Your Body, Your Responsibility

We should all take responsibility for our own body. If you want to lose weight, don't relay on special potions and powders, rely on yourself. I did it that way, and you can too.

I found this article on the internet and it rang so true to me. There are so many stories, but most of them are about ordinary people stepping up and taking control of their own lives.

Read it and see if you think any of these methods might work for you. It's so simple consume less calories than you expend. If you overfill something, the excess has to go somewhere - you don't want it on your butt or tummy, do you?

Eat less, do more.

New Disease, New Diet?

I have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It explains why I am having the symptoms I'm having. But it opens up many questions, some of which are relevant to this blog.

I have been studying MS online in the past few days, and I've been amazed at the thoughts and ideas. Some people say eat this and don't touch that, then others will say the complete opposite. I am putting my faith in what the experts say at this stage - the Multiple Sclerosis Society say to eat a healthy and nutritious diet. That is always the best news for everyone.

Whether you are looking at your diet to lose weight, or to improve your health, the most important thing is to talk to the actual experts, rather than the Gurus who are more concerned with your purse than they are about your health.

So, my next step, one I will take today, is to ring my dietitian and see what she can tell me about MS. I know my dietitian well, and she knows me and cares about me. This relationship builds trust and the benefits can be great.

I recommend building a strong relationship if you can, with a real expert you can trust, and see them as a resource, instead of relying on people who just want your money!

Read the Labels!

When you go shopping, do you read the labels? No? If you are tryingto lose weight, maybe it's time to start reading them, and with a critical eye too.

I found this article on line today and it's been a bit of a wake up call. In the article they talk about serving size and how that is determined. The article is from an American Paper, but it may still apply to other countries.

The most important thing to remember when reading food labels is that the actual kilojoule/ccalorie rating is the most important thing for a person trying to lose weight to focus on, and then the amount of fat in a serving.

If you stay well away from anything with more than 10 grams of fat per 100 grams, then you will make your weight loss plans go along better. And if you do want to eat that chocolate, make sure you only eat a little bit, eat it slowly and make sure you enjoy it, so that the memory of it will last a long time.

If you're trying to lose weight, good luck and be alert to the big companies who don't love you as much as I do!

Fat Parent - Fat Child

Fat parent have fat kids, and lazy parents have fat lazy kids. It's a crazy combination of nature and nurture perhaps.

There may be a genetic predisposition toward being fat, but you don't have to be that fat person, if you're clever and eat and exercise, you can beat that predisposition, in spite of your genes.
I think part of the whole problem these days may be unresolved guilt feelings.

A lot of parents are doing too many things, and not giving their children enough time, so they pander to their child's every want, so the child is 'happy'. The thing most children want most from their parents is love and attention.

If you begin as you hope to continue, you should be OK. I have to admit though, that I found it difficult when my son was small, and underweight, I fed him whatever I could get into him because I was terrified he was starving. I was breastfeeding him, visiting the baby nurse, and slowly going mad from post natal depression (without realising it). I’m over it now, and all is well, but it took a while.

Now, sixteen years later, my son is short for his age, compared to a lot of other students in his year level. But I'm short, my husband is not tall, my parents and his are/were all short. I think that, back when he was a baby, if the nurse had really thought about genetics, we could have all realised this baby was never going to be big, and we could have relaxed and enjoyed it all so much more.

I feed my son and my husband and myself good nutritional food, with the occasional yummy treat. We exercise a little (far too little on my part) and we are all working at getting to our healthiest state we can. It won’t happen overnight, but, with focus and work, it will happen.

I’ll get off my hobby horse and go back to the stable. Thanks for your attention.

No Guilt Chocolate

I have just written a short post on one of the sites I'm a member of. If your love of chocolate is a downfall for you, you may find some help from the post which you will find here.

Moderation is the key, and if you follow the instructions in the post, you will be engaging in 'mindful eating'. Chowing down thoughtlessly like a pig at its trough is one of the main reasons for weight gain for many people.

If you practice 'mindful eating' you will slow down on your intake so that you mind and body are more in sync. So have a read and give it a try. Your body will say thank you.

Low Fat Sausages?

Yesterday was one of those days. Nothing much in the fridge and sausages in the freezer. Teenage son was asking 'What's for tea?' I was asking myself the same question.

I looked in the cupboard and found a can of soup, Campbell's Country Ladle, Wholegrain Chicken & Vegetable soup with wholegrain pasta. I got the sausages out to defrost. OK, that's what was for tea. Sausages and soup.

But that wasn't all. I boiled the sausages to get rid of as much of the fat as possible, then cut up (diced) an onion and some mushrooms. I sauteed the onion and mushrooms, added the soup with some basmati rice and some Bio Grape red wine chilli sauce. Then I turned the heat down low and let it simmer ever so gently until the rice was cooked.

The resulting meal was even better than the individual parts. I spoke to a dietitian friend today and she confirmed that boiling sausages does indeed reduce the fat content. I hope to make that meal again. No complaints at all, and it was a wonderfully healthy and simple meal.

It's swimwear weather!

It's that dreaded time of the year for some of us. The time when we have to get out the old togs and stretch the lycra over our lumps and bumps.

As the weather warms up, the soft drinks go down, adding to the problem. But with a little bit of knowledge and some healthy ideas, you mmight finish off summer this year slimmer and happier than ever.

I know the swimming costume I currently own is the smallest and sexiest I've ever had, and it's all down to, no not a diet or exercise program, it's down to sensible lifestyle changes. I don't like exercise much, but I love being a size ten. I got down to my ideal weight with help from my basic knowledge on healthy nutrition. Eat less fats, eat more fibre, and just don't eat too much of anything.

Eating only when hungry and ignoring most of the dictates of society helped me. I say most of the dictates, not all. Breakfast is definitely the most important meal of the day. It sets your metabolism up and it sets you up as well. If you starve yourslef, your body goes into calorie hoarding mode, and keeps those fat molecules. If you're well fed, your body is relaxed about it and uses up the excess calories, as long as you do a little work to keep it all going.