Healthy Holiday Eating - Memorial Day

There are so many things I wanted to talk about this week.  I chose this topic because A LOT of people struggle with staying healthy when distracted by a holiday and seeing friends and family.  The best way to have the most success is to have a PLAN for the weekend.  Once you know what your plans are, you can make decisions ahead of time instead of at that very moment.  Here are some tips and tricks that I use:

• If you are going to a potluck, bring a healthy dish to pass.  I always like doing veggies with hummus instead of dip.  The hummus has more nutritional value and less sugar than vegetable dip.  Some other more exciting options are salsa and guacamole.

• Be mindful of what you add to your food.  A lot of condiments have added sugars that are not good for us.  Probably to most used for this weekend is Ketchup.  Mustard is actually better than Ketchup so try Mustard instead of Ketchup.  Now, I am going to Brat Fest Saturday and yes I will be eating Brats and yes I will be putting condiments on those brats.  This is leading me to my next tip.

• Eat some veggies before you go out.  I will be doing this on Saturday with probably some celery or cucumbers or carrots or maybe all of them.  This way I will get fuller faster and this will also help to prevent my blood sugar from spiking like it normally would if I had an empty stomach (more on this topic to come).

• Drink A LOT of water!  It is pretty easy to get caught up in the festivities and drink soda, sugary drinks and even beer.  One easy way to drink more water is to always bring water with you.  Now, if you get sick of water easily here is a fun way to jazz it up....Add slices of pineapple(or any fruit) to it!  This will not only make it sweeter and tastier, it will also add nutrients to it.  I will definitely be trying that this summer.

• The last tip I have is to keep your mass moving.  Make sure not to get lazy this weekend.  Go for a walk or bike ride, do some lawn work; whatever it is just don't be sitting around all weekend.  The more you move your mass the better metabolism you will have.  The best time for a short walk is right after eating because this will aid in your food digesting better.

An important thing to remember for this whole weekend is that you are living a lifestyle; you're not on a diet.  So don't over-think or stress yourself out about what you are eating this weekend.  You need to enjoy it!  Try this: Eat 2 healthy meals per day and you can eat 1 less healthy meal.  If you do this you are sure to stay on track.  Lastly, remember our troops this weekend!

Which tip do you like the best?  What do you do to stay healthy during the weekend? 

Set Yourself Up For Success!

This is the most difficult, but also the most important part of the process.  Once you get through it, it will be worth it.  This is detox week.  Now, you are probably saying to yourself, "What is a detox week and why is it important?"  Detox week is meant to rid your body of the toxins that you have been putting in there for so long.  Most of the toxins come from highly processed foods that we have come accustomed to eating because we are "too busy" to make a fresh meal.  Most common is microwave dinners, boxed meals, candy...almost anything with a bar code on it.


How are we doing our detox?  We are doing a fruit and vegetable cleanse.  For a minimum of 5 days, up to 7, we are eating strictly vegetables and fruits.  This is going to jump start our weight loss and more importantly our fat loss journey.  This process will cleanse your palate, so you will start craving fresher foods more instead of processed foods, and also cleanse your body.


This is actually my second time doing a cleanse and it was surprisingly easier than the first time.  The most difficult part for me was not having caffeine, which meant no Mochatonix for me.  I felt pretty sluggish the first two days, but after that it wasn't too bad.  It is common to feel sleepy, get headaches and even feel nauseated.  This is because your body is going through withdrawals.  The nice thing, is that it should only last 2-3 days.  Now that it is Friday I am feeling pretty normal and my energy is back without any caffeine.

Have you ever done a detox before?  What did you struggle with?

Let the Journey Begin

This is the beginning of two journeys; the first is blogging and the second is my 12 week weight management program.  My goal for this blog is to help you in many aspects of your life by sharing my experiences and what I have learned.  I plan to have a new post 1 or 2 times per week.


So for the first 12 weeks I will be blogging about changing the way I eat; not by dieting, but by changing my lifestyle.  I have actually done this program once before and had great results.  The reason I am doing it again is because I want to share my knowledge with my family and friends and have started a class.


This program is based on low glycemic eating based on the Glycemic Index (GI).  I don't want to bore you with too much information all at once, so I will be telling you my story and along the way give the information to help you along a similar journey.


Please join me in this journey so not only will you learn from me, but I can learn from you.


Are you sick of diets?  Are you tired of counting calories, cutting out whole food groups and being exhausted while doing it?  What are you looking to change about yourself?