My Blog Has Moved…

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you know I have moved my blog. Please go to this link and subscribe to my re-designed (still “under construction”) blog: Healthy Life With Max

Thanks for your support and for reading my blog!

To Your Health…

Debbie James
www.HealthyLifeWithMaxBlog.com
850-450-2000

Do You Want to be Healthier?

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful celebration. 2009 is going to be a prosperous year for us all!

Have you set your goals for 2009? What will you do to become healthier? What if you only made 1 small change per month? (It takes 21 days to make something a habit). Would that help you to reach your dream size and achieve better health ?

This Monday, Jan. 5, I will start my 2nd “90-day program”. As you can see from my results in my last post, my 1st 90-day program was a success for me. It’s been so good to be so “bad” with some of my eating. Cheesecake, potato chips & chocolate. Since these are not everyday foods for me, my body reacts very negatively. I know the consequences, and ate them anyway :-)Find what works for you and stick with it.

One of my goals for 2009 is to provide you with great information on how you can become healthier. Yes, it will require some changes from you, however, I promise they won’t be drastic. Are you willing to make a commitment to yourself? What are your goals for 2009? I’d love to hear from you!

To Your Health…

Debbie James

www.HealthyLifeWithMax.com
850.450.2000

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How to Prevent or Delay Diabetes

In my last post you saw a video about people who changed their diet and their blood sugar levels came down. If that wasn’t enough evidence, the American Diabetes Association talks about how to prevent or delay diabetes.

Why would you want to be insulin dependent for the rest of your life? While a lot of “our makeup” is genetic, so much can be changed thru diet, exercise and supplements…all natural of course!

To Your Health…

Debbie James
www.HealthyLifeWithMax.com
850.450.2000

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7 Week Progress Update

It’s been 7 weeks already since I started. Boy, how time flies when we are having fun and working toward our dream size! 🙂

Thankfully, I have been seeing a Naturopath. She is wonderful and I am making great progress. My challenge is my thyroid and adrenal levels are still to low. Both of which, when in balance, help you to lose weight. That being said, for me, right now, it’s like pushing an elephant. Not impossible, just very difficult…ok maybe impossible (my Mom always says “the impossible just takes a bit longer”). Add to the fact I was (yes was) eating bananas everyday. I know bananas have sugar, at least the “good” kind. What I didn’t know is that if you eat a banana everday, DO NOT expect to lose weight. (Unless of course you are working out 8 hours a day)!

Dr. Leesa explained that when I would eat a banana, before working out, I was burning sugar, not fat. I would have to work out for hours before all the sugar was burned off. OOopppsssss. At least I found out now and not 90 days from now. The banana also goes back to the glycemic index. They are on the high glycemic index list. When losing weight you really need to eat low glycemic index foods.

I have been reading a fabulous book by Rick Gallop called “The Glycemic Index Diet”. He does a wonderful job at explaining why you want to eat low glycemic foods while losing weight. (Go to my post on “What is the Glycemic Index” for a video and website with great information).

Given that information, here’s how I have done over the past 7 weeks. To start I have lost 4 lbs. Now, I know people are going to say, only 4 lbs in 7 weeks?? To me, here’s the best part. I am down 8 1/4 total inches. Here are the areas where I have had the biggest results are:

Waist – 1.375″
Chest – 1″
Belly – 1.5″
Hips – .5″
Left thigh – 1.375″
Right thigh – 1.125″

I’ve had some reductions in my upper arms, knees and calves. Probably from lifting weights. The above are really the areas I care about. Here’s the best part…the weight loss supplement I am taking, is working!! It has been clinically proven to help reduce fat in your mid-section. It’s about the fat loss, not so much the weight. It takes time to reduce your Leptin levels (more about Leptin in my next post).

I’m about to kick things up a notch and I made changes to my eating, too! There is no magic pill to all this. If there was, I would be a gazillionaire ’cause I would have invented it. I don’t have patience, I’m the first to admit it. I would at least like to see progress, and progress we have.

Sorry, no video this time. Stay tuned for my next update in 2 weeks.

To Your Health…

Debbie James
www.YourDreamSize.com
850.450.2000

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Mind Over Body

Diet. A word I absolutely HATE! When I think of that word, I think, “I’m going to be hungry”. I also think, I can only eat what “someone” tells me to eat. Rather difficult if you are as picky of an eater as I am. I don’t eat red meat and I’m allergic to shell fish, (which is not so bad since I don’t like fish!) hate mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, to name a few. So, where do we go from here?

What if we think of the word “diet” as a lifestyle change? Not so bad then, huh? My body doesn’t like yeast…yes, I could eat it, and my body reacts accordingly. So, I stay away from it. Same thing with wheat. I recently discovered that I need to stay away from wheat. At first you think, ugh…what can I eat?

Diet is also short term. Lifestyle change is long term. About 10 years ago, I cut yeast out of my “diet” and have never looked back. That was a lifestyle change. I went to the health food store and bought a yeast free, sugar free bread. Yes, I had to try several before I found one I liked. Since there are no preservatives, you just have to toast it first. No big deal…I made sandwiches, french toast, etc. I changed my “diet” (short term) and made a lifestyle change (long term) and have not had problems.

A Naturopath I started seeing earlier this year, suggested I cut wheat out of my “diet”. So I did. The bread I loved so much, that I mentioned above, has wheat! So, I go to the health food store and ask them for a wheat free, yeast free bread. They suggested a Millet bread, which is rice based. Love it!!! Again you have to toast it. I made another lifestyle change. The wheat was affecting my sinuses/allergies. Since cutting wheat out of my “diet” my breathing has been sooooo much better. Amazing! For many years, I was trying to figure out what was bothering me. My trial and error never seemed to work when I would eliminate a food from my “diet”. Now I know. Again, I can eat foods with wheat, and my body reacts accordingly.

I have been buying gluten free products and ‘testing’ them. Bob’s Red Mill and Pamela’s products are yummy! Cookies, brownies, pancakes are incredible. I would put Pamela’s pancake mix against any. You would be hard pressed to know it is gluten/wheat free. Same goes with Bob’s products.

Here are some differences between diet and lifestyle:

Diet: The goal is self-limiting. When you get to your goal weight, you stop the diet.
Lifestyle: The goal is open-ended. Weight management becomes part of your daily life, with strategies that vary as circumstances, priorities, and needs change.

Diet: A diet is a surface level change. It involves simple changes in behaviors you are already doing (or not doing). You take in fewer calories from food and (maybe) expend more calories on activity. Foods are “good” or “bad” based on calorie content.
Lifestyle: Lifestyle changes are made on many levels. In addition to healthy changes in your relationship with food and exercise, you will challenge the basic attitudes, beliefs, thoughts and feelings that made you overweight (and unhappy) to begin with.

Diet: Progress and success are measured by the scale. Anything that results in weight loss is considered acceptable, even if it poses potential problems or risks. Failure to lose weight as fast as desired is very upsetting, and the process feels like a constant battle. High stress is constant.
Lifestyle: Progress and success are measured in terms of satisfaction & quality of life.
Weight loss and maintenance continue to be important, but are put in perspective as one way you can move towards larger, more rewarding goals. Daily ups and downs become much less stressful.

Diet: Results don’t last. Even if you manage to stick with all the unpleasantness of a diet long enough to reach your weight goal, your odds of keeping it off permanently are less than one in twenty.
Lifestyle: Results are lasting. Your lifestyle change is an open-ended, ongoing process with goals that continue to expand and grow. There is no reason to go back to the habits that got you overweight in the first place.

Just make one lifestyle change today…

To Your Health!

Debbie James
www.YourDreamSize.com
850.450.2000

Energy Flows Where Attention Goes

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Do NOT Starve Yourself

Since I was a teenager, I have “struggled” with my weight. I was so skinny before that time, that my mom had trouble find a belt to fit me! That all changed when I hit my teen years.

I grew up riding horses where weight was always an issue. My riding instructor would always make us conscious of our weight. And I was ALWAYS trying to lose weight. It wasn’t until I got married, divorced and started to work out with a personal trainer, Lance, that I hit my dream size. Lance taught me how to work out properly and more importantly my diet.

Some people, like my husband’s family has a metabolism that we all dream of. They can eat what ever, when ever and not gain weight. The total opposite of me. I’m sure you have friends like that..you secretly hate them 🙂 Me too! hehehe

So, now, 13 years later, I am not at my dream size anymore. I could practically starve myself and NOT lose weight. Why?? Because what people don’t realize is that lowering your calorie intake puts your body into what is called starvation mode, where your metabolism slows enormously. If you don’t eat enough your body will hold on to what little food you give it, making losing weight difficult because you will feel hungry and deprived. It is also extremely difficult to workout on a low-to-no calorie diet, because your body feels weak due to the lack of food. Exercise can feel impossible.

Calories are often the first thing people take into action when they begin their fitness plans. Many people think that “starving” themselves is the best way to lose weight. WRONG!

Calories are the energy for the body. It is like fuel in an engine, they ‘burn’ in order for your body to function properly. It is pointless to try and starve yourself to death. As a matter of fact, it is one of the worst things you can do if you want to lose weight. You will be losing precious muscles that will help you to burn fat and you will wind up even ‘fatter’ than before! Yes…you can starve yourself (very low calorie diet), and in the short term you can lose weight, temporarily…in the long run you will gain it all back, and then some. Why do you think diets don’t work? Why do you think the yo-yo diets don’t work?

It’s always better to be smart, eat smart and healthy, and workout regularly. This is the key to losing weight.

So, what am I doing to get back to my dream size? Stay tuned to find out…

To Your Health…

Debbie James
www.YourDreamSize.com
850.450.2000

Energy Flows Where Attention Goes

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What Are Your Goals?

How much weight / inches do you want to lose and what are you going to do to get there? UGH! I really think men should have been the ones to always have to “worry” about this. lol. And women should be able to lose weight easier then men…every time my mom would go on a diet, my step-dad would lose weight!

Think about what you are eating. Many women will starve themselves thinking this is the best way to lose weight. It’s not. In fact, that’s the worst thing you can do. Your body will go into survival mode and actually store fat! Geoff Kalmbrach is a personal trainer in my area who writes a column for our local paper. Here is tip from one of his newsletters which talks about what I just mentioned…

Eat regularly throughout the day.  Fasting or overly restrictive diets will enable you to lose weight – in the short run.  Because the weight you lose is primarily water weight and lean muscle mass. But in the long-run, it has exactly the opposite effect you want. When you restrict your diet, your body instinctively thinks it’s being starved and shifts into a protective mode by storing fat. Energy expenditures are fueled by your lean muscles.  Therefore your body fat remains essentially the same and you lose vital fluids and muscle instead.  The less muscle you have, the slower your metabolism becomes, and the less fat you burn.  You should be eating three nutritionally balanced meals each day, and you should have at least one or two healthy snacks.  This keeps your metabolic furnace stoked, so you burn more at a faster rate.  I know, it’s counter-intuitive, but it’s the gospel truth!

When setting your workout goals, figure out what you like to do when you exercise. Make sure it’s fun! Otherwise you won’t want to do it on a regular basis. Make sure your goals are obtainable! You are not going to lose 10 lbs over night! I wish I had a magic pill for that, believe me! I’m all about exercise today, obtain your goals tomorrow. Here is something else Geoff mentions in his newsletter…

Set realistically attainable goals.  You must have tangible, quantifiable, short-term and long-term goals for your fitness program so you can gauge your progress.  It’s crucial to have a “baseline” before you begin, so you can measure success.  Your health club or personal trainer can give you a complete fitness analysis (don’t be shy – you need this) that will aid you or your trainer in developing a personalized fitness program which addresses your particular needs.  Having goals, particularly short-term goals, allows you to track your progress and keep you motivated when times are tough and you don’t feel like exercising. Keeping a journal of your cardio and resistance training workouts, as well as tracking what you eat is truly a fitness success “secret.”  Just remember that your goals should be realistic and attainable.  The best way for you to understand what is realistic and attainable for you is to talk to a fitness professional – not to buy into the “hype” of infomercials, diet and fitness products that blatantly mislead.

Here’s a quote from Brian Tracy: “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goals.” Focus on the end result. Visualize how you will feel when you reach your goal, how you will look, what size you will be, how much you will weigh, etc. Write a list of “I Am” statements and read them outloud many times per day. For example: “I am a size “X”.

Keep a workout journal and be true to yourself.

To your health.

Debbie James
www.YourDreamSize.com
850.450.2000

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