. Rumored to be coming are Get Fit and Get Comfort products designed to help you keep moving and reduce stress.

But these aren’t just any bracelets like the lemon-yellow LiveStrong rubber wrist bands. Habitwise bracelets work like this: You receive 30 bracelets in seven different colors. Each color (and number) corresponds to a food group – blue (8) is water, pink (3) is fruits, yellow (2) is oils or fats, green (6) is vegetables and so on.

If you follow the Habitwise program to lose weight, you have two choices: Each time you eat a serving from one group, you move the corresponding colored bracelet to your opposite wrist (or opposite pocket for coins). When you have moved all the bracelets, you have successfully eaten your recommended food groups for the day.

Option Two is that you can use the same bracelets as a way to count calories or points. Each bracelet corresponds to 50 calories making all 30 bracelets a 1,500-calorie diet; or if you want to cut back to 1, 200 calories, then you only wear 24 bracelets. You’ll also need to use a reliable calorie counting source for this option as you calculate portion sizes and calories. For instance, if you eat an apple, which contains about 100 calories, you’ll move two bracelets from one wrist to the other; Nosh on an English muffin with one tablespoon of peanut butter (approximately 200 calories) and move four bracelets over to the opposite wrist.

When all of your bracelets are moved to the opposite wrist, you have used up your daily allowance of calories.

Plus, Habitwise bracelets are fun to wear and the array of colors compliment any outfit. If you are someone who needs minute-to-minute reminders about living healthier, the Habitwise products might just make your health dream a genuine achievement.

Learn more in our Habitwise review.

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Habitwise: Jewelry that Makes Healthy Living a Habit

The phenomenon which she is describing took me all the way back to Intro to Psych in undergrad. Sensory Adaptation is the tendency for sensory receptors to have decreasing responsiveness to stimuli that continue without change. This is why you stop smelling your own perfume or cologne, or those in the city get used to the sound of traffic. It also applies when eating; you get less and less pleasure from every bite of a food following the first bite, the introduction to a new flavor.

You can remember this phenomenon to remind yourself that the large bowl is not going to be more goodness, but rather more of something that is losing goodness, and manage your portion sizes. However, there is a positive spin to this phenomenon as well. Like my client, you can use it when you are trying to have less of something or more of something in your diet. Just start and see if it gets easier (Let us know how it goes!). Especially, if you are busy with other things, you will likely be able to drink more and more water, noticing it less and less.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Drink More Water through Sensory Adaptation

These are the 7 things you need to know before you leave the house to have the most fit and healthy day possible.

1. How much sleep did you get the night before? Getting enough sleep is an important key to maintaining a healthy weight and having enough energy to get your exercise choices accomplished.

2. Nothing, eggs and bacon, or peanut butter toast? Studies have shown that a healthy breakfast helps jump start your metabolism, and the best choice is a complex carbohydrate and protein combination. Eggs and bacon might taste yummy, but it’s a higher fat choice.

3. Where’s your water bottle? Drinking enough water during the day keeps your body hydrated and helps you lose weight. Often, we reach for food when we are actually thirsty. To avoid a plethora of waste, buy a refillable bottle and then drain it every hour. If the idea of that much water makes you crazy, add in a flavored drink packet.

4. What about lunch? Don’t leave the house without your lunch. Relying on fast food choices is a quick road to the wrong foods. Take a few minutes to pull together a salad with some chopped chicken breast or even a healthy frozen meal and pair it with a piece of fruit. You will be so glad you did when noon rolls around!

5. Do you have your sneakers? Can you walk to work? Walk from the bus stop? Run the stairs during part of your lunch hour? Adding in exercise in small bursts can help you maintain that trim waistline.

6. Do you have a couple of healthy snacks within easy reach? Stashing a small baggie of trail mix or almonds, a protein bar or some fruit leather in your purse, vehicle or desk can save you when the mid-day munchies strike.

7. Put on your game face! Go out there with a positive mental attitude and a can-do spirit and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what great healthy choices you make!

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

7 Things You Need to Know to Have a Healthy Day

Most of us know them: people who can eat and eat and not gain an ounce. That fraternity gets a little smaller after 30 when everyone’s metabolism begins to slow. But, while they still maintain this seemingly impossible dietary feat, they do so at the expense of the rest of us.

That’s because according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, thin friends who eat a lot may unwittingly make you eat more in the process. Call it subliminal peer pressure.

The researchers recruited 210 college students to participate in the study, and were told that they would be paired up with another student. The other student was actually a part of the research team and intentionally recruited for their thin frames (size 0, 105 pounds). Sometimes those thin research participants wore an “obesity prosthesis” to compare the reactions of their partners.

All of the students were offered snacks while viewing clips of movies. The undercover researcher was served first, and either got a large or small serving before the student participant was offered the same bowl of food. In every case, the amount of food that the students accepted was influenced by the amount that the undercover researcher chose.

Participants tended to mimic the thin companion’s portion sizes, but adjusted their portions down when they were paired with the obese-looking researcher.

The study was authored by researchers from the University of British Columbia, Duke University, and Arizona State University.

(via: Medical News Today)

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Thin Friends Can Have Bad Diet Influence

Although this is important information for parents who are committed to helping their child be healthy, the ideas can also be applied to yourself. We have made eating a social activity, but eating alone may help you stick to your food plan and limit your caloric intake. Another idea might be to find an eating “mentor,” eating with someone whose food habits you would like to emulate. The research suggests that simply by eating with them, you are more likely to behave like them. With whom are you sharing meals?

In addition to this research, the Time article discusses the theory that we are attracted to others we find similar to ourselves, suggesting that when two people who are overweight are together it can be a self-feeding loop that gives permission for obesity. The article also mentions that we are generally more relaxed with close friends and family and less concerned about judgment for our choices. Lastly, there is the theory that spending time with those who are overweight helps us to accept it as more normal, in effect giving permission to behave similarly. The Time article also mentioned other research that reports that we generally consume fewer calories when accompanied by the opposite sex.

Have you noticed any of these things to be true for you, impacting your eating habits? I challenge you to be more conscious of how much you are eating, especially when you are with different people. I have found that this is not always true for me and my mindset and will power play an important role as well. I would love you to comment here and post your observations.

via Time

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How Much You Eat Reflects Who You Are With

Unless your flight anxiety is high, my guess is that you tune out the spiel after your first flight or two (even Emily didn’t seem to be paying much attention); I know I don’t consciously pay attention and didn’t realize how the flight attendants turn their heads. Yet, almost everyone mimicked the flight attendant automatically.

What are you learning subconsciously? What messages are being integrated into your understanding subliminally? This is just one of the many reasons that I encourage people to turn off the TV for better sleep. Did you realize your brain is still attentive even when you are not consciously paying attention? How can you be aware of this ability and utilize it for your health?

Surround yourself with positive, healthy people. It is said that you are the average of the five people with whom you spend the most time. Are you spending time with those you wish to emulate? Do you have a workout buddy? Don’t forget to find a few health experts to follow on Twitter.

If you must fall asleep to something, find a positive, motivational, health-related podcast or turn on a yoga dvd.

Place yourself in healthy environments. Even if you only spend a small amount of time in the gym, you will receive a more powerful mental message at the gym then you will running the streets.

Take every opportunity to watch sporting events. Parents, go to your children’s games and practices. Rather than tailgating, go to the football game early to watch how the players stretch and warm-up. (It’s also a great opportunity to get some nice photographs.)

How else can you casually expose yourself to health-focused messages?

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Send Yourself Healthy Subliminal Messages

Not all of us have the flexibility or capability to move to Japan to help change a habit, but David does have the right idea. It takes between 21-45 days to change a habit, whether you are trying something new, replacing a habit, or eliminating a habit. Habits are something that are integrated into our routine and can be to the point that they can be done with little or no thought, which is exactly why it may require drastic measures or an entirely new routine to help those old habits die hard! Do something differently; try something new. Here are a few suggestions that you may feel helpful; please comment with other ideas for your fellow readers.

1. Find a new route – Avoid temptations of fast food or other distractions by not having them in your line of site. Drive a new way home; it may take a little bit longer, but it may also extend your life or its quality.

2. Get new input – It is no surprise that I think my client had the right idea in seeking counseling. You can also follow new people on Twitter or add new blogs to your RSS feeds. If you have a friend or associate that you admire, set some time to sit down and pick his or her brain.

3. Do something silly – Instead of heading to the kitchen on the commercial break, stand up and spin around three times or sing the chorus to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious at the top of your lungs. You will be filling in the time and distracting yourself from temptation.

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Shake Things up to Make Drastic, Healthy Changes

Today I stumbled on this article in my Google Reader which reports that recent research shows a great suicide risk for teens that are overweight or believe that they are, regardless of gender. This doesn’t come as a major surprise to me, and I think it is important to note that self-perception is an important factor. I wonder if the correlation is truly with those who believe themselves to be overweight, regardless of actual BMI. There could be teens who are overweight but do not view themselves that way. With the growing obesity rate in children and adolescents and higher risk of suicide for those that view themselves as overweight, it’s more important than ever that we reach the teens.

It’s developmentally appropriate (normal, expected, and even healthy) for teens to look to their peer group more than adults and even family members for approval and guidance. Adults that tell teens what to do will not reach them.  However, the same developmental stage that causes teens to ignore us, helps them reach each other. As adolescents establish their own identity, they first create groups (cliques) which allows identity to be a multiple-choice rather than essay question. It is developmentally appropriate for teens to look, sound, and act like their peers. Teens can have a lot of influence over each other. If you’re trying to reach teens, you have to have teens on board. How do you get teens to join your team?

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Suicide Risk Increases for Overweight Teens

Whether your children are old enough to start joining you in your fitness routine or you even have children yet, now is the perfect time to start developing the habits in yourself that you want your children to adopt. Your child is unlikely to want to join you in activities that you do not enjoy. Your child, who sees you as a role model, is more likely to do the things you do. I rode in bike races as a child because that was what my father did.

I have a dear friend whose oldest son just finished second grade and has already completed more running events than I have. Connor has grown up watching his parents run for health and fitness, his father runs races, and his grandmother run marathons, ultramarathons, and triathalons!

His parents have not pushed him into running, and he runs in 5k races only at his own request. At the age of 7 he ran a 5k in 24 minutes! He was also recently awarded the Presidential Award for Physical Fitness. Way to go, Connor! He has discovered the joy in running because it was shown to him. His parents never insisted that he share their activities, yet he has developed a love for running simply by observing what the important adults in his life are doing. He is blessed to have had the opportunity to develop healthy habits so early.

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7-Year-Old Runs 5Ks, Earns Presidential Award for Physical Fitness

In general people do not pay enough attention to how successful and powerful they actually are already. Preparing a healthy lunch rather than stopping at Taco Bell just one day is a major change for that day. A smaller change would be to go to the same eating establishment, but order lighter fare instead of the usual. Too often people do not even consider the accomplishment of altering one’s daily pattern and do not count a change until it is a habit. When you are not giving yourself credit for our achievements along the path to a larger goal, you will feel like you have not made any progress and all your hard work has been for naught. Reaching high goals takes time, but you can progress down the path every day. Recognize what you are doing and what you have done. This will encourage you to keep going and increase your self-esteem.

In the same way, recognizing your achievements can encourage you to undertake even higher goals and take bigger steps at a time. As I started back into my running habit, I remembered how far I had run during the Indy Mini without training or preparation. I doubled my normal first day’s run and felt fine the next day. I realized that my endurance is higher than that with which I was crediting myself, and I immediately achieved more. How much more quickly will I meet my recovery goals at this pace?

It is my guess that you have achieved more than you are considering. How have you been successful in your career? What have you done right? What do you do well on a regular basis? On what aspects do you receive compliments? Highlight your achievements, even the small ones. Every day (or every hour!) take stock of what you have done well. Did you order water rather than soda? Did you take the stairs rather than the escalator? Did you order your dressing on the side? These were conscious choices that took effort and discipline. Well done!

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Are You Already Closer to Your Goal Than You Think?