Tag Archives: habits

Dieting 101: Getting Started, For the Last Time!

dietLet me just start this post series with a statement. I don’t believe in “diets.” Diets do not work because they are too restrictive. Diets are something you start and then stop. Whatever you do when you stop can lead you right back to the place you came from – or worse! If your feelings of deprivation and restriction are large, chances are your “boomerang” back once you lift the restrictions will be huge. How would you like to end that cycle once and for all? If you’re with me, read on. If you’re not, come back when your latest fad diet experience fails you.

Step 1: Reject Dieting for Good

Can you do it? Can you actually say to yourself that years of dieting has not worked for you and it’s time to try something that does? Go ahead. Give yourself permission to take care of yourself instead of deprive yourself. (more…)

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Rebecca

10 Healthy Resolutions for Kids

healthy familyEvery year, parents spend a lot of time and energy setting New Year’s Resolutions for themselves. I will lose weight. I will exercise every day. I will only eat healthy foods. I will call my in-laws once a week. (Whoops. Not sure where that one came from.) This year, instead of focusing so much devotion on your own resolutions, why not help your children create their own set of healthy resolutions? Here are 10 ideas to get you started:

  1. I will brush my teeth after each meal and before bed.
  2. I will wash my hands after using the bathroom and before eating.
  3. I will wear sunscreen every day, even in the winter. (more…)
Posted on December 8, 2023 by Carmen

What’s Driving Your Motivation to Lose Weight?

drivers licenseAdmit it, you have not changed the number listed as your weight on your driver’s license since you were 16. It probably advertises a number that would be completely inappropriate for an adult. Most people never make the effort to update the weight listed on their driver’s license out of embarrassment or feeling like they have a positive advertisement, or to remember just how small we once were.

My friend Suzi stated on Twitter that she had not changed the number on her driver’s license when she had gained weight, not out of embarrassment but because she had hoped she would get back to that weight. She announced this on Twitter because she was celebrating that as she went to renew her driver’s license she is back at that weight. (more…)

Posted on November 1, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

Habitwise: Jewelry that Makes Healthy Living a Habit

We have often thought to ourselves: “If only I had a constant health angel on my shoulder gently nudging me to choose the broccoli over the potatoes au gratin or the treadmill over happy hour, then I’d be (you fill in the blank).”habitwise

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. (more…)

Posted on October 31, 2023 by heather

Drink More Water through Sensory Adaptation

drinking waterToday while reviewing the kaizen theory of making small changes with a client, in this case to reduce the amount of sugar she puts in her coffee, she stated that the first cup of the morning is always the most difficult. She reported that if she is able to drink the first cup with less sugar, the rest of the coffee that she has that day goes down much more easily. This makes sense because coffee is one of those things that is an “acquired taste;” however, she said the same thing was true for drinking water. If she worked out earlier in the day, she would drink water throughout the day, put down the coffee, and not pick up any more calorie-laden beverages. (more…)

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

7 Things You Need to Know to Have a Healthy Day

Thanks to Cosmo Radio for inspiring this, as they offer the original 7 Things You Need to Know Before You Go every morning (but their version relates to fashion and celebrities. My version is diet, fitness, exercise and health related.)

businesswomanThese 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. (more…)

Posted on October 5, 2023 by Carmen

Thin Friends Can Have Bad Diet Influence

friendsFriends can be your worst enemy when it comes to trying to keep control of your waistline. Even if they aren’t overtly using peer pressure to coax you into eating unhealthily, they can be doing so through their own actions.

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. (more…)

Posted on October 5, 2023 by Jason

How Much You Eat Reflects Who You Are With

teen pizza partyTime magazine recently published an article, reviewing research discussed in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on how the eating habits of teens and tweens are influenced by how much their friends weigh. Observing the participants in this study, the researchers found that the children ate more when they were with a friend than when they were with a peer they did not know; however, they also found that children who were overweight ate up to 300 calories more when with a friend who is also overweight. (more…)

Posted on September 29, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

Be Social Without Blowing Your Diet

wedding buffetWhether it’s a late summer BBQ, wedding, or other life milestone, you’re bound to have your calendar booked with a celebration sometime soon. For people working hard to lose weight, it can be stressful and even cause anxiety that can make you want to skip the event altogether. If this sounds like you, you should know that your uneasy feeling is natural and you shouldn’t think negatively toward it. Instead, how about a solution? I’ll explain why you’re having a difficult time and how you can be social without blowing your diet.

It’s All About Control

The reason social engagements may make you feel uncomfortable has to do with control; how much control you think you have over making “the right” choices so you won’t leave feeling stuffed and regretful of your actions. (more…)

Posted on September 4, 2023 by Rebecca

Kids Mimic Their Friends’ Eating Habits

kid school lunchKids have to deal with tremendous peer pressure. Unfortunately, that also applies to their eating habits. Researchers just released a study that examines how kids eat in relation to who they are around at the time. Those involved in the study were 9 to 15 years old. And, researchers found that all of the kids, regardless of their weight, tended to eat more when they snacked with a friend than when they were with someone their age that they did not know.

But, the peer mimicking went further. Interestingly, the largest calorie intake was seen when overweight children snacked with an overweight friend. (more…)

Posted on August 25, 2023 by Jason

Send Yourself Healthy Subliminal Messages

airplane oxygen maskMore lessons from 10,000 feet… On this flight, I am sitting near Russ who travels frequently for business. While distracting Emily from her flight anxiety, Russ told her and I about a flight he experienced during which the oxygen masks fell. He shared that all the passengers automatically turned their heads right and left like the flight attendant does during her pre-flight spiel. He and I both found it interesting how such things can be ingrained into our consciousness. I would venture that few to none of the passengers had ever had to utilize an in-flight oxygen mask prior to that incident.

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. (more…)

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Brooke Randolph